In Pinnacle on the Mound, ten Cy Young Award winners-pitchers recognized as the very best at their craft-share amusing anecdotes and valuable insight about their keys to success. From Jim Lonborg to Corey Kluber, their fascinating stories represent 50 years of baseball history.
Howard Nathan. A. J. Guyton. Sergio McClain. Marcus Griffin. Frank Williams. Shaun Livingston. This dazzling constellation of talent helped make Peoria a prep basketball hotbed from the 1980s to the 2000s. Jeff Karzen takes readers inside the lives of the players, coaches, and others who defined an era that produced six state titles and four ......
Populism and Professional Wrestling in the Sunbelt South: From Rasslin' to Sports Entertainment traces the history of professional wrestling in the South within the Trans-Mississippi Region between the 1950s-1990s. Examining professional wrestling through the lens of kayfabe, also known as the perception of the realism and the suspension of ......
The Most Significant Sporting Events in American History
Jesse Owens wins four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics. Billie Jean King takes on Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes. Title IX is passed. Some moments in sports--whether they take place on a track, on a tennis court, or in a courtroom--transcend the event itself. Some have helped America live out its creed that all men are created equal. ......
On Saturday August 15, 1992, a multi-billion dollar behemoth was born, as the inaugural season of the Premier League kicked off, changing the face of English football forever.
Now, as well as the best players from the British Isles, English football would be able to attract some of the top talent from around the globe – ......
The Story of American Soccer and the Coaches Who Helped Grow the Game
Relentless tells the landmark and previously untold stories of resolute coaches, their love of soccer, and how they transformed the sport in the United States.
This book tells the incredible stories of a special group of athletes, unheralded men and women of color who broke barriers for those that followed, including Pumpsie Green, the first Black player for the Red Sox; Alice Coachman, the first Black woman to win Olympic gold; Sammy Lee, the great Asian American diver who won Olympic gold, and more.
The Complicated Life and Legacy of a Baseball Hall of Famer
A captivating look into the remarkable career and controversial life of a baseball Hall of Famer. Roberto Alomar was not just a five-tool Hall of Famer; he was a magician on the diamond, a generational talent whose defensive wizardry left teammates and opponents breathless. Yet, despite his twelve All-Star selections and ten Gold Glove awards, ......
Postwar Baseball, the Spokane Indians, and a Tragic Bus Crash That Chang
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 minor league baseball team crashed to the bottom of a deep ravine in Washington state, killing nine players. To this day, it remains the deadliest ......
A fascinating look at the rise of the SEC from a regional league to today's dominant college football conference. The story of the Southeastern Conference has humble origins. Born in a Knoxville hotel in 1932 after splitting away from another league, the SEC was built by southern gridiron pioneers who believed football could bring prominence and ......
How Superstars George Wright and Albert Spalding Impacted Sports in Amer
A fascinating look back on baseball's humble beginnings and its transformation into the national pastime, told through the lives of two men who dominated the game. The nineteenth century was a time of rapid growth and development for the game of "base ball," and players George Wright and Albert Spalding were right in the thick of it. These two ......
Any true baseball fan has heard the famous World Series stories about Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series, Bill Mazeroski's Series-ending home run in 1960, and Bill Buckner's blunder to end Game 6 of the 1986 Series. Many fans, however, may not be aware of other less well-known but equally engaging stories about the Fall Classic. ......
Few remember that Shea Stadium-and indeed the Mets baseball club itself-arose out of a dispute between two oversized egos: New York City official Robert Moses and Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley. While O'Malley wanted complete control over a new stadium and all of its concessions in Brooklyn, Moses insisted that the stadium be built by the ......
Baseball's October showcase has provided some high drama over the years. Willie Mays's spectacular catch in 1954, Bill Mazeroski's walk-off homer in 1960, and Kirk Gibson's pinch-hit blast in 1988 are just a few of the memorable moments that have dominated highlight reels. The outcome of the Series has not always been terribly ......
John Maynard's Socceroos - A World Cup Odyssey is an in-depth look at the team's history with commentary on every qualifying match, the role and decisions of governing bodies, media coverage, and the reception of players and coaches.
John Maynard's Socceroos - A World Cup Odyssey is an in-depth look at the team's history, with commentary on every qualifying match, the role and decisions of governing bodies, media coverage, and the reception of players and coaches. It is a significant history of the game, and readers will want to keep on with the story to North America in 2026.
Sons of Baseball is full of personal stories from sons of major league baseball players who talk about what it was like growing up with a famous father. Along the way, we get a rare glimpse of the ballplayers themselves, not as pitchers, hitters, managers, and coaches, but as dads and granddads.
Indianapolis Auto Racing and the Making of Modern America
How a speedway became a legendary sports site and sparked America’s car culture
The 1909 opening of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway marked a foundational moment in the history of automotive racing. Events at the famed track and others like it also helped launch America’s love affair with cars and an embrace of road ......
Indianapolis Auto Racing and the Making of Modern America
How a speedway became a legendary sports site and sparked America's car culture The 1909 opening of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway marked a foundational moment in the history of automotive racing. Events at the famed track and others like it also helped launch America's love affair with cars and an embrace of road systems that transformed cities ......
The first book to fully explore the extraordinary covert actions NFL teams are willing to take in order to win.
Spies disguised as priests. Secret surveillance of targets’ movements. Radio frequency jamming. Tapped telephones. These might sound like acts of espionage right out of the Cold War or a spy movie—but in fact came straight ......
What - you may ask is the point of an English perspective on French sport? In David Owen's own words, "you might just as well seek out a sea otter's take on kabuki". Nevertheless, having lived upwards of ten per cent of his life in France, and a lot more than that immersed in French grammar, current affairs and culture, he offers exactly that in ......
Sports history is no longer a marginal academic subject. It has now been recognised that sport is a significant cultural activity that matters to millions of people and ought to be studied by academic researchers. Correctly practised, sports history is a counter to nostalgia, myth and invented tradition. It can be considered the sports memory of a nation: without sports history there is sporting amnesia. The respected editors of this reference collection have brought together the best and most challenging work in the field for the first time. Covering a wide range of sports, regions, debates, approaches and eras, Sports History is a truly comprehensive collection, divided across four themed volumes: Volume One: An Unfinished Journey Volume Two: More Than a Game Volume Three: A Force for Good? Volume Four: Flexible Boundaries
Just as George Plimpton had his proverbial cup of coffee in the NFL as the un-recruited and certainly unwanted fourth-string quarterback for the Detroit Lions, so, too, did Will McGough immerse himself in a sport he had no business trying. Like Plimpton, whose football folly turned into the bestselling Paper Lion, travel and outdoor writer ......
There has probably never been a professional baseball player more of a puzzle than Joe DiMaggio. DiMaggio had a talent for keeping his emotions suppressed and his innermost thoughts to himself. Few could say that they really knew him. And even the ones who did found him to be unpredictable. He was a walking contradiction. He was quiet, but not ......
An entertaining and illuminating inside look at Major League Baseball through the words of the players themselves. Imagine you had the opportunity to sit down with ballplayers such as Hank Aaron, Greg Maddux, Don Zimmer, and Nolan Ryan. You might ask them about the star players they faced, the obstacles they overcame, the strategies that led to ......
Walter Johnson, Clark Griffith, Bucky Harris, and the 1924 Washington Se
The heartwarming underdog story of the 1924 Washington Senators. In 1924, Washington Senators team president Clark Griffith hired Bucky Harris, his twenty-seven-year-old second baseman, to manage the Senators, a decision called "Griffith's folly." Yet the Senators, inspired by their fiery new leader, found themselves in first place heading into ......
The Untold Story of an Original Harlem Globetrotter and Negro Leagues Al
Ted Strong Jr. (1917-1978) was a two-sport athlete, a major star of the Negro Leagues and one of the original Harlem Globetrotters. His prominence in the Negro Leagues led Branch Rickey and other white baseball league owners to consider Strong as one of several possible players to integrate major league baseball, and he was a key force on the ......
A History from American Amateurs to Global Professionals
Analyzing how tennis turned pro The arrival of the Open era in 1968 was a watershed in the history of tennis--the year that marked its advent as a professionalized sport. Merging wide-angle history with individual stories of players and off-the-court figures, Greg Ruth charts tennis's evolution into the game we watch today. His vivid account moves ......
A History from American Amateurs to Global Professionals
Analyzing how tennis turned pro The arrival of the Open era in 1968 was a watershed in the history of tennis--the year that marked its advent as a professionalized sport. Merging wide-angle history with individual stories of players and off-the-court figures, Greg Ruth charts tennis's evolution into the game we watch today. His vivid account moves ......
The 50 Greatest Players in Braves History examines the careers of the 50 men who made the greatest impact on one of Major League Baseball's oldest and most iconic franchises. Quotes from opposing players and former teammates are provided along the way, as are summaries of each player's greatest season, most memorable performances, and most notable ......
In The 50 Greatest Players in Houston Astros History, sports historian Robert W. Cohen ranks the top 50 players ever to perform for one of Major League Baseball's most iconic franchises. This work includes quotes from the subjects themselves and former teammates, photos, recaps of memorable performances, as well as a statistical summary of each ......
The New York Yankees are Major League Baseball's most renowned and successful franchise. Baseball greats such as Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Derek Jeter have all worn the famous navy blue and white pinstripes. The Yankees have won twenty-seven World Series, and twenty-nine players who spent at least a year with the team have been inducted into ......
The San Francisco 49ers have one of the best records in NFL history, with 20 division championships, seven conference championships, and five Super Bowl championships. On a team with outstanding talent each year, who among its past and present players could be ranked among the 50 greatest? Who would occupy the coveted #1 spot? Jerry Rice? Ronnie ......
The San Francisco 49ers have one of the best records in NFL history, with 20 division championships, seven conference titles, and five Super Bowl championships. On a team with outstanding talent each year, who among its past and present players could be ranked as the 50 greatest? Who would occupy the coveted #1 spot? Jerry Rice? Ronnie Lott? Joe ......
