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In the world of sports, Iowa is probably best known for wrestling but the state has also produced more than 200 major league baseball players. Sixteen of them are profiled here, including six Hall of Famers, the game's brightest star of the 19th century, an American League batting champion, the only pitcher to lead the National League in strikeouts seven years in a row, the only catcher to catch two back-to-back no-hitters and one of the most dominant pitchers in American League history. They made their presence felt off the field, too. One helped fortify the game's racial barriers. One helped tear them down. One invented devices that changed the game. Two wrote instructional books on baseball. One became famous so young that he graced the cover of national magazines before graduating from high school. Each has a compelling story, some interwoven with the game's greatest moments.
This biography traces the hard life and colorful career of "Iron Man" McGinnity from his childhood working the coalfields of Illinois to his death in 1929. McGinnity may have been the most durable hurler in the history of the sport, often pitching both games of a doubleheader. He averaged more wins per season in his 10-year major league career than any pitcher in history, and continued to pitch for two more decades in the minor leagues before retiring at 54.
Most people believe that being extremely tall would be fantastic. It isn't. It has its advantages, but it also has nearly as many disadvantages. It can be useful in basketball, business, and politics, and when friends are trying to find you in a crowded place. However. it's also inconvenient, expensive, sometimes harmful to one's health, and a little tedious to be bombarded almost daily with questions about how the weather is up there. In this book, the author takes a lighthearted look at the various aspects of extreme height, and those affected by it, from the perspective of someone who has spent the majority of his life towering above the crowd.
Much has been written about the legendary players and managers of baseball's Deadball Era (1901-1919). Far less attention has been given to the club owners, like Charles Ebbets. In 1898, after a 15 year apprenticeship, he became president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, taking over a chronic second division team in poor financial condition. Over the next 25 years, he organized four pennant-winning clubs and developed one of the most profitable franchises in the game--while building two state-of-the-art ballparks in Brooklyn. Ebbets was also an effective steward of the national pastime, working tirelessly on innovations that would help all teams, not just his own. Despite his success, his personal weaknesses ultimately undermined much of what he had so painstakingly built. This first full length biography provides an in-depth view of his life and career, filling a critical gap in the history of the Deadball Era and the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Culled from the sports pages of the Gazette, this collection brings together the best players and coaches and most exhilarating moments in Iowa football lore into one complete masterpiece. This stunning pictorial is a fascinating account of the triumphs of Hawkeye football, from the early part of the 20th century through the present day. From their 1958 national championship and their thrilling victory over the second ranked Michigan Wolverines in 1985 to the miracle finish over LSU in the 2005 Capital One Bowl, this keepsake is an ideal resource for any Hawkeye fan. Filled with full-color photos throughout, Greatest Moments in Iowa Hawkeyes Football History gives readers vivid visuals to help share all of the greatest moments of the most important games and the pageantry that makes up the Hawkeyes’ historic past.
The Dodgers have played more than 10,000 games as a franchise. Their 50 greatest games span two coasts and three centuries worth of baseball. They include: • A doubleheader that lasted six and a half innings combined • A single game that featured three teams on the field • A game in which the Dodgers didn’t record a hit – and won • The games in which the single-season and career home run records were broken • Three perfect games and two no-hitters • The longest game in major league history • The first major league game ever televised • A game in which the Dodgers’ pitcher lost consciousness on the field • An exhibition game that drew 93,103 spectators • The first in...
This account of the four baseball seasons of 1900 through 1903 seeks to capture the flavor of the period by providing yearly overviews from the standpoint of each team and by focusing more deeply on 30 or more players of the era--not only such legendary stars as Cy Young and Willie Keeler, but also relative unknowns such as Bill Keister and Kip Selbach. Each team section is supplemented by a table providing the significant batting and pitching statistics for each regular team member. The major theme of the period was the baseball war between the National and American leagues from 1900 to 1903. But the broad multi-season, multi-team view allows varying the focus. The pennant races receive due attention but there are other aspects of the baseball drama, such as: the aging star who finds a way to extend his period of dominance (Cy Young); the young, unpolished phenom whose raw talent enables him to excel (Christy Mathewson); and the fierce competitor who risks injury to help his team (Joe McGinnity or Deacon Phillippe).
Most baseball fans know of the amazing accomplishments Hall of Fame members achieved on the field, from Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak to Cy Young’s 511 career wins. But few are as familiar with the ballplayers’ lives away from the diamond—especially those icons who played before the Internet and 24/7 media coverage. Beyond their baseball statistics, what kind of individuals were they? How did they conduct themselves out of the spotlight? What made them tick? In Beyond the Ballpark: The Honorable, Immoral, and Eccentric Lives of Baseball Legends, John A. Woodlooks at the personal lives of fifty members of the Hall of Fame, examining their childhoods, families, influences, life-cha...
Jerrold Casway coined the phrase "The Emerald Age of Baseball" to describe the 1890s, when so many Irish names dominated teams' rosters. But one can easily agree--and expand--that the period from the mid-1830s well into the first decade of the 20th century and assign the term to American sports in general. This book covers the Irish sportsman from the arrival of James "Deaf" Burke in 1836 through to Jack B. Kelly's rejection by Henley regatta and his subsequent gold medal at the 1920 Olympics. It avoids recounting the various victories and defeats of the Irish sportsman, seeking instead to deal with the complex interaction that he had with alcohol, gambling and Sunday leisure: pleasures that were banned in most of America at some time or other between 1836 and 1920. This book also covers the Irish sportsman's close relations with politicians, his role in labor relations, his violent lifestyle--and by contrast--his participation in bringing respectability to sport. It also deals with native Irish sports in America, the part played by the Irish in "Team USA's" initial international sporting ventures, and in the making and breaking of amateurism within sport.
Sweet ’60: The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates is the joint product of 44 authors and editors from the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) who have pooled their efforts to create a portrait of the 1960 team which pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the last 60 years. Game Seven of the 1960 World Series between the Pirates and the Yankees swung back and forth. Heading into the bottom of the eighth inning at Forbes Field, the Yankees had outscored the Pirates, 53-21, and held a 7–4 lead in the deciding game. The Pirates hadn’t won a World Championship since 1925, while the Yanks had won 17 of them in the same stretch of time, seven of the preceding 11 years. The Pirates scored five...