Gabby Harnett is believed by many to be the greatest catcher of all time. This work chronicles Hartnett's life from his early years in Millville, Massachusetts, through his twenty-year career with the Chicago Cubs as player and manager, his time in various capacities in the minor leagues and with the New York Giants and Kansas City Athletics, to his post-major league career as a businessman in Chicago. His childhood, early baseball experiences with the local team and with a nearby prep school, and his first professional baseball season with the Worcester Boosters of the Eastern League are covered in detail. Hartnett's major league career as the catcher for the Cubs is well-documented, including his near career-ending arm injury in 1929, the 1932 World Series that featured Babe Ruth's legendary "called shot," and Hartnett's famous "homer in the gloamin" against the Pittsburgh Pirates that propelled Chicago to the 1938 National League pennant. The author also compares Hartnett's statistics to those of his famous contemporaries, Mickey Cochrane and Bill Dickey, on a year-by-year basis.

Gabby Hartnett: The Life and Times of the Cubs' Greatest Catcher

Biographies & Memoirs

McNeil, William F.

Historical

McFarland

For many years people have speculated that Europeans visited America before Columbus in the late 15th century and have presented various pieces of evidence in support of their arguments. This book synthesises such evidence combining a historical overview of early American history with particular case studies pertaining to sites, inscriptions, artefacts and human remains which have formed the basis of arguments for and against such claims. William McNeil's study covers such subjects as ancient ship technology and capability, navigation and knowledge of winds and currents across the Atlantic prior to the 15th century. He assesses whether theories of Viking journeys to the coast of North America are justified, whether the Icelandic sagas are a record of such travels, and whether there are any other sources in European literature that may be interpreted as chronicling voyages to America. The second part of the book looks at sites within America that have been said to support the idea that America was visited by Europeans and Asians before Columbus.

Visitors to Ancient America: The Evidence for European and Asian Presence in America Prior to Columbus

History

Americas

Cool Papas and Double Duties: The All-Time Greats of the Negro Leagues

Many of the great ballplayers of the Negro League have been forgotten simply because baseball’s Hall of Fame would not recognize black players until Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige made their way into the Hall of Fame. For this book, more than 50 former Negro League players and baseball historians were asked to vote for players who they believe should have been included in the Hall of Fame, and to select an All-Time Negro League All-Star Team. In addition to presenting and discussing their choices, the book profiles the lives and careers of the players selected. Appendices include rosters of the players and historians who voted.

Reference

Are today's major league baseball pitchers better than ever? Or do they pale in comparison to the great hurlers of 20, 30 or 40 years ago? This book tackles a debate that has been traveling baseball circles for several years. With changes in everything from the size of the playing field to the composition of the ball, it's a tall task to compare pitchers over the 170 year history of the sport in America. This author does a meticulous job. No stone is unturned as he delves into every facet from the ancient roots of the game to bigger size of today's players. The first chapters reach back to the first known batting contests in Egypt 5,000 years ago and bring readers to a popular 18th century English game called rounders, which evolved into organized baseball in 19th century America. The author then paces through the changes in rules that helped mold baseball into its modern form, and discusses innovators like James "Jimmy" Creighton and Asa Brainard, early stars like Cy Young and Walter Johnson, and modern day standouts such as Roger Clemens and Kerry Woods. The book explores rule changes, adaptations to pitching and pitching strategies, and the effect of pitcher injuries and conditioning, among other influences. Fourteen former major league players comment on the game. In the final chapter, the author reviews what has happened to major league pitching. An appendix gives stats for major league starting pitchers with comparisons by era, those with more than 5,000 career innings pitched, relief pitchers, and their single season save records. Another table takes a look at the increase in major league home runs from 1919 to 2004.

The Evolution of Pitching in Major League Baseball

Sports & Outdoors

Baseball

Negro League ballplayers, earning paychecks comparable to those of blue-collar workers, needed an off-season source of income to make ends meet. Many of them found the answer in baseball, by joining racially integrated barnstorming teams that toured the country after the regular season ended, or by playing in the organized winter leagues that operated in Florida, California, in a number of Caribbean countries, and in Central and South American countries. This history recounts the experiences of American black ballplayers outside of the Negro Leagues--often in places where a lack of prejudice contrasted sharply with conditions at home. Tracing the development of the game in each location and the unique character of each winter league, it details the contributions of the Negro League players and collects their statistics in each of the winter leagues.

Black Baseball Out of Season: Pay for Play Outside of the Negro Leagues

McFarland Publishing

This work uses practical measures to scientifically rank major league players, position by position, according to their offensive and defensive skills. The author has adjusted individual statistics for the era in which the player was active and for the home park factor in order to put all eligible players on a level playing field. For each position, the author has identified the top contenders for best offensive, defensive and all-around player, and provides a brief history of each of the candidates.

All-Stars for All Time: A Sabermetric Ranking of the Major League Best, 1876-2007

Encyclopedias & Subject Guides

After winning the 1981 World Series and raising the expectations of management and fans, the Los Angeles Dodgers followed up with six years of disappointing finishes. By the time they ended the 1987 season 17 games behind the hated Giants, general manager Fred Claire had seen enough. Over the winter Claire radically restructured the team, bringing in fiery players like outfielder Kirk Gibson, closer Jay Howell and shortstop Alfredo Griffin to spark the team out of complacency. Led by Gibson and pitcher Orel Hershiser, the upstart Dodgers outlasted Houston in a race for the NL West title and edged a star-studded Mets team in the league championship series. But their best, most dramatic moments came in the World Series, when the Dodgers shocked everyone by bashing the A's of McGwire and Canseco in five games. In the first book-length history of the 1988 Dodgers, author Bill McNeil covers the story from all angles.

Miracle in Chavez Ravine: The Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988

The California Winter League: America's First Integrated Professional Baseball League

The California Winter League was the first to bring together Negro League teams and white professional teams in one league. It operated from October through February each year from the early part of the century until the late 1940s and generally consisted of one or more Negro League teams, which included Hall-of-Famers Satchel Paige, Turkey Stearnes, Willie Wells, and Cool Papa Bell on their rosters, and three or more white teams, which were made up of major league players who lived in California as well as minor leaguers from the top-rated Pacific Coast League. This work is the first complete history of the California Winter League from its murky beginnings around 1912 to its golden years from 1924 to 1935 to its final demise in the mid 1940s. It provides an overview of the league and the early years of local amateur ball clubs evolving into the semi-professional league on through 1919. It then provides detailed summaries for the official seasons of 1920 through 1947 and accounts of the exciting pennant races between the Negro League teams and the white professional teams. Appendices provide statistical information: league champions season by season, career leaders in many categories such as batting average, home runs, complete games, victories, and shutouts, batting and pitching statistics for each season, and more.

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Negro League ballplayers, earning paychecks comparable to those of blue-collar workers, needed an off-season source of income to make ends meet. Many of them found the answer in baseball, by joining racially integrated barnstorming teams that toured the country after the regular season ended, or by playing in the organized winter leagues that operated in Florida, California, in a number of Caribbean countries, and in Central and South American countries. This history recounts the experiences of American black ballplayers outside of the Negro Leagues--often in places where a lack of prejudice contrasted sharply with conditions at home. Tracing the development of the game in each location and the unique character of each winter league, it details the contributions of the Negro League players and collects their statistics in each of the winter leagues.

McFarland Company

Covering Mike Tyson's rise through the amateur and professional boxing ranks, this book follows the Brooklyn native from his early years as a young criminal in Brownsville to his 1988 heavyweight unification match with Michael Spinks. The book focuses on the Catskill Boxing Club--where boxing guru Cus D'Amato trained the 210-pound teenager in the finer points of the sport and developed his impregnable defense--and on his home life with D'Amato and surrogate mother Camille Ewald and the other young fighters who lived with them. 
 Tyson's boxing education began in the unauthorized "smokers" held every week in the Bronx, matching his skills against older, more experienced fighters. He won the 1981 Amateur Heavyweight Boxing Championship in Colorado Springs at the age of 14 and repeated the amazing feat the following year. By 1985, finding no other challenging amateur competition, he was forced to join the professional ranks where, in November 1986, he became the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history. Less than two years later, he unified the crown, establishing himself as one of the most dominant heavyweight fighters the sport had ever seen.

The Rise of Mike Tyson, Heavyweight

Community & Culture

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McNeil, William F.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by McNeil, William F.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McNeil, William F.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Gabby Hartnett: The Life and Times of the Cubs' Greatest Catcher

Visitors to Ancient America: The Evidence for European and Asian Presence in America Prior to Columbus

Cool Papas and Double Duties: The All-Time Greats of the Negro Leagues

The Evolution of Pitching in Major League Baseball

Black Baseball Out of Season: Pay for Play Outside of the Negro Leagues

All-Stars for All Time: A Sabermetric Ranking of the Major League Best, 1876-2007

Miracle in Chavez Ravine: The Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988

The California Winter League: America's First Integrated Professional Baseball League

Black Baseball Out of Season: Pay for Play Outside of the Negro Leagues

The Rise of Mike Tyson, Heavyweight