Search results for ""Author Lew Freedman""

With 363 victories, Warren Spahn is the winningest lefty in baseball history. Over 21 years, he won 20 or more games 13 times, was a 17-time All Star, won a Cy Young–award, then, of course, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Spahn was also a war hero, serving in World War II and awarded the Purple Heart. To say Spahn lived a storied life is an understatement. In Warren Spahn, author Lew Freedman tells the story of this incredible lefty. Known for his supremely high leg kick, Spahn became one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. However, the road wasn’t as easy as it would seem. Struggling in his major-league debut at age twenty, manager Casey Stengel demoted the young left. It would be four years before Spahn would return to the diamond, as he received a calling of a different kind—one from his country. Enlisting in the Army, Spahn would serve with distinction, seeing action in the Battle of the Bulge and the Ludendorff Bridge, and was awarded a battlefield commission, along with a Purple Heart. Upon his return to the game, he would take the league by storm. Spahn dominated for over two decades, spending twenty years with the Braves (both Boston and Milwaukee), as well as a season with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. Pitching into his mid-forties, he would throw two no-hitters at the advanced ages of thirty-nine and forty. From his early days in Buffalo and young career, through his time and the military and all the way to the 1948 Braves and “Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain,” author Lew Freedman leaves no stone unturned in sharing the incredible life of this pitching icon, who is still considered the greatest left-handed pitcher to ever play the game.

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With 363 victories, Warren Spahn is the winningest lefty in baseball history. Over 21 years, he won 20 or more games 13 times, was a 17-time All Star, won a Cy Young–award, then, of course, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Spahn was also a war hero, serving in World War II and awarded the Purple Heart.To say Spahn lived a storied life is an understatement.In Warren Spahn, author Lew Freedman tells the story of this incredible lefty. Known for his supremely high leg kick, Spahn became one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. However, the road wasn’t as easy as it would seem.Struggling in his major-league debut at age twenty, manager Casey Stengel demoted the young left. It would be four years before Spahn would return to the diamond, as he received a calling of a different kind—one from his country.Enlisting in the Army, Spahn would serve with distinction, seeing action in the Battle of the Bulge and the Ludendorff Bridge, and was awarded a battlefield commission, along with a Purple Heart.Upon his return to the game, he would take the league by storm. Spahn dominated for over two decades, spending twenty years with the Braves (both Boston and Milwaukee), as well as a season with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. Pitching into his mid-forties, he would throw two no-hitters at the advanced ages of thirty-nine and forty.From his early days in Buffalo and young career, through his time and the military and all the way to the 1948 Braves and “Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain,” author Lew Freedman leaves no stone unturned in sharing the incredible life of this pitching icon, who is still considered the greatest left-handed pitcher to ever play the game.

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The pro football season of 1963 was dominated by the unexpected. In April, months prior to the beginning of play, it was revealed that two All-Star players, Paul Hornung and Alex Karras, were gambling on the sport and would be suspended from play for at least a year. Even worse, in May, one of the league’s bigger-than-life personalities, Big Daddy Lipscomb, was found dead, with police saying he perished from a heroin overdose, something those who knew him best still dispute. As play began in September, the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened its doors in Canton, Ohio, the same town where the National Football League was founded in 1921 and inducted its first class. Also, the war for players and prestige raged with the upstart American Football League trying to obtain equal footing in the public eye.On the field, it was to be the year the Chicago Bears and their aging owner-coach George Halas knew glory once more, fighting off the latest dynasty Green Bay Packers led by Vince Lombardi in a season-long chase for the Western Division title. Yet even that was overshadowed by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. While the nation mourned and other sports leagues suspended activity, the NFL played on with its regular season that sad weekend—a choice commissioner Pete Rozelle later called the worst mistake of his tenure.Clouds over the Goalpost is filled with controversy not only on the field, but off it as well. From the various suspensions to an exciting championship game between the Bears and Giants, 1963 was a year that the NFL would never forget—for both the good and the bad.

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Since the inception of the National Hockey League on November 26, 1917, the sport of hockey has been one of the most popular games across the globe.After the National Hockey Association (NHA), which had been founded in 1909, ceased operations, the NHL took over and became a mainstay for the sport. While there had been teams that dated back to the 1800s and many that came and went through the years, there are six teams which are considered to be the Original or Traditional Six: the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Detroit Red Wings.In The Original Six, Lew Freedman (Clouds Over the Goalpost, A Summer to Remember) takes readers on a trip down memory lane, not only introducing the NHL’s humble beginnings, but how far the game has actually come.Broken up into six sections, Freedman tells the history and stories of the teams that represent the heart and soul of the NHL. From how these teams came to be and the steps that were taken to get them established to their early years and how they helped shape the game we love today, The Original Six is not only for lover’s of these teams, but for the sport itself.Whether you’re a diehard supporter or fair-weather fan, learn how this incredible sport began and of the teams that helped it grow into one of the most entertaining and enjoyable games in the world.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.

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The 1930 Major League baseball season was both marvelous and horrendous, great for hitters, embarrassing for pitchers. In totality it was just this side of insane as an outlier among all seasons.Major League Baseball began with the founding of the National League in 1876. In the 145 seasons since then, one season stands out as unique for the astounding nature of hitting: 1930.A flipside of 1968’s “Year of the Pitcher,” when the great St. Louis Cardinals Bob Gibson compiled a 1.12 earned run average and Detroit Tigers Denny McLain won 31 games, the 1930 season was when the batters reigned supreme. During this incredible season, more than one hundred players batted .300, the entire National League averaged .300, ten players hit 30 or more home runs, and some of the greatest individual performances established all-time records. From New York Giants Bill Terry’s .401 average—the last National Leaguer to hit over .400—to the NL-record 56 home runs and major league–record 192 runs batted in by Chicago Cubs Hack Wilson, the 1930 season is a wild, sometimes unbelievable, often wacky baseball story.Breaking down the anomaly of the season and how each team fared, veteran journalist Lew Freeman tells the story of a one-off year unlike any other. While the greats stayed great, and though some pitchers did hold their own—with seven winning 20 or more games, including 28 by Philadelphia Athletics’ Lefty Grove and 25 by Cleveland Indians’ Wes Ferrell—Freedman shares anecdotes about those players that excelled in 1930, and only 1930. More than ninety years later, 1930 offers insight into a season that still stands the test of time for batting excellence.

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How the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies Won the First World Series Championship in Franchise HistoryThe road was rocky and the suspense intense as a make-or-break 1980 baseball season unfolded for the Philadelphia Phillies under a new, often-unpopular manager who sought to shape a collection of All-Star talent into champions.In the

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For Chicago Bears fans, anyone who ever wore the uniform is like family. Bears by the Numbers reintroduces readers to some of their long-lost ancestors, even those they think they already know.What do Al Campana, Frank Dempsey, Stan Wallace, Don Mullins, Gale Sayers, and Steve Trimble all have in common? They all wore number 40 for the Chicago Bears, even though more than four decades passed between the last time Campana last pulled on his jersey and the number was retired for Sayers in 1994 (along with 51 for Dick Butkus).Since the Chicago Bears first adopted uniform numbers in 1932, the team has handed out only 99 numbers to more than 1,000 players. That’s a lot of overlap. It also makes for a lot of good stories. Bears by the Numbers tells those stories for every Bear since ’32, from Red Grange to Pernell McPhee.This book lists the players alphabetically and by number; these biographies help trace the history of one of football’s oldest and most beloved teams in a new way.

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By any standard of normal behavior, sports cannot escape the definition of weirdness.Sports achievements have the capacity to inspire and excite watchers, whether through athletic brilliance or magnificent team performance, but there are times when our athletes and teams go wacko on us, and the most peculiar things break out with no warning to provide wide-eyed astonishment or laugh-out-loud responses.Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs landed on the disabled list due to a back injury caused by sneezing too hard.Minnesota Vikings football stalwart Jim Marshall ran the wrong way with a recovered fumble.Former NBA player Dennis Rodman spearheaded American diplomacy with North Korea.The lyrics and music creators of “Take Me Out to The Ballgame” authored one of the most sung songs in American history without ever having seen a baseball game.And more! While those spontaneous combustions may result from someone rising from the weird side of the bed, they’re often the most memorable.

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“It took me a day to learn [the knuckleball] and a lifetime to learn how to throw it for a strike.”This quote, by pitcher and coach Charlie Hough, is the best way to understand baseball’s most baffling and mysterious pitch. Not even the best practitioners of the art of throwing a knuckleball know where it is going most of the time. As a pitch that floats and comes into the plate in what appears to be slow motion, it is miraculous that those who employ the pitch don’t get creamed all over the park by batters who seem to know that it’s coming.Including interviews with Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, former All-Stars Wilbur Wood and Tim Wakefield, as well as other famed knuckleballers, Lew Freedman (Clouds over the Goalpost, A Summer to Remember), breaks down the history of this infamous pitch, which it seems can be traced back to Chicago White Sox pitcher Ed Cicotte, as well as its effect on baseball as a whole.With pitcher R. A. Dickey, who rejuvenated his career from castoff to 2011 Cy Young Award winner, the knuckleball is still a topic of conversation in the sport, and it continues to be one of the many marvels of our national pastime.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.

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Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, and other legendary Cubbies share their greatest moments - newly updated!Whether they wore white stockings or blue helmets, the baseball players of Chicago’s North Side have always had great stories to tell. Now fans of this loveable franchise will finally get to hear from twenty-eight of the best players as they relive that singular moment which defined their Cubs career. In this newly updated edition of Game of My Life Chicago Cubs, veteran sportswriter Lew Freedman brings readers off the bench and onto the field with such greats as: Billy Williams Ernie Banks Ferguson Jenkins Don Kessinger Ken Holtzman Milt Pappa Rick Monday Milt Pappas Mark Gracy Ryne Sandberg Kerry Wood And more. Filled with classic stories of Wrigley field and of legendary Cubs, this is a must-read for every real fan.

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Loyola University Chicago was ahead of its time when racial matters were forefront in a long overdue revolution in civil rights. The Ramblers of the 1962-1963 NCAA college basketball season were pioneers in race relations in sport, though most of the time they were simply playing the sport they loved.When the NCAA tournament began in March, the Ramblers engaged in a series for the ages, daring to be the first NCAA Division I school to play five black athletes on the court at once and capturing the most prestigious title in college basketball at a time when states below the Mason-Dixon line still had laws on the books preventing black and white athletes from mixing even in pick-up games.Records were set, rivals faced and one of the most famous and significant contests in college basketball playoff history played out in what incidentally became a model showcase for race relations. Nearly every time the Ramblers took the court, the game was unique in its magnitude.Relying significantly on exclusive interviews with surviving players, now in their seventies, Lew Freedman chronicles the entire journey, the adventure of the season that bound tight for a lifetime the group of men who lived through it.

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The complete story of our first national park, from the land's formation millions of years ago, to its designation as our first national park in 1872, to its current state. It's a story of inspiration, endurance, and foresight...Yellowstone National Park was anointed with its status as the nation’s first national park in 1872, a symbol of ground-breaking and wise United States policy providing a lead example for other countries at a time when the United States’ mindset was more focused on Manifest Destiny.It was one of the pioneering examples, just as Yosemite had been, of mankind taking a step back from aggressive, blind development with a first glance toward long-term preservation for future generations. There seemed to be an awakening to the riches of landscape the U.S. possessed and the dawning of an awareness that if not careful a reckless human presence could ruin it all.Yellowstone has passed through many stages, from the geological formation era of millions of years ago, to what would have to be characterized as a modern era of management beginning shakily in 1872, up to the present day. Current Park superintendent Cam Sholly said it has probably been only in the last 50 years or so an enlightened management program has truly focused on all-around preservation.For many people, Yellowstone represents their favorite place on earth, the most beautiful paradise on the planet, yet a place somehow accessible and mostly unspoiled, in accordance with the original pledge to future generations. This is the story of the park, the jewel of our National Park System.

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Written for every sports fan who follows the Chicago White Sox, this account goes behind the scenes to peek into the private world of the players, coaches, and decision makers--all while eavesdropping on their personal conversations. From the locker room to the field, the book includes stories about Carlton Fisk, Bo Jackson, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Billy Pierce, and Frank Thomas, among others, allowing readers to relive the highlights and the celebrations.

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A one-stop record containing everything White Sox fans want to know about their favorite baseball team, this resource is packed with anecdotes, history, explanations of traditions, statistics, trivia, and photos.

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Jenkins' life story—from Chatham, Ontario, to Cooperstown—is compelling, and Fergie tells it himself in his own unique and inimitable style. A tremendous all-around athlete who has always been proud of his roots and representing his country during a lifetime in the game, Jenkins established a reputation as one of the greatest pitchers of not only his era but of all time. A strikeout king who whiffed more than 3,000 batters, Jenkins earned the trust of his managers as a pitcher who completed what he started. This is the story of a man who refused to be leveled by sadness and disappointments away from the playing field. It is also the story of behind-the-scenes good humor in clubhouses and what takes place on baseball teams as they live and play together for months at a time, as only Fergie can tell it.

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Bobby "Slick" Leonard has etched his name forever on the Mount Rushmore of Indiana basketball, and in Boom, Baby! he shares memories from his storied career. Leonard takes readers inside the Indiana locker room with legendary head coach Branch McCracken and onto the court when he hit the deciding free throws as the "Hurrying Hoosiers" topped Phog Allen's Kansas Jayhawks. He recalls the NBA's early years, including being drafted by a Baltimore Bullets team that folded soon after selecting him. He tells of his time as the winningest coach in the ABA's nine-year history, securing three championships in his first five seasons with the Indianapolis Pacers. In his final act, "Slick" endeared himself to new generations of Hoosier hoops fans as the longtime Pacers radio voice, with his trademark call "Boom, Baby!" for a successful three-point shot.

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A flame-throwing star with the Houston Astros, J. R. Richard was at the top of his profession when he inexplicably began complaining of arm weakness in 1980. Initially scoffed at because he continued approaching 100 mph on the radar gun, everything changed when Richard collapsed while playing catch with a teammate—later diagnosed as a life-threatening stroke. The shocking development ended Richard’s major league career and set off a chain of events that led to the former All-Star being homeless by the mid-1990s. This rapid rise and sudden, tragic fall define the unusual, moving, and inspirational life of a Houston icon who has endured many hardships but has become an admired figure in his adopted hometown. J. R. Richard tells that story now in his own words, including the highs and the lows of his brilliant athletic career, the difficulties that befell him on and off the field, abandonment by those he counted on after his stroke, the despair of losing everything, and his ultimate redemption and giving back to the community.

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