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.
Tulsa's longest relationship with any professional sport has been with baseball. And that love affair with its minor league teams has endured its share of peaks and valleys, of passionate embraces, periods of frustration and despair and joyous celebrations. Baseball and Tulsa are currently living "happily ever after" with record-setting season attendance figures, more frequent appearances in postseason playoffs, having one of the finest stadiums on the Double-A level and its new partnership with one of baseball's most prestigious organizations, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ten major league teams, from powerhouses such as the Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals to the woeful St. Louis Browns, have placed developmental teams in Tulsa with varying degrees of success. This book tells the stories of not only the men who wore the uniforms of Tulsa's professional baseball teams but also of opposing players along with others who came through town and left their mark on the sport, for better or for worse. You can read about ... How a crude invention by the manager of the 1966 Tulsa Oilers opened up baseball to be played and enjoyed by young boys and girls around the world. How a fan got fed up with constant booing from others nearby and his response was a yell that became a battle cry for Tulsa baseball fans. How the 1921 Oilers and their home stadium were involved in one of America's darkest hours, the Tulsa Race Massacre. What happened when future Hall of Fame players and managers visited the Oil Capital of the World for exhibition games. How the Tulsa Drillers were the stepping stone for superstars with the Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers. Members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame with connections to Tulsa. And how the 1966 Oilers lost nine games in a row and, incredibly, strengthened its hold on first place.
From the early 1900's, the University of Tulsa had a baseball team, until it dropped the sport in 1980. Year by year the players and coaches built the program into an elite program that was consistently recognized nationally in the top 10 rankings with frequent rankings of number one in the nation. As baseball players always say, "What is said and happens in the dugout, stays in the dugout." The 1969 team became Tulsa University's first men's sport to compete for a national championship by playing in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. They finished runner-up to Arizona State. The team returned back to the College World Series in 1971, finishing third. But that was only one chapter in the amazing story of players and coaches that built a program that "feared no opponent and expected to win every game." On the cover, "The View from the Dugout" is the chronicles of the history of the Tulsa University baseball program as told by the former players, news journalist, and friends that experienced "The Glory Days of TU Baseball."
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.
Since 1895, The University of Tulsa has consistently produced high quality football teams and players despite being one of Division 1-A's smallest institutions. From the perennial bowl teams of the 1940s to the revolutionary passing game of the 1960s, TU has made its mark throughout the history of college football. That tradition has spawned pro-caliber talent including Jerry Rhome, Howard Twilley, Drew Pearson, Tim Gordon, Dennis Byrd, Gus Frerotte and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Jim Finks, Bob St. Clair and Steve Largent. Legendary coaches such as Francis Schmidt, Henry Frnka, Glenn Dobbs and John Cooper have led the Golden Hurricane to 521 victories and 59 winning seasons. This book takes a look at these impressive historical accomplishments and offers a glimpse of TU's future through the eyes of Coach Steve Kragthorpe and the 2003 team.
Explores the forgotten history and lost folklore of “America's Most Beautiful City,” which has a haunting history that will captivate the reader with the secrets it holds from its intriguing past, while mystery and mystique follow Tulsa's urban legends and prove that truth can be stranger than fiction. Original.
Since 1950, Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium (formerly Municipal Stadium) has hosted the nation's top college baseball programs in the College World Series. Baseball fans from every corner of the country have taken the annual "Road to Omaha" and packed the seats to see championship baseball at its best. In 1954 thousands saw Jim Ehrler of Texas toss the tourney's first no-hitter en route to the Longhorns winning back-to-back CWS championships. Fans at the 1970 tournament saw Southern Cal defeat Florida State in the midst of their unmatched five-year championship run. In 1996 Rosenblatt's faithful took in the dramatic bottom-of-the-ninth, two-out, two-run homer by Louisiana State's Warren Morris, giving his team a 9-8 upset victory over powerhouse Miami.
