Oklahoma City is completing its first century of minor league baseball. Since 1904, organized professional teams called the Mets, Indians, Senators, Boosters, 89ers, and now the RedHawks have thrilled fans of all ages. Several fan-favorites who have graced the diamond for Oklahoma City have gone on to stardom in "The Big Show," including major league all-stars Lonnie Smith and Juan Gonzales. Legendary names like Rogers Hornsby and Bill Veeck have also played a part in Oklahoma City's baseball history. As the second century of baseball in Oklahoma City begins, the Oklahoma RedHawks continue the tradition of playing superb baseball in the "The Little Show," with perhaps another future major league all-star or two honing his skills before a capacity crowd at the Brick.
Oklahoma's influence on baseball in America is phenomenal. One of every ten of the 14,000 men who have played major league baseball since 1876 have come through Oklahoma. Many of the diamond heroes were born in or died in Oklahoma while others played sandlot, college, or minor league baseball in the Sooner State. Some of the names of the Oklahoma baseball players are legendary ... Mickey Mantle, Warren Spahn, Carl Hubbell, Lloyd and Paul Waner, and Dizzy and Daffy Dean. Others are more obscure ... Cat Clanton of Antlers struck out in his only major league at-bat. Lefty Goodell of Muskogee pitched three innings for the 1928 White Sox. Cal Browning of Burns Flat pitched two-thirds of an inning for the 1960 Cardinals. Some of baseball's most intriguing personalities with colorful nicknames such as Allie "Super Chief" Reynolds, Harry "The Cat" Brecheen, Joe "Burrhead" Dobson, Pepper "Wild Horse of the Osage" Martin, Roy "Peaches" Davis, Dorrell "Whitey" Herzog, and "Bullet Joe" Rogan, cut their baseball teeth in Oklahoma. The baseball immortality of Oklahoma players is preserved on the pages of the official record books: Mike Marshall's 106 appearances in 1974; Joe McGinnity's 44 complete games in 1903; Jim Gentile's five grand slams in 1961; Jake Beckley's 23,696 putouts; and Gus Weyhing's 286 hit batsmen, a record that has stood for 97 years and is likely to endure through the next millennium. Oklahoma and baseball are inseparable. The players and their stories are woven permanently into the fabric of American life.
The rich tradition and history of professional baseball are brought to life in Baseball in Tulsa. Wayne McCombs traces Tulsa's baseball past from the cow pastures of Indian Territory into the 21st century. The book documents the struggle many players endure in the coveted quest to become a major league baseball player. Showcasing a collection of over 170 rare photographs, this new volume vividly documents the sport that makes Tulsa one of the best minor league cities in America. See all the greats from the original Tulsa Oilers through today's Tulsa Drillers, including hall-of-famers Satchel Paige, Frank Robinson, Steve Carlton, Dizzy Dean, and Warren Spahn-each of these legends either played or coached in Tulsa.
Professional baseball came to the Twin Territories in 1904 with Oklahoma City, Guthrie, Enid, Chickasha, and Shawnee appearing in the Southwestern League and Ardmore, I.T. making a brief appearance in the Texas League. Twenty-eight Oklahoma cities and towns fielded teams in eleven different leagues between 1904 and 1919. This book tells the story of those leagues and scores of the ball clubs from Altus to Vinita along with hundreds of photos of towns, teams, and players.
Throughout life, most of us have the privilege of coming in contact with certain people who live exceptionally and set inspiring examples in everyday life. This spiritual journal is dedicated to the memory of a young man named Justin Sullivan who did exactly that: He lived an exceptional life and set an incredible example for other people. Justin graduated third in his class at Yukon High School in Yukon, Oklahoma, where he was not only an honor student, but also an honor athlete. Justin had a strong desire to bring glory to the Lord in every aspect of his life. He was named Baseball Player of the Year for the State of Oklahoma on June 2, 2002, and was tragically killed in a freak car accident the following day on his way home from work. Even though his life was short, Justin taught people what it meant to walk with God. The truth is that he lived a life worth following, and his legacy will carry on for generations to come. His example in life, his impact on people and his personal discipline together created a life that truly made a difference to all those who crossed his path.
A riveting inside account of the most unforgettable season in Los Angeles Dodgers history, from the COVID-delayed start through the incredible playoff run, by the broadcaster who saw it all. As America’s Pastime reeled from a global pandemic, the LA Dodgers rallied to win arguably the most difficult baseball season ever played. Amid strict new rules and Coronavirus outbreaks on other teams that wreaked havoc on the schedule, the Dodgers maintained a laser focus as a team and organization, and ultimately, won the first bubbled playoffs in the history of Major League Baseball. In COVID Curveball, author and Dodgers’ broadcaster Tim Neverett takes us through this unprecedented season, offering exclusive access and firsthand, edge-of-your-seat, play-by-play coverage of the surreal days and weeks that led up to the dramatic championship climax. It’s a highly entertaining, often humorous chronicle of the quirky nature of the season, the goings-on behind the scenes at the stadium and MLB at large, as well as the unique chemistry forged in the diverse and dynamic clubhouse. Along with insights into the potent lineup that produced jaw-dropping moments by Mookie Betts, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Max Muncy, and Cody Bellinger, the book also celebrates the incredible achievements of Clayton Kershaw that cemented his Hall-of-Fame legacy, and the remarkable job done by Dave Roberts and the Dodgers’ executives and ownership. Highlighted by empty stands, remote broadcasts, and relentless testing, 2020 was perhaps the strangest baseball season ever…but it produced the most savored World Series celebration in the history of the game. Includes an in-depth foreword by Dodgers’ legend Orel Hershiser.
A brilliant, kaleidoscopic narrative of Oklahoma City—a great American story of civics, basketball, and destiny, from award-winning journalist Sam Anderson NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • NPR • Chicago Tribune • San Francisco Chronicle • The Economist • Deadspin Oklahoma City was born from chaos. It was founded in a bizarre but momentous “Land Run” in 1889, when thousands of people lined up along the borders of Oklahoma Territory and rushed in at noon to stake their claims. Since then, it has been a city torn between the wild energy that drives its outsized ambitions, and the forces of order that seek sustainable progress. Nowhere was this dynamic better realized than in the drama of the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team’s 2012-13 season, when the Thunder’s brilliant general manager, Sam Presti, ignited a firestorm by trading future superstar James Harden just days before the first game. Presti’s all-in gamble on “the Process”—the patient, methodical management style that dictated the trade as the team’s best hope for long-term greatness—kicked off a pivotal year in the city’s history, one that would include pitched battles over urban planning, a series of cataclysmic tornadoes, and the frenzied hope that an NBA championship might finally deliver the glory of which the city had always dreamed. Boom Town announces the arrival of an exciting literary voice. Sam Anderson, former book critic for New York magazine and now a staff writer at the New York Times magazine, unfolds an idiosyncratic mix of American history, sports reporting, urban studies, gonzo memoir, and much more to tell the strange but compelling story of an American city whose unique mix of geography and history make it a fascinating microcosm of the democratic experiment. Filled with characters ranging from NBA superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook; to Flaming Lips oddball frontman Wayne Coyne; to legendary Great Plains meteorologist Gary England; to Stanley Draper, Oklahoma City's would-be Robert Moses; to civil rights activist Clara Luper; to the citizens and public servants who survived the notorious 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building, Boom Town offers a remarkable look at the urban tapestry woven from control and chaos, sports and civics.
Winner of the CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year Finalist for the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing From an award-winning journalist comes the riveting odyssey of seven Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1960s—a chronicle of a team, a game, and a nation in transition during one of the most exciting and unsettled decades in history. Legendary Dodgers Maury Wills, Sandy Koufax, Wes Parker, Jeff Torborg, Dick Tracewski, and Tommy Davis encapsulated 1960s America: white and black, Jewish and Christian, wealthy and working class, pro-Vietnam and anti-war, golden boy and seasoned veteran. The Last Innocents is a thoughtful, technicolor portrait of these seven players—friends, mentors, confidants, rivals, and allies—and their storied team that offers an intriguing look at a sport and a nation in transition. Bringing into focus the high drama of their World Series appearances from 1962 to 1972 and their pivotal games, Michael Leahy explores these men’s interpersonal relationships and illuminates the triumphs, agonies, and challenges each faced individually. Leahy places these men’s lives within the political and social maelstrom that was the era when the conformity of the 1950s gave way to demands for equality and rights. Increasingly frustrated over a lack of real bargaining power and an oppressive management who meddled in their personal affairs, the players shared an uneasy relationship with the team’s front office. This contention mirrored the discord and uncertainty generated by myriad changes rocking the nation: the civil rights movement, political assassinations, and growing hostility to the escalation of the Vietnam War. While the nation around them changed, these players each experienced a personal and professional metamorphosis that would alter public perceptions and their own. Comprehensive and artfully crafted, The Last Innocents is an evocative and riveting portrait of a pivotal era in baseball and modern America.
