Sandlot Seasons


Book Description

A new preface updates this richly detailed look at the major role sport played in shaping Pittsburgh's black community from the Roaring Twenties through the Korean War. Rob Ruck reveals how sandlot, amateur, and professional athletics helped black Pittsburgh realize its potential for self-organization, expression, and creativity.




RACEball


Book Description

Raceball is a children's book about America's long lineage of white privilege and inequality. It was created to serve as a basis for parents to discuss a difficult conversation with their kids. Raceball tells the story of 2 players, one white and one black, that experience different rules and punishments when playing against one another in the new sport of "Raceball".This book is important because children can fully develop prejudices and internalized racial biases by just the age of 6. This only worsens as children age. In a society dominated by stereotypes and prejudices, it is essential that the next generation is guided towards a world of equality and positivity. Guidance during childhood is essential to create a truly equal society. Raceball offers a simple, yet powerful way to introduce the concept of racial inequality to your children and students.




Raceball


Book Description

From an award-winning writer, the first linked history of African Americans and Latinos in Major League Baseball After peaking at 27 percent of all major leaguers in 1975, African Americans now make up less than one-tenth--a decline unimaginable in other men's pro sports. The number of Latin Americans, by contrast, has exploded to over one-quarter of all major leaguers and roughly half of those playing in the minors. Award-winning historian Rob Ruck not only explains the catalyst for this sea change; he also breaks down the consequences that cut across society. Integration cost black and Caribbean societies control over their own sporting lives, changing the meaning of the sport, but not always for the better. While it channeled black and Latino athletes into major league baseball, integration did little for the communities they left behind. By looking at this history from the vantage point of black America and the Caribbean, a more complex story comes into focus, one largely missing from traditional narratives of baseball's history. Raceball unveils a fresh and stunning truth: baseball has never been stronger as a business, never weaker as a game.




The Melungeons


Book Description

The author explores the theories surrounding the people called Melungeon, perhaps from the French word, "mélange," meaning a mixture.




The Princess and the Pit Stop


Book Description

From a New York Times–bestselling author and Caldecott Medal-winning artist, this story of a royal race car driver is “a shot of gleeful adrenaline” (Publishers Weekly (starred review). Once upon a time there was a Princess. . . . who made a pit stop. While the Birds and Beasts changed her tires, her Fairy Godmother told her she was in last place! With just one lap left! She might as well give up! Give up? Not THIS princess! Instead, she hit the gas! Join Her Royal Highness in the driver’s seat for a mad dash to the finish in this exciting ode to auto racing. With appearances by fable and fairy tale favorites including the Tortoise and the Hare, the Frog Prince, and ALL of the Wicked Witches, this rollicking mash-up of race cars and royalty is a true celebration of both girl power and horsepower. “The full-page illustrations are saturated with color and express the action so vividly readers will nearly hear the roar of the racetrack. The emphasis on the Princess’ racing skill and zeal for her sport is empowering and refreshing.” —Kirkus Reviews “With its breakneck speed and massive number of storybook references, The Princess and the Pit Stop is sure to be a story time favorite.” —Shelf Awareness




Rooney


Book Description

Born to an Irish Catholic working-class family on the Northside of Pittsburgh, Art Rooney (1901–88) dabbled in semipro baseball and boxing before discovering that his real talent lay not in playing sports but in promoting them. Though he was at the center of boxing, baseball, and racing in Pittsburgh and beyond, Rooney is best remembered for his contribution to the NFL, in particular to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team he founded in 1933. As Rooney led the team in the early years, he came to be known as football’s greatest loser; his influence, however, was instrumental in making the NFL the best-run league in American pro sports. The authors show how Rooney saw professional football—and the Steelers—through the Depression, World War II, the ascension of TV, and the development of the NFL. The book also follows him through the Steelers’ dynasty years under Rooney’s sons, with four Super Bowl titles in the 1970s alone. The first authoritative look at one of the most iconic figures in the history of the NFL, this book is both a critical chapter in the story of football in America and a thoroughly engaging in-depth introduction to a character unlike any other in the annals of American sports.




The Shoemaker's Daughter (The Cordwainers: 1)


Book Description

Perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin, this is the powerful beginning of The Cordwainers, a series from bestselling author Iris Gower. READERS ARE LOVING THE CORDWAINERS! "I loved this book from start to finish..." - 5 STARS. "Seriously recommend..." - 5 STARS. "I have really enjoyed reading this whole series...I would recommend the reading of any of the books by this author." - 5 STARS "Loved these books [-] definitely recommend this series: once you start you will want to read them all" - 5 STARS "You finish one book and you just have to start the next one." - 5 STARS "A perfectly marvellous book!" - 5 STARS ******************************************************** WILL SHE LET MATTERS OF THE HEART CLOUD HER JUDGEMENT? When her father dies, Hari Morgan has no choice to but make a life for herself and her ailing mother and carry on the family shoemaking business. Her talent leads her to an unlikely friendship with Emily Grenfell, the daughter of one of the richest men in Swansea. But friendship is fickle. As their respective fortunes change and they both fall in love with Craig Grenfell, Emily's cousin, Hari must decide whether to follow her heart or her head... The Shoemaker's Daughter is the first title in Iris Gower's The Cordwainers series. The story continues in The Oyster Catchers.




Steve Nelson, American Radical


Book Description

An oral history about the life of Steve Nelson, the immigrant teenage son of a Croatian miller, and later an American Communist Party organizer. Follows Nelson's varied career, and his rise in the ranks of the Party. Tells the inside story of the workings of the Party, from a small group of Detroit autoworkers to the Party leaders in New York.




Future Value


Book Description

An unprecedented look inside the world of baseball scouting and evaluation from two of the industry's top prospect analysts For the modern Major League team, player evaluation is a complex, multi-pronged, high-tech pursuit. But far from becoming obsolete in this environment—as Michael Lewis' Moneyball once forecast—the role of the scout in today's game has evolved and even expanded. Rather than being the antithesis of a data-driven approach, scouting now represents an essential analytical component in a team's arsenal. Future Value is a thorough dive into baseball's changing world of talent acquisition and development, a world with its own language, methods, metrics, and madness. From rural high schools to elite amateur showcases, from the back fields of spring training to major league draft rooms, Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel break down the key systems and techniques used to assess talent. It's a process that has moved beyond the quintessential stopwatches and radar guns to include statistical models, countless measurable indicators, and a broader international reach. ?Practical and probing, discussing wide-ranging topics from tool grades to front office politics, this is an illuminating exploration of how to watch baseball and see the future.




The Oxford Handbook of Sports History


Book Description

Practiced and watched by billions, sport is a global phenomenon. Sport history is a burgeoning sub-field that explores sport in all forms to help answer fundamental questions that scholars examine. This volume provides a reference for sport scholars and an accessible introduction to those who are new to the sub-field.