| bradenton pirates spring training: Spring Training William Knowlton Zinsser, 2003 With a new Introduction by the author, this book vividly brings to life the unique once-a-year relationship between Bradenton, Florida, and its adopted team, the Pittsburgh Pirates. 25 photos. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Spring Training Handbook Josh Pahigian, 2013-06-04 Spring training is a time of renewal for baseball, when teams and fans descend on Florida and Arizona to begin the ever hopeful new season. The pace is a little slower, the fans are closer to the action, and the players are more accessible: the sport returns to its idyllic roots. When the first edition of this book was released, 18 of the MLB teams trained in Florida and 12 in Arizona. As 2013 arrives each league consists of 15 teams; together they utilize 14 parks in Florida and 10 in Arizona. This heavily illustrated work dedicates a chapter to each park, including modern Cactus League marvels like Camelback Ranch and Salt River Fields, and Grapefruit League bastions like Joker Marchant Stadium and McKechnie Field. Florida's Fenway Park replica, which opened in 2012, is included. In addition to profiling the five parks that have opened since the first edition, the author has updated the other chapters. Each provides a description of the park, and a recounting of its history, followed by a summary of the home team or teams' spring history. Next is a review of the park's seating, concessions and fan traditions. Each chapter concludes with information about nearby baseball landmarks and attractions. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Spring Training in Bradenton and Sarasota Raymond Sinibaldi, 2013 McKechnie Field in Bradenton, Florida, is the oldest active major-league spring-training facility in the country. Opened in the spring of 1923 with Commissioner Keneshaw Mountain Landis in attendance, it has played host to six different major-league teams, with the Pittsburgh Pirates calling it home since 1969. The New York Giants traveled to Sarasota in 1924 as the first of five teams to venture to its confines. These two cities, both situated on the Gulf Coast of Florida, boast nearly a century of baseball history and have seen the game's all-time greats. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: The Umpire Strikes Back Ron Luciano, David Fisher, 2022-04-26 Here is Ron Luciano, the funniest ump ever to call balls and strikes. A huge and awesome legend who leaps and spins and shoots players with an index finger while screaming OUTOUTOUT!!! Now baseball's flamboyant fan-on-the-field comes out from behind the mask to call the game as he really sees it. There’s the day the automatic umpire debuted at home plate—and struck out. The time Rod Carew stole home twice in one inning, and Earl Weaver stole second base—and took it back to the dugout. The pitch Tommy John dropped on the mound, which Luciano called a strike. And there’s the fantastic phantom double play, the impossible frozen ice-ball theory, and, another first, Luciano picking Harmon Killebrew off second base. From brawls to catcalls, from dugout jokes to on-the-field pratfalls to one-of-a-kind conversations with baseball’s greats, Ron Luciano, the only umpire who confessed to missing calls, takes a few grand slam swings of his own. It is baseball at its best. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: High and Inside Lou Gorman, 2007-10-24 Lou Gorman is best known for having assembled the great but star-crossed Red Sox team of 1986. Few, perhaps, know that he also laid the foundation for the Mets club that clawed past them. Or that he is the only baseball executive involved in the start-up of two teams (the expansion Mariners and Royals), that he won a World Series with the Orioles, or that he has drafted Roger Clemens, signed George Brett, developed Jim Palmer, and traded away Jeff Bagwell. In all, Gorman has spent parts of five decades in the front offices of five major league franchises, directly involved in the development of clubs that won three World Series, five pennants and eight division titles. The stories behind those teams and Gorman's dealings with players, managers, and other of baseball's higher-ups are shared here for the first time. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Cobra Dave Parker, Dave Jordan (Sportswriter), 2021-04 Finalist for the 2021 CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year For that period of time, he was the greatest player of my generation.--Keith Hernandez Dave Parker was one of the biggest and most badass baseball players of the late twentieth century. He stood at six foot five and weighed 235 pounds. He was a seven-time All-Star, a two-time batting champion, a frequent Gold Glove winner, the 1978 National League MVP, and a World Series champion with both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Oakland A's. Here the great Dave Parker delivers his wild and long-awaited autobiography--an authoritative account of Black baseball during its heyday as seen through the eyes of none other than the Cobra. From his earliest professional days learning the game from such baseball legends as Pie Traynor and Roberto Clemente to his later years mentoring younger talents like Eric Davis and Barry Larkin, Cobra is the story of a Black athlete making his way through the game during a time of major social and cultural transformation. From the racially integrated playing fields of his high school days to the cookie-cutter cathedrals of his prime alongside all the midseason and late-night theatrics that accompany an athlete's life on the road-Parker offers readers a glimpse of all that and everything in between. Everything. Parker recounts the triumphant victories and the heart-breaking defeats, both on and off the field. He shares the lessons and experiences of reaching the absolute pinnacle of professional athletics, the celebrations with his sports siblings who also got a taste of the thrills, as well as his beloved baseball brothers whom the game left behind. Parker recalls the complicated politics of spring training, recounts the early stages of the free agency era, revisits the notorious 1985 drug trials, and pays tribute to the enduring power of relationships between players at the deepest and highest levels of the sport. With comments at the start of each chapter by other baseball legends such as Pete Rose, Dave Winfield, Willie Randolph, and many more, Parker tells an epic tale of friendship, success, indulgence, and redemption, but most of all, family. Cobra is the unforgettable story of a million-dollar athlete just before baseball became a billion-dollar game. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: A Drive Into the Gap Kevin Guilfoile, 2012-07-14 A story about baseball. About fathers and sons. It's about memory and identity, and an insidious illness that can rob a person of both.--T.p. 4 |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Pops Richard Pete Peterson, 2013-05 A touching biography of the beloved Pittsburgh Pirate Willie Pops Stargell, this life story documents the 21-year, Hall of Fame career of one of the most celebrated and revered players in the history of Major League Baseball. Beginning with his difficult childhood and revealing his encounters with fierce racial hostility while playing minor league ball in the south, this book goes on to show how Stargell became one of the most feared hitters in baseball, a perennial All Star and MVP candidate, and World Series hero. More than a slugging star, Stargell--a clubhouse leader who was revered for his bursting personality and joie de vivre--earned the affectionate nickname Pops during the 1979 season when he began handing out stars to teammates following a good play or game. The stars soon became a symbol of the unity on the Pirates team that went on to win the World Series. This biography also details his life following his playing days: Stargell's coaching career, his struggles with obesity and diabetes, and his lasting legacy that remains relevant to this day. This telling of a dearly loved man with a larger-than-life personality is a must read for any fan of baseball. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Baseball Geoffrey C. Ward, 1994 With more than 500 photographs -- Introduction by Roger Angell -- Essays by Thomas Boswell, Robert W. Creamer, Gerald Early, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Bill James, David Lamb, Daniel Okrent, John Thorn, George E Will -- And featuring an interview with Buck O'Neil |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Southernmost Art and Literary Portraits Jimm Roberts, 2005 A landmark late-twentieth century pictorial archive that beautifully chronicles, in illuminating detail, fifty important American artists and writers in place: Edward Albee, John Chamberlain, Annie Dillard, John Hersey, Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard, Roy Lichtensein, Alison Lurie, William Manchester, James Merrill, John D. MacDonald, James A. Michener, Jules Olitski, Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers, James Rosenquist, Isaac B. Singer, and Joy Williams, among others. Book jacket. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Pinstripes by the Tale Marty Appel, 2023-05-02 Baseball fans in the Bronx and beyond will delight in this incomparable, far-reaching collection of insider tales When 19-year-old Marty Appel got a job as a mail clerk for the New York Yankees, assigned to spend the summer of '68 answering Mickey Mantle's fan letters, he couldn't have known it was just the start of over a half-century entwined with the Bronx Bombers. As a PR director, television producer, writer, and historian, Appel never missed an opportunity to get to know the main characters— and supporting cast— of Yankees lore. The result is an unparalleled trove of colorful stories featuring a seemingly unending parade of characters including Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson, Derek Jeter, George Steinbrenner, and everyone in between. By turns hilarious and heartrending, Pinstripes by the Tale is an intimate look at an iconic franchise through the lens of its foremost historical authority. Told as a series of captivating vignettes, it invites readers to consider the small moments that quietly shape the contours of baseball history. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Big Data Baseball Travis Sawchik, 2015-05-19 Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was old school and stubborn. But after twenty straight losing seasons and his job on the line, he was ready to try anything. So when he met with GM Neal Huntington in October 2012, they decided to discard everything they knew about the game and instead take on drastic 'big data' strategies. Going well beyond the number-crunching of Moneyball, which used statistics found on the back of baseball cards to identify market inefficiencies, the data the Pirates employed was not easily observable. They collected millions of data points on pitches and balls in play, creating a tome of reports that revealed key insights for how to win more games without spending a dime-- |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Planet of the Umps Ken Kaiser, David Fisher, 2004-04-19 For twenty-five years, Ken Kaiser was the most colorful umpire in the major leagues. Planet of the Umps is his sidesplitting tale of life behind the plate. Two things nobody wants to grow up to be are an umpire and broke. Thanks to my career in baseball, I got both. After calling balls, strikes, and outs for thirty-six baseball seasons and more than three thousand major-league games, umpire Ken Kaiser finally called it a career. From the first day he hit a minor-league catcher with a pool table to the fateful day baseball called him out on a strike, Kaiser was one of the game's most popular and colorful characters. And in this autobiography--written with the coauthor of Ron Luciano's classic bestseller The Umpire Strikes Back--Kaiser brings to life his wild adventures from the pro-wrestling arena to the baseball diamond. This is the hysterically true story of four decades of baseball as lived and loved on the playing field, from Ted Williams and Billy Martin to Derek Jeter and Mark McGwire, from one-eyed umpires to space-age technology. As he did throughout his long and sometimes controversial career, the larger-than-his-chest-protector Kaiser calls 'em as he saw 'em. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Can You Believe It? Joe Castiglione, Douglas B. Lyons, 2012-04 An autobiography of Joe Castiglione that recounts his years in broadcasting and with the Boston Red Sox-- |
| bradenton pirates spring training: The Pirates Reader Richard Peterson, 2014-10-15 Whether winning world championships or falling into last place, fielding teams with Hall of Fame players or trotting out bumbling boys of summer, the Pittsburgh Pirates have thrilled, frustrated, and fascinated generations of fans since 1876.To date, the Pirates have won five World Series and have a total of thirty-six players and managers in the Hall of Fame-including Honus Wagner, Pie Traynor, Lloyd and Paul Waner, Ralph Kiner, Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente, and Bill Mazeroski. The Pirates Reader is a tribute to the fans, players, and teams who have forged the franchise's rich history. Richard Peterson has collected the writing of baseball's greatest storytellers and brings to life the players, games, and magical moments for this classic and well-loved team. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: The Comprehensive Guide to Careers in Sports Glenn Wong, 2011-06-07 As more students enter the growing field of sports management, there is a greater need for information informing them about their career choices. Careers in Sports provides an overview of what students should consider and expect from the varied career options available to them. This book answers the questions students are most likely to have, including what courses they should take, what areas are available to them, what salary can they expect to earn after graduation, and how they can get the job of their dreams. In the highly competitive field of sports management, it is important for individuals to prepare themselves well and to make the right decisions along the way. Although there are no guarantees of success, this book will increase students’ likelihood of finding success in the sports industry. Encouraging research and realistic expectations, this book has been developed by an author with many years of experience as a respected practitioner, teacher and internship coordinator. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Behind the Plate Javy Lopez, Gary Caruso, 2012-04-01 Popular Atlanta Braves catcher Javier “Javy” Lopez opens up in this autobiography to tell his amazing story, from learning to play baseball on a neighborhood basketball court to his record of 42 home runs in a season by a catcher. The product of a lower-middle-class background in Puerto Rico, Javy had to overcome numerous hardships—not the least of which was a language barrier—to fulfill his destiny as one of the most accomplished catchers of the modern era. He tells of bumps along the way to success, including why he overstated his signing bonus as well as the time in the minors when he cried during an all-night meltdown due to his struggles on the field. But he went on to be named MVP of the 1996 National League Championship Series, and played on 12 of the Atlanta Braves' unprecedented 14 straight division-winning teams of the 1990s and 2000s. From his relationship with great teammates such as Greg Maddux and John Smoltz, to his failed comeback attempt with the Braves in 2008, this autobiography tells all about the handsome, warm, engaging Lopez and how he became one of baseball's most popular players. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Explorer's Guide Sarasota Sanibel Island and Naples Chelle Koster Walton, 2013-06-03 Gain an insider's vantage point on this exceptional part of the Florida coast. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Explorer's Guide Sarasota, Sanibel Island & Naples: A Great Destination (Sixth Edition) Chelle Koster-Walton, 2013-06-03 Gain an insider’s vantage point on this exceptional part of the Florida coast. Whether Charlotte Harbor’s wild shorelines and preserved estuaries, or Sarasota’s historic culture sweetened by sugar magnates, travelers have an in-depth look on the environment, history, and culture of this beautiful stretch of coastline. Now in its 6th fully updated edition, this guide gives visitors and locals access to the best of Florida’s Gulf Coast. Do it all, from the fabled “Sanibel stoop” for collecting seashells to dining in the finest five-star bistros. The author’s deep local knowledge again provides the most reliable info available to this paradise. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Jim Kaat: Good As Gold Jim Kaat, Douglas B. Lyons, 2022-05-03 An unforgettable look at a lifetime of baseball packed with humor and passion for the game With a career that has now touched eight decades, Jim Kaat has had a prime front row seat for baseball's continuing evolution. Not only was he a major-league pitcher for 25 seasons, but his time as a pitching coach and his many years as a broadcaster have given him a singular long view of the game. In Good as Gold, Kaat weaves the tale of a lifetime, taking fans on the field, into the clubhouse, and behind the mic as only he can. Full of priceless stories from New York, Minnesota, and across the major leagues, this honest and engaging autobiography gives fans a rare seat alongside Kaat on a tour of baseball history. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: From Hockey to Baseball: I kept them in stitches Ken Carson, Larry Millson, 2016-09-15 Ken Carson's career as rink rat, athletic trainer and executive has spanned sixty years from junior hockey to the NHL and from major-league baseball to the minors. Carson has sharpened skates with Bobby Orr as his helper; been frightened out of a wrestling ring by Yukon Eric; lived at the arena in Rochester, N.Y.; stitched up players for the Pittsburgh Penguins; celebrated the Blue Jays' first AL East championship on the turf of Exhibition Stadium as the team trainer who doubled as director of team travel. He was the first trainer for two expansion teams in two sports, the Penguins and the Blue Jays, participating in the 1976 NHL All-Star Game and the 1980 MLB All-Star Game. In 1987, Carson became the Blue Jays' director of Florida operations, which included the role of general manager of the Class A team at Dunedin. As a respected minor-league executive, he became president of the Class A Florida State League in 2015. Carson's story, as told to Toronto sports writer Larry Millson, offers a unique perspective of sports over the generations.... |
| bradenton pirates spring training: The Chicken Runs at Midnight Tom Friend, 2018-10-02 Discover the nearly unbelievable true story of how a goofy catchphrase spoken by a coach's dying daughter inspired the 1992 Pittsburgh Pirates in game seven of the National League Championship Series and later became a sign from heaven to a grieving family at the end of game seven of the 1997 World Series. As a Major League Baseball coach, Rich Donnelly was dedicated, hardworking, and successful. But as a husband and father, he was distant, absent, and a failure. He'd let baseball take over his life, and as a result, his family suffered--that is, until the day he received some harrowing news. Dad, I have a brain tumor, and I'm sorry. These words from his seventeen-year-old daughter, Amy, turned his world upside down. Now, more than ever, he was determined to put his family first. The time they spent together in the months before Amy's death were moments that Rich and his family will treasure forever, but they'll especially remember the inside joke that became a catchphrase for not only the Donnelly family but also the Pittsburgh Pirates as they played in the National League Championship Series that year: The chicken runs at midnight. This book shares the heartwarming story behind the odd catchphrase--and how it still lives on as a symbol for never giving up--and proves that God can work in any person's life, even despite their mistakes and failures. As you learn more about Amy's incredible story, you'll discover: The life-changing power of forgiveness How to find peace and joy in the midst of loss The gift of God's grace Weaving baseball history with personal memoir, this book is one that will make you thrill to victory, believe in hope, and stand up to cheer for what is good in people's lives. It reminds us that God can work in our lives even when we think it's too late to change--and sometimes he sends us signs from heaven, if we only have eyes to see. Praise for The Chicken Runs at Midnight: The Chicken Runs at Midnight is a beautiful story of baseball, family, and faith. Tom Friend does a wonderful job of weaving these three themes together and telling you a story that will give you the chills. You will cry; you will laugh; and you will tell the story over and over again--just as I have. --Craig Counsell, manager of the Milwaukee Brewers The Chicken Runs at Midnight is the kind of heartwarming story all of us need, not just baseball fans. In our loud, busy world, it's a poignant reminder of what is truly important. --Tom Verducci, bestselling author of The Yankee Years and The Cubs Way |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Million Dollar Arm J. B. Bernstein, 2014-04 Soon to be a feature film starring John Hamm (releasing May 16, 2014), Million Dollar Arm is the memoir of a successful sports agent who went to India to run a televised pitching contest, teach the winners about baseball, and get them recruited by Major League Baseball--changing forever the lives of two young men and their families back home, as well as his own-- |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Oh, Florida! Craig Pittman, 2016-07-05 A New York Times Bestseller Oh, Florida! That name. That combination of sounds. Three simple syllables, and yet packing so many mixed messages. To some people, it’s a paradise. To others, it’s a punch line. As Oh, Florida! shows, it’s both of these and, more important, it’s a Petri dish, producing trends that end up influencing the rest of the country. Without Florida there would be no NASCAR, no Bettie Page pinups, no Glenn Beck radio rants, no USA Today, no “Stand Your Ground,” . . . you get the idea. To outsiders, Florida seems baffling. It’s a state where the voters went for Barack Obama twice, yet elected a Tea Party candidate as governor. Florida is touted as a carefree paradise, yet it’s also known for its perils-alligators, sinkholes, pythons, hurricanes, and sharks, to name a few. It attracts 90 million visitors a year, some drawn by its impressive natural beauty, others bewitched by its manmade fantasies. Oh, Florida! explores those contradictions and shows how they fit together to make this the most interesting state. It is the first book to explore the reasons why Florida is so wild and weird-and why that’s okay. Florida couldn’t be Florida without that sense of the unpredictable, unexpected, and unusual lurking behind every palm tree. But there is far more to Florida than its sideshow freakiness. Oh, Florida! explains how Florida secretly, subtly influences all the other states in the Union, both for good and for ill. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: 100 Things Pirates Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Steve Ziants, 2014-03-01 100 Things Pirates Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die is a must-read for all true fans. With listings ranked in importance from one to 100, the book includes everything from Bill Mazeroski’s World Series–winning homerun in 1960 and PNC Park, arguably baseball’s finest stadium, to legendary broadcaster Bob Prince. This guide touches upon all of the team’s nine National League pennants and five World Series titles, as well as legendary players such as Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Barry Bonds, and Andrew McCutchen. Packed with personalities, places, events, and facts, 100 Things Pirates Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die is the perfect tool for Bucs fans to take their team spirit to a whole new level. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Explorer's Guide Sarasota, Sanibel Island & Naples: A Great Destination (Fifth Edition) (Explorer's Great Destinations) Chelle Koster-Walton, 2011-01-03 In this updated guide you’ll find the definitive word on this Gulf Coast area, its recreation, restaurants, hotels, and more, from deluxe to offbeat. Enjoy an insider’s vantage point on Charlotte Harbor’s wild shores, the coast’s sandy barrier islands, Naples’s polished allure, and Sarasota-Bradenton’s “sweet” history. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Welcome to the Circus of Baseball Ryan McGee, 2023-04-04 A gloriously funny, nostalgic memoir of a popular ESPN reporter who, in the summer of 1994, was a fresh-out-of-college intern for a minor league baseball team. Madness and charm ensue as Ryan McGee spends the season steeped in sweat, fertilizer, nacho cheese sauce, and pure, unadulterated joy in North Carolina with the Asheville Tourists. A sweet and funny book that reminds us it’s not just the game itself that draws us. It’s also the people. —Tom Verducci, MLB Network, Fox & Sports Illustrated, and New York Times bestselling author of The Yankee Years In the spring of 1994, Ryan McGee (new college graduate) bombed his coveted interview with ESPN--the only place he ever wanted to work. But he did receive one job offer: to work for $100 a week for the Asheville Tourists, a proud minor league baseball team in the heart of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. McCormick Field, home to the Tourists, had once been graced by Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, and Jackie Robinson. What could go wrong? Welcome to the Circus of Baseball is McGee’s hilarious, charming memoir of his first summer working in the sporting world. He has since risen the ESPN ranks to national TV, radio, and Internet host, but his time in Asheville still looms large. Among the many jewels of his experience. . . McGee recounts one of the most entertaining on-field brawls you’ll ever witness (between the fourteen league mascots who had assembled for the all-star game--an eight-foot-tall foam-costumed crustacean, a pudgy red fox, a giant skunk . . . and they were really fighting), as well as the nervous moment he oversaw the game-day entertainer known as Captain Dynamite and His Exploding Coffin of Death. Most important, McGee details a magical summer of baseball, of learning the ropes, of the ins-and-outs of running a minor league team, and of coming to understand how the pulse of a community can beat gloriously through a minor league ball club. Welcome to the Circus of Baseball is a baseball classic in the making. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Spring Training William Zinsser, 1990 William Zinsser describes his pilgrimage to the Florida base of the Pittsburgh Pirates, catching the intimacy and innocence of the game's rites of spring. He talks baseball with those who know it best; Spring Training is as fresh and unforgettable as the year's first crack of the bat. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: The Comet & the Tornado Donald Marinelli, 2010-10-29 An intimate look at Randy Pausch (author of the blockbuster The Last Lecture) from his friend and colleague It is impossible to pinpoint the moment Randy Pausch became a household name, but when he died, millions of people who either read or watched his last lecture on YouTube felt as if they had lost a friend. One man who actually did lose a close friend that day was Donald Marinelli. Affectionately referred to as “the Tornado” in the last lecture, Donald was the whirlwind of energy and creativity who co-founded the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) at Carnegie Mellon University with Randy. Donald recounts his remarkable journey from Carnegie Mellon’s drama department, through the years building the ETC with Randy, to today, as he helms the center on his own and leads its worldwide expansion. Central to his story are the six years he and Randy shared an office, their differences and commonalities (they both fought cancer), and their priorities, as well as the philosophy of the ETC. Most poignantly, Don reveals what he learned from Randy, whom he describes as “a comet who burst upon the scene like an astral body . . . illuminating his secrets for living life to the fullest for millions of folks who needed such guidance.” |
| bradenton pirates spring training: The Baseball Zack Hample, 2011-03-08 The Baseball is a salute to the ball, filled with insider trivia, anecdotes, and generations of ball-induced insanity—from Zack Hample, the bestselling author of Watching Baseball Smarter • Which Hall of Famer once caught a ball dropped from an airplane? • Why do balls get stamped with invisible ink? • What’s the best ticket to buy for catching a foul ball? • Which part of the ball once came from dog food companies? • How could a 10,000-year-old glacier help a pitcher grip the ball? In this enlightening, entertaining, and often wildly funny book, Zack Hample shares ballpark legends and lore, explores the history of the baseball souvenir craze, and also details the evolution of the ball. Finally, Hample—who has snagged more than 4,600 balls from 48 different major league stadiums—offers up his secret methods for snagging your own ball from major league games. Features a ballhawk glossary, profiles of legendary ballhawks, top 10 lists, and black-and-white photos throughout. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: So You Think You Know Baseball The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, 2021-11-23 The Ultimate Baseball Trivia Book In this third title published by National Baseball Hall of Fame Books, test your knowledge of baseball trivia against the experts–the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The history of baseball is etched in its trivia. No American sport is chronicled through its trivia and statistics more than baseball. Now, the National Baseball Hall of Fame presents the ultimate baseball trivia book, So You Think You Know Baseball. Hit it out of the park at your MLB trivia night or in an after-dinner baseball quiz with your family. Selected by the historians and curators at the Baseball Hall of Fame, over 100 years of rich baseball history is packed into this virtual reference guide of facts, figures, and fascinating tidbits about our national pastime. In So You Think You Know Baseball, find 450 challenging baseball trivia questions organized into nine themed chapters covering a wide range of baseball history: • Baseball Firsts – famous firsts for almost every aspect of baseball history • First Year Phenoms – rookie sensations and first year wonders • Legendary Sluggers – Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth & more • Historic Hurlers – celebrated pitchers and their remarkable accomplishments on the mound • Record Breakers – notable players and teams who left their mark in the record books • Hall of Famers – baseball’s all-time greats enshrined in Cooperstown • Baseball in Pop Culture – discover the many ways baseball has influenced American culture • The Postseason – highlighting the celebrated moments in World Series history • Baseball Potpourri – unique facts about America’s Pastime Also don’t miss two other titles published by National Baseball Hall of Fame Books, Picturing America’s Pastime and Memories from the Microphone. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Home Run on Wheels Ron Clements, 2019-07-23 Home Run on Wheels Chronicling the Baseball Trip of a Lifetime while Raising Awareness of the Needs of Children in the Foster System By: Ron Clements In Home Run On Wheels, Ron Clements shows readers what is needed for charities to successfully help children in the foster care system. As he and his wife, Patti, take to the road to visit every MLB stadium in a single season, the story recounts their cross-country adventure, their efforts to get foster families to MLB games, and highlights the generosity of others. This book will open your heart to those in foster care, but also share the Clements' love of baseball and passion for traveling. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Grinders Mike Capps, Chuck Hartenstein, 2022-06-28 Grinders: Baseball’s Intrepid Infantry tells the tales of the game's unheralded foot soldiers who took the hard knocks road, bouncing between the Show and obscurity, never quite achieving their dreams, all for a chance to play the game they love. On a brutally humid summer night in 1960, a nine-year-old Mike Capps was sitting with his grandfather in the rickety, mosquito-infested Burnett Field across the Trinity River from the twinkling lights of the concrete and steel towers of downtown Dallas. When he glanced at his grandfather’s scoresheet, something caught his attention. His grandfather had made check marks alongside names of six or seven players for both clubs. “I also want you to pay attention to the names I have checked here,” his grandfather said. “These guys will travel back and forth between Dallas and Kansas City and Minneapolis and Boston all summer. You’ll even see their names in the box scores. They aren’t stars, but they are the engine that drives baseball’s bus.” “Drives baseball’s bus, drives baseball’s bus?” The comment buried itself in Capps’ psyche for decades, and, sixty years later, formed the basic idea for this book. What his grandfather called baseball’s “engine” we now call “grinders.” The back-and-forth roller coaster ride between professional baseball’s minor leagues and its nirvana, Major League Baseball, remains perplexingly difficult for a multitude of great players and their families. Players like Deacon Jones, Brian Mazone, and Lorenzo Bundy battled their way to a chance in the big leagues and hung on as long as they could. Some shared the love of the game with their sons, who became Grinders in their own right. Grinders fill every roster at every level, plugging away year after year. Without their grit, determination, and persistence, there would be no stars. These are their stories. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Under the March Sun Charles Fountain, 2009-03-04 There is nothing in all of American sport quite like baseball's spring training. This annual six-week ritual, whose origins date back nearly a century and a half, fires the hearts and imaginations of fans who flock by the hundreds of thousands to places like Dodgertown to glimpse superstars and living legends in a relaxed moment and watch the drama of journeyman veterans and starry-eyed kids in search of that last spot on the bench. In Under the March Sun, Charles Fountain recounts for the first time the full and fascinating history of spring training and its growth from a shoestring-budget roadtrip to burn off winter calories into a billion-dollar-a-year business. In the early days southern hotels only reluctantly admitted ballplayers--and only if they agreed not to mingle with other guests. Today cities fight for teams by spending millions in public money to build ever-more-elaborate spring-training stadiums. In the early years of the 20th century, the mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida, Al Lang, first realized that coverage in northern newspapers every spring was publicity his growing city could never afford to buy. As the book demonstrates, cities have been following Lang's lead ever since, building identities and economies through the media exposure and visitors that spring training brings. An entertaining cultural history that taps into the romance of baseball even as it reveals its more hard-nosed commercial machinations, Under the March Sun shows why spring training draws so many fans southward every March. While the prices may be growing and the intimacy and accessibility shrinking, they come because the sunshine and sense of hope are timeless. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Mom's Big Catch Marla McKenna, 2011-07-26 Ashley's dream was to catch a ball hit by her favorite team, so at the last game of the season, she wouldn't dare leave her seat. If she had, she might have missed, Mom's Big Catch! Join Marla McKenna in this exciting tale and heartwarming story of one family's adventure at the ballpark. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Summer of 1977 Doug Freedline, 2009-09-17 It was a quest that was considered by many to be impossible, stupid, and risky. But avid bicyclist and author Doug Freedline was determined to succeed on this planned bike trip that would take him around the Great Lakes, across Canada, down the Pacific Coast, across the Rockies, to the tip of Florida, and back to Pennsylvania. This memoir chronicles Freedline’s more than 9,000-mile, four-and-a-half-month road trip that began and ended in Indiana, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1977. It was a journey that took him across a continent replete with natural wonders, quaint towns, and unforgettable people. Freedline not only discovered that he had the inner resources to overcome the past and complete any endeavor he started, but he found that the cold, cruel world that others professed to see did not actually exist. Much more than a travelogue, Summer of 1977 demonstrates how one man’s dream served as the impetus for finding the courage to attend college, earn a degree, and motivate others to improve their lives. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Big Red Ken Griffey, Phil Pepe, George Foster, 2014-03-01 Reflecting on an outstanding 19-year major-league career, this autobiography chronicles baseball great Ken Griffey, beginning with his days just out of high school. The account relates Griffey's decision to venture into the baseball business, documenting his time as a scout, coach, and manager along with his accomplishments as a father, raising two other major league ballplayers: Craig, who played briefly for the Seattle Mariners, and future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. Capturing the subject's time with the Big Red Machine, this record details his days playing alongside Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, and Pete Rose, highlighting the Reds' two consecutive world championships in 1975 and 1976. Finally, the ultimate thrill of Griffey's career is featured: playing in the same outfield in 1990 with his son, Ken Griffey Jr., during the game where they hit back-to-back home runs—the only father-son combination to do so in the history of Major League Baseball. Filled with amusing anecdotes and behind-the-scenes glimpses of what it's like when baseball really does run in the family, this is a sports memoir unlike any other. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Off Mike Mike Emrick, Kevin Allen, Eddie Olczyk, 2020-10-20 Emrick loves stories and loves to tell them. Yesterday in broadcasting. Tomorrow in book form. —Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun After nearly 50 years behind the microphone, the voice of hockey in America opens up in a must-read memoir. Mike Doc Emrick has seen everything there is to see in a hockey game. Sizzling slap shots. Commitment, courage, and camaraderie. Pugnacious pugilists. Game-winning goals. To hockey fans across the country, his voice—and vocabulary—have become synonymous with the game they love. In Off Mike, Doc takes readers back to the beginning, detailing how a Pittsburgh Pirates fan from small-town Indiana found himself in the wild world of professional hockey, calling games for the New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, and finally NBC. He's covered All-Star Games, Stanley Cup Finals, the Olympics, and everything in between, rubbing shoulders with hockey's immortals both on and off the ice. Yet Doc's life has had its share of ups and downs, from almost leaving behind the love of his life to the passing of beloved companions to personal health scares. After years of being welcomed into our homes, in this autobiography Doc welcomes us into his, revealing the stories, wit, and wisdom that have made him one of the most beloved figures in sports. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: The Summer of '64 William A. Cook, 2002-06-13 The 1964 season, highlighted by two significant trades, a game-winning home run, and three no-hitters, was a dramatic one for the National League. But even more thrilling was that season's final week and the race for the pennant. All the drama of the 1964 National League season through the Cardinals' league championship is in this book. It covers Johnny Callison's All-Star game-winning home run, Duke Snider's trade from the New York Mets to the San Francisco Giants and Lou Brock's trade from the Cubs to the Cardinals, Reds manager Fred Hutchinson's battle with cancer (and his replacement, and death in November 1964), the controversial remarks made by Giants manager Alvin Dark about African American and Latin players on his own team, the no-hitters pitched by Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers, Jim Bunning of the Phillies, and Ken Johnson of the Colt .45s (later the Astros), the opening of Shea Stadium, and the demolition of the Polo Grounds. Special attention is given to the final weeks of the season when the Phillies collapsed with a six and a half game lead and twelve games to go, while battling it out with the Cardinals and the Reds. |
| bradenton pirates spring training: Who's on First Mark Z Aaron, 2015-03-19 This is a book about baseball’s true “replacement players.” During the four seasons the U.S. was at war in World War II (1942-1945), 533 players made their major-league debuts. There were 67 first-time major leaguers under the age of 21 (Joe Nuxhall the youngest at 15 in 1944). More than 60 percent of the players in the 1941 Opening Day lineups departed for the service. The 1944 Dodgers had only Dixie Walker and Mickey Owen as the two regulars from their 1941 pennant-winning team. The owners brought in not only first-timers but also many oldsters. Hod Lisenbee pitched 80 innings for the Reds in 1945 at the age of 46. He had last pitched in the major leagues in 1936. War veteran and former POW Bert Shepard, with an artificial leg, pitched in one game for the 1945 Senators, and one-armed outfielder Pete Gray played for the St. Louis Browns. The war years featured firsts and lasts. The St. Louis Browns won their first (and last) pennant in 1944 — a feat made more amazing by the fact that they had not finished in the first division since 1929. The 1944 team featured 13 players classified as 4-F. The Chicago Cubs appeared in the 1945 World Series but have not made it back since. Some 53 members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) have contributed to this volume. We invite you to sit back and relax as you learn Who's on First? Includes contributions by: Alan Cohen, Ashlie Christian And Armand Peterson, Bill Nowlin, Bob Brady, Bob Lemoine, Bob Mayer, Bob Webster, Charles Faber, Charlie Weatherby, Chris Rainey, Cort Vitty, David Finoli, David M. Jordan, David Raglin And Barb Mantegani, David W. Pugh, Don Zminda, Duke Goldman, Greg Erion, Gregg Omoth, Gregory H. Wolf, J. G. Preston, James D. Smith, Iii, Jay Hurd, Jeff Marlett, Jeff Obermeyer, Jim Sweetman, Joanne Hulbert, John Shannahan, Leslie Heaphy, Lyle Spatz, Marc Lancaster, Marc Z Aaron, Mark S. Sternman, Mel Marmer, Merrie A. Fidler, Michael Huber, Michael Huber And Rachel Hamelers, Mike Mcclary, Peter C. Bjarkman, Rex Hamann, Rich Bogovich, Richard Cuicchi, Richard Moraski, Rory Costello And Lou Hernández, Seamus Kearney, Sidney Davis, Steve Smith, Thomas Ayers, Tom Hawthorn, Walter Leconte Table of Contents: Introduction MARC Z AARON The Business of Baseball During World War II JEFF OBERMEYER “But Where is Pearl Harbor?” Baseball and the Day the World Changed, December 7, 1941 BOB LEMOINE The Tri-Cornered War Bond Baseball Game MICHAEL HUBER AND RACHEL HAMELERS NATIONAL LEAGUE Boston Braves How the Boston Braves Survived the War But Lost the Battle for Boston BOB BRADY Ben Cardoni BY MARK S. STERNMAN Buck Etchison BY ALAN COHEN Butch Nieman BY SIDNEY DAVIS Mystery Member of the ‘45 Braves BOB BRADY Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers in Wartime MICHAEL HUBER John “Fats” D’Antonio RICHARD CUICCHI Bill Hart BOB LEMOINE Lee Pfund BOB WEBSTER Chicago Cubs The Cubs in Wartime THOMAS AYERS Jorge Comellas RICH BOGOVICH Billy Holm BILL NOWLIN Walter Signer GREGORY H. WOLF Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds During World War II JAY HURD Tomás de la Cruz PETER C. BJARKMAN Buck Fausett J. G. PRESTON Dick Sipek CHARLES FABER New York Giants The New York Giants in Wartime BOB MAYER Al Gardella CHARLIE WEATHERBY Frank Seward JEFF MARLETT Roy Zimmerman JOANNE HULBERT Philadelphia Phillies The Phillies in Wartime SEAMUS KEARNEY Chet Covington STEVE SMITH Hilly Flitcraft JIM SWEETMAN Lee Riley MEL MARMER Pittsburgh Pirates The Pirates in Wartime DAVID FINOLI Xavier Rescigno DAVID FINOLI Len Gilmore DAVID FINOLI Frankie Zak DAVID FINOLI St. Louis Cardinals The Cardinals in Wartime GREGORY H. WOLF Jack Creel GREGORY H. WOLF Gene Crumling GREGORY H. WOLF Bob Keely GREGORY H. WOLF AMERICAN LEAGUE Boston Red Sox The Red Sox in Wartime BILL NOWLIN Otey Clark BILL NOWLIN Ty LaForest BILL NOWLIN Stan Partenheimer JOHN SHANNAHAN The Frostbite League: Spring Training 1943 - 1945 BILL NOWLIN The 1944 Red Sox: What Could Have Been DUKE GOLDMAN Chicago White Sox The White Sox in Wartime DON ZMINDA Vince Castino DAVID RAGLIN AND BARB MANTEGANI Guy Curtright DON ZMINDA Floyd Speer REX HAMANN Cleveland Indians World War II and the Cleveland Indians DAVID W. PUGH Otto Denning CHRIS RAINEY Jim McDonnell ASHLIE CHRISTIAN AND ARMAND PETERSON Mickey Rocco GREGG OMOTH Detroit Tigers The Tigers in Wartime MIKE MCCLARY Chuck Hostetler MARC LANCASTER Bobby Maier MARC LANCASTER Charlie Metro TOM HAWTHORN New York Yankees The Yankees in Wartime MARC Z AARON Joe Buzas MARC Z AARON Mike Garbark MARC Z AARON Bud Metheny MARC Z AARON Philadelphia Athletics The Wartime Philadelphia Athletics DAVID M. JORDAN Orie Arntzen GREGORY H. WOLF Jim Tyack ALAN COHEN Woody Wheaton ALAN COHEN St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns in World War II GREG ERION Milt Byrnes GREG ERION Charley Fuchs GREG ERION Pete Gray MEL MARMER Washington Senators The Washington Senators in Wartime RICHARD MORASKI Ed Butka CORT VITTY Jug Thesenga BOB LEMOINE Tony Zardón RORY COSTELLO AND LOU HERNÁNDEZ Senators Who Died in Combat RICHARD MORASKI OTHER ESSAYS The All-Star Games in the War Years LYLE SPATZ Wartime Baseball: Minor Leagues, Major Changes (San Diego to Buffalo) JAMES D. SMITH, III Impact of WWII on the Negro Leagues LESLIE HEAPHY Baseball’s Women on the Field During WWII MERRIE A. FIDLER In-season Exhibition Games During Wartime WALTER LECONTE The Double Victory Campaign and the Campaign to Integrate Baseball DUKE GOLDMAN |
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Bradenton (/ ˈbreɪdəntən / ⓘ BRAY-dən-tən) is a city in and the county seat [8] of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 …
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