The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell

The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell PDF Author: Lonnie Wheeler
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 1647001110
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Get Book

Book Description
The ï¬?rst full biography of the star Negro Leaguer and Hall of Famer James “Cool Papa” Bell (1903–1991) was a legend in black baseball, a lightning fast switch hitter elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Bell’s speed was extraordinary; as Satchel Paige famously quipped, he was so fast he could flip a light switch and be in bed before the room got dark. In The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell, experienced baseball writer and historian Lonnie Wheeler recounts the life of this extraordinary player, a key member of some of the greatest Negro League teams in history. Born to sharecroppers in Mississippi, Bell was part of the Great Migration, and in St. Louis, baseball saved Bell from a life working in slaughterhouses. Wheeler charts Bell’s ups and downs in life and in baseball, in the United States, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, where he went to escape American racism and MLB’s color line. Rich in context and suffused in myth, this is a treat for fans of baseball history.

The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell

The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell PDF Author: Lonnie Wheeler
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 1647001110
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Get Book

Book Description
The ï¬?rst full biography of the star Negro Leaguer and Hall of Famer James “Cool Papa” Bell (1903–1991) was a legend in black baseball, a lightning fast switch hitter elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Bell’s speed was extraordinary; as Satchel Paige famously quipped, he was so fast he could flip a light switch and be in bed before the room got dark. In The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell, experienced baseball writer and historian Lonnie Wheeler recounts the life of this extraordinary player, a key member of some of the greatest Negro League teams in history. Born to sharecroppers in Mississippi, Bell was part of the Great Migration, and in St. Louis, baseball saved Bell from a life working in slaughterhouses. Wheeler charts Bell’s ups and downs in life and in baseball, in the United States, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, where he went to escape American racism and MLB’s color line. Rich in context and suffused in myth, this is a treat for fans of baseball history.

Invisible Men

Invisible Men PDF Author: Donn Rogosin
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803259690
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 340

Get Book

Book Description
The Negro baseball leagues were a thriving sporting and cultural institution for African Americans from their founding in 1920 until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. Rogosin's narrative pulls the veil off these "invisible men" and gives us a glorious chapter in American history.

Shades of Glory

Shades of Glory PDF Author: Lawrence D. Hogan
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 9780792253068
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 450

Get Book

Book Description
The result of a study commissioned by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and funded by a grant from Major League Baseball(, this richly illustrated, comprehensive history combines vivid narrative, visual impact, and a unique statistical component to re-create the excitement and passion of the Negro Leagues. 75 photos.

Josh Gibson

Josh Gibson PDF Author: Mark Ribowsky
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 9780252072246
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 340

Get Book

Book Description
Mark Ribowsky, the widely acclaimed biographer of "Satchel Paige," pulls no punches in his portrait of this magnificent, troubled athlete. Ribowsky shows Gibson's dark side, but he also enhances Gibson's historical status even as he separates fact from fiction by examining the truth behind his legendary performances. "Josh Gibson" is the most complete, thorough, and authoritative account of the life of black ball's greatest hitter, and one of its most important stars.

Willie Wells

Willie Wells PDF Author: Bob Luke
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292778260
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Get Book

Book Description
The first complete biography of an important Negro League baseball player from Austin, Texas. Willie Wells was arguably the best shortstop of his generation. As Monte Irvin, a teammate and fellow Hall of Fame player, writes in his foreword, “Wells really could do it all. He was one of the slickest fielding shortstops ever to come along. He had speed on the bases. He hit with power and consistency. He was among the most durable players I’ve ever known.” Yet few people have heard of the feisty ballplayer nicknamed “El Diablo.” Willie Wells was black, and he played long before Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier. Bob Luke has sifted through the spotty statistics, interviewed Negro League players and historians, and combed the yellowed letters and newspaper accounts of Wells’s life to draw the most complete portrait yet of an important baseball player. Wells’s baseball career lasted thirty years and included seasons in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Canada. He played against white all-stars as well as Negro League greats Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Buck O’Neill, among others. He was beaned so many times that he became the first modern player to wear a batting helmet. As an older player and coach, he mentored some of the first black major leaguers, including Jackie Robinson and Don Newcombe. Willie Wells truly deserved his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but Bob Luke details how the lingering effects of segregation hindered black players, including those better known than Wells, long after the policy officially ended. Fortunately, Willie Wells had the talent and tenacity to take on anything—from segregation to inside fastballs—life threw at him. No wonder he needed a helmet. “Willie Wells: “El Diablo” of the Negro Leagues is well researched and well written, so the average baseball fan should find it to be an entertaining read.” —Dale Petroskey, president, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum “The story of Willie Wells opens another window on the conditions and constraints of Jim Crow America, and how painfully difficult it can be, even now, to remedy the persistent effects of discrimination. Every baseball fan will love this story. Every American should read it.” —Ira Glasser, executive director, American Civil Liberties Union, 1978-2001 “Reconstructing, indeed resurrecting, the career of a peripatetic Negro League baseball player is a daunting task. Negro and Major League great Monte Irvin tells us that his fellow Hall of Famer, shortstop Willie Wells, belongs on the same baseball page as Gibson, DiMaggio, Paige, and Feller. This fine biography by Bob Luke does a wonderful job in telling us why and how that is the case. We have here a Hall of Fame telling of the story of a true Hall of Famer.” —Lawrence Hogan, author of Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African American Baseball

Knuckler

Knuckler PDF Author: Tim Wakefield
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0547517718
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 301

Get Book

Book Description
"An incredibly intelligent, self-aware glimpse inside an admirable career. The preseason pick for best baseball book of the season." –Booklist (starred review) "A must-read." -- Boston Globe “Knuckler is a terrific book about one of baseball's most underrated pitchers, not to mention baseball's most misunderstood pitch. There are wonderful stories and anecdotes here, but it's also a portrait of a humble, caring man who has carved out a special niche for himself. If you love baseball (not just Red Sox baseball), Knuckler is for you. If you don't care a hang about baseball, but like stories about exceptionally talented people behaving decently, Knuckler is also for you. And if you're sick to death of sports stories about athletes behaving badly, Tim Wakefield's book is the perfect antidote.” –Stephen King “To read Knuckler is to appreciate that there is no gimmick, no fluke, no chance to Tim Wakefield approaching 200 wins and 20 major league seasons. This book is about resiliency, diligence and the tunnel vision required to live by what appears to be the most fanciful pitch thrown by man." –Peter Gammons, MLB baseball analyst and member of the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame "Tim Wakefield’s Knuckler is a fastball right down the middle of the plate. It is an honest, straightforward and very enjoyable account of the national pastime.” –Allan H. (Bud) Selig, Commissioner of Baseball "I have always admired Tim Wakefield, as he plays baseball with a great deal of integrity, the way the game should be played. Knuckler gives readers a rare glimpse at the man behind the baseball and his remarkable work on and off the field." –Carlton Fisk, Hall of Fame catcher "Competent and entertaining, Wakefield's book is one to savor, especially for the stat-obsessed baseball fan and the novice pitcher in search of a knuckleball to call his own." –Publishers Weekly "Provides valuable insights on perseverance, professionalism, and the ability to forget the last pitch." –Library Journal —

Oscar Charleston

Oscar Charleston PDF Author: Jeremy Beer
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496224965
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 456

Get Book

Book Description
The biography of Oscar Charleston, a Negro Leagues legend and one of baseball’s greatest and most unjustifiably overlooked players.

Josh Gibson

Josh Gibson PDF Author: William Brashler
Publisher: Ivan R. Dee Publisher
ISBN: 9781566632959
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Get Book

Book Description
This illuminating biography introduces an authentic American sports hero and recaptures the mood and style.

Babe Ruth and the 1918 Red Sox

Babe Ruth and the 1918 Red Sox PDF Author: Allan Wood
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1469715716
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 437

Get Book

Book Description
Babe Ruth and the 1918 Red Sox is the first complete account of Boston's fifth World Series championship. The year is famous, but most fans know very little about the season. During that tumultuous summer, the Great War in Europe cast an ominous shadow over the national game, as enlistments and the draft wreaked havoc with every team's roster. Players and owners fought bitterly over contracts and revenue, the parks were infested with gamblers, and the Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs almost called off the World Series. And a Boston player known as The Colossus -- 23-year-old Babe Ruth -- began his historic transformation from pitching ace to the game's greatest slugger. Wood also poses a chilling question: Was the 1918 World Series fixed? Sports Illustrated called the book "an entertaining and exhaustive account of a tumultuous season" and Robert W. Creamer, author of the definitive biography of Ruth, said "Mr. Wood has lit upon one of the most turbulent and important and at the same time least known years in baseball history. He has done remarkable, revelatory research, and he has a clean, clear way of writing."

The Right Time

The Right Time PDF Author: Wes Singletary
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786484667
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 234

Get Book

Book Description
Although he never played a day in the white major leagues, John Henry “Pop” Lloyd was one of the greatest baseball players who ever lived. A shortstop who could take over a game with his glove or his bat, Lloyd dominated early black baseball, drawing comparisons to the most celebrated National Leaguer of his day, Honus Wagner, who declared it a privilege to be mentioned with Lloyd. Beginning his career years before the first Negro National League was established, Lloyd played for a dizzying number of teams, following the money, as he’d put it, throughout the country and sometimes past its borders, doing several stints in Cuba. He was seemingly ageless, winning two batting titles in his 40s and playing at the highest levels of blackball until he was 48. (He would continue to coach and play semi-pro baseball for another ten years.) Admired by teammates and opponents alike for his generosity and quiet strength, Lloyd was also one of the most beloved figures in white or black baseball.