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Baseball Stories is a collection of some of the greatest baseball stories ever written. It will entertain, enlighten, and inspire fans across the country. These are enduring stories that have passed the test of time and have attracted generations of readers. They are custom-made for the imaginative reader who loves baseball and tales of our national game.

The ultimate collection of soccer's greatest lore and legends, by two of the world's most knowledgeable soccer journalistsWho Invented the Bicycle Kick? is a rollicking run through 100 years of global soccer history that will surprise and delight fans old and new. Veteran soccer journalists Paul Simpson and Uli Hesse bring together the sublime feats, legendary personalities, neglected heroes, bizarre twists of fate, and fascinating mysteries that have shaped the world's most popular game, including: Who invented the bicycle kick? Why does a football match last 90 minutes? Who scored the fastest goal ever? Which match produced the largest number of red cards? Why are seven dead cats buried under a stadium in Argentina? Which team was banned from the World Cup after refusing to play in shoes? Who had the most powerful leg in soccer history?Providing answers to more than 100 mysteries, Simpson and Hesse explore the beautiful game as never before, shedding new light on legends such as Pele, Maradona, Messi, Beckham, Ronaldo, and Rooney, and uncovering lost histories of international clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, Barcelona, Liverpool, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and more. Challenging conventional wisdom and destroying many urban myths, Who Invented the Bicycle Kick? is a must-read for every soccer lover.Illustrated with 100 archival photos

When it comes to dating, everyone makes mistakes. Rosa Blasi made hers with professional athletes . . . over and over again.There was the hockey player (whose body part she mistook for a rolling pin), the basketball center (her karmic "grim reaper?), the baseball outfielder (a catch "on paper?...until she read too much about him in the papers), and finally the NFL running back who led her to athlete sobriety. Over the course of ten years, actress Rosa Blasi had serious relationships with stars from several professional sports. And now she shares the intimate details of her wild journey with self-deprecating candor?offering juicy behind-the-scenes details of her romantic misadventures with jocks.From sneaking into the Playboy Mansion to her debut spread in Maxim magazine, Rosa details with acerbic wit and raw honesty the surprising ups and sometimes frightening downs of dating sports "heroes." Jock Itch is an eye-opening and often hilarious cautionary tale guaranteed to make anyone contemplating a relationship with a pro athlete turn and run as fast as possible to the opposite end zone.

Stanley Coveleski's life was a story of triumph and tragedy.He was born in the Coal Region town of Shamokin, PA in 1889, the eighth child of Polish immigrants, and went to work as a breaker boy when he was twelve. But he escaped the 12-hour work days in the mines by throwing stones at a can tied to a tree-his own crash course in how to pitch a baseball.Years later, he was one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball.In a season marked by personal and team tragedy-the death of his wife and his teammate Ray Chapman, who is the only player to die as a result of being hit by a pitch-Covey pitched three complete-game victories in the Cleveland Indians' 1920 World Series championship.Covey, one of 17 pitchers still allowed to throw a spitball after it being outlawed before the 1921 season, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.Check out this interview about the book...

As a seven-year-old kid pitching a ball against a brick wall, John Smoltz decided to be a professional baseball player when he grew up. And from that simple decision until his last season on the mound in the major leagues, it was his faith, work ethic, and love for the game that propelled him through challenges that would have ruined other athletes.Starting and Closing chronicles the final season in a legendary career that included fourteen years in one of the most dominant rotations in baseball, a Cy Young Award, and a World Series title?all while battling and overcoming "career-ending" injuries. Recounting a season that tested his perseverance and deepened his faith, Smoltz flashes back to watershed moments in the skeptic-defying journey from being one of the best starting pitchers of all time, to closer, to starter again. What emerges is an inspirational story from a man who believed not just in himself but in God's plan for him?and one more year.

As he stepped to the plate at Yankee Stadium on opening day in 1966, Bobby Murcer carried with him the hopes and expectations of Yankees fans looking for the next Mickey Mantle. Bobby wasn't the next Mick, of course, but he became one of the most beloved Yankees of all time. Yankee for Life is Murcer's account of his stellar career as both a player and an Emmy Award-winning broadcaster. With self-effacing humor and down-home charm, he shares fascinating and illuminating anecdotes about former teammates, bosses, and the new generation of Yankees superstars?Rivera, Jeter, Rodriguez?whom he watched grow up from the broadcast booth. With candor, courage, and a refreshing dose of wit, he tells of his battle with brain cancer, explaining how the love of his wife and family, his deep religious faith, and the passionate support of fans helped see him through his ordeal.Bobby Murcer may not have achieved the celebrity of some of his fellow players, but ultimately he was what fans always wanted him to be: a Yankee for life.

No player in the history of baseball has left such an indelible mark on the game as San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds. In his twenty-year career, Bonds has amassed an unprecedented seven MVP awards, eight Gold Gloves, and more than seven hundred home runs, an impressive assortment of feats that has earned him consideration as one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. Equally deserved, however, is his reputation as an insufferable braggart, whose mythical home runs are rivaled only by his legendary ego. From his staggering ability and fabled pedigree (father Bobby played outfield for the Giants; cousin Reggie Jackson and godfather Willie Mays are both Hall of Famers) to his well-documented run-ins with teammates and the persistent allegations of steroid use, Bonds inspires a like amount of passion from both sides of the fence. For many, Bonds belongs beside Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron in baseball's holy trinity; for others, he embodies all that is wrong with the modern athlete: aloof; arrogant; alienated.In Love Me, Hate Me, author Jeff Pearlman offers a searing and insightful look into one of the most divisive athletes of our time. Drawing on more than five hundred interviews -- with former and current teammates, opponents, managers, trainers, friends, and outspoken critics and unapologetic supporters alike -- Pearlman reveals, for the first time, a wonderfully nuanced portrait of a prodigiously talented and immensely flawed American icon whose controversial run at baseball immortality forever changed the way we look at our sports heroes.

Part sports star, part antihero, part hip-hop icon, Allen Iverson has managed to cross over into the mainstream of American culture -- without compromise. Defiantly tattooed, with his hair in cornrows, the six-foot Philadelphia 76ers point guard is one of the most recognizable and controversial stars of the sports world. His meteoric rise from a troubled childhood in the ghetto to NBA superstardom has been marked by five straight playoff appearances, including a finals berth in 2001 and an MVP award. From his rap sheet to his rap album, fans and journalists alike hound his every move. But never before has a biographer presented a full portrait of this complicated and intensely private star -- a man whose loyalty to his family, the streets, and his friends trumps any other concern. Filled with exclusive interview material and unprecedented access to many of Iverson's inner circle, Only the Strong Survive is the first in-depth look at the truth behind this newly minted legend.

For a period of time in the 1970s, the Los Angeles Dodgers versus the Cincinnati Reds was one of the best rivalries in Major League Baseball. This book takes a fresh look at these two powerhouses and the players that made them so pivotal, including Johnny Bench, Steve Garvey, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Don Sutton, and Ron Cey.

This book provides a historical-sociological analysis of recreational scuba diving practices. Starting from a national case study, Greece, the book analyzes the gradually evolving global institutional arrangements of this version of underwater recreational activities. Based on the author¿s experience as a former diving instructor and on an historical and sociological research of scuba diving in Greece, the book examines the stages of institutionalization of scuba diving as a leisure practice on a global scale, from 1945 to the present day. It combines two traditions: the phenomenological approach of underwater multisensory embodied experience and tourism studies. The two main research questions that the project answers are (a) how scuba diving has historically been shaped as a leisure activity, (b) how has underwater experience been conceptually shaped as a leisure activity. This case is an excellent example for exploring the relationship between society, technology, body and modern practices of self in the late modernity world, under a phenomenological and historical perspective.

The no-holds-barred memoir from kickboxer Mark "Fightshark" Miller, the only professional fighter in history to return to the ring after open-heart surgeryIn 2007, Mark Miller was a rising star in professional kickboxing, until a routine physical uncovered a serious condition that required open-heart surgery. The crisis helped to temporarily reunite his fractured family and made Miller more determined than ever to return to the kickboxing ring. But within a year, his parents and brother were all dead, and Miller's fragile optimism imploded, sending him into a tailspin of drugs and alcohol.Pain Don't Hurt is a story of incredible tenacity, dedication, and hard work?how one fierce competitor overcame repeated obstacles to realize his dreams. Miller recounts stories ranging from his childhood spent in the Steelers locker room to the surprising life lessons he learned from other fighters to his triumphant return to fighting in a Moscow kickboxing ring. He talks frankly about family and fatherhood?of the hard lessons about masculinity and violence learned from his abusive father. He also offers an inspiring, exciting, and frank account of the fights?both in and out of the ring?that have shaped him.A deeply personal account of guts, blood, and glory, Pain Don't Hurt pays tribute to the never-say-die spirit embodied in a man who refuses to back down, no matter the odds.

In this young adult autobiography, Tony Hawk shares the stories from his life that have helped him become a skateboarding hero. Hawk speaks of being a super-competitive ′demon′ child who found peace while on a skateboard. Classmates teased him because of his interest in an ′uncool′ sport. Instead of retaliating with violence, he practised even more. With his story, he will inspire a younger generation of fans to stand up for what they believe in and follow their dreams. Ages 8-12

Seasons on Ice - The Birth of Wisconsin Badgers Hockey is a never before told story about the Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey program. It is a meticulously researched chronology documenting the origins of ice hockey during the initial era at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from the 1890s on Lake Mendota through the mid-1930s.Hockey developed quite a following in Madison, WI. as a recreational activity that grew into a full-fledged varsity sport at the UW by 1922 until the program was ultimately canceled in 1935! See how this program was literally built from the ice up and learn about several of the unique individuals who shaped the character of Badger Hockey for generations to follow. Ultimately, making it possible for the program to be revived nearly three decades later and evolve into a national powerhouse.

Long before the Red Sox "Impossible Dream" season, Boston's now nearly forgotten "other" team, the 1914 Boston Braves, performed a baseball "miracle" that resounds to this very day. The "Miracle Braves" were Boston's first "worst-to-first" winners of the World Series. Shortly after the turn of the previous century, the once mighty Braves had become a perennial member of the National League's second division. Preseason pundits didn't believe the 1914 team posed a meaningful threat to John McGraw's powerful New York Giants. During the first half of that campaign, Boston lived down to such expectations, taking up residence in the league's basement.Refusing to throw in the towel at the midseason mark, their leader, the pugnacious George Stallings, deftly manipulated his daily lineup and pitching staff to engineer a remarkable second-half climb in the standings all the way to first place. The team's winning momentum carried into the postseason, where the Braves swept Connie Mack's heralded Athletics and claimed the only World Championship ever won by Boston's National League entry. And for 100 years, the management, players, and fans of underperforming ball clubs have turned to the Miracle Braves to catch a glimmer of hope that such a midseason turnaround could be repeated. Through the collaborative efforts of a band of dedicated members of the Society for American Baseball Research, this benchmark accomplishment is richly revealed to the reader in The Miracle Braves of 1914: Boston's Original Worst-to-First World Series Champions. The essence of the "miracle" is captured through a comprehensive compendium of incisive biographies of the players and other figures associated with the team, with additional relevant research pieces on the season. After a journey through the pages of this book, the die-hard baseball fan will better understand why the call to "Wait Until Next Year" should never be voiced prematurely.

This book examines how since its arrival in 1867 with British immigrants, football has become the key cultural signifier of national identity in Argentina over the long twentieth century. With the international exploits of players such as Luis Monti, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Diego Maradona, the sport has projected Argentina onto the global consciousness not seen in any other way.In this book, Mark Orton challenges existing myths surrounding the nativisation of football in Argentina away from British influence, as he shows how the game provided a conduit for the assimilation of millions of European immigrants in the early decades of the century into a new Argentine ¿race¿. The book also examines how football gave some of the ¿voiceless others¿ such as women, Afro-Argentines, indigenous people and those in the interior an arena to project themselves in an Argentine society that was masculine, white and Buenos Aires-dominated.

In One-Win Wonders, we meet 78 players whose time in the major leagues included only a single pitching win. One-Win Wonders is a companion book to the 2021 SABR book One-Hit Wonders, which included biographies of players who had gotten only a single hit.The 78 players whose biographies are presented here are among the 915 players who completed their major-league career with just one win. An astonishing 229 of those never lost a game, ending with a career record of 1-0. Some simply had very brief stays in the majors, like Bill Ging "With the Wonderful Wing" who joined the Boston Beaneaters at the tail end of 1899 and secured a 2-1 complete game victory over the New York Giants, but found himself without a team when the National League contracted from 12 teams to eight in 1900. Then there's Nick Adenhart, whose career was tragically cut short by a drunk driver hours after securing his win for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.Others, like catcher Brent Mayne, were position players who wound up on the mound and left with a victory. Mayne's win came in an epic extra-innings contest between the Colorado Rockies and Atlanta Braves, after the last pitcher on the roster was ejected after a brawl. Each of the current 30 major-league franchises is represented by at least one such wonder, as are a number of other teams, some dating back to the nineteenth century. One-Win Wonders represents the collaborative work of nearly 60 researchers, authors, and editors from the Society for American Baseball Research.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of current debates on the influence of the Olympic Games on cities, urban policies and the governance of global cities, making a valuable contribution to the fields of Olympic studies and urban studies. Historically, Western cities such as Paris, London, and later Los Angeles, have been the primary hosts of the summer Games. However, the link that existed between the world metropolises of the last century and the Games has deeply changed. Growing concerns about the Games' costs and environmental impact have prompted a shift in the expectations of candidate cities and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This evolution favours more modest bids, and a resurgence of global cities and historical Olympic host cities within the Olympic landscape. This book is an essential resource for researchers in Olympic studies, urban studies, and all those involved in the planning of these events.

This is the story of the 1959 Dodgers, a team that rose above its disastrous first season on the West Coast for an out-of-nowhere World Series title. One of baseball's greatest underdog champions, the '59 Dodgers were a rag-tag team made of long shots salvaged from the minor leagues and over-the-hill ballplayers who reached back for one final triumph. After surviving a thrilling three team pennant race, they met fellow long shots the Chicago White Sox in an underdog World Series. Here, the team's story is recounted in detail, with game-by-game highlights, and set against the cultural backdrop of the civil rights movement, the Cold War, and the rock and roll cultural revolution.

The official slogan for the SEC is "It just means more." And they are right. SEC football means more passion, more money, and more titles. This book explores how the SEC went from a regional league to a nationwide brand that dominates the college football landscape.

Step back in time to the summer of 1940, when professional baseball in Fayetteville, Arkansas met its untimely demise, leaving a void that has never been filled in the decades since. In this enchanting tapestry of history, the remarkable story of a nearly forgotten Class-D minor league unfolds before your eyes-an organization that holds the title of the "smallest league that ever functioned in organized baseball." With every turn of the page, a bittersweet nostalgia permeates the air, drawing you into the world of the Arkansas-Missouri League and the faded glory of the Fayetteville Angels. The raucous symphony of wood meeting horsehide, the exhilaration of triumphant cheers, and the heartwrenching cries of defeat. Each of these once vibrant sounds now exist as mere whispers, floating in the ethereal realm of forgotten history. Angels in the Ozarks brings a bygone era back to life, where dreams soared and the spirit of baseball thrived, forever leaving an indelible mark on the hearts of those who still remember.

Ebbets Field is one of the most cherished of baseball's lost ballparks. This book tells the story of Ebbets Field through several feature essays and stories of nearly 100 historic games played there.Relive the historic debut of Jackie Robinson, the 1949 All-Star Game, and the first start by 19-year-old Sandy Koufax-a two-hitter in which he fanned 19 batters. Brooklyn's triumphs and heartbreaks in multiple World Series are here, too, along with Jeff Pfeffer's 18-inning complete game in 1919, and Johnny Vander Meer's second straight no-hitter. These games encompass ample heroics of Cookie Lavagetto, Dolph Camilli, Don Newcombe, Sal Maglie, Babe Herman, and Joe Black.Named after Charles Ebbets, majority owner of the Brooklyn baseball club from 1902 until his death in 1925, Ebbets Field was the home of the Dodgers from 1913 until their relocation to Los Angeles after the 1957 season. Whether they were called the Superbas, the Robins (after skipper Wilbert Robinson) or the Dodgers, the club played over 3,400 games at Ebbets Field, as well as 28 World Series games in nine different postseasons. The games included in this volume reflect every decade in the ballpark's history, from the inaugural regular-season game, against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 9, 1913, to the last one, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, in front of just 6,702 spectators on September 24, 1957.This volume is a collaborative effort of dozens of members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).

This entertaining book provides an account of the history of pedestrianism, the sport of competitive walking, including detailed descriptions of the performances of some of the most celebrated walkers of the last and present centuries, and the science of training for such events. A must-read for anyone interested in the history of sports and athletics.This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.