Baseball heaven : up close and personal, what it was really like in the major leagues / Peter Golenbock.

Title :

Baseball heaven : up close and personal, what it was really like in the major leagues

Author:

Golenbock, Peter, 1946-

Format:

Books

Summary:

"In Baseball Heaven, bestselling baseball author Peter Golenbock returns with the sequel to his highly praised Whispers of the Gods, bringing to life more baseball legends through timeless interviews"--

Language:

English

ISBN - ISSN:

9781538181829

1538181827

Physical Description:

pages cm

General Note:

Includes index.

Contents:

Elden Auker : "I'd like to see you throw directly underhand." -- Elden Auker : Ole Diz, Mickey Cochrane, and Hammering Hank -- Elden Auker : Joe Cronin drives him crazy -- Johnny Pesky : Pesky holds the ball -- Albert Happy Chandler : "I will allow Jackie Robinson to play for Brooklyn" -- Del Webb : "Would you be interested in buying the Yankees?" -- Del Webb : Stengel and Weiss and victory -- Ralph Branca : the ace of the staff -- Ralph Branca : the shot heard round the world -- Bobby Thomson : the shot heard round the world -- Donald Hall : my love of the Brooklyn Dodgers -- Elston Howard : for the Yankees, the first -- Hot Rod Kanehl : Casey's pet -- Rod Kanehl : I was an original Met -- Dock Ellis : a life on the edge -- Dock Ellis : cocaine and Yankee turbulence -- Gary Carter : the missing ingredient -- Gary Carter : the ball goes through Buckner's legs.

Subject:

Baseball players -- United States -- Biography.

Baseball -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

First Title value, for Searching:

Baseball heaven : up close and personal, what it was really like in the major leagues / Peter Golenbock.

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Library	Audience	Home Location	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Bracewell	Adult	Non-fiction	New books	796.3570922 G625	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Central	Adult	Non-fiction	New books	796.3570922 G625	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Looscan	Adult	Non-fiction	New books	796.3570922 G625	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Ring	Adult	Non-fiction	New books	796.3570922 G625	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

"With its personal feel and near-mystical quality, this highly recommended work will mesmerize baseball lovers and casual fans." Library Journal, Starred Review

A behind-the-scenes look at baseball history, as told through timeless interviews with major leaguers

For fifty years, bestselling author Peter Golenbock has been interviewing some of the most fascinating figures in baseball. Their conversations are a journey back in time to the days of Ruth and Gehrig, Gehringer and Greenberg, Robinson and Reese, and Howard and Mantle, as they reflect on the sport's greatest moments and biggest issues.

In Baseball Heaven, Golenbock brings together for the first time the most historic and captivating of these conversations. The stories range from Elden Auker remembering the day Lou Gehrig told him he was sick to Albert Happy Chandler reflecting on his decision to allow Jackie Robinson into the big leagues, from Ralph Branca discussing the home run he gave up that cost the Dodgers the pennant to Del Webb talking about why he hired Casey Stengel and why he fired him.

Baseball Heaven is baseball history at its very best. It pulls back the curtain on the major leagues to reveal inside stories, intimate reminiscences, and the friendships and rivalries that make baseball America's Game.

Author Notes

Peter Golenbock is a prolific sports journalist and author. He was born in New York City on July 19, 1946 and raised in Stamford, Connecticut.

He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1967 and the New York University School of Law in 1970.

While at Dartmouth, he began writing about sports for The Daily Dartmouth, which led to stints with the New York Times and the Boston Globe. It was also at Dartmouth where he became friends with Robert Ariel "Red" Rolfe, the former New York Yankees third baseman and the school's athletic director. Rolfe entertained him for hours with stories of the famous Yankees teams of the 1930's, which had a profound impact on Golenbock's unintended career path.

After graduating law school, he eventually landed a job in the legal department of Prentice-Hall Publishing. Surprisingly, he was able to convince the head of the trade book division to allow him to write about the Yankees. The resulting book, Dynasty: The New York Yankees 1949-64, became an instant bestseller, the first of many for Golenbock. Among his best-known works to follow include; The Bronx Zoo, Bums: An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Balls, with Graig Nettles, Bats, with Davey Johnson, Personal Fouls, a look at corruption in college basketball, and Teammates, a children's book about the relationship between Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese.

His latest work is entitled Rage: The Legend of "Baseball Bill" Denehy.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review

Prolific baseball writer Golenbock's (Bums: An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers) success in sports writing has largely been attributed to his talent for conducting interviews, especially his ability to ask the right questions and develop trust with his subjects. In this behind-the-scenes look at baseball history, he quotes heavily, including raw details, from the manuscripts of his interviews with a number of lesser-known characters who have firsthand knowledge of famous baseball events and players. Golenbock's interviewees include the Brooklyn Dodgers owner who signed Jackie Robinson, the first Black major-league baseball player, to his team; the pitcher responsible for Bobby Thomson's walk-off home run that became the "shot heard 'round the world"; a player from the notoriously bad early New York Mets team, who began playing in 1962; and the late baseball player Gary Carter, who elucidates the inner workings of the wildly successful 1986 season in which the Mets won their second World Series. VERDICT A wonderfully distinctive and intriguing baseball history with something of a New York bent. With its personal feel and near-mystical quality, this highly recommended work will mesmerize baseball lovers and casual fans.--Steve Dixon

Excerpts

Excerpt © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Excerpt from Elston Howard, Chapter 12 Q: Why did you choose to play professional baseball over going to college? A: My parents were educators. My father was a principal down in New Madrid, Missouri, at the O'Bannon High School. My mother was a dietician for many years, and they wanted me to go to college. I went to Stowe, a teacher's college, a little school in St. Louis, but I dropped out and started playing professional baseball. I went into the black leagues. I played with the Kansas City Monarchs. Ernie Banks was my roommate. We won the Negro American League, which was big in black baseball. Today we have many black stars in the major leagues. It wasn't that way then. When I came in, there were still racial barriers. We couldn't live in the same hotel with the white ballplayers. We'd go down to spring training in St. Petersburg, and we would stay with a private family. We stayed with Del Williams, who had a shoe repair shop. The food was great. His wife used to fix us real good food. Bob Gibson, Bill White, and Sam Jones used to stay at their home. They were playing with the Cardinals. At the time I was the only black member with the Yankees. We had a rough time during spring training. Camp would break for the day, and you had to cross the tracks into the black section to dress, while the white boys would go to the hotel and dress. They'd jump on the bus, while I had to jump in a cab with my uniform and come to the ballpark and go back and then jump back on the train, see. Q: Didn't this make you angry? A: Oh yeah. Being a young man, I was really upset at it. The only time I would get really upset was when you'd hear racial remarks. In those days you heard a lot of racial remarks, and I still get mad today when I hear it. I get offended by it, and if a guy gets on me about it, I go right after him. Excerpted from Baseball Heaven: Up Close and Personal, What It Was Really Like in the Major Leagues by Peter Golenbock All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Foreword	ix
Introduction	xi
1 Elden Auker: "I'd Like to See You Throw Directly Underhand"	1
2 Elden Auker: Ole Diz, Mickey Cochrane, and Hammering Hank	24
3 Elden Auker: Joe Cronin Drives Him Crazy	45
4 Johnny Pesky: Pesky Holds the Ball	61
5 Albert "Happy" Chandler: "I Will Allow Jackie Robinson to Play for Brooklyn"	76
6 Del Webb: "Would You Be Interested in Buying the Yankees?"	88
7 Del Webb: Stengel and Weiss and Victory	102
8 Ralph Branca: The Ace of the Staff	123
9 Ralph Branca: The Shot Heard round the World	145
10 Bobby Thomson: The Shot Heard round the World	164
11 Donald Hail: My Love of the Brooklyn Dodgers	173
12 Elston Howard: For the Yankees, the First	182
13 Hot Rod Kanehl: Casey's Pet	204
14 Rod Kanehl: I Was an Original Met	218
15 Dock Ellis: A Life on the Edge	235
16 Dock Ellis: Cocaine and Yankee Turbulence	264
17 Gary Carter: The Missing Ingredient	279
18 Gary Carter: The Ball Goes through Buckner's Legs	298
Index	311

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Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review

Excerpts

Excerpts

Table of Contents