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Dick Stuart (1932-2002) began as a minor league first baseman,
noted for his outsized ego and terrible fielding. His brash
personality and 66 home runs for the Lincoln Chiefs of the Western
League made him a national figure in 1956. In 1958, he came up to
the majors in Pittsburgh and played some fine seasons with the
Pirates, and later the Boston Red Sox. In 1961, he was selected for
the National League All-Star team, and he led the American League
in RBI in 1963. A wise-cracking bon vivant, his career was not what
it might have been. If he had worked harder, he might have been a
better player. If Bill Mazeroski hadn't ended the 1960 Series with
a home run, Stuart, who was on deck, might have been the hero. Yet
his great hitting ability, quick wit and love for the limelight
made him one of the most interesting players of his era.
Major League Baseball was in crisis in 1968. The commissioner was
inept, professional football was challenging the sport's popularity
and the game on the field was boring, with pitchers dominating
hitters in a succession of dull, low-scoring games. The League
expanded for the 1969 season but the muddled process by which new
franchises were selected highlighted the ineffective management of
the sport. This book describes how baseball reached its nadir in
the late 1960s and how it survived and began its slow comeback. The
lack of offense in the game is examined, taking in the great
pitching performances of Denny McLain, Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale and
others. Colorful characters like Charley Finley and Ken Harrelson
are covered, along with the effects dramatic changes in American
society and the war in Vietnam had on the game.
It was a novel experiment as baseball's leading men formed the
National Association, bringing order to the hodgepodge of
professional and amateur clubs that made up the sport from the end
of the Civil War through 1870. It was an imperfect beginning to
organized professional sports in America-the league was plagued by
gambling, contract jumping and rumors of dishonest play-but it laid
groundwork for the multibillion dollar enterprises of the 21st
century. Like most sporting endeavors, it was entertaining, with
the best players in the world displaying their talents throughout
the northeastern and mid-western United States and, in 1874, during
a ground-breaking journey to England. In its second edition, this
book covers all the action-both on and off the field-of the NA's
early years, providing the definitive history of the first
professional sports league in the U.S.
This narrative history of minor league football teams in
Connecticut during the 60s and 70s is based on extensive newspaper
and periodical research and interviews with nearly 70 former
players, broadcasters and journalists. Only a few players - such as
Marv Hubbard, Lou Piccone and Bob Tucker - emerged from the minors
and made it to the NFL, but many more played for as little as $25
per game in their quest to make it big, or just to have fun playing
the game they loved. Wealthy men like Pete Savin and Frank
D'Addario got to live their dreams by owning teams in Hartford and
Bridgeport. In the days before cable television saturated the media
with live sports, small town fans turned out to support their local
heroes, often men who worked on construction crews during the week,
and stopped by the diner Sunday morning to talk football. Now in
their 60s, 70s and 80s, these men share their stories of a simpler
era; the good times, like the Hartford Knights' 1968 ACFL
championship season, and the long bus rides and missed paydays that
were as much a part of minor league ball as first downs and
interceptions.
This is a history of the New York Yankees over a decade which saw
them at the top of the American League and at the bottom. Based
upon thorough background research and interviews with over 100
former players, the book covers the major stories of the period as
well as some not seen elsewhere. The seventh games of the 1960 and
1962 World Series are described in detail, replete with the
remembrances of many of the participants. The infamous Phil Linz
harmonica incident, the fruitless search for another Mickey Mantle
and the surprising emergence of Mel Stottlemyre are some of the
stories that make the early ?60s such a fascinating era in Yankee
lore.
This book traces the history of the New York Mets from the
franchise's inauspicious beginnings?the 1962 team, led by Casey
Stengel and made up of players like Rod Kanehl and Jay Hook, lost
120 games?through the miraculous championship season of 1969. Based
on interviews with more than one hundred former players and
extensive research by one of the more highly regarded baseball
historians writing today, the book covers the era in unprecedented
detail. Any Met fan from the 1960s will find some familiar stories
along with some they?ve probably never read before. Presented in an
easy-to-read, narrative style, this book traces the rapid ascent of
the Mets and explores the reasons for their early failure and
dramatic success.
This history of America's pastime describes the evolution of
baseball from early bat and ball games to its growth and acceptance
in different regions of the country. The New York clubs (i.e., the
Atlantics, Excelsiors and Mutuals) are a primary focus, serving as
examples of how the sport became more sophisticated and popular.
The author compares theories about many of baseball's "inventors,"
exploring the often fascinating stories of several of baseball's
oldest founding myths. The impact of the Civil War on the sport is
discussed and baseball's unsteady path to becoming America's
national game is analyzed at length.
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