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"Batting Cleanup, Bill Conlin"

Author : Bill Conlin

Publisher : Temple University Press

Page : 252 pages

File Size : 48,92 MB

Release : 1997

Category : Literary Collections

ISBN : 9781566395410

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Book Description

For over three decades Bill Conlin has anchored one of America's best sports sections: the back pages of thePhiladelphia Daily News.Conlin has spent his entire career in Philadelphia, starting with thePhiladelphia Bulletinbut he is probably best known for his tremendous contribution to thePhiladelphia Daily News.This sassy tabloid combines sharp reporting with lively opinion writing, provocative headlines, and its irreverent voice as a self-styled "People Paper." Its sports section, in particular, bristles with what Philadelphians call "atty-tude.""Batting Cleanup, Bill Conlin"is a collection of his best sports writing. From behind the scenes, Conlin presents athletes as all too human but his descriptions of game action convey the magnitude of the athletes' talent, and the demands of the sport itself. His writing is widely appreciated for the way it captures an intricate moment of baseball time through a series of sharp images and dynamic verbs. In making the selections for this volume, editor Kevin Kerrane reveals how Conlin's playfulness with language and ideas led to creative nicknames —like "The Jowly Grim Giant" for Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson—and to entire stories based on outrageous premises. Who else would report a baseball game from the viewpoint of a space alien? Who else would interview God to find out what He really thinks about Randall Cunningham? Conlin's columns deal with just about everything. Or maybe it just seems that way because he brings just about everything to bear on a topic that interests him: lessons from military history, characters from Shakespeare, personal experiences, persistent reporting, amusing one-liners, and laugh-out-loud jokes. His "King of the World" columns offer a fantasy of poetic justice in which fools and knaves are skewered, but with humor rather than heavy-handed moralizing. This humor, insight, keen intelligence, and a true love of sport has made Conlin a cult figure among sports fans. Kerrane explains such admiration this way: "It's not just because of Conlin's fierce honesty, or broad curiosity, or Irish wit, it's also because of his deep feeling for the values of sport—which baseball, in his telling, crystallizes so beautifully." Author note:Kevin Kerraneis Professor of English at the University of Delaware, Newark.



September Swoon

Author : William C. Kashatus

Publisher : Penn State Press

Page : 276 pages

File Size : 37,57 MB

Release : 2010-12-31

Category : Sports & Recreation

ISBN : 0271045167

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Book Description

Everything seemed to be going the Phillies’ way. Up by 6 1/2 games with just 12 left to play in the 1964 season, they appeared to have clinched their first pennant in more than a decade. Outfielder Johnny Callison narrowly missed being the National League MVP. Third baseman Richie Allen was Rookie of the Year. But the "Fightin’ Phils" didn’t make it to the postseason—they lost 10 straight and finished a game behind the St. Louis Cardinals. Besides engineering the greatest collapse of any team in major league baseball history, the ’64 Phillies had another, more important distinction: they were Philadelphia’s first truly integrated baseball team. In September Swoon William Kashatus tells the dramatic story—both on the field and off the field—of the Phillies’ bittersweet season of 1964. More than any other team in Philadelphia’s sports history, the ’64 Phillies saddled the city with a reputation for being a "loser." Even when victory seemed assured, Philadelphia found a way to lose. Unfortunately, the collapse, dubbed the "September swoon," was the beginning of a self-destructive skid in both team play and racial integration, for the very things that made the players unique threatened to tear the team apart. An antagonistic press and contentious fans blamed Richie Allen, the Phillies’ first black superstar, for the team’s losing ways, accusing him of dividing the team along racial lines. Allen manipulated the resulting controversy in the hopes that he would be traded, but in the process he managed to further fray already tenuous race relations. Based on personal interviews, player biographies, and newspaper accounts, September Swoon brings to life a season and a team that got so many Philadelphians, both black and white, to care deeply and passionately about the game at a turbulent period in the city’s—and our nation’s—history. The hometown fans reveled in their triumphs and cried in their defeat, because they saw in them a reflection of themselves. The ’64 Phillies not only won over the loyalties of a racially divided city, but gave Philadelphians a reason to dream—of a pennant, of a contender, and of a City of Brotherly Love.



Macho Row

Author : William C. Kashatus

Publisher : University of Nebraska Press

Page : 371 pages

File Size : 26,49 MB

Release : 2019-04-01

Category : Sports & Recreation

ISBN : 1496214080

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Book Description

Colorful, shaggy, and unkempt, misfits and outlaws, the 1993 Phillies played hard and partied hard. Led by Darren Daulton, John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra, and Mitch Williams, it was a team the fans loved and continue to love today. Focusing on six key members of the team, Macho Row follows the remarkable season with an up-close look at the players’ lives, the team’s triumphs and failures, and what made this group so unique and so successful. With a throwback mentality, the team adhered to baseball’s Code. Designed to preserve the moral fabric of the game, the Code’s unwritten rules formed the bedrock of this diehard team whose players paid homage and respect to the game at all times. Trusting one another and avoiding any notions of superstardom, they consistently rubbed the opposition the wrong way and didn’t care. William C. Kashatus pulls back the covers on this old-school band of brothers, depicting the highs and lows and their brash style while also digging into the suspected steroid use of players on the team. Macho Row is a story of winning and losing, success and failure, and the emotional highs and lows that accompany them.



Baby Style

Author : Debbie Bliss

Publisher : Macmillan

Page : 370 pages

File Size : 28,46 MB

Release : 2000-10-20

Category : Crafts & Hobbies

ISBN : 9780312267148

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Book Description

Bestselling designer Debbie Bliss is known worldwide for her ability to combine practicality and style in her immensely popular designs. In this new collection she provides a complete range of ideas for the new baby or child, including ideas for the home and stylish accessories, as well as irresistible clothes. Each of the 30 designs is beautifully photographed and clear instructions make the patterns straightforward to knit. Some of the original ideas featured include: A denim throw, with pockets for favorite toys and books A variety of mini cushions Knitted coathangers A cozy dressing gown and hot-water bottle cover Practical and stylish sweaters, cardigans and jackets to suit every child



Almost a Dynasty

Author : William C. Kashatus

Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press

Page : 392 pages

File Size : 21,19 MB

Release : 2008-02-22

Category : Sports & Recreation

ISBN : 0812240367

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Book Description

Almost A Dynasty details the rise and fall of the World Champion 1980 Phillies. Based on personal interviews, newspaper accounts, and the keen insight of a veteran baseball writer, the book convincingly explains how a losing team was finally able to win its first world championship.



Lefty and Tim

Author : William C. Kashatus

Publisher : U of Nebraska Press

Page : 293 pages

File Size : 18,6 MB

Release : 2022-06

Category : Biography & Autobiography

ISBN : 149623216X

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Book Description

Lefty and Tim is the dual biography of Hall of Fame pitcher Steve "Lefty" Carlton and catcher Tim McCarver, detailing their relationship from 1965, when they played with the St. Louis Cardinals, through 1980, when they played for the Philadelphia Phillies. Along the way McCarver became Carlton's personal catcher, and together they became the best battery in baseball in the mid-to-late 1970s. At first glance Carlton and McCarver appear like an odd couple: McCarver was old school, Carlton new age. At the beginning of his career, McCarver believed that the catcher called the pitches, encouraged the pitcher when necessary, and schooled the pitcher when he deviated from the game plan. But Lefty, who pioneered the use of meditation and martial arts in baseball, was stubborn too. He wanted to control pitch selection. Over time, Carlton and McCarver developed a strong bond off the diamond that allowed them to understand and trust each other. In the process, Steve Carlton became one of the greatest left-handers in the history of Major League Baseball, an achievement that would not have been possible without Tim McCarver as his catcher. Not only did McCarver mentor Carlton as a young hurler with the Cardinals, but he helped resurrect Carlton's career when they were reunited in Philadelphia midseason in 1975. Carlton won his second Cy Young Award with McCarver behind the plate in 1977. Told in the historical context of the time they played the game, Lefty and Tim recounts the pair's time in the tumultuous sixties, with the racial integration of the St. Louis Cardinals and the dominance of pitching, and in the turbulent seventies, characterized by MLB's labor tensions, the arrival of free agency, and the return of the lively ball that followed the lowering of the pitcher's mound in 1969.



The Cassius Clay Story

Author : David W. Coleman

Publisher : SPORTSIDE BOOKS

Page : 207 pages

File Size : 16,8 MB

Release : 2011-08-14

Category : Biography & Autobiography

ISBN :

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One Nation Under Baseball

Author : John Florio

Publisher : U of Nebraska Press

Page : 269 pages

File Size : 40,81 MB

Release : 2017-04

Category : Sports & Recreation

ISBN : 1496200829

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Book Description

One Nation Under Baseball highlights the intersection between American society and America’s pastime during the 1960s, when the hallmarks of the sport—fairness, competition, and mythology—came under scrutiny. John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro examine the events of the era that reshaped the game: the Koufax and Drysdale million-dollar holdout, the encroachment of television on newspaper coverage, the changing perception of ballplayers from mythic figures to overgrown boys, the arrival of the everyman Mets and their free-spirited fans, and the lawsuit brought against team owners by Curt Flood. One Nation Under Baseball brings to life the seminal figures of the era—including Bob Gibson, Marvin Miller, Tom Seaver, and Dick Young—richly portraying their roles during a decade of flux and uncertainty.



Tales from First Base

Author : Brad Engel

Publisher : U of Nebraska Press

Page : 152 pages

File Size : 24,37 MB

Release : 2013-03-01

Category : Sports & Recreation

ISBN : 1597978450

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Book Description

When a batter races toward first base and fielders scramble to make a tough play, anything can happen. Tales from First Base is a humorous and insightful look at the players, coaches, and umpires who have spent time along those first ninety feet of the base path. Brad Engel and Wayne Stewart check out some of the funniest players and most amusing incidents from this corner of the diamond, such as the time Larry Walker and opposing cornerman Mark Grace traced out, in the dirt around the bag, a running conversation with each other. And then there was Dick Stuart, a fielder who wasn't exactly known for catching baseballs. But, he once caught a bounding bat that had slipped out of the hands of a hitter and later in his career received a standing ovation from a Pittsburgh crowd when he caught a hot dog wrapper on the fly. Readers will also learn about the first-sackers' roles in some of the most famous plays of all time, such as the blown call that cost Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game on June 2, 2010. When umpire Jim Joyce later apologized to Galarraga, the player graciously accepted the apology, stating, Nobody's perfect. Packed with exclusive interviews with popular players at all positions—including fan favorites Hank Aaron, Jeff Bagwell, Curtis Granderson, Adam LaRoche, and Joe Carter—this book will appeal to newcomers to the game and die-hard fans alike.



American Journalism

Author : W. David Sloan

Publisher : McFarland

Page : 386 pages

File Size : 23,98 MB

Release : 2014-01-10

Category : Language Arts & Disciplines

ISBN : 0786451556

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Book Description

News consumers made cynical by sensationalist banners--"AMERICA STRIKES BACK," "THE TERROR OF ANTHRAX"--and lurid leads might be surprised to learn that in 1690, the newspaper Publick Occurrences gossiped about the sexual indiscretions of French royalty or seasoned the story of missing children by adding that "barbarous Indians were lurking about" before the disappearance. Surprising, too, might be the media's steady adherence to, if continual tugging at, its philosophical and ethical moorings. These 39 essays, written and edited by the nation's leading professors of journalism, cover the theory and practice of print, radio, and TV news reporting. Politics and partisanship, press and the government, gender and the press corps, presidential coverage, war reportage, technology and news gathering, sensationalism: each subject is treated individually. Appropriate for interested lay persons, students, professors and reporters. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.