Showing results for "legends" in Baseball & Softball

Louis "Pete" Rogers Browning was one of the greatest baseball players of the nineteenth century. His skills with the bat made the difficult art of hitting a baseball appear easy. Over his thirteen-year career, he won three batting titles, finished in the top three nine times, and was one of the premodern era's greatest hitters. Browning is recognized as not only the namesake but also the genesis for the famed Louisville Slugger, as the Hillerich & Bradsby Company shaped the first ever custom-made bat based on his instructions.

The Kansas City Monarchs, the Chicago American Giants, the St. Louis Stars, the Birmingham Black Barons, the Homestead Grays, and the Indianapolis Clowns; for over 50 years, they were the Yankees, Cardinals, and Red Sox of black baseball in America. And for over a decade beginning in the late 1940s, umpire Bob Motley called balls and strikes for many of their games, working alongside such legends as Satchel Paige, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and Willie Mays.

Tris Speaker: The Rough-and-Tumble Life of a Baseball Legend is the first book to tell the full story of Speaker’s turbulent life and to document in sharp detail the grit and glory of his pivotal role in baseball’s dead-ball era. Playing for the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians in the early part of the 20th century, Tris “Spoke” Speaker put up numbers that amaze us even today: his record for career doubles - 792 - may never be approached, let alone broken.

Mickey Mantle: a name synonymous with baseball greatness, yet shrouded in mystery. In 7 The Legend, Randall Swearingen, a lifelong fan turned Mantle historian, peels back the myth to reveal the man. Drawing from exclusive teammate stories, this vivid biography uncovers why Mantle was sent to Triple-A in 1951, the true extent of his crippling injuries, and the personal demons he battled off the field. From the roar of Yankee Stadium to the shadows of his conflicted marriage, Mantle’s journey is one of dazzling highs and heart-wrenching lows. Why did opponents name their sons after him?

Few names in the history of baseball evoke the excellence and dynamism that Rickey Henderson’s does. He holds the record for the most stolen bases in a single game, and he’s scored more runs than any player ever. “If you cut Rickey Henderson in half, you’d have two Hall of Famers,” the baseball historian Bill James once said. But perhaps even more than his prowess on the field, Rickey Henderson’s is a story of Oakland, California, the town that gave rise to so many legendary athletes like him.

Listen to insightful interviews with 13 legendary baseball players as master interviewer Ann Liguori, an award-winning luminary in sports broadcasting, discusses achievement and life with baseball heroes. Ann asks baseball heroes about their careers, explores historic stats, finds out what motivates them, digs into the juicy controversies, their screw-ups and a host of other insightful issues that surround each of these record-setting baseball players.

The biggest names in baseball history live here. Untold stories and unfiltered takes on the game's hottest topics from legends of the sport, thanks to the MLB Players Alumni Association's VIP rolodex. Your favorite players hang out with Foul Territory's deep roster of prominent Big Leaguers, including AJ Pierzynski, Jason Kipnis, Lorenzo Cain, Todd Frazier, Erik Kratz, Brock Holt and Adam Jones along with veteran baseball personality Scott Braun running point. Drop a request for our next interview in the reviews and we'll do our best to make it happen!

Born and raised in rural Mississippi and the even balmier climes of central Florida, Red Barber, at the age of thirty-two, became one of New York City's most influential citizens as the play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers. But behind all the base hits, balls, and strikes lies a compelling story that dramatizes the shifting expectations and roles of a public figure—the sports broadcaster—as he adapted to complex cultural changes throughout the course of twentieth-century American life.

HBCU Legends delivers powerful podcasts with legendary sports figures from the world of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the SWAC, MEAC, CIAA, SIAC, and independents.Host - Kyle T. MosleyWebsite: hbculegends.net

Considered to be "as monumental -- and enigmatic -- a legend as American sport has ever seen" ( Sports Illustrated), Willie Mays is arguably the greatest player in baseball history, still revered for the passion he brought to the game. He began as a teenager in the Negro Leagues, became a cult hero in New York, and was the headliner in Major League Baseball's bold expansion to California.

Lifelong baseball fanatic and former college ball player Abe Streep had long since grown disillusioned with the slick spectacle of modern major-league baseball when he discovered the Santa Fe Fuego, a scrappy upstart team struggling through its first season in an independent professional league that few baseball fans had even heard of. The Fuego players were paid barely fifty dollars a week.

Buck O'Neil once described him as "Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Tris Speaker rolled into one". Among experts, he is regarded as the best player in Negro Leagues history. During his prime, he became a legend in Cuba and one of Black America's most popular figures. Yet even among serious sports fans, Oscar Charleston is virtually unknown today.

James “Cool Papa” Bell (1903-1991) was a legend in Black baseball, a lightning-fast switch hitter elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Bell’s speed was extraordinary; as Satchel Paige famously quipped, he was so fast he could flip a light switch and be in bed before the room got dark. In The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell, experienced baseball writer and historian Lonnie Wheeler recounts the life of this extraordinary player, a key member of some of the greatest Negro League teams in history.

The definitive and revealing biography of Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks, one of America's most iconic, beloved, and misunderstood baseball players, by acclaimed journalist Ron Rapoport.

Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Chris Myers reflects on his illustrious career as one of the most trusted and renowned journalists in sports. Myers has witnessed and participated in his fair share of historic events: on the field when the earthquake struck the 1989 World Series; on the air throughout the tragic aftermath of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing; on the sidelines during the Patriots’ stunning comeback at Super Bowl LI; and a contentious live interview with the notorious OJ Simpson.

Willie Mays is arguably the greatest player in baseball history, still revered for the passion he brought to the game. He began as a teenager in the Negro Leagues, became a cult hero in New York, and was the headliner in Major League Baseball's bold expansion to California. He was a blend of power, speed, and stylistic bravado that enraptured fans for more than two decades. Now, James Hirsch reveals the man behind the player.

Due to his achievements as a player and manager, as well as his sterling character, Gil Hodges deserves to be in the Hall of Fame more than any other player. A towering figure during the Golden Era of the 1950s, Hodges was the Brooklyn Dodgers’ powerful first baseman who, alongside Jackie Robinson, helped drive his team to six pennants and a thrilling World Series victory in 1955. Fans never booed the beloved home run hitter from Indiana who married a Brooklyn girl and settled in their borough, and they famously prayed for him when he slumped.

The life of baseball legend Babe Ruth is chronicled in this hard-hitting audio biography narrated by the author. In rare archival interviews, Ruth discusses his early life, the trappings of stardom, and his eternal, abiding love of America's favorite game.

Welcome inside the MLBPAA Legends Lounge with Alanna Rizzo, Scott Braun and the Big O, Orestes Destrade, where baseball VIPs are hanging out and talking about their life in the game.

Satchel Paige was 42 years old when he became the first Black pitcher in the American League in 1948. Although the oldest rookie around, he was already a legend. For 22 years, beginning in 1926, Paige dazzled throngs with his performance in the Negro Baseball Leagues. Then he outlasted everyone by playing professional baseball, in and out of the majors, until 1965.