Welcome to our book review site go-pdf.online!

You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.

Sign up

Branch Rickey
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 605

Branch Rickey

He was not much of a player and not much more of a manager, but by the time Branch Rickey (1881-1965) finished with baseball, he had revolutionized the sport--not just once but three times. In this definitive biography of Rickey--the man sportswriters dubbed "The Brain," "The Mahatma," and, on occasion, "El Cheapo"--Lee Lowenfish tells the full and colorful story of a life that forever changed the face of America's game. As the mastermind behind the Saint Louis Cardinals from 1917 to 1942, Rickey created the farm system, which allowed small-market clubs to compete with the rich and powerful. Under his direction in the 1940s, the Brooklyn Dodgers became truly the first "America's team." By signing Jackie Robinson and other black players, he single-handedly thrust baseball into the forefront of the civil rights movement. Lowenfish evokes the peculiarly American complex of God, family, and baseball that informed Rickey's actions and his accomplishments. His book offers an intriguing, richly detailed portrait of a man whose life is itself a crucial chapter in the history of American business, sport, and society.

The Imperfect Diamond
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 356

The Imperfect Diamond

From the introduction of the reserve clause in 1879 to the lockout and new basic agreement of 1990, baseball players have been engaged in one of the longest and most colorful labor struggles in our nation’s history. The Imperfect Diamond tells the stories of the players and their opponents, the powerful owners: how John Montgomery Ward led the Players League Rebellion of 1890; the rise and fall of David Fultz and the Baseball Players Fraternity (1912–18); the iron-fisted regime of Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis; the case of Danny Gardella vs. Happy Chandler and the blacklisting of the players who jumped to the Mexican League; the founding of the Baseball Players Association in 1953...

Strength for the Fight
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 362

Strength for the Fight

How faith sustained Jackie Robinson—both as an athlete and as an activist. The integration of Major League Baseball in 1947 was a triumph. But it was also a fight. As the first Black major leaguer since the 1880s, Jackie Robinson knew he was not going to be welcomed into America’s pastime with open arms. Anticipating hostility, he promised Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey that he would “turn the other cheek” during his first years in the league, despite his fiercely competitive disposition. Robinson later said that his faith in God had sustained him—giving him the strength he needed to play the game he loved at the highest level without retaliating against the abuse i...

Thar's Joy in Braveland
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 331

Thar's Joy in Braveland

  • Type: Book
  • -
  • Published: 2014-04-07
  • -
  • Publisher: SABR, Inc.

"You talk about destiny, well, you can't rule that out. We were hard-nosed and that showed up in 1957." -- Braves catcher Del Crandall to editor Gregory H. Wolf Few teams in baseball history have captured the hearts of their fans like the Milwaukee Braves of the 19505. During the Braves' 13-year tenure in Milwaukee (1953-1965), they had a winning record every season, won two consecutive NL pennants (1957 and 1958), lost two more in the final week of the season (1956 and 1959), and set big-league attendance records along the way. This book celebrates the Milwaukee Braves' historic 1957 World Series championship season. Led by the bats of National League Most Valuable Player Henry Aaron and sl...

The Continental League
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 235

The Continental League

"The history of the Continental League, the last serious attempt to start a third major league"--

Sports and Labor in the United States
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 232

Sports and Labor in the United States

Longlisted for the 2016 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing presented by PEN American Center Are today's professional athletes nothing more than selfish, greedy millionaires with no idea how ordinary people live? The common perception of today's professional baseball, basketball, football, and hockey players is of individuals always wanting more money and better working conditions. When it comes to labor issues in sports, the usual media spin portrays topics such as strikes by players and lockouts by owners as millionaires in dispute with billionaires; each group as self-interested as the other. However, as is often the case, the truth is vastly different. Sports and Labor in the Unit...

  • Language: en
  • Pages: 225

"Tearin' Up the Pea Patch"

  • Type: Book
  • -
  • Published: 2015-04-01
  • -
  • Publisher: McFarland

Arguably the greatest ball club in National League history, the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers recorded some staggering statistics. They led the league in virtually every offensive category while fielding some of the finest defensive players of the era. But the team's extraordinary success on the field is only part of their story. Jackie Robinson was in his seventh year since breaking the color barrier, but ugly racist incidents were yet to abate and several marred the '53 season. The most intense rivalry in sports climaxed with a September brawl as Dodger Carl Furillo floored Giants manager Leo Durocher. First baseman Gil Hodges weathered a horrendous slump with the support of the team's devoted fans. This book tells the exciting story of the '53 Brooklyn Dodgers, highlighting a season and a team.

Major League Turbulence
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 258

Major League Turbulence

  • Type: Book
  • -
  • Published: 2021-10-11
  • -
  • Publisher: McFarland

The decades between the late 1960s counterculture and the advent of steroid use in the late 1980s bought tumult to Major League Baseball. Dock Ellis (Pirates, Yankees) and Dick Allen (Phillies, Cardinals, Dodgers, White Sox) epitomized the era with recreational drug use (Ellis), labor strife (Allen), and the questioning of authority. Both men were Black Power advocates at a time when the movement was growing in baseball. In the 1970s and 1980s, Marvin Miller and the Major League Baseball Players Association fought numerous, mostly victorious battles with MLB and team owners. This book chronicles a turbulent period in baseball, and in American life, that led directly to the performance-enhancing drug era and the dramatically changed nature of the game.

Bill DeWitt, Sr.
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 232

Bill DeWitt, Sr.

  • Type: Book
  • -
  • Published: 2021-09-03
  • -
  • Publisher: McFarland

In 1954, one year after Baltimore bought the St. Louis Browns, the New York Yankees hired former Browns executive and owner William O. DeWitt as assistant to general manager George Weiss. "DeWitt," the news announced, "was considered an astute baseball man who would have a definite role to play with the Yankees." Baseball fans had assumed that once the Browns were no longer the American League's doormats, DeWitt would quietly retire. But for DeWitt, a shrewd protege of Branch Rickey, his years with the Browns began a long and fascinating career, including his years as owner and general manager of the Cincinnati Reds. This first ever biography focuses on the career of a baseball executive who contributed greatly to America's pastime.

The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, 2015-2016
  • Language: en
  • Pages: 433

The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, 2015-2016

  • Type: Book
  • -
  • Published: 2017-03-24
  • -
  • Publisher: McFarland

Widely acknowledged as the preeminent gathering of baseball scholars, the annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture has made significant contributions to baseball research. This collection of 15 new essays selected from the 2015 and the 2016 symposia examines topics whose importance extend beyond the ballpark. Presented in six parts, the essays explore Biography: From Mythology to Authenticity, Gender and Generations, Race and Ethnicity on the Base Paths, Ballparks Abandoned and Envisioned, Baseball Cinema, and Business, Law and the Game.