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| bleacher bums closing: The Chicago Sports Reader Steven A. Riess, Gerald R. Gems, 2009 A celebration of the fast, the strong, the agile, and the tricky throughout Chicago's storied sports history |
| bleacher bums closing: 100 Things Cubs Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die Jimmy Greenfield, 2016-05-01 This lively, detailed book explores the personalities, events, and facts every Cubs fan should know. More than a look at the century-long wait for another World Series win, the book contains crucial information for Cubs fans, such as important dates, player nicknames, memorable moments, and outstanding achievements by singular players. This guide to all things Cubs also includes a list of must-do Cubs-related activities, which include taking in Wrigley field, traveling to Arizona for spring training, and sipping beers at the best Cubs bars around the country.This new, updated edition features the new generation of Cubs stars, including manager Joe Maddon, sluggers Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant, and ace Jon Lester. |
| bleacher bums closing: Gibson's Last Stand Doug Feldmann, 2013-07-12 During star-pitcher Bob Gibson’s most brilliant season, the turbulent summer of 1968, he started thirty-four games and pitched every inning in twenty-eight of them, shutting out the opponents in almost half of those complete games. After their record-breaking season, Gibson and his teammates were stunned to lose the 1968 World Series to the Detroit Tigers. For the next six years, as Bob Gibson struggled to maintain his pitching excellence at the end of his career, changes in American culture ultimately changed the St. Louis Cardinals and the business and pastime of baseball itself. Set against the backdrop of American history and popular culture, from the protests of the Vietnam War to the breakup of the Beatles, the story of the Cardinals takes on new meaning as another aspect of the changes happening at that time. In the late 1960s, exorbitant salaries and free agency was threatening to change America’s game forever and negatively impact the smaller-market teams in Major League Baseball. As the Cardinals’ owner August A. Busch Jr. and manager Albert “Red” Schoendienst attempted to reinvent the team, restore its cohesiveness, and bring new blood in to propel the team back to contention for the pennant, Gibson remained the one constant on the team. In looking back on his career, Gibson mourned the end of the Golden Era of baseball and believed that the changes in the game would be partially blamed on him, as his pitching success caused team owners to believe that cash-paying customers only wanted base hits and home runs. Yet, he contended, the shrinking of the strike zone, the lowering of the mound, and the softening of the traditional rancor between the hitter and pitcher forever changed the role of the pitcher in the game and created a more politically correct version of the sport. Throughout Gibson’s Last Stand, Doug Feldmann captivates readers with the action of the game, both on and off the field, and interjects interesting and detailed tidbits on players’ backgrounds that often tie them to famous players of the past, current stars, and well-known contemporary places. Feldmann also entwines the teams history with Missouri history: President Truman and the funeral procession for President Eisenhower through St. Louis; Missouri sports legends Dizzy Dean, Mark McGwire, and Stan “the Man” Musial; and legendary announcers Harry Caray and Jack Buck. Additionally, a helpful appendix provides National League East standings from 1969 to 1975. Bob Gibson remains one of the most unique, complex, and beloved players in Cardinals history. In this story of one of the least examined parts of his career—his final years on the team—Feldmann takes readers into the heart of his complexity and the changes that swirled around him. |
| bleacher bums closing: Mayor of the Bleachers Robert Schaper, 2011 |
| bleacher bums closing: Yes I Can! Yes You Can! Denny Dressman, Jay Leeuwenburg, 2005-12 Yes I Can! Yes You Can! tells the inspiring story of Jay Leeuwenburg, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age twelve and refused to allow it to prevent him from living a full, active life. Jay insisted that he be able to participate in any sports activity he chose. “To not participate,” he says, “would be like saying, ‘Don’t breathe.’” He became a unanimous All-American at the University of Colorado and played nine years in the National Football League. Jay used his NFL stardom to become a rare role model for children with diabetes. His message: Yes You Can! His example also provides hope for parents of children with diabetes, encouraging them to be supportive but not sympathetic as their youngsters learn first to cope with, and then to overcome, their lifelong disease. |
| bleacher bums closing: From Black Sox to Three-Peats Ron Rapoport, 2013-08-30 Bears, Bulls, Cubs, Sox, Blackhawks—there’s no city like Chicago when it comes to sports. Generation after generation, Chicagoans pass down their almost religious allegiances to teams, stadiums, and players and their never-say-die attitude, along with the stories of the city’s best (and worst) sports moments. And every one of those moments—every come-from-behind victory or crushing defeat—has been chronicled by Chicago’s unparalleled sportswriters. In From Black Sox to Three-Peats, veteran Chicago sports columnist Ron Rapoportassembles one hundred of the best columns and articles from the Tribune, Sun-Times, Daily News, Defender, and other papers to tell the unforgettable story of a century of Chicago sports. From Ring Lardner to Rick Telander, Westbrook Pegler to Bob Verdi, Mike Royko to Hugh Fullerton , Melissa Isaacson to Brent Musburger, and on and on, this collection reminds us that Chicago sports fans have enjoyed a wealth of talent not just on the field, but in the press box as well. Through their stories we relive the betrayal of the Black Sox, the cocksure power of the ’85 Bears, the assassin’s efficiency of Jordan’s Bulls, the Blackhawks’ stunning reclamation of the Stanley Cup, the Cubs’ century of futility—all as seen in the moment, described and interpreted on the spot by some of the most talented columnists ever to grace a sports page. Sports are the most ephemeral of news events: once you know the outcome, the drama is gone. But every once in a while, there are those games, those teams, those players that make it into something more—and great writers can transform those fleeting moments into lasting stories that become part of the very identity of a city. From Black Sox to Three-Peats is Chicago history at its most exciting and celebratory. No sports fan should be without it. |
| bleacher bums closing: The Hollywood Reporter , 2007 |
| bleacher bums closing: Chicago Cubs Yesterday & Today Steve Johnson, 2008-04-15 Pairing historical black-and-white images with contemporary photographs, this book is a lavish celebration of the Chicago Cubs. It highlights the ballparks and fans, the players and teams, the broadcasters and behind-the-scenes figures who have defined Chicago baseball for more than a century. |
| bleacher bums closing: Wrigley Field Stuart Shea, 2014-03-07 “One of the best books ever written about the Cubs, their home and the fans who flock there to watch them, win or lose.”—Rolling Stone In spring 1914, a new ballpark opened in Chicago. Hastily constructed after epic political maneuvering around the city’s and organized baseball’s hierarchies, the new Weeghman Park (named after its builder, fast-food magnate Charley Weeghman) was home to the Federal Leagues Chicago Whales. The park would soon be known as Wrigley Field, one of the most emblematic and controversial baseball stadiums in America. In this book, Stuart Shea provides a detailed and colorful chronicle of this living historic landmark and shows how the stadium has evolved to meet the shifting priorities of its owners and changing demands of its fans. While Wrigley Field today seems irreplaceable, we learn that from game one it has been the subject of endless debates over its future, its design, and its place in the neighborhood it calls home. To some, it is a hallowed piece of baseball history; to others, an icon of mismanagement and ineptitude. Shea deftly navigates the highs and lows, breaking through myths and rumors, in a book packed with facts, stories, and surprises that will captivate even the most fair-weather fan. From big money (the Ricketts family paid $900 million for the team and stadium in 2009), to exploding hot dog carts, to the curse-inducing goat, Shea uncovers the heart of the stadium’s history. “More than any other American institution, baseball most wholeheartedly welcomes half-baked history and curdled lore. It's fun, after all; what grinch wishes to poke at the tale of Babe Ruth's called shot? But more often than not the real stories are even more delicious, and no one has gathered more of them than author Stuart Shea. His book is an unceasing delight.”—John Thorn, official historian, Major League Baseball and author of Baseball in the Garden of Eden |
| bleacher bums closing: For the Birds Laura Erickson, In 365 day-by-day sketches, Laura Erickson brings more than 250 birds right into your living room-from rare hawk owls to elusive sedge wrens to plastic lawn flamingos. Light-hearted, yet authoritative, For the Birds is brimming with fascinating birdlore. Did you know that you can mail three chickadees with a single stamp? That Black-billed Cuckoos flourish on a diet of army worms? That winter finches are especially attracted to feeders offering grit and eggshells? Enjoy Laura's entertaining observations and record your own in For the Birds-an uncommon guide. |
| bleacher bums closing: Mystics R Lealos, 2010-11-09 While most 17 year old girls battle with pimples, baby fat, hormones, and embarrassment, along with all the other horrors, the Mystics come of age growing into supernatural powers that have sprouted in the New Age hothouse of Ashland, Oregon. Confronted with challenges like the kidnapping of Immigrant High School's most popular girl, the assault on the heroine Jasmine's boy friend, and a terrorist attack on their city, the Mystics bond together, forming a paranormal A team that has the magic to overcome the threats to their classmates, themselves, and the town they love. Learning their psychic skills, surrounded by kids who don't really get the potential in the arsenal of the Mystics, and a few adults who have their own telepathic gifts, the book chronicles the evolution of the group's mysterious talents and the bonding together required to make them a force no one would intentionally cross or they might find themselves kissing the porcelain throne. |
| bleacher bums closing: When the Game Changed George Castle, 2012-03-06 An authoritative look back at the decade that brought America’s favorite game into the modern era. |
| bleacher bums closing: American Theatre Thomas S. Hischak, 2001-02-08 Volume Four of the distinguished American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama series offers a thorough, candid, and fascinating look at the theater in New York during the last decades of the twentieth century. |
| bleacher bums closing: Plie Ball! Jeffrey M. Katz, 2016-09-27 From the vaudeville gyrations of New York Giants star pitchers Rube Marquard and Christy Mathewson, to Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra as hoofing infielders in Take Me Out to the Ball Game, to the stage and screen versions of Damn Yankees, the connection between baseball and dance is an intimate, perhaps surprising one. Covering more than a century of dancing ballplayers and baseball-inspired dance, this entertaining study examines the connection in film and television, in theatrical productions and in choreography created for some of the greatest dancers and dance companies in the world. |
| bleacher bums closing: More Tales from the Cubs Dugout Bob Logan, 2006 This humorous and revealing title lets readers bite off a huge chunk of tasty Cubs? fun, fantasy, heartbreak, and happiness during unforgettable afternoons in the sun, rain, wind, and fog that make every inning an adventure at Wrigley Field. It's written in the sprightly style of Bob Logan, who covered baseball for 32 years as a sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald. All of the tales add up to an entertaining slice of Cubs lore in every chapter, full of enjoyable facts, and well remembered characters. |
| bleacher bums closing: The Big Chair Ned Colletti, Joseph A. Reaves, 2017-10-03 “An important contribution to 21st-century baseball literature. . . Mr. Colletti’s book might be even more groundbreaking [than Moneyball] in some ways: It’s a nearly unprecedented opportunity to see what running a baseball franchise looks like through the eyeballs of an actual general manager. . . [Colletti] has a gift for entertaining storytelling. . . These are stories modern general managers rarely tell, except in late-night gatherings at their favorite bars with people they know and trust. So to read them here, told in such colorful detail, makes you feel as if Ned Colletti has just invited you to plop down on the next bar stool.” --Wall Street Journal “Ned Colletti is a baseball treasure with fascinating stories to tell from inside the game. The Big Chair is your all-access pass. After reading this book, you will not only understand the job of a general manager better but also the game of baseball itself.”—Tom Verducci, author of The Cubs Way and co-author of The Yankee Years An unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at the career of famed former Los Angeles Dodgers General Manager (a position also known as “The Big Chair”), whose tenure spanned nine of the most exciting and turbulent years in the franchise’s history. During his tenure with the Dodgers, Colletti had the highest winning percentage of any general manager in the National League. In The Big Chair, he lets readers in on the real GM experience from his unique vantage point—sharing the inner workings of three of the top franchises in the sport, revealing the out-of-the-headlines machinations behind the trades, the hires and the deals; how the money really works; how the decision-making really works; how much power the players really have and why—the real brass tacks of some of the most pivotal decisions made in baseball history that led to great success along with heartbreak and failure on the field. Baseball fans will come for the grit and insight, stay for the heart, and pass it on for the wisdom. Ned Colletti began his MLB career with his beloved hometown team, the Chicago Cubs, more than 35 years ago. He worked in Chicago for a dozen years and was in the front office when the Cubs won the National League East in 1984 and 1989, after which he moved on as director of baseball operations for the SF Giants. By 1996, he became the Assistant GM for the Giants, before being hired as the GM in Los Angeles in 2006. There he oversaw the Dodgers through the highly publicized and acrimonious divorce battle between Frank and Jamie McCourt that culminated in the equally highly publicized sale of the team. He was present at the press conference where Don Mattingly, having just watched his team eliminated from the playoffs, used the post-season conference to vehemently discuss his lack of a contract extension. He brought marquee names like Greg Maddux and Clayton Kershaw to LA, as well as marquee drama with the likes of Manny Ramirez and Yasiel Puig; hired future Hall of Famer Joe Torre as manager; and oversaw fourteen Dodgers playoff wins. And these are just a few of the highlights. Colletti serves up a huge dish of first-hand experiences with some of the biggest names in baseball history (Barry Bonds, Greg Maddux, Don Mattingly, Don Zimmer, Tommy Lasorda, Scott Boras, Vin Scully, and more). From his humble early years living in a Chicago garage to his path to one of the most prestigious positions in professional sports, his very public and illustrious career has left a permanent handprint in the history of America's sport—and now he's ready to share the insight only those who have sat in The Big Chair have ever seen. |
| bleacher bums closing: Top Fuel Wormhole Cole Coonce, 2006 Volume 1 of the Cole Coonce drag strip reader. Churned out between races while sitting in a trackside porta-potty, Coonce's collection of incendiary drag strip journalism was written during his days at Super Stock & Drag Illustrated, Full Throttle News and Nitronic Research, between his stints as a guitar player in Braindead Soundmachine and his return to show business as Angelyne's fluffer in Studio City, California. Its 256 pages of ack-ack includes Viva La Nitro and Who's Afraid of Arley Langlo? |
| bleacher bums closing: Wrigleyworld Kevin Kaduk, 2006-03-28 In 2016 the Chicago Cubs finally won the World Series after a 108 year losing streak. But before that, never say die” was a way of life for Cubs fans, including sportswriter Kevin Kaduk... In the summer 2005 season, in a fit of nostalgic, heartfelt (and possibly insane) loyalty to his “Lovable Losers,” Kevin quit his job as a sportswriter in Kansas City and moved back to the Windy City on a quest to find the heart and soul of what has come to be known as “Wrigleyville.” As Kevin searched for answers, he found one hell of a good time. In this rollicking exploration of baseball and blind faith, he weaves a riveting tale of the team that stole his heart—and the life of the neighborhood surrounding baseball’s most historic ballpark. He takes us from the famed ivy-fronted bleachers in Wrigley Field to the full-blast party atmosphere that vibrates through the surrounding blocks every game day. He visits the rooftops across the street from the field where the beer is ice cold and the bratwurst never stops coming and explores the depths of Wrigleyville’s bar scene, where raucous celebration and heartrending commiseration are all too common. So crack open a cold one, and get ready to experience the true adventures of Kevin Kaduk—a man who took himself out to the ballgame, bought himself some peanuts and Cracker-Jack...and never came back. |
| bleacher bums closing: The New York Mets Encyclopedia Peter C. Bjarkman, 2013-06-04 The New York Mets Encyclopedia provides the full and exciting story of modern-era baseball’s most popular expansion-age franchise. From those lovable losers of 1962 and 1963, to the Miracle Mets of 1969 and 1973, and on to year-in and year-out contenders of the 1980s and 1990s, New York’s National League Mets have written some of the most exciting and colorful pages in Major League history. This is the team that captured the hearts of fans everywhere with its often-laughable antics under colorful and celebrated manager Casey Stengel. Only half a dozen years later, the Mets reached baseball’s pinnacle under gifted manager Gil Hodges. This colorful volume combines detailed narrative history with archival photographs, rich statistical data, and intimate portraits of the team’s most memorable personalities. This is also a franchise that has been home to many of the game’s biggest on-field stars. Among them are such unforgettable diamond characters as reckless slugger Darryl Strawberry; glue-fingered first sacker Keith Hernandez; baseball’s all-world catcher, Mike Piazza; pitching ace Johan Santana; and record-breaking third baseman David Wright. The full scope of the Mets’ fifty-plus-year history is discussed in an expansive chapter that gives the reader a historical detailed overview and features a year-by-year Mets chronology and season-by-season opening-day lineups. This newly revised edition offers insight on everything a Mets fan would want or need to know. |
| bleacher bums closing: The Chicago Cubs Rich Cohen, 2017-10-03 The New York Times–bestselling author “knocks it out of the park,” exploring the history of the 2016 World Series champions, the Chicago Cubs (Vanity Fair). When Rich Cohen was eight years old, his father took him to see a Cubs game. On the way out of the park, his father asked him to make a promise. “Promise me you will never be a Cubs fan. The Cubs do not win,” he explained, “and because of that, a Cubs fan will have a diminished life determined by low expectations. That team will screw up your life.” Cohen became not just a Cubs fan but one of the biggest Cubs fans in the world. In this book, he captures the story of the team, its players and crazy days. Billy Sunday and Ernie Banks, Three Finger Brown and Ryne Sandberg, Bill Buckner, the Bartman Ball, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo—the early dominance followed by a 107-year trek across the wilderness. It’s all here, in The Chicago Cubs: Story of a Curse—not just what happened, but what it felt like and what it meant. Featuring extensive interviews with players, owners, and coaches, this mix of memoir, reporting, history, and baseball theology—forty years in the making—has never been written because it never could be. Only with the 2016 World Series can the true arc of the story finally be understood. “A marvelous distillation of all things Cubs, the history, the jinx, the glorious redemption of 2016, complete with a rainstorm sent by the Lord God Almighty. You’ll rip through it faster than a plastic cup of Old Style . . . ” —Chicago Sun-Times |
| bleacher bums closing: Ensemble Mark Larson, 2019-08-13 This definitive history brings Chicago’s celebrated theater and comedy scenes to life with stories from some of its biggest stars spanning sixty-five years. Chicago is a bona fide theater town, bursting with vitality that thrills local fans and produces generation after generation of world-renowned actors, directors, playwrights, and designers. Now Mark Larson shares the rich theatrical history of Chicago through first-person accounts from the people who made it. Drawing from more than three hundred interviews, Larson weaves a narrative that expresses the spirit of Chicago’s ensemble ethos: the voices of celebrities such as Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ed Asner, George Wendt, Michael Shannon, and Tracy Letts comingle with stories from designers, composers, and others who have played a crucial role in making Chicago theater so powerful, influential, and unique. Among many other topics, this book explores the early days of the fabled Compass Players and the legendary Second City in the ‘50s and ‘60s; the rise of acclaimed ensembles like Steppenwolf in the ‘70s; the explosion of storefront and neighborhood companies in the ‘80s; and the enduring global influence of the city as the center of improv training and performance. |
| bleacher bums closing: Ten Innings at Wrigley Kevin Cook, 2019-05-07 The dramatic story of a legendary 1979 slugfest between the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies, full of runs, hits, and subplots, on the cusp of a new era in baseball history It was a Thursday at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, mostly sunny with the wind blowing out. Nobody expected an afternoon game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs on May 17, 1979, to be much more than a lazy early-season contest matching two teams heading in opposite directions—the first-place Phillies and the Cubs, those lovable losers—until they combined for thirteen runs in the first inning. “The craziest game ever,” one player called it. “And then the second inning started.” Ten Innings at Wrigley is Kevin Cook’s vivid account of a game that could only have happened at this ballpark, in this era, with this colorful cast of heroes and heels: Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and Bruce Sutter, surly slugger Dave Kingman, hustler Pete Rose, unlucky Bill Buckner, scarred Vietnam vet Garry Maddox, troubled relief pitcher Donnie Moore, clubhouse jester Tug McGraw, and two managers pulling out what was left of their hair. It was the highest-scoring ballgame in a century, and much more than that. Cook reveals the human stories behind a contest the New York Times called “the wildest in modern history” and shows how money, muscles, and modern statistics were about to change baseball forever. |
| bleacher bums closing: Chicago Cubs, The Mark Stewart, 2012-01-01 A revised Team Spirit Baseball edition featuring the Chicago Cubs that chronicles the history and accomplishments of the team. The Team Spirit series paints an engaging, detailed yet accessible picture of professional sports teams. By focusing on the history, great victories and memorable personalities, the books have an enduring quality that will not go out of date quickly. The text is enhanced with plenty of full color photographs as well as reproductions of vintage trading cards and team memorabilia. Once you have the books, be sure to check out the new EXTRA INNINGS website to go along with the reading material! This site will be continuously updated with all new information on every baseball team – the perfect source for up-to-date statistics and player information for young sports fans. Each website includes: • Achievement Updates, More Go-To Guys, More Fun Facts, League Leaders, and more! |
| bleacher bums closing: Tim McCarver's Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans Tim McCarver, Danny Peary, 2013-05-22 Tim McCarver, major league baseball's premier analyst, has been surprising and delighting viewers for years with his remarkable insight. Fans who once were content to merely watch baseball were stimulated into wanting to think baseball as well. McCarver brings to the booth a combination of twenty-one years of major league service and nearly twenty more in broadcasting. There is nobody better at explaining the game than McCarver, and it is a rare game in which the viewer does not learn something new and unusual. Now he is putting down on paper all he knows about the sport, producing this unique perspective on how America's pastime should be played and watched. With his unmistakable wit and storytelling verve, McCarver succinctly explains the fundamentals and proper mechanics of baseball at the level necessary for success in the major leagues. Once the skills have been learned, the viewer can devise smart strategies, getting into the heads of the players, coaches, and managers: When should a player or manager be conservative or aggressive; what factors change as the count goes deeper; how do you set up an effective running game, and how can a defense try to sabotage it? This book is a gold mine for all fans, from brain surgeons and rocket scientists to beginners who want to start with the basics. (Even major leaguers will be able to pick up some pointers.) With a deeper knowledge and understanding of baseball, any fan will be able to watch it like a pro. |
| bleacher bums closing: Chicagoland D.K. Olson, 2023-04-13 Chicago is a name that everyone around the world has heard of--thanks to Al Capone! Doug's love for Chicagoland, and his desire to bring the same love for the Windy City and its suburbs to people presently living there or planning to reside there in the future, supersedes his own personal shortcomings. For people who used to live there, the memories found in this book should be quite fulfilling. The Chicago Ancestry chapters, in particular, promise to be historical and informative. |
| bleacher bums closing: Alley Cats W. T. Taylor, 2009-08-31 Welcome to the first book of the Alley Cats Series. These books although fictional are based loosely on some of the actual occurrences that happened in our lives. Our neighborhood was the save haven for most of the area children. The alley, tracks, factories and apartment buildings behind our house were the perfect play ground for these boys to play. When a game of sand lot baseball was the start of their day and a place to meet and grow friendships. They will encounter numerous challenges and adventures that they will overcome. Please come with me as we explore their adventures together. |
| bleacher bums closing: Fairways and Highways Kevin Price, John Gardner, 2001-07-09 In this entertaining, endearing account of one of the greatest road trips the human mind has ever devised, Kevin Price and John Gardner take you from Pebble Beach to Bethpage Black and from Harbour Town to Piñon Hills with tales of adventure on and off the golf course. Bouncing back and forth between the misery of steamy summer nights in a little orange tent and the luxury of world-class resorts, Kevin and John drove almost 14,000 miles through 36 states to play 42 rounds of golf in 71 days. Their story exposes the soul of the game in the people who play it. From stroke victim Rico Paris to beach bum head pro Keith Stanzel, from the exuberant Bob Svihus to the goofy J. Traylor Johnson III, a colorful cast of characters brings this story to life. Beginning with the first blush of an idea and ending in an improbable, incredible conclusion, Fairways and Highways moves as briskly as the guys’ Honda Civic. Wish you could have joined them? Try the next best thing: Come along for the ride as Kevin and John search for the Perfect Drive. |
| bleacher bums closing: The Hellyer Say Art Hellyer, 2008-08-06 Art Hellyer was king of Chicago radio in the 1950s, and enjoyed success through the 1980s. His programs were original, creative, and funny, and claimed a loyal audience. |
| bleacher bums closing: Collision at Home Plate James Reston, Jr., 1997-02-01 Describes how the lives of baseball player Pete Rose and baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti collided when Rose was accused of betting on the game |
| bleacher bums closing: The Importance of Being Ernie: Barry Livingston, 2011-05-26 I SPENT MY ENTIRE LIFE PLAYING NERDS. . .—Barry Livingston A true Hollywood survivor, Barry Livingston is one of the few child stars who turned early success into a lifelong career. As Ernie on the 1960s sit-com My Three Sons—which also featured his real-life brother Stanley as Chip—Barry become instantly recognizable for his horn-rimmed glasses and goofy charm. Five decades later, after working on TV shows like Mad Men and Desperate Housewives, and in feature films like Zodiac and The Social Network, Barry Livingston is one actor who knows The Importance of Being Ernie. . . In this fascinating and funny memoir, Barry reveals his most unforgettable anecdotes: Working on set with Fred McMurray, Ozzie and Harriet, Lucille Ball and Dick Van Dyke. Riding a limousine with Elvis Presley. Trying to upstage Ron Opie Howard. Even shooting a Superbowl beer commercial with Brad Pitt. At first, Barry's lazy eye and horn-rimmed glasses nearly derailed his career, getting him kicked off his first major film starring Paul Newman. Eventually, his nerdy look became his biggest asset, landing Barry a recurring role on Ozzie & Harriet and a regular part on My Three Sons. Fifty years later, Barry is still going strong—from the stage and small screen to to featured film roles opposite Adam Sandler and Robert Downey, Jr.. Like most Hollywood actors, Barry experienced some incredible highs and lows along the way, but he never gave up. I've been around half a century, he affirms. And I'm not going away. This is how one child star beat the odds and survived the dark side of the Hollywood dream factory—with charm, wit, determination. . .and big horn-rimmed glasses. This is The Importance of Being Ernie. Barry Livingston has been a professional actor on stage and screen for more than fifty years. Best known for his role as Ernie on the long-running TV program, My Three Sons, Livingston continues to appear regularly in feature films and television shows. He is married with two children, and lives in Los Angeles. Praise For The Importance Of Being Ernie This wryly told saga of a child star who miraculously avoided the crash-and-burn fate of so many of the once-famous. . . an engaging tale of the unusual life of a humorous, modest, and observant man. Barry Livingston delivers a frank and funny tale of TV, movies, and family life. —Brent Maddock, co-author of Tremors and Short Circuit For a child star, he's almost normal. This poor kid had to sit on William Frawley's lap; we're lucky he's not on a roof with a rifle. . .. Barry is one of those rare child stars who grew up to become an accomplished adult actor. Having logged fifty years in show business, working with everyone from Lucille Ball and Jack Benny to Brad Pitt and Robert Downey, Jr., he's got a great story to tell. —Paul Jackson, Producer Charmed and Sliders. I have known Barry Livingston since he was nine years old. He always made me laugh. Now he's kept me awake reading his wonderful autobiography. There's a lot of talent in those size eight shoes. —Gene Reynolds, director of TV's M.A.S.H.and Promised Land |
| bleacher bums closing: Miracle Collapse Doug Feldmann, 2009-09-25 Miracle Collapse is the story of how one of the most talented Cubs teams ever to take the field - with Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams, and ace pitcher Ferguson Jenkins among their ranks and led by the irascible manager Leo Durocher - raced to an early division lead and a seemingly certain pennant, only to unravel spectacularly at the season's end.. |
| bleacher bums closing: The 1969 Cubs Ferguson Jenkins, George Castle, 2019-01-17 Baseball pitcher Ferguson Fergie Jenkins gives his first-hand perspectives and insights into the 1969 Chicago Cubs baseball team and that most remarkable 1969 baseball season in and around Wrigley Field. |
| bleacher bums closing: A Magic Summer Stanley Cohen, 2009-04-14 A Magic Summer tells of that remarkable season by chronicling the major events as viewed twenty years later. Interviews conducted twenty years after with members of the team--Seaver, Ryan, McGraw, and others--provide immediacy and, with that, fascinating updates and insights. This is a unique record and celebration of a season that Mets fans--and all baseball fans--will not soon forget. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports--books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home. |
| bleacher bums closing: Following the Flame Greg Lautenslager, 2005-11 Jonny Langenfelder will do whatever it takes to make the Olympics. He will run 150 miles per week through duststorms or snowstorms, endure the torment of crazed coaches and bizarre teammates, flip burgers, wash dishes, and live in a van or a basement or with the two people who tell him he is wasting his time - his parents. Follow Jonny on a whirlwind journey that will take you around the world and into the locker rooms, hotels, stadiums, bars, and training ground of some great and not-so-great athletes, and inside the mind of a high-spirited runner who battles to stay on the straight path - no matter what temptation or tragedy threatens to keep him from reaching his goal. |
| bleacher bums closing: Sweet Lou and the Cubs George Castle, 2009-03-03 Sweet Lou and the Cubs chronicles from the inside-out Lou Piniella’s stirring and celebrated quest to reverse the team’s fortunes after a record 100 years without a World Series championship. Drawing on the story of Piniella’s Cubs debut in 2007 and his history as baseball’s ultimate firebrand, veteran Cubs reporter George Castle gives fans the real story behind the building of the best Cubs team in decades. In riveting detail he traces how the Cubs swept into the 2008 playoffs as the favorite to represent the National League in the World Series, but then went down in shocking defeat—leaving millions of fans to pin their wounded hopes on the prospects of their remade team finally turning the tide in 2009. . . . This is sports writing at its best, focusing on Piniella’s old-school style and baseball scientist’s mind; wild swings in the Cubs’ win-loss fortunes; the inside scoop on a Cubs’ front office that has been dramatically more aggressive than its predecessors; the byplay of daily clubhouse life and profiles of key players; and Piniella’s colorful proclamations and homespun philosophy, along with his interactions with his coaches, the team, ball-club executives, media, fans, and celebrity hangers-on. |
| bleacher bums closing: The Powers Valerie Sayers, 2015-04-30 1941 is a year of drama and spectacle for Americans. Joe DiMaggio’s record-breaking hitting streak enlivens the summer, and winter begins with the shock and horror of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The news from Europe is bleak, especially for the Jewish population. Joltin’ Joe, possessing a sweet swing and range in center, also has another gift: he can see the future. And he sees dark times ahead. In her inventive novel The Powers, Valerie Sayers, in both realistic and fantastic chapters, transports the reader to an age filled with giants: Dorothy Day and Walker Evans appear beside DiMaggio. The problems they face, from Catholic antisemitism to the challenge of pacifism in the face of overwhelming evil, play out in very public media, among them the photography of Evans and the baseball of DiMaggio. At once magical and familiar, The Powers is a story of witness and moral responsibility that will, like Joe DiMaggio, find some unlikely fans. |
| bleacher bums closing: Northsiders Gerald C. Wood, Andrew Hazucha, 2008-08-21 This collection of 19 essays examine the role of baseball's Cubs in the history and politics of Chicago. They focus on topics such as the rise of a nationwide fan base through the long reach of superstation WGN; the local uses and views of icons Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, and Ryne Sandberg; historical divides along lines of race (on the field) and class (in the stands); Wrigley Field as a public space both sacred and cursed; the importance of local and nationwide media coverage; and the Cubs' impact on Chicago music and literature. |
| bleacher bums closing: Chicken Soup for the Baseball Fan's Soul Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, 2012-08-28 Play Ball! These words resonate with special meaning in the minds of anyone who has ever enjoyed a game of baseball. Every fan will be amused and touched by stories of sportsmanship and victory gathered from the clay diamonds of America. |
| bleacher bums closing: Forgotten 1970 Chicago Cubs, The: Go and Glow William S. Bike, 2021 The author presents a month-by-month look at the Chicago Cubs' 1970 baseball season. |
| bleacher bums closing: Holy Cow, Black Cats and Billy Goats Joel Levin, 2017-07-10 This work was sparked by the Chicago Cubss 2016 world championship win. Joel M. Levin felt instant joy of victory after waiting seventy-one years to see it happen. This was quickly followed by a stirring of memories and emotions going back to 1945 when he saw his first ball game. He calls the memories, the treasures of his mind, and shares them with the reader. They include impressions of the world at large; details of his inner life; and the fortunes, fables, and foibles of his favorite baseball team. The story starts with a young boy whose family experiences early America with both depression and an oncoming war, but he is able to start on a lifetime journey as a loyal Chicago Cubs fan. In truth, the book is not a memoir, as few people are interested in the life of an ordinary man. It is more an examination of life as time moved on and how the author experienced it. It is not a pure or objective sports book nor is it analytical, critical, or historical. Once again, it is from the vantage point of a fan. It is called a trilogy, a combined tale of the world at large, the impact on the author, and the destiny of the Chicago Cubs on the long, winding path to becoming the best team in baseball. The work includes references to music of the time and is peppered with poetic expressions; humor; and a creative look at curses, superstitions, and symbolization. The story begins with a young fan who sits in the bleachers and, in time, graduates to a premier seat near the Cubss dugout. Every Cubs fan in Joel Levins age group has a unique story to tell. The best part is they reached the finish line together, seeing their lovable losers as the last team standing. There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle (Albert Einstein). |
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