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The deeply personal story of a friendship between two teammates, and of a human bond which ultimately transcends the game itself. As back-to-back No. 1 draft picks for the New York Yankees, Ron Blomberg and Thurman Munson made for an odd couple. One was a good-looking, gregarious kid from Atlanta who cheerfully talked anyone's ear off at the slightest provocation; the other was a dumpy, grumpy dude from the Midwest rust belt who was about as fond of making idle chit-chat as he was of shaving. Despite the surface differences, the two men would form a close attachment as they ignited a youth movement with the 1970s Yankees. Now, over 40 years after Munson's shocking death in a plane crash at a...
Ron Blomberg is viewed as a trailblazer: in addition to being the first designated hitter in the history of major league baseball? an accident of fate'he was also the first significant Jewish Yankee. The only lantzman who preceded Blomberg to the Bronx hid behind the pseudonym of Jimmie Reese. Blomberg didn't believe in hiding, either from pitchers with overpowering fastballs or the baseball fans of New York. A witness to cross burnings and synagogue bombings in his youth, Blomberg felt relieved when New York's large Jewish population embraced him. He loved people almost as much as he loved to eat. And so, he wore his religion on his sleeve. Ron Blomberg's story is more than a baseball tale, and more than a religious tale. It's the story of a Designated Hebrew'and there is no other tale quite like it.
Legendary sports columnist Maury Allen captures the dramatic and emotional highlights of the careers of 50 former New York Yankee fan favorites, including Dooley Womack and Phil Linz.
Baseball's ranks are filled with those whose careers may not have been as spectacular as Ruth or Mays but who played essential roles in the game's history, like footnotes in a great book. Some were well known in their day, featured on the front of the sports section; others were lesser lights whose feats and misdeeds were so notable they deserve to be remembered. Bert Shepard pitched a game for the Washington Senators in 1945 despite being shot down over Germany the year before and losing a leg. Bernie Carbo hit a dramatic three-run homer in the eighth inning to tie Game Six of the 1975 World Series--but his blast was completely upstaged an hour or so later by Red Sox teammate Carlton Fisk's unforgettable shot down the left field line. Bo Belinsky no-hit the powerful Baltimore Orioles in 1962, but he finished his career with a monumentally disappointing 28-51 record. The 39 other subjects profiled in this work prove that, in baseball, fame can be fleeting.
Most fans don’t know how far the Jewish presence in baseball extends beyond a few famous players such as Greenberg, Rosen, Koufax, Holtzman, Green, Ausmus, Youkilis, Braun, and Kinsler. In fact, that presence extends to the baseball commissioner Bud Selig, labor leaders Marvin Miller and Don Fehr, owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Stuart Sternberg, officials Theo Epstein and Mark Shapiro, sportswriters Murray Chass, Ross Newhan, Ira Berkow, and Roger Kahn, and even famous Jewish baseball fans like Alan Dershowitz and Barney Frank. The life stories of these and many others, on and off the field, have been compiled from nearly fifty in-depth interviews and arranged by decade in this edifying and en...
Here is the young fan's record book of the worst performances in batting, fielding and pitching, along with the most inauspicious major league debuts and the worst teams of all time. Includes a catalog of the dumbest trades, the worst World Series performances and the worst baseball movies.
The first comprehensive, encyclopaedic work devoted exclusively to every Jewish contributor, large and small, to Major League Baseball. Its packed with: Rare photographs of players on and off the field; Full player statistics; Rare memorabilia; Exclusive original interviews. Jews who impacted upon the Great American Pastime extend far beyond the record strikeouts and round trippers of the legendary Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg. And there are scores of ballplayers like Lipman Pike, Shawn Green, Cal Abrams and Eddie Zosky whose little-known Baseball stories will touch or amuse readers of any background. Beyond life-time batting averages, there are intriguing players like catcher Moe Berg wh...
Beginning with the premise that there is no other rivalry in team sports like that between the Cubs and the White Sox this work traces the history of the antagonism (and, at times, open hostility) between the fans of the two clubs. Of special interest is the baseball culture that is fostered in Chicago, as well as a recounting of the memorable on-field moments between the two teams. There are 50 photographs and two essays that deal with the question of bias at the Chicago Tribune.
When in 2000 the Baseball Writers Association of America elected the ever-durable Carlton Fisk to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, many fans quietly pointed to the Hall's omission of Fisk' greatest American League contemporary, Thurman Munson. And when in 2001 the writers honored Kirby Puckett, the Twins star forced to retire with glaucoma after a brilliant but brief 12-year career, the same fans began to raise their voices in support of Munson, another short-timer who was once the toast of his team's hometown. In a position that requires the strapping on of hot, awkward equipment and the torturous alternation of standing and squatting, most catchers struggle to maintain electrolytes, let...
Manager Al Lopez’ 1959 pennant-winning squad included 3 Hall of Famers, speed, pitching, and fielding. This was the first time in 40 years the franchise was World Series-bound. The 1960s brought exploding scoreboards, and razor-close finishes in 1964 and 1967. In the 1970s, a Sox finally had a HR champ; another became the AL MVP after the Sox made a trade with the LA Dodgers; then for 1 day only, Sox uniforms included wide collar shirts and shorts. In 1977, Bill Veeck’s club “rented” 2 HR hitters; in 1979, future Hall of Fame manager Tony LaRussa took the helm. The 1980s included 1983 post season play, 2 Rookies of the Year, a Cy Young Award winner, and 2 future Hall of Famers - one ...