This is the moving story of high school students in an isolated village at the top of Alaska starting a football team. Against long odds the Whalers had to practice and play in extreme conditions and travel hundreds of miles from home when they went on the "road," flying for each game.They ended their first season victorious, while maintaining their subsistence hunter-gather culture.
The pro football season of 1963 was dominated by the unexpected. In April, months prior to the beginning of play, it was revealed that two All-Star players, Paul Hornung and Alex Karras, were gambling on the sport and would be suspended from play for at least a year. Even worse, in May, one of the league’s bigger-than-life personalities, Big Daddy Lipscomb, was found dead, with police saying he perished from a heroin overdose, something those who knew him best still dispute. As play began in September, the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened its doors in Canton, Ohio, the same town where the National Football League was founded in 1921 and inducted its first class. Also, the war for players and prestige raged with the upstart American Football League trying to obtain equal footing in the public eye. On the field, it was to be the year the Chicago Bears and their aging owner-coach George Halas knew glory once more, fighting off the latest dynasty Green Bay Packers led by Vince Lombardi in a season-long chase for the Western Division title. Yet even that was overshadowed by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. While the nation mourned and other sports leagues suspended activity, the NFL played on with its regular season that sad weekend—a choice commissioner Pete Rozelle later called the worst mistake of his tenure. Clouds over the Goalpost is filled with controversy not only on the field, but off it as well. From the various suspensions to an exciting championship game between the Bears and Giants, 1963 was a year that the NFL would never forget—for both the good and the bad.
By any standard of normal behavior, sports cannot escape the definition of weirdness. Sports achievements have the capacity to inspire and excite watchers, whether through athletic brilliance or magnificent team performance, but there are times when our athletes and teams go wacko on us, and the most peculiar things break out with no warning to provide wide-eyed astonishment or laugh-out-loud responses. Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs landed on the disabled list due to a back injury caused by sneezing too hard. Minnesota Vikings football stalwart Jim Marshall ran the wrong way with a recovered fumble. Former NBA player Dennis Rodman spearheaded American diplomacy with North Korea. The lyrics and music creators of “Take Me Out to The Ballgame” authored one of the most sung songs in American history without ever having seen a baseball game. And more! While those spontaneous combustions may result from someone rising from the weird side of the bed, they’re often the most memorable.
With 363 victories, Warren Spahn is the winningest left-handed pitcher in baseball history. During his 21-year career, Spahn won 20+ games thirteen times, was a 17-time All Star, a Cy Young–award winner, and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973. In addition, Spahn was also a war hero, serving in World War II and awarded the Purple Heart. To say Spahn lived a storied life is an understatement. In Warren Spahn, author Lew Freedman tells the story of this incredible lefty. Known for his supremely high leg kick, Spahn became one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. However, the road wasn’t as easy as it would seem. Struggling in his major-league debut at age twenty, manager Casey Stengel demoted the young left. It would be four years before Spahn would return to the diamond, as he received a calling of a different kind—one from his country. Enlisting in the Army, Spahn would serve with distinction, seeing action in the Battle of the Bulge and the Ludendorff Bridge, and was awarded a battlefield commission, along with a Purple Heart. Upon his return to the game, he would take the league by storm. Spahn dominated for over two decades, spending twenty years with the Braves (both Boston and Milwaukee), as well as a season with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. Pitching into his mid-forties, he would throw two no-hitters at the advanced ages of thirty-nine and forty. From his early days in Buffalo and young career, through his time and the military and all the way to the 1948 Braves and “Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain,” author Lew Freedman leaves no stone unturned in sharing the incredible life of this pitching icon, who is still considered the greatest left-handed pitcher to ever play the game.
In IDITAROD ADVENTURES, mushers explain why they have chosen this rugged lifestyle, what has kept them in long-distance mushing, and the experiences they have endured along that unforgiving trail between Anchorage and Nome. Renowned sports writer Lew Freedman profiles 23 mushers—men, women, Natives, seasoned veterans, and some relatively new to the demanding sport, many of whom are so well-known in Alaska that fans refer to them only by their first names. The book also features interviews with administrators who organize the event and make sure it happens every year, volunteers, and others whose connection to the Iditarod is self-evident even if they don’t have an official title.
In this compilation of stories from members of the Cincinnati Reds, baseball’s first professional team, Lew Freedman takes readers through decades of Reds baseball. In these firsthand accounts, players detail the most memorable games of their Reds careers. From the Cincinnati Reds’ inception, the team has been creating lasting memories for its devoted fans. Since the days of the Red Stockings, Cincinnati has featured Hall of Famers, such as Tony Pérez and Frank Robinson, both of whom are included in this book. Most recently, Barry Larkin, a member of the 1990 championship team, was inducted as part of the Class of 2012, and Freedman highlights Larkin’s memories of his Hall of Fame induction. From Joe Morgan and the Big Red Machine days of the 1970s, to Tom Browning’s heroics in the late ’80s, and Joey Votto and Bronson Arroyo’s recent brilliance, readers can relive many of the most exciting games in Reds history with some of the Reds’ most beloved players. This is a must-have for any fans of the Cincinnati ball club, past and present.
The complete story of our first national park, from the land's formation millions of years ago, to its designation as our first national park in 1872, to its current state. It's a story of inspiration, endurance, and foresight... Yellowstone National Park was anointed with its status as the nation’s first national park in 1872, a symbol of ground-breaking and wise United States policy providing a lead example for other countries at a time when the United States’ mindset was more focused on Manifest Destiny. It was one of the pioneering examples, just as Yosemite had been, of mankind taking a step back from aggressive, blind development with a first glance toward long-term preservation for future generations. There seemed to be an awakening to the riches of landscape the U.S. possessed and the dawning of an awareness that if not careful a reckless human presence could ruin it all. Yellowstone has passed through many stages, from the geological formation era of millions of years ago, to what would have to be characterized as a modern era of management beginning shakily in 1872, up to the present day. Current Park superintendent Cam Sholly said it has probably been only in the last 50 years or so an enlightened management program has truly focused on all-around preservation. For many people, Yellowstone represents their favorite place on earth, the most beautiful paradise on the planet, yet a place somehow accessible and mostly unspoiled, in accordance with the original pledge to future generations. This is the story of the park, the jewel of our National Park System.
While the Cleveland Indians are known lately more for being cellar dwellers than world champions, that wasn’t the case in 1948. Ranked by the Sporting News as the ninth-best team in baseball history, the ’48 Indians were a colorful group of guys, led by the always colorful Bill Veeck, the future Hall of Famer who was running his first team. But the Indians weren’t just well run in the front office; their team on the field was comprised of seven future Hall of Famers. Player-manager Lou Boudreau would not only lead his team to the playoffs, but would also become the first shortstop to ever win the American League’s Most Valuable Player award. He also relied on pitchers Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, and Negro leagues legend Satchel Paige (then forty-one years old), as well as second baseman Joe Gordon and right fielder Larry Doby, who followed Jackie Robinson by only a few weeks in breaking the color barrier in baseball. The Indians finished the ’48 season at 97–58 and were tied with Joe McCarthy’s Boston Red Sox, which led to the first-ever one game playoff in American League history. The Indians were victorious and would then defeat the Boston Braves in six games to win the World Series. The Monsters of Municipal Stadium is a fantastic look at one of the greatest teams ever to play the game, and at how everyone involved in this extraordinary season—from the players to management—made 1948 a memorable year for baseball and the city of Cleveland. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Over beer and hamburgers at the Two Rivers Lodge near Fairbanks, Alaska, a small group of mushers conceived a gutsy idea for a new sled dog race that would be more challenging than any other marathon race in the Far North. In 1984, mushers organized the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race between Fairbanks and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Soon, mushers adopted an unofficial race motto, "Survive first, race second." The Quest trail boasts fewer checkpoints, longer wilderness runs, and more campouts. The trail crosses three mountain passes, including the dreaded 3,685-foot Eagle Summit, a killer of mushers' dreams. Outdoor survival skills and self reliance are on a par with commercial sponsorships and high-tech sleds and mushing gear. Yukon Quest is an exciting, inspirational story full of bigger-than-life characters told by Lew Freedman, best-selling author of eight books about sled-dog racing. Includes a list of race champions, names of all finishers, and 16 pages of photos.
In 1978, Dick Mackey claimed the most dramatic victory ever in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, crossing the finish line in Nome a mere one second ahead of Rick Swenson after a two-week, 1,149 mile-run from Anchorage. Many years later Alaskans still shake their heads in amazement. In One Second to Glory, Mackey shares this and many other adventures: Making a home in the forntier state in the heady first day s of Statehood; Surviving the 1964 earthquake and helping rebuild Alaska; Mushing against "Doc" Lombard and George Attla in the heyday of sprint racing; Helping Joe Redington organize the Iditarod Trail SLed Dog Race; Experience 82 degrees below zero at Coldfoot, his famous Arctic Circle truck stop; Mackey's colorful stories are told in his own words in interviews with Lew Freedman, outdoor adventure writer for the Chicago Tribune and longtime former sports editor of the Anchorage Daily News. Freedman has written seventeen books about Alaska.
The 1930 Major League baseball season was both marvelous and horrendous, great for hitters, embarrassing for pitchers. In totality it was just this side of insane as an outlier among all seasons. Major League Baseball began with the founding of the National League in 1876. In the 145 seasons since then, one season stands out as unique for the astounding nature of hitting: 1930. A flipside of 1968’s “Year of the Pitcher,” when the great St. Louis Cardinals Bob Gibson compiled a 1.12 earned run average and Detroit Tigers Denny McLain won 31 games, the 1930 season was when the batters reigned supreme. During this incredible season, more than one hundred players batted .300, the entire National League averaged .300, ten players hit 30 or more home runs, and some of the greatest individual performances established all-time records. From New York Giants Bill Terry’s .401 average—the last National Leaguer to hit over .400—to the NL-record 56 home runs and major league–record 192 runs batted in by Chicago Cubs Hack Wilson, the 1930 season is a wild, sometimes unbelievable, often wacky baseball story. Breaking down the anomaly of the season and how each team fared, veteran journalist Lew Freeman tells the story of a one-off year unlike any other. While the greats stayed great, and though some pitchers did hold their own—with seven winning 20 or more games, including 28 by Philadelphia Athletics’ Lefty Grove and 25 by Cleveland Indians’ Wes Ferrell—Freedman shares anecdotes about those players that excelled in 1930, and only 1930. More than ninety years later, 1930 offers insight into a season that still stands the test of time for batting excellence.
More than twenty former and current Pale Hose players share their fondest single-game White Sox experience and memories with the Chicago Tribune’s Lew Freedman. Many of these moments have helped shape the White Sox’s rich heritage in Chicago. Billy Pierce, Scott Podsednik, Mark Buehrle, Greg Walker, Bobby Jenks, Turk Lown, and Gerry Staley are but a few of the legendary stars who discuss the games of their lives. This book is the ticket for White Sox fans to travel back in time alongside many of their heroes to experience the moments that have shaped the South Siders during the team’s 107-year history.
The great moments and stories in the history of a legendary franchise, including the players, teams, games, and coaches, presented in brilliant images and informative text.
DIVSince its establishment in 1919, the Green Bay Packers football organization has stood proudly as the United States’ only community-owned professional sports team. Its fans are renowned for their unrivaled die-hard dedication, with Lambeau Field season tickets sold out since 1960 and a waiting list stretching decades into the future—tickets so coveted, they are often bequeathed in family wills. These are not quiet fans. Fortunately, The Packers Experience is not a quiet book./divDIV/divDIVThe ultimate guide to the Green Bay Packers, The Packers Experience takes readers year by year through every single season of the franchise’s storied history. Award-winning sportswriter Lew Freedman describes each season’s key moments, and his stories are accompanied by detailed stats and glorious images. Additional feature articles highlight the legendary players and coaches who have made the Packers one of the most successful organizations in the NFL: Curley Lambeau, Don Hutson, Paul Hornung, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Vince Lombardi, Willie Davis, Herb Adderley, James Lofton, LeRoy Butler, Reggie White, Brett Favre, Donald Driver, Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews, and many others./divDIV/divPhotos from the team’s history are accompanied by rare memorabilia and mementos. This premier-quality book is the perfect keepsake for Packers fans of all generations—an essential addition to the Packers library and as timeless as that indomitable Packer pride.
Here at last is the thrilling memoir of the legendary mountaineer Bradford Washburn, one of the last surviving explorers and adventurers of the twentieth century. Drawing from decades of memories, journals, and an exquisite photographic collection, Washburn completes the self-portrait of a man drawn to altitude, from his first great climb of Mount Washington at age eleven, through numerous first ascents of peaks all over the world, to handily scaling a climbing wall at eighty-eight.
The Rise of the Seminoles is the fairy-tale story of Florida State University football. From 1973–75, the football team at FSU had a combined record of 4–29. The next season, Bobby Bowden took over as head football coach and, over the next thirty-three years, led FSU to twenty-one bowl game wins and two National Championships. The Rise of the Seminoles is not just about Bobby Bowden; it is about the season that started it all: 1976. Before Bowden took over and the University of Miami gained its notoriety, college football in the state of Florida consisted of the University of Florida. Florida State wasn’t even on the radar. Today, FSU is a football powerhouse and recently won the 2013 National Championship. Through the writing talents of Lew Freedman, one of only two reporters covering FSU during Bowden’s time, this book follows the incredible journey the Seminoles have taken through history. Drawing from firsthand experience and Bowden himself, Freedman is the perfect author to bring this story to life. No matter their age, fans of the FSU football program can enjoy and take pride in their team’s very own rags-to-riches story. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Celtics Legends is the story of the legendary Boston Celtics basketball franchise, including the famous tales and the little-known ones. The 18-time world champions have a history jammed with legendary players and NBA lore, from Bob Cousy to Bill Russell and John Havlicek to Larry Bird, from present-day stars Jayson Tatum to Jaylen Brown. No sports team was more deserving of the Dynasty label than the Celtics who won 11 crowns in 13 years in the 1950s and 1960s and stamped the Celtic green and white colors in the minds of basketball fans everywhere under famed coach Red Auerbach. Simultaneously, the Celtics acted as the most progressive of organizations, becoming the first basketball team to draft an African-American player under the guidance of owner Walter Brown and the first to field an all-Black starting lineup.Cousy virtually invented the point guard role and Russell, the winningest athlete in North American professional sport, virtually invented defense while also becoming the first African-American coach in the league and the first in modern pro sport. Phrases such as "Celtics Mystique" worked their way into the lexicon as so many aspects of Celtic history permeated the league, including gravel-voiced announcer Johnny Most," the NBA's most recognizable court, the parquet floor at the Boston Garden, and the grand and great team rivalries pitting Boston against the St. Louis Hawks, each of Wilt Chamberlain's teams, and the most enduring: Celtics-Lakers. The Celtics personified unselfish basketball, the team game, the fast break. With so many members of the franchise voted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, the Celtics could have their own wing.
One of only two remaining charter members of the National Football League, the Chicago Bears are a team steeped in history. With nine pro football championships and twenty-six hall of famers, the Bears are also among the most successful franchises in all of professional sports. Revised and updated to include the latest seasons on the gridiron, Chicago Bears: The Complete Illustrated History brings the team’s vibrant history to life. Beginning with the franchise’s 1919 origins as the Decatur Staleys, this lavishly illustrated book presents the highs and lows from more than nine decades of football. Here is the story of the first dynasty under George “Papa Bear� Halas; the “Monsters of the Midway� of the 1940s; the team’s resurgence in the late 1960s; its 1985 Super Bowl win; and the run for the title in 2006. Former Chicago Tribune sportswriter and longtime Bears aficionado Lew Freedmen highlights the legends who have donned Bears uniforms, outsize characters like Red Grange, Bronko Nagurski, Sid Luckman, Mike Ditka, Dick Butkus, Gayle Sayers, Walter Payton, Mike Singletary, Brian Urlacher, and many more. He includes the numbers behind the stories---the stats and team records---as well as pivotal plays in Bears’ history, from Halas’ T-formation to William “The Refrigerator� Perry’s touchdown runs. The book presents a key chapter of sports history and offers a fitting tribute to one of football’s most beloved teams.
Purchased in 1925 for $500 by bookmaker and businessman Tim Mara, the New York Giants were New York City’s introduction to professional football. The National Football League was a mere five years old---and for the near-century since, the history of football, the city, and the Giants has been inextricably linked. This thorough and thoroughly entertaining illustrated chronicle of the New York Giants football team tells the full story of the seasons, players, coaches, teams, and moments that have made history decade after decade. From the early years as an upstart sport in a big city heading into financial chaos, to the team’s triumph in the 1930s (including 1934’s famous “Sneakers Game” against the Chicago Bears); its return to glory in the 1950s behind the talents of Frank Gifford, Sam Huff, and Roosevelt Brown; and its pair of championship seasons in 1986 and 1990---these are the New York Giants, moment by colorful moment, right up to their upset victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Crammed with player statistics and team records, and brilliantly illustrated with vintage and up-to-the-minute photographs, the book is a fitting celebration of a team whose name is synonymous with football in America.
This engaging and informative work highlights the 100 biggest moments in the history of American sports, illustrating powerful connections between sporting events and significant social issues of the time. In this homage to sports history, author Lew Freedman compiles athletic feats that caught fans off guard, inspired awe, and left viewers on the edge of their seats, all while making an impression on the world at large. Freedman ranks 100 of the greatest moments in sports, reflecting on the dramatic impact of the events as well as their greater influence on American society of the time. The work showcases the social, historical, and cultural background of memorable games, teams, and athletes, highlighting the enduring value and importance of each selection. An introduction discusses the history of sports and explains the criteria for choosing the 100 sporting events in the book. Fascinating, little-known facts punctuate entries, such as how the athletic accomplishments of Jackie Robinson and Joe Louis helped ease racial tensions in the United States; why the passage of Title IX changed gender relations in the United States forever; and which technologies have altered the way Americans view sport. Content also traces the tremendous advancements of safety gear in sports, from the batting helmet and catchers' shin guards in baseball, to the hardshell helmet and face guard in football, to the face mask for goalies in hockey.
“It took me a day to learn [the knuckleball] and a lifetime to learn how to throw it for a strike.” This quote, by pitcher and coach Charlie Hough, is the best way to understand baseball’s most baffling and mysterious pitch. Not even the best practitioners of the art of throwing a knuckleball know where it is going most of the time. As a pitch that floats and comes into the plate in what appears to be slow motion, it is miraculous that those who employ the pitch don’t get creamed all over the park by batters who seem to know that it’s coming. Including interviews with Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, former All-Stars Wilbur Wood and Tim Wakefield, as well as other famed knuckleballers, Lew Freedman (Clouds over the Goalpost, A Summer to Remember), breaks down the history of this infamous pitch, which it seems can be traced back to Chicago White Sox pitcher Ed Cicotte, as well as its effect on baseball as a whole. With pitcher R. A. Dickey, who rejuvenated his career from castoff to 2011 Cy Young Award winner, the knuckleball is still a topic of conversation in the sport, and it continues to be one of the many marvels of our national pastime. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Picking up where the best-selling Iditarod Classics left off, this new collection of insightful and hair-raising stories introduces readers to more of the men and women who brave the annual 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome. Champions Doug Swingley, Martin Buser, Jeff King, and others tell how they came to love the race, how they train their dogs and themselves, and how they challenge the elements of The Last Great Race. For Alaskan heroes such as DeeDee Jonrowe, Emmit Peters, and Ramy Brooks, the Iditarod is always punishing but not punishing enough to deter them from trying again next year.
Bobby "Slick" Leonard has etched his name forever on the Mount Rushmore of Indiana basketball, and in Boom, Baby! he shares memories from his storied career. Leonard takes readers inside the Indiana locker room with legendary head coach Branch McCracken and onto the court when he hit the deciding free throws as the "Hurrying Hoosiers" topped Phog Allen's Kansas Jayhawks. He recalls the NBA's early years, including being drafted by a Baltimore Bullets team that folded soon after selecting him. He tells of his time as the winningest coach in the ABA's nine-year history, securing three championships in his first five seasons with the Indianapolis Pacers. In his final act, "Slick" endeared himself to new generations of Hoosier hoops fans as the longtime Pacers radio voice, with his trademark call "Boom, Baby!" for a successful three-point shot.
A flame-throwing star with the Houston Astros, J. R. Richard was at the top of his profession when he inexplicably began complaining of arm weakness in 1980. Initially scoffed at because he continued approaching 100 mph on the radar gun, everything changed when Richard collapsed while playing catch with a teammate—later diagnosed as a life-threatening stroke. The shocking development ended Richard's major league career and set off a chain of events that led to the former All-Star being homeless by the mid-1990s. This rapid rise and sudden, tragic fall define the unusual, moving, and inspirational life of a Houston icon who has endured many hardships but has become an admired figure in his adopted hometown. J. R. Richard tells that story now in his own words, including the highs and the lows of his brilliant athletic career, the difficulties that befell him on and off the field, abandonment by those he counted on after his stroke, the despair of losing everything, and his ultimate redemption and giving back to the community.
Lowell Thomas Jr. is a famed Alaskan who made his mark as a Bush pilot and by serving in state government, but who also has had a lifetime’s worth of adventures that have taken him around the world. Thomas, now eighty?nine, and living in Anchorage, is the son of one of the most widely known Americans of the twentieth century, and his connection to Lowell Thomas Sr. (1892?1981) enabled him to jump?start his life of adventure at a very early age. From the time he was fifteen, Lowell Thomas Jr. has been involved in a series of journeys that have seen him cross paths with many famous lives and take part in many historic events.
The groundbreaking superstar tells his story: “To look at the MLB career of Hall of Fame pitcher Marichal is to look at another era . . . a solid hit.” —Library Journal In a decade that featured such legendary hurlers as Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale, and other Hall of Famers, no pitcher won more games than Juan Marichal in the 1960s. His unique high-kick pitching style was imitated by kids from New York to San Francisco to Santo Domingo, and is immortalized in a bronze statue outside of the Giants’ current ballpark. Marichal was the first Dominican-born player to play in an All-Star Game and the first elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and he won more games than any of his countrymen. And while Dominican and other Latino players have come to dominate many aspects of baseball in recent years, Marichal was a trailblazer in his day, entering the league at a time when Latin American players were routinely discriminated against, underpaid, and presented with numerous obstacles on their journey to the big leagues. Now, Marichal tells the story of his rise from living on a rural farm as a young boy in the Dominican Republic to his status as one of the greatest pitchers of all time. Along the way, he was enlisted by the son of the country’s dictator to play for the national team, was threatened at gunpoint to throw a game during a tournament in Mexico, fought homesickness as a minor leaguer in rural Indiana, and went head-to-head with some of the best pitchers and hitters the game has ever seen. For the first time, Marichal gives his perspective on life as a Latino ballplayer in the 1960s, describes the highs and lows of a sixteen-year major league career, and explores what the recent influx of Dominicans in the majors has meant to baseball and to his home country—and also offers reflections on lingering stereotypes, the impact of steroids, and the general state of the game in the twenty-first century.
LeBron James is simultaneously on the cutting edge of basketball greatness and as a cultural icon. Through the international exposure of the National Basketball Association and its televised games in more than 100 countries, and as a global marketing presence, the star of the Cleveland Cavaliers is rapidly becoming one of the world's most familiar faces. This biography traces the key events in the life of LeBron James during his dizzying rise to fame in high school to his emergence as the first overall pick in the NBA draft as an 18-year-old, to his carrying the underdog Cavaliers to the 2007 NBA Finals. Hyped relentlessly from the time he was a high school sophomore in Ohio, James has lived up to all advance billing and with his charm, smile, and extraordinary basketball skills. James' all-around talent and unselfishness on the court are the trademarks of his play that have made him one of the most feared scorers in the league, but also one of its most versatile rebounders and passers. This biography offers a well-rounded portrait James from the difficulties encountered being raised by a single mother and overcoming poverty, which at times caused the family to move from home to home. Lew Freedman of the Chicago Tribune chronicles the milestones in the life of LeBron James during his dizzying rise to fame. Also highlighted are James' remarkable endorsement deals, particularly his $90 million deal with Nike. The volume is rounded out with a timeline and a bibliography of print and electronic sources to provide suggested readings for students and sports fans alike.
This book provides readers with an abundance of information and historical perspective as well as entertaining and memorable anecdotes about professional wrestling. Readers will also learn unusual snippets of trivia that will enhance their comprehension of the sport. This authoritative work on the history and culture of professional wrestling features the biggest names in the wrestling world since the sport emerged on the American sporting landscape. It comprises short biographies of all of the key players in the sport's evolution and rise to popularity—from old-timers to barrier breakers to household names such as Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Andre the Giant, and more—and includes not only men but also many women who have made a name in the sport. Surveying professional wrestling from its roots, dating centuries, to the modern era, pre–20th century and into the 21st century, the work tells the transformational stories of prominent wrestlers and the sport as a whole, in many cases bringing out the humor and outrageousness in the nature of an activity that has always straddled the line between show business and sport.
What do Al Campana, Frank Dempsey, Stan Wallace, Don Mullins, Gale Sayers, and Steve Trimble all have in common? They all wore number 40 for the Chicago Bears, even though more than four decades passed between the last time Campana last pulled on his jersey and the number was retired for Sayers in 1994 (along with 51 for Dick Butkus). Since the Chicago Bears first adopted uniform numbers in 1932, the team has handed out only 99 numbers to more than 1,000 players. That’s a lot of overlap. It also makes for a lot of good stories. Bears by the Numbers tells those stories for every Bear since ’32, from Red Grange to Pernell McPhee. This book lists the players alphabetically and by number; these biographies help trace the history of one of football’s oldest and most beloved teams in a new way. For Bears fans, anyone who ever wore the uniform is like family. Bears by the Numbers reintroduces readers to some of their long-lost ancestors, even those they think they already know.
This revealing biography explores Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning as an athlete and as a man. From the moment Peyton Manning arrived in the National Football League at the start of the 1998 season, he has been a numbers machine, completing passes at a dazzling rate and throwing touchdowns at a pinball-machine clip. Fans, teammates, and NFL foes alike have been in awe of what Manning's right arm has wrought. In Peyton Manning: A Biography, sportswriter Lew Freedman chronicles Manning's life, from his childhood as the son of New Orleans Saints' quarterback Archie Manning through the many laurels won during his high school and college careers to his record-setting play with the Colts. The book also covers Manning's off-the-field activities as a product spokesperson, as well as his PeyBack Foundation, designed to help underprivileged children. Finally, it looks at the Manning football dynasty, including brother Eli Manning's success as the Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the New York Giants.
A complete illustrated history of the National Football League's Indianapolis Colts, including the team's early era in Baltimore"--Provided by publisher"--
Follow along with award-winning sportswriter Lew Freedman as he journals an unforgettable season of fly fishing along the Kenai River. Just as you never know what kind of fish and what size fish might be tugging on your line when the rod bends, you never know what kind of excitement awaits during a season on the Kenai River. Located in Southcentral Alaska, the Kenai River is a world-class salmon river attracting fishermen from all over the world. Each summer thousands of anglers fish the magical Kenai River. Discover what makes the eighty-five-mile-long river a dream destination for the devout fisherman inside My Season on the Kenai. Freedman’s amusing stories and first-hand experience are sure to entertain and inspire the avid angler, with valuable information and insights sprinkled in each chapter.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.