Baseball and Bubble Gum

Baseball and Bubble Gum

Author: Tom Zappala

Publisher:

Published: 2020-06

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781942155317

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Baseball & Bubble Gum: The 1952 Topps Collection details the most iconic postwar baseball set in hobby history. With the end of World War II, the advent of television, and an explosion of love for our National Pastime, the players making up this historic collection became bigger than life. Mantle, Berra, Robinson, and Spahn are just a few of the stars who helped Americans forget the ravages of war and who opened the door to Major League Baseball's desegregation that was closed for so many years.Each player narrative in this book gives you a glimpse of what life was like for these athletes during and after World War II. Many of these men fought overseas, and some of them were even Purple Heart recipients. Organized in chapters by the Hall of Famers, the Commons, and the Uncommons, it's interesting to see that the love of baseball was the common thread between players like Hall of Famer Duke Snider; an uncommon player like Bobby Shantz, who, although is not in Cooperstown, had a wonderful career; and a typical common player like Jim Busby, who played day in and day out without any fanfare.The last chapter of the book discusses the great appeal of the 1952 Topps set; how the collection was developed; the nuances of particular cards, along with the scarcity, popularity, and in some cases, the card value. This set became the template for card collecting, and it is still going strong after 68 years. Kids and adults have been trading and collecting their favorite players for years.Today, collecting has become a big business, but when all is said and done, we are all still kids who love those little cardboard pieces of art. This book is a fun read for baseball lovers, card collectors, and baseball historians. Grab yourself some bubble gum, sit back, and enjoy the journey into the decade of "The Whiz Kids," "Dem Bums," and "The Bronx Bombers."


Stealing Home

Stealing Home

Author: Eric Nusbaum

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 2020-03-24

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1541742192

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A story about baseball, family, the American Dream, and the fight to turn Los Angeles into a big league city. Dodger Stadium is an American icon. But the story of how it came to be goes far beyond baseball. The hills that cradle the stadium were once home to three vibrant Mexican American communities. In the early 1950s, those communities were condemned to make way for a utopian public housing project. Then, in a remarkable turn, public housing in the city was defeated amidst a Red Scare conspiracy. Instead of getting their homes back, the remaining residents saw the city sell their land to Walter O'Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Now LA would be getting a different sort of utopian fantasy -- a glittering, ultra-modern stadium. But before Dodger Stadium could be built, the city would have to face down the neighborhood's families -- including one, the Aréchigas, who refused to yield their home. The ensuing confrontation captivated the nation - and the divisive outcome still echoes through Los Angeles today.


Hall of Fame Baseball Cards

Hall of Fame Baseball Cards

Author: Bert Randolph Sugar

Publisher: Courier Corporation

Published: 1978

Total Pages: 20

ISBN-13: 0486236242

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Full-color, detachable facsimile reproductions, both front and back, of 92 authentic baseball cards. Among the players are Hornsby, Young, McGraw, Stengel, Rickey, Gehrig, Williams, Mantle, Spahn, Robinson, Musial, Koufax, Clemente, and many more. There is no duplication of cards with Sugar's Classic Baseball Cards.


Our Team

Our Team

Author: Luke Epplin

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Published: 2021-03-30

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 1250313805

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The riveting story of four men—Larry Doby, Bill Veeck, Bob Feller, and Satchel Paige—whose improbable union on the Cleveland Indians in the late 1940s would shape the immediate postwar era of Major League Baseball and beyond. In July 1947, not even three months after Jackie Robinson debuted on the Brooklyn Dodgers, snapping the color line that had segregated Major League Baseball, Larry Doby would follow in his footsteps on the Cleveland Indians. Though Doby, as the second Black player in the majors, would struggle during his first summer in Cleveland, his subsequent turnaround in 1948 from benchwarmer to superstar sparked one of the wildest and most meaningful seasons in baseball history. In intimate, absorbing detail, Luke Epplin's Our Team traces the story of the integration of the Cleveland Indians and their quest for a World Series title through four key participants: Bill Veeck, an eccentric and visionary owner adept at exploding fireworks on and off the field; Larry Doby, a soft-spoken, hard-hitting pioneer whose major-league breakthrough shattered stereotypes that so much of white America held about Black ballplayers; Bob Feller, a pitching prodigy from the Iowa cornfields who set the template for the athlete as businessman; and Satchel Paige, a legendary pitcher from the Negro Leagues whose belated entry into the majors whipped baseball fans across the country into a frenzy. Together, as the backbone of a team that epitomized the postwar American spirit in all its hopes and contradictions, these four men would captivate the nation by storming to the World Series--all the while rewriting the rules of what was possible in sports.


Blueberry Bubble Gum

Blueberry Bubble Gum

Author: Mahamad Ali Elfakir

Publisher:

Published: 2013-03

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13: 9780578109749

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Get ready for adventure! School's out, and Max is gearing up for a summer of baseball with his friends. He's expecting fun in the sun and long, lazy days. But to his surprise, he finds himself transported to a strange and wonderful world after chewing magical blueberry bubble gum-bubble gum his parents warned him not to chew! Join Max in his adventures through Blueberry Bubble Gum World and meet the fascinating creatures who live there-the Blueberry Boy, King Erudition, and the lumpy, moldy green evil Waywards. Will Max learn his lesson and find his way home? Find out in this thrilling journey!


The 100 Greatest Baseball Autographs

The 100 Greatest Baseball Autographs

Author: Tom Zappala

Publisher: Jetty House

Published: 2016-07-01

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9781937721299

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The 100 Greatest Baseball Autographs showcases the most desirable signatures in the history of our National Pastime while detailing the story behind the professional and personal lives of the men who signed their names on the sweet spot.You will find a complete overview of each featured player, including individual autograph analysis along with the story of the man behind the autograph. PSA/DNA experts educate the reader in the specific characteristics of each of these special signatures and what to look for when hunting for the real deal. How many Mickey Mantle autographs were actually signed by clubhouse attendants? Why are there so few Joe Jackson signatures? Selected by highly regarded autograph experts using criteria including rarity, historical importance, and popularity, This title features the most sought-after signatures in the hobby. The book starts out with the absolute pinnacle of this grouping, "The Most Wanted List," showcasing the twenty most desirable autographs in the hobby. The players selected for this book represent a cross section of baseball history, from the very early years to the present. You will meet the men who developed the rules of the game, the field generals who implemented the rules and devised the strategies, as well as the players who blazed the trail for future generations.These players quickly became larger-than-life stars, and fans sought autographs both in-person and through mail requests. As their star power grew, many players' signing habits and signature styles evolved. This information, coupled with the story narratives of the players, makes for a fascinating and fun read.The pages of this book are filled with original autograph images on a variety of mediums, along with corresponding player images, giving you a visual look at the players who signed each desirable autograph. In some cases, the player images appear on a period photo or baseball card, but in many cases the player images are original works by renowned sports artist Arthur K.Miller.


The Guide to United States Popular Culture

The Guide to United States Popular Culture

Author: Ray Broadus Browne

Publisher: Popular Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 1030

ISBN-13: 9780879728212

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"To understand the history and spirit of America, one must know its wars, its laws, and its presidents. To really understand it, however, one must also know its cheeseburgers, its love songs, and its lawn ornaments. The long-awaited Guide to the United States Popular Culture provides a single-volume guide to the landscape of everyday life in the United States. Scholars, students, and researchers will find in it a valuable tool with which to fill in the gaps left by traditional history. All American readers will find in it, one entry at a time, the story of their lives."--Robert Thompson, President, Popular Culture Association. "At long last popular culture may indeed be given its due within the humanities with the publication of The Guide to United States Popular Culture. With its nearly 1600 entries, it promises to be the most comprehensive single-volume source of information about popular culture. The range of subjects and diversity of opinions represented will make this an almost indispensable resource for humanities and popular culture scholars and enthusiasts alike."--Timothy E. Scheurer, President, American Culture Association "The popular culture of the United States is as free-wheeling and complex as the society it animates. To understand it, one needs assistance. Now that explanatory road map is provided in this Guide which charts the movements and people involved and provides a light at the end of the rainbow of dreams and expectations."--Marshall W. Fishwick, Past President, Popular Culture Association Features of The Guide to United States Popular Culture: 1,010 pages 1,600 entries 500 contributors Alphabetic entries Entries range from general topics (golf, film) to specific individuals, items, and events Articles are supplemented by bibliographies and cross references Comprehensive index