Wicked Curve Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle version is available to download in english. Read online anytime anywhere directly from your device. Click on the download button below to get a free pdf file of Wicked Curve book. This book definitely worth reading, it is an incredibly well-written.
When in 1911 Phillies pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander set the National League record for wins by a rookie (28), it was a sign of things to come. Alexander went on to win 373 games over his 20-year career, the third highest total in major league history, and he would lead the league in ERA four times, shutouts seven times, complete games six times, and wins six times. But he also became a deeply troubled man. After the Shell-Shocked pitcher returned from World War I, he would battle alcoholism, epilepsy, and personal demons that damaged his reputation and proved disastrous for his life outside of baseball. This biography sheds new light on the pitcher and the man, focusing on Alexander's personal life, especially his complex relationship with his wife, Aimee, as well as their marriages and divorces. His Hall of Fame career, wartime service, and long decline are also documented.
The Conference on Baseball in Literature and American Culture has consistently produced a strong body of scholarship since its inception in 1995. Essays presented at the 2008 and 2009 conferences are published in the present work. Topics covered include religion; class and racial dichotomies in the literature of cricket and baseball; re-reading The Natural in the 21st century; the feminist movement; Don DeLillo's Game 6; baseball in Seinfeld; Robert B. Parker; Harry Stein's Hoopla; Negro league owner Tom Wilson's impact on Nashville; Major League Baseball's postwar boom; and overwrought baseball editorials, among others.
Clem Labine was the "King of the Bullpen" so described by Robert Creamer of Sports Illustrated. He was baseball's premier 'closer' two decades before the term 'closer' was ever used. He led the League in 'saves' for years, a decade before 'saves' were even tallied. He was twice an All Star and three times a World Series Champion. As a Brooklyn Dodger, Clem ended with a Lifetime World Series ERA of a remarkable 1.65, and is a member of the Brooklyn Dodger Baseball Hall of Fame. As a rookie, he shut out the Giants in the second game of the iconic best-of-three 1951 playoffs. In the Dodgers' 1955 World Series Championship, he saved one game and won another. The following year, he pitched the day after Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series and outdueled Yankee ace Bob Turley for a 10 inning 1-0 victory, going the distance. And yet, though acknowledged by his peers as one of baseball's all-time greats, he is nearly forgotten by all except the most ardent of fans. He played with Jackie Robinson and Carl Erskine and Pee Wee Reese and Campy and Hodges and the Duke. He was one of them and they knew it, and all of baseball knew it. But the public recognition was never there. One time in New York, Chicago Cubs manager Bob Scheffing was asked by a reporter "If you had your choice of any one pitcher in the entire league, who would you pick?' 'Labine' Scheffing said, without hesitation." (Robert Creamer, Sports Illustrated June 3, 1957) So why, we all ask. Why history's failure to acknowledge Clem's talents and contributions? I like Tommy Lasorda's explanation best of all; "He played the game the way it was supposed to be played. He gave it everything he had, he got along with everyone and everyone loved him.....He was one of the finest pitchers to ever play the game...... but he was surrounded by too many stars." Therefore, maybe it is time to talk about my friend Clem Labine...to celebrate this Brooklyn Dodger Boy of Summer; this man of principle! Not just the athlete, but the husband, father, friend, and proud citizen of his little home town of Woonsocket, R.I.
A 672 page, award-winning biography of country music singer Jim Reeves based on hundreds of interviews and Jim's private diaries. Virtually a day by day account of the life of this internationally renowned star.
Comeback Pitchers is the story of two pitchers, Jack Quinn and Howard Ehmke, whose intertwining careers began in the Deadball Era and continued into the 1920s and 1930s.
The “compelling” New York Times bestseller by the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, capturing the 1964 World Series between the Yankees and Cardinals (Newsweek). David Halberstam, an avid sports writer with an investigative reporter’s tenacity, superbly details the end of the fifteen-year reign of the New York Yankees in October 1964. That October found the Yankees going head-to-head with the St. Louis Cardinals for the World Series pennant. Expertly weaving the narrative threads of both teams’ seasons, Halberstam brings the major personalities on the field—from switch-hitter Mickey Mantle to pitcher Bob Gibson—to life. Using the teams’ subcultures, Halberstam also analyzes the cultural shifts of the sixties. The result is a unique blend of sports writing and cultural history as engrossing as it is insightful. This ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.