Sportbiographien

A biography of Hall of Fame catcher Ray Schalk, once described as the yardstick against which all other catchers were measured. For years the top defender at his position, Schalk was also a fiery leader on the field, and he guided two teams to the World Series.

Charlie Gehringer is regarded by many as the best two-strike hitter of all time. This work follows Gehringer's career from the day a scout spotted him on the sandlots of Michigan in 1923 to his induction into the Hall of Fame in 1949 and into his life after baseball.

In 1941, his first full season, Pete Reiser became the youngest batting champion in history, winning the NL title with a.343 average, and led the league in runs, doubles, triples, total bases, and slugging average. By July of 1942, the popular Brooklyn outfielder was flirting with.400 and was easily baseball's fastest rising star.

Armando Marsans joined the Cincinnati Reds in 1911, the first Cuban to play Major League baseball. Part biography, part sociological study, this is an introduction to a physically gifted player that also examines a young, powerful America struggling to find its own identity in a new ethnic makeup.

The biography of Hall of Famer Harry Wright, known for his important role in establishing professionalism as a legitimate element of the game and for promoting its popularity as the national pastime.

Branch Rickey was one of the most important and charismatic figures in all of baseball. This volume concentrates on his time with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and includes use of his personal correspondence to document his story.

Babe Ruth is the most recognised figure in baseball and a true American icon. This biography describes the highlights of Ruth's career and examines the reasons for the unprecedented impact Ruth had on the game. It draws insights into Ruth's life and career through interviews conducted with members of Ruth's family and with other baseball players.

Barry Bonds has emerged, statistically, as the most feared hitter since Babe Ruth. Bonds, winner of a record six MVP awards, holds the single-season record for home-runs, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, and walks, and is the only player ever to have hit 500 home-runs and stolen 500 bases.

Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games played stood for decades until Cal Ripken Jr.

A general introduction traces the historic struggle of African-American athletes in professional and Olympic sports and appendices provide alphabetical listings of biographical entries and entries by sport.

The rise of Jack Wilshere is one of the foremost success stories of Arsenal FC, England and the Premier League. His vision, creativity, imagination and intelligence has led him to become an invaluable member of Arsenal's first team, and his heart, grace and sublime left foot has already drawn comparisons with Arsenal legend, Liam Brady.

This readable biography of Lance Armstrong surveys his legendary cycling career as well as the details of his life outside of cycling. The son of a single mother and born in a run-down housing project, American athlete Lance Armstrong emerged from decidedly modest beginnings.

Women have made significant strides in the US sports world over the past 30 years, one of which has been moving into the ranks of coaching on both the collegiate and professional levels. This work lists 42 women coaches in the sports world, many of whom had to overcome major obstacles to succeed.

The sixth volume of the Biographical Dictionary of American Sports, this supplement provides biographies for 616 athletes, coaches, managers, officials, administrators, writers, and broadcasters who have played an active role in American sports or helped to promote them.

Sir Alex Ferguson is undoubtedly the greatest football manager in living memory. With a reign at Manchester United approaching 25 years, Sir Alex has brought countless trophies and records to Old Trafford and has transformed United into the most popular football club in the world. Born in Glasgow in 1941, Ferguson played for Queen's Park, Dunfermline and Rangers before retiring in 1974 to begin his managerial career. At Aberdeen, he led a struggling side to the Scottish League championship and the 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup. But it is at Manchester United that Sir Alex has achieved world domination. Joining the club in November 1986, Ferguson immediately set about improving the players' discipline and strengthening the squad. Things didn't go exactly to plan in Sir Alex's first few years at United, but his signing of Eric Cantona for a bargin GBP1.2million in 1992 helped to secure their first League trophy in 26 years. An incredible run of success followed, shaped by the emergence of Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Nicky Butt. And Fergie's finest moment was still to come - in 1999, when Manchester United romped to an unprecedented Treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League trophies. He was knighted the same year for his services to football. Under Sir Alex, United have been Premier League champions 12 times, surpassing arch-rivals Liverpool's league title haul in the process, and have reached four Champions League finals, winning the trophy on two occasions. This in-depth biography charts the unstoppable rise of the Premier League's longest-serving manager.

When Stan The Man Musial retired after 22 years with the Cardinals (disrupted only by a year of service with the U.S. Navy during World War II), he held 17 Major League records, 29 National League records, and 9 All Star game records.

In the Firing Line, based on the diary Ed Cowan kept while playing his second season for Tasmania over the summer of 2010-11, reveals with intelligence and a touch of humour the excruciatingly shaky position of the domestic cricket player.

Kenny Sansom considers himself a lucky man. But he also knows he's pushed that luck, and is fortunate to have survived. As a footballer he soared to great heights - but as an individual he also sank to life-threatening lows. The fans in the Highbury terraces may have sung his name but no-one ever really knew the whole truth about the football icon.

Albert Beauregard Hodges is a legend among chess aficionados. One of the most well-known American chess players of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he played an important role in transforming chess from a pleasant pastime into a social institution. This work provides an in-depth biography of Hodges' personal life and chess career and a collection of more than 340 of his games, as well as 15 of his published chess problems. Hodges' complete tournament and match records are included, along with line engravings, photographs, and several indexes.

From 1900 through the 1940s Latino baseball players suffered discrimination, poor accommodations, low pay and homesickness to play a game they loved. Those who were both talented and light-skinned enough to make it to the majors were mocked for being foreign. Those in the Negro Leagues were, like African American ballplayers, segregated and largely ignored by the public and major league scouts. Building on the work of researchers who focused on the seasons and careers of these pioneer athletes, Nick Wilson draws on primary documents and interviews to round out our knowledge of the players as people. Jose Mendez, Miguel Gonzalez, Luis Tiant, Sr., Martin Dihigo, Rodolfo Fernandez, Roberto Ortiz, Cristobal Torriente, Hiram Bithorn and Pedro ""Preston"" Gomez are only a few examples of the players included here. Appendices on ""Americans Who Positively Influenced Latin Migration"" and ""Latinos and the Washington Senators Spring Training Camps, 1939-1942"" are included, along with 26 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index.

Held on June 22, 1938, in Yankee Stadium, the second Louis-Schmeling fight sparked excitement around the globe. For all its length - the fight lasted but two minutes - it remains one of the most memorable events in boxing history. This book offers a portrait of Joe Louis, Max Schmeling, their individual careers, and their two epic fights.

Billy Southworth was the most successful major league baseball manager of the 1940s including the three straight years in which his St. Louis Cardinal teams won more than 100 games. He won three National League pennants with the Cardinals and one with the Boston Braves, and his .597 winning percentage is the fifth highest in baseball history. But Southworth was dogged by demons off the field, including the deaths of three children. On the field, his achievements were minimized by many because they occurred during the war years when the baseball talent level was below par. When he finally got top recognition, being elected to the Hall of Fame in 2007, the honor occurred 38 years after his death.

Joe Louis held the heavyweight boxing championship longer than any other fighter and defended it a record 25 times. (In the 1930s and 1940s, the owner of the heavyweight title was the most prominent non-team sports competitor.) In addition, Louis helped bridge the gap of understanding between whites and blacks. During World War II he not only raised money for Army and Navy relief and entertained millions of troops as a morale officer, but became a symbol of American hope and strength. This biography of Louis outlines his rise from poverty in Alabama to become the best-known African American of his time and describes how an uneducated man, simple at his core, became so articulate and ended up on the side of right in the battles he fought, with fist or voice.

Known during his Celtic days as 'Martin the Magnificent', this is the definitive biography for any football fan. This is Martin O'Neill's remarkable true story.

Wilma Rudolph was born into a large family and struggled with health problems for the first several years of her life, including polio. Though she had trouble even walking, her love of sport and movement motivated her to rehabilitate her legs. Rudolph would blossom into athletic talent and after earning a scholarship to Tennessee State, qualified for the 1960 Olympic Games where she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field.Throughout her life, Wilma Rudolph faced many barriers and yet she was able to overcome the odds to become an Olympic gold medalist. After hanging up her spikes, Wilma would teach second grade and coach track at her former high school. This work describes her life in detail, and includes a timeline of significant events in her life.

A biography of heavyweight champion Primo Carnera. It details his early life and boxing career, his success as a fighter as well as accusations of fight fixing, his strengths and limitations in the ring, and his later career as a wrestler.