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Forbes Field (Hardcover)
David Finoli, Thomas Aikens
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R781
R653
Discovery Miles 6 530
Save R128 (16%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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The 1909 World Series featured Hall of Fame players Ty Cobb and
Honus Wagner and was the first championship to extend to Game
Seven, the final and deciding game. This work examines the entire
regular season of both the Tigers and the Pirates but pays special
attention to the seven games of that World Series. Each player is
given his due, with a complete biographical sketch. Includes 60
photographs, complete club statistics, box scores for each game,
and tables on the acquisition of each player as well as information
on how they departed.
Let's say you're the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, deciding
which players should start in Game 7 of the World Series against
the American League champs. But instead of choosing from the
current roster, you have every player in the team's 131-year
history in your clubhouse. Who's your starting pitcher: lefty John
Candelaria, steady Bert Blyleven, Cy Young winner Doug Drabek, or
crafty Rip Sewell? Who bats cleanup-hitting-machine Honus Wagner,
home-run champ Ralph Kiner, Willie "Pops" Stargell, or the hugely
talented Barry Bonds? Combining career stats, common sense, and a
host of intangibles, veteran sportswriter Dave Finoli imagines an
embarrassment of riches and sets the all-time All-Star Pirates
lineup for the ages.
When it came to football in the 1930s, the college sport was king.
But in 1933, former boxer and minor league baseball player Art
Rooney, who had quarterbacked the squad at Duquesne University,
purchased a team for Pittsburgh for $2,500. Thus began the legacy
we know as "Steeler Nation." At the time, no one could have
imagined that the Pirates, as they were originally named, would
become a treasured possession for Pittsburghers. For the first 40
years, the franchise was a national joke. With only one playoff
performance-a 21-0 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles
for the eastern division title in 1947-highlights were minimal for
a team that regularly found itself at the bottom of the standings.
Then in 1969, Art Rooney's son Dan hired Chuck Noll from the
Baltimore Colts to coach his team. Noll replaced undisciplined
players with future hall of famers. By 1974 the team won its first
world championship and went on to capture four Super Bowl titles in
six years. Noll's legacy for excellence continued with four more
Super Bowl appearances and two championships in 2005 and 2008,
garnering the franchise a league record of six Super Bowl wins.
Classic Steelers includes these six championship tilts and takes
citizens of the Steeler Nation on a play-by-play tour of the most
memorable games in the team's history. Author David Finoli recounts
in vivid detail the thrilling gridiron performances that have made
the Steelers so special to their legions of fans.
The 1970s were both successful and tragic for the Pittsburgh
Pirates. They won five NL Eastern Division crowns and the 1971
World Championship, but lost the great Roberto Clemente in a plane
crash and pitcher Bob Mosse in a car accident during this time. By
the end of the 1970s, the Pirates were a good team, but no longer
were considered favorites to win a World Series. Thanks to a
fantastic finish in 1978, the Pittsburghers gained new hope for the
1979 season. As intriguing as the season was, it wasn't until the
evening of August 25th that the Pirate fans really started to
believe ""it"" could truly happen. The history of that magical ball
club is covered here, from how the 1979 world champion team was
built, to a thorough look at the season and post season, to how
""The Family"" finally fell. Also included are biographical
sketches of each player who appeared on the team's roster that year
and a section of complete statistics.
We're gathered here: To select and celebrate the Steel City 500,
the greatest athletes in Western Pennsylvania history. A few notes
of explanation as you're getting your beer and preparing to argue
with the choices. First, in the case of team sports, we're limiting
our picks to those who competed here at either the collegiate or
professional level. That same rule doesn't hold true for individual
sports (more on that in a minute). Therefore, of our great legacy
of NFL quarterbacks like Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Joe Montana and
Dan Marino, only Marino qualifies for inclusion on the Steel City
500 list (No. 20), based upon his exploits at the University of
Pittsburgh. Likewise, Donora's Stan "The Man" Musial doesn't crack
the list, despite being one of the 20 greatest baseball players of
all time, because he unfortunately never played for the Pittsburgh
Pirates. For us, high-school athletics paled in comparison, so we
chose to identify those who competed at a higher level. (However,
we'e not nuts, so we included a separate listing of great athletes
who hailed from but never played here.) How did we choose the 500,
you may ask, and was there beer involved? Carefully and yes. We
cast a wide net in determining what athletes and indeed what sports
to include. Among the 500 you'l find the expected football,
baseball, hockey and basketball players. But you'll also find
boxers, swimmers, jockeys, wrestlers, sprinters, long jumpers,
golfers and tennis players' and a whole host of others who competed
in individual sports. We have a number of Hall of Famers. Some from
Cooperstown and Canton, but also others from Danai Beach, Florida,
home of the Fishing Hall of Fame as well as the Basketball, Hockey,
College Football, Track, Soccer, Bowling and Tennis halls of fame
just to name a few. We don't have any figure skaters because we
don't consider it a sport but rather an activity. But who in their
right mind can come up with rankings when you're comparing and
contrasting across different sports? How do you determine that a
great running back ranks higher than a power-hitting first baseman?
Good question. There were a number of factors weighed: Records held
and other awards/achievements, longevity/number of great seasons in
Pittsburgh, championships, inclusion into halls of fame and impact.
That's why Louise Fulton comes in at No. 194. As the first
African-American woman to win a title on the Women's Professional
Bowlers Association Tour in the midst of the Civil Rights movement,
she had impact at a turbulent time. And yes, we'll probably hear it
for ranking a horse, Adios, at No. 32. But before you say nay (or
is it neigh?), take a look at our reasoning. Chances are you might
not agree with where some of our competitors fall in the list.
Barry Bonds outside the top 20? You'll see why. That's the beauty
of this project, the discussions that are sure to ensue. The other
highlight for us is to be able to showcase many of the top athletes
you may not have heard of or have been overlooked. Western
Pennsylvania has a great sporting heritage. Join us in celebrating
it.
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