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Swinging for the Fences tells the great stories of baseball's past, from establishment of the color line and the early formation of the barnstorming teams to dazzling hits by black heroes that led the Twins to victory over the Cardinals in 1987. Each chapter focuses on one key player and gives readers an intimate look at the national pastime as it has evolved over the last century. These are stories of the bonds that formed between players, of legendary moments in baseball's past, and of real people whose love of the game kept them playing against tough odds. Featured here are Hall of Famers like Willie Mays, Roy Campanella, and Kirby Puckett and great players like Walter Ball, John Wesley Donaldson, and Bud Fowler, who, because of their race, never made the stats books.
Sid Hartman has been at the center of Minnesota sports for more than 60 years, getting the inside scoop from players, coaches, owners, and his many "close personal friends." This fascinating tell-all reveals Sid's life and career, from his days as a newspaper boy in Minneapolis and his first scoops as a cub reporter with the Minneapolis Tribune, to his place as a true Minnesota legend. From his controversial role as de facto general manager of the Minneapolis Lakers to his fight to save the Twins, Sid has been in the thick of the local sports scene at all levels. In these pages, sports fans will be privy to Sid's insight into hundreds of events and legendary figures, from Bud Grant and Bob K...
The remarkable story of a championship college football team and the sacrifices the young athletes made when Pearl Harbor forced their country into war. As the United States veered towards war during the fall of 1941, the University of Minnesota football team completed an undefeated national championship season—just fifteen days before the strike on Pearl Harbor. After the attack, players left behind college football stardom to command PT boats in the South Pacific, sweep mines on the beaches of Normandy, and join the invasion of Iwo Jima along with so many others from the Greatest Generation. In From the Gridiron to the Battlefield, Danny Spewak shares the struggles and triumphs of the Go...
A fabulous showcase of individuals, events, and inventions that have made Minnesota.
Although Tony Dungy was passed over in the 1977 NFL draft, Coach Chuck Noll of the Pittsburgh Steelers recognized his athleticism and understanding of the game and signed him as a free agent. Later, at the age of 25, Dungy began his NFL coaching career with the Steelers. He went on to coach the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then considered retiring from football. Instead, he accepted a coaching job with the Indianapolis Colts and in 2007 became the first African American head coach to win the Super Bowl. Find out how Dungy’s intellect, strength of character, and leadership qualities have made him a champion on and off the field.
The histories in Twin Cities Sports are rooted in the class, ethnic, and regional identity of this unique upper midwestern metropolitan area. The compilation includes a wide range of important studies on the hub of interwar speedskating, the success of Gopher football in the Jim Crow era, the integration of municipal golf courses, the building of a world-renowned park system, the Minneapolis Lakers’ basketball dynasty, the Minnesota Twins’ connections to Cuba, and more.
It was the fall of 1940, and Americans turned to college football for relief from the turbulent world around them. The Depression still had its grip on the nation and, across the Atlantic, the Battle of Britain raged. As war crept closer every day, the nation's first peacetime draft called Americans to the defense of the country. While the great Tom Harmon of Michigan set new standards on the gridiron, on other fields black stars struggled for the right to play. At Stanford, coaching genius Clark Shaughnessy reinvented the game and in the process engineered the greatest turnaround in the history of college football. But the team everybody was talking about was Cornell. Fueled by the most powerful offense in the country, the Big Red dominated the national rankings until, on a snowy field at Dartmouth, they eked out a win with a touchdown on the last play of the game-or did they? When it came to light that the touchdown had been scored on a grievous error by the officials, Cornell, undefeated and in the race for the national championship, faced a wrenching decision. The 1940 season was one of the most exciting on record-and one that taught America about the values that really matter.
In an era of unique baseball stadiums, the Polo Grounds in New York stood out from the rest. With its horseshoe shape, the Polo Grounds had extremely short distances down the foul lines and equally long distances up the alley and to center field. Some of baseball's most historic moments--Bobby Thomson's Shot Heard Round the World, Willie Mays' Catch, Fred Merkle's infamous blunder--happened at the Polo Grounds. This book offers descriptive text and photographs that give a sense of the glory of this classic ballpark. Additionally, it contains historical articles and memories submitted by more than 70 former players who played at the Polo Grounds.
The story of one of the most significant and overlooked seasons in professional baseball, told through the travails of the Spokane Indians On June 24, 1946, a bus carrying the Spokane Indians baseball team crashed to the bottom of a deep ravine in Washington state’s Cascade mountains, killing nine players. To this day, it remains the deadliest accident in the history of American professional sports. In Season of Shattered Dreams: Postwar Baseball, the Spokane Indians, and a Tragic Bus Crash That Changed Everything, Eric Vickrey details the series of events that occurred before, during, and after the heartbreaking accident. Vickrey chronicles the often-overlooked impact that the end of Worl...
Twin Cities sports fans are well-versed in disappointment, but the last 120 years of Minneapolis and St. Paul sports have also produced forgotten milestones. Most know of the Vikings' Super Bowl woes and the Twins' record-setting postseason losing streak. Few know that the first full-time college basketball coach originated here and that a Babe Ruth home run record supplanted a local player's achievement. Fewer still know about near misses like John Wooden almost becoming the University of Minnesota basketball coach in 1948 and Billie Jean King turning down an offer to join the Twin Cities' World Team Tennis franchise. Longtime Twin Cities journalist Joel Rippel documents these subjects and other forgotten or unheralded stories.