Product Description
"...an encyclopedia of sports fiction..."

Based on Dr. William Russo's popular and long-standing college course, Great Sports Storiesis an overview of the conflicts, tales, plots, characters, and actions, that comprise the most significant sports films of the past century. From famous literary athletics to the politically incorrect tales of sport, from distant past games to professionals of the modern age, the book covers them all. If you want a definitive guide to winners and losers among the movie sports scene, you have found it.

Now with over 70 photos from popular and unpopular movies! ... Read more

Product Description
Home run slugger Sylvester Coddmyer the Third has an amazing secret. For three seasons, he's been coached by men who look exactly like baseball legends: Babe Ruth, Eddie Cicotte, and Mickey Mantle. Are these men just impersonating famous ballplayers, as his friend Duane insists? Or are they from the "beyond," as Snooky Malone believes?The mystery deepens in this fourth title of the exciting Home Run Kid series when yet another character from baseball's past appears to coach Syl. But is Syl the only one getting pointers? And will Snooky ever get to the bottom of this mystery? ... Read more

Product Description
In the midst of the communist scare of 1920, Mickey Rawlings, a utility infielder for the Detroit Tigers, finds himself embroiled in murder and union intrigue, after someone kills would-be union organizer Emmett Siever, a crime for which Mickey is being set up to take the fall. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Hunting A Detroit Tiger
This is a strong mystery that also provides great historical information.Baseball and mystery, what more could you want out of a book?

Mickey did it again
Mickey Rawlings is a mediocre infielder who keeps changing baseball teams, yet stumbles over dead bodies with each new team.Our hero is embroiled in the death of a retired baseball player and union organizer.The police have labelled the death as self defense from Mickey, but Mickey knows he has nothing to do with it.Meanwhile, both the union members (the "wobblies"), Mickey's baseball teammates, the baseball owners, and a scary component of the federal government are all tugging at Mickey in opposite directions over the issue of his support or lack of support for labor unions in general.Mickey is most concerned about clearing his name so some overzealous wobblies don't go after him with a vendetta.Plenty of baseball and romance are sprinkled into the mix.As other reviewers have noted, this book carries a social message too.Enjoy the history and the mystery.

This Series Hits A Home Run Every Time!
Troy Soos' baseball mysteries are always fun to read.Full of historical baseball references as well as a murder mystery that usually takes place in the opening pages, you can't help being caught up in the adventures ofutility infielder Mickey Rawlings.This particular story takes place in1920 when Mickey finds a slot on the Detroit Tigers, playing along side thetemperamental Ty Cobb.Mickey is unjustly accused of murdering a unionorganizer, merely because of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Pick this one up soon and especially if you're a true baseball fan you willenjoy reading of the events of the time as well as a good time mystery. Highly recommended.

Absorbing tale, entertaining, full of details from 1920
I don't often finish a mystery, but this book had me wanting to know whatcomes next.Mickey Rawlings is a charming character because he is veryhuman, and the story is absorbing because it involves a wide variety ofdetails from 1920 -- labor wars, the Detroit Tigers, vaudeville, etc.Agood, entertaining read.

Troy Soos is batting 1000 with this series
This is highly entertaining addition to a highly entertaining series.

Mickey Rawlings is nicely drawn as the 25th man on the roster, always struggling to keep his spot on the team, ever mindful that injury to himself or getting on the wrong side team management could mark the end of his baseball career.

The baseball sequences are great.I've always been more of a fan of baseball history than baseball present and really enjoy the details provided.

The storyline's outside the ballpark are equally enjoyable.In this edition we get some insight into the workings of the IWW and Henry Ford's secret police as Mickey works to clear himself of a murder in self defense charge.

This is a really fun read. ... Read more

Product Description
Roger Bresnahan is the same kind of a man. He thinks quickly, and is a brilliant player, but he never dodges anything. He is often hurt as a result. Once, when he was with the Giants, he was hit in the face with a pitched ball, and McGraw worried while he was laid up, for fear that it would make him bat shy. After he came back, he was just as friendly with the plate as ever. The injury of men like Chance and Bresnahan, whose services are of such vital importance to the "inside" play of a team, destroys the effectiveness of the club. ... Read more

Product Description
Young Mickey Rawlings stumbles across a murder in 1912 Fenway Park, where he learns an entirely new lesson about foul play as he becomes the number one suspect in a case that forces him to launch his own investigation. Reprint. PW. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Good book for someone who doesn't follow baseball
I am not interested in baseball or the Red Sox (and I'm from Boston), but I found this book very interesting and fast reading.I enjoyed the bits of history and could see in my mind the places in Boston that were written about.I enjoyed it very much.(ps: I even checked some of the facts to see if they were acurate and most were!!).

A satisfying summer read
I like baseball, I like historical fiction, and I like murder mysteries. This book is an enjoyable combination of all three of those.

As you have probably gathered by now, the protagonist is a baseball player in 1912 who has just joined the Boston Red Sox. Just as he arrives at Fenway Park, he stumbles across a body -- and his adventures begin.

There are several things that make this story work. One of them is that Our Hero isn't impressively intelligent. He's realistically drawn, and he makes realistically dumb mistakes.

The author also does a good job of capturing the sensibilities of the era outside the news headlines (such as the Titanic sinking); Mickey likes those newfangled movies, even if he has to sneak to see them because the baseball pros are concerned that the flickering lights are bad for his eyes. And I had been unaware of the Highlanders, who played in a baseball stadium in New Jersey in which attendees walked across the field to get to-and-from their seats.

There's just enough baseball to make the story fun for the casual fan (Go Diamondbacks!), without making the reader drown in statistics or who-did-what at the plate. Some of the characters are famous names that you'll recognize -- such as Ty Cobb, who apparently was a real jerk even if he was a great baseball player. I found the history charming rather than tedious (I'm not one for reciting baseball history).

The mystery -- who did it? -- is good but not astonishing. However, the rest of the book is so much fun that I didn't mind in the least.

If you're looking for a summer beach read, this would be a heck of a good choice.

welcome to Boston, Mickey
Mickey Rawlings arrives for duty on the Red Sox, only to find a dead body at his entrance to Fenway Park.The mystery later evolves into evidence implicating Mickey as the murderer.Along the way, Mickey suspects almost everybody on his team and several ballplayers on other teams of being the murderer.

I read the Cincinnati Red Stalkings before I read this book, and it was much better.The love interest started out interesting, but the lady disappeared for too much of the story.

A home run
Troy Soos has started a wonderful series with this first installment of the Mickey Rawlings mysteries.The combination of the early 1900s time period, the freshness of a young kid new to the big leagues, and a murder intertwined with baseball is great.It is an easy and quick read.The setting plays a big part of the appeal of this mystery novel--which Soos masterfully creates.The mystery/plot is believable and does keep the reader in suspense.I eagerly await each installment of this series.Soos writing seems to get progressively better.

Slow start to the series
This was the second Mickey Rawlings book I read and I thought the "Cincinnati Red Stalkings" was much better. I thought that the characters in "Murder at Fenway Park" were not very well-developed or differentiated from each other. I also thought that most of the middle of the book consisted of Mickey going from here to there without advancing the plot or doing much detecting. I look forward to reading the other books in the series but don't recommend this one. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (22)

Baseball Hall of Fame plays Golf
This is a great golf story by two of the super stars of baseball. Very interesting that they played three matches in 1941 with large galleries. They both played left handed. Their personalities come out in this book. Very well written and good attention to detail and news clippings for the facts.Carl Welty

Interesteting premis but doesn't really hold water
I have to say that I found this book interesting as written from a point of adulation, but as a history of baseball, it really did not serve much of a purpose. I found that it was weak and more focused on how the torch ended up being passed from Ty Cobb to Babe Ruth and used this forgotten golf grudge match as an excuse to write a book.

I think the book could have been much more interesting had it focused on baseball from the mid teen's when Babe Ruth premiered to the late 1920's when Ty Cobb passed from the scene. Great ball players like Tris Speaker, Smokey Joe Wood, Lou Gehrig and Joe Dugan barely merit a mention. The better angel to play up would have been to focus on that era of baseball especially the Black Sox. Sadly, that didn't happen.

All in all not a bad book but there are better ones!

A Peach of a Read
Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth.

Two of the greatest names ever to play Major League Baseball and a pair of the most fiercest rivals on the diamond. Ruth was the new-school slugger whose gargantuan homers matched his pursuits off the field. Cobb was the oldest of old-school, a master of "small-ball," who saw the game of titan shots with "juiced" baseballs as an utter abomination.

"Cobb disliked much about Ruth. But one of the things that pricked him most was Ruth's lifestyle. The Babe lived with wild abandon, ignoring curfews, staying out all hours, drinking, partying, overeating, and snaking through towns in search of sex," writes Stanton. "Cobb was nearly fanatical about taking care of himself, about being prepared for games, and about the need to sacrifice for the long term. He felt confident that Ruth's nocturnal adventures would eventually undermine him."

But in retirement, the pair were kept at arm's length by the top executives in the game - Ruth never got a shot at managing a club and Cobb was tarnished by a 1926 gambling scandal "cover-up" - though each eventually found the time to frequently chase a golf ball around 18 holes. Ruth was a five handicap and Cobb a nine.

Author Tom Stanton tees up an interesting dual biography of the legends that is built around a 1941 charity golf match which pitted Ruth against Cobb. Along with coverage of every baseball game the paired played against each other, Stanton drives into the professional hatred which erupted into near brawls and vicious taunts, but eventually evolved into a cordial friendship.

Even the biggest fan of baseball history will find some new gems, especially about Cobb, which is a salute to the solid short game of Stanton; meticulously lofting up to the green buried facts from the sand traps of historical fiction.

Ty and The Babe
An excellent resource for the Baseball fan, who is always looking for good books about the Legends of baseball.

Strange--but interesting--little book
This is a strange little book.For one thing, it presents a far more positive picture of Ty Cobb than one often encounters.Second, golf becomes a key part of the relationship between two bitter antagonists--Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb.

Ty Cobb was an exemplar of the old fashioned "scientific" approach to baseball, bunts, stolen bases, sacrifices, etc.Babe Ruth was a harbinger of a new era--focusing on the home run.

Cobb versus Ruth, while they were in the major leagues together, had a pretty negative relationship.Cobb had little respect for Ruth; Ruth despised Cobb.

The book tells of their slowly evolving relationship, to the point where they expressed respect toward one another by the end of Cobb's career.

Their rivalry took a turn after their respective retirements.Both became avid golfers.They took part in a series of golf matches, where there was much greater camaraderie than when they played baseball.

The book chronicles that strange evolution in their relationship.

There is a nice appendix, which chronicles those games in which they opposed one another.Interesting. . . .

An offbeat little book that ends up humanizing Cobb.
... Read more

Product Description
This book is filled with great information on the sport and history of baseball with its records set and biographies. Profusely illustrated throughout with photographs. It contains much known and unknown information about many of the greatest, such as Babe Ruth, Paul Wagner, Lou Brock, Joe Morgan, Jim Rice, Jackie Robinson, Ty Cobb and many, many others. A book of invaluable information for the sport of baseball.From dust jacket flap: Who are baseballs's 100 greatest players. Every fan will have his own list and no two will be the same The top 25 can be chosen with general agreement. The next 25 will probably arouse a certain amount of heat and rancor. The final 50 cannot be chosen without insult, vituperation and perhaps even a fist fight or two. ... Read more

Product Description
Tyrus Raymond Cobb. Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in a nearly unanimous vote. Highest lifetime batting average in baseball. Highest lifetime number of runs scored. Second highest lifetime number of hits. The run of statistics goes on, making it clear that Ty Cobb was baseball's greatest overall player.

But before Ty Cobb was a legend, he was a young man trying to escape from his famous father's lengthy shadow. William H. Cobb, former state senator, renowned educator, champion of the Southern cause in the late 1800s and early 1900s, a gentleman and a scholar. Tyrus Raymond Cobb, his oldest son, was to carry on the proud Cobb family traditions, as explained by Ty Cobb: "The honorable and honest Cobb blood . . . never will be subjected. It bows to no wrong nor to any man . . . . The Cobbs have their ideals, and God help anyone who strives to bend a Cobb away from such."

Unfortunately for W.H., Ty's greatest desire was to play baseball-a trivial game that would bring him into contact with low people. Yet the father could not deny that the son's passion for his chosen profession burned hot, reflecting the very strength of will that was the hallmark of Cobb men. After much struggle, W.H. blessed his son and encouraged him to continue playing ball.

The reconciliation nearly came too late, for soon after, W. H. Cobb was shot twice at close range-murdered-by his wife of more than twenty years. Ty was nineteen years old. The grief-stricken boy burned with rage as rumors circulated through the small Georgia town--rumors that his mother had been having an affair and that his father had caught her in the act.

With his father newly buried and his mother awaiting trial, Ty Cobb was summoned to Detroit to play for the Tigers. Tyrus is a fictional account of this time in young Cobb's life-that pivotal half-season when Ty had to prove his value on the field or forever lose any chance of playing professional ball. Subjected to a rookie hazing that would have destroyed a lesser man, Cobb carried his battle with his teammates from the clubhouse onto the field and emerged bloodied but unbowed. The sights and sounds of cut throat baseball are brilliantly evoked-a type of baseball that Cobb said was "about as gentlemanly as a kick in the crotch."

This thoroughly researched novel is a deft psychological portrait of a young man at a time of turmoil and transition. Patrick Creevy, whose earlier novel was praised as "intense [and full of] poetic yearning and literary allusion" (Kirkus Reviews), takes a unique literary look at the man dubbed "the Meanest Man in Baseball" as he left boyhood behind and began the baseball journey that made him a legend.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Ty Cobb's Baptism Of Fire
This novel offers the reader insight into the troubled mind and tortured soul of one of baseball's most remarkable players, Ty Cobb.A brief introduction to Cobb for non-baseball fans: he began a 24-year-career in the major leagues in 1905 and went on to set more records than any other player. Until Pete Rose came along, he had the most hits of any player in history; Rickey Henderson has finally surpassed his record for most stolen bases. But Cobb's lifetime batting average of .367, highest ever, is surely unchallengable.

But there was more to Cobb than the numbers. He was the most aggressive and hated man ever to step onto a ballfield.He was widely charged with being a dirty ballplayer--an accusation he fiercely denied until his dying day. An actual Cobb quote on the cover of the book accurately sums up his attitude toward the game: "Baseball is a red-blooded sport for red-blooded men. It's a struggle for supremacy, survival of the fittest."

What was the wellspring of this passion? Cobb's life was truly the stuff of tragedy. In an afterword, Creevy describes Cobb as an American Hamlet, and the paralells are there. In the summer of 1905, Ty's second in professional ball, his mother shot and killed his father, who had been trying to enter their home through a second-story window. Amanda Cobb claimed that she thought William Cobb was a burglar. There was never any certain explanation as to why the senior Cobb attempted to enter the home in this way, though rumors of marital problems abounded.Just days after this tragedy, Cobb was called to the big leagues for a trial with the Detroit Tigers. The following spring, Cobb received permission from the club to miss the opening week of training so that he could attendhis mother's trial on manslaughter charges.

Creevy's story is set entirely in these pivotal few months of Cobb's life. Using the historical record as his framework, he vividly brings to life the furies burning inside this supremely talented and supremely troubled young man. The reader travels with Cobb on his lonely journey north; experiences his anguish as his new teammates greet him with indifference or hostility; and feels his desperation as he struggles to establish his position in the game. In some cases, the author has used the novelist's license of invention; in other instances he's taken incidents from later in Cobb's career and moved them back to his rookie season. (This is explained in the afterword.)

The past couple of decades have brought some fine biographies of Cobb. But anyone who wants a more complete understanding of the man can also profit from this work. I was going to call this an outstanding baseball novel, but it's really about much more than the grand American game.--William C. Hall

A Compassionate Portrait of Ty Cobb (for a change)
Ty Cobb was a monster, a demon in spikes, a sadistic racist with no redeeming value as a human being except as the greatest ballplayer ever to grace the diamond.Well, this is the modern, if inaccurate, version of Ty Cobb's story, anyway.However, it will be a very pleasant surprise to all Cobb fans who know the true facts of his life to find that, as a historical novel, Patrick Creevy's, "Tyrus," portrays Cobb in a very positive manner.

If you are expecting a book chock full of action and a rapidly moving storyline, then you are reading the wrong novel.Tyrus is more of a psychological portrait of what Ty Cobb as an eighteen year old boy thought and felt the months after his beloved father's sudden and violent death, his first months in the major leagues, and the trial of his mother.Instead of the typical, albeit false, caricature of Cobb as a mad lunatic, Creevy depicts the sensitive and talented boy in such a way that, instead of revulsion, the reader will feel sympathy and even empathy for Tyrus.And while it is only the author's supposition, his narration of young Tyrus' thoughts and feelings are very plausible and, frankly, very moving.

This excellent novel will leave the reader with admiration for a boy who determines to use the grief and torment he experiences at this turning point in his life to become the greatest player in baseball.The Ty Cobb fan, as well as those who are curious to know the real Cobb, will find this well-researched novel a refreshing and compassionate portrait of a fascinating man.

Worth picking up, baseball fan or not
I was very pleased with the story and the style of writing was unique without being difficult.As a yankee in the south I found the thoughts of young Tyrus interesting.The baseball situations in the book are very well written and the description of Detroit on the advent of the automobile even more so...like I said worth the read.

warning:Historical Fiction!!
I bought this book thinking it was a biography on Ty Cobb.It turns out, it's historical fiction, based on 1 year from Cobb's life, when his father died.Now granted it may be well researched, for that one year, but, it's still fiction...

Finally, the pendulum has swings back!
Trends come and trends go. In the world of men's fashion, few yearn for the return of the bell-bottom. But in the lore of excellent writing of sporting subjects, I have long missed the talents of a Grantland Rice. Like his 1924 report on the Army - Notre Dame football game.

"Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again.
In dramatic lore, they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death.
These are only aliases.
Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden.

Or his famous alliterative couplet;

"When Bobby Jones was the King of Golf
And Ty was the Georgia Peach."

If you too long for the return of superlative writing to the world of sports (or any world for that matter) and have an interest in knowing why the Georgia Peach was such a marvelous success at baseball but had such monumental difficulties as a human being, you ought to have Amazon.com Federal Express Patrick Creevy's novel "Tyrus" to your doorstep today.
You are in for a treat of superior proportions. Mr. Creevy will take you inside baseball, inside the Detroit Tigers locker room, and most intriguingly inside the head of "the meanest man is baseball". And when you've finished, you will know why Tryus Raymond Cobb was not a peach by any stretch of any measurement. But you will understand why he wasn't. And you will bless Mr. Creevy for sharing his talents with you to help you not only understand why, but you will cherish a marvelous talent with the creative use of language to express the rarely expressed. Buy it today! ... Read more

Product Description
The Ultimate Collection of Baseball's Best Quips, Quotes, and Cutting Remarks ... Read more

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I -The Most Dangerous Batters I Have Met
II - "Take Him Out"
III - Pitching in a Pinch
IV - Big League Pitchers and Their Peculiarities
V - Playing the Game from the Bench
VI - Coaching Good and Bad
VII - Honest and Dishonest Sign Stealing
VIII - Umpires and Close Decisions
IX - The Game that Cost a Pennant
X - When the Teams Are in Spring Training
XI - Jinxes and What They Mean to a Ball-Player
XII - Base Runners and How They Help a Pitcher to Win
XIII - Notable Instances Where the "Inside" Game Has Failed
... Read more

Product Description
Since their inception in 1901, the Detroit Tigers have given fans many reasons to roar: 10 American League pennants, four World Series titles, and some of the greatest legends in baseball history. Detroit Tigers: Yesterday and Today tells the team s tale through compelling stories, vibrant photography, and intriguing memorabilia.

Here are some of the many memorable episodes that veteran Detroit journalist George Cantor chronicles in Detroit Tigers: Yesterday and Today:

The team s rocky introduction to the big leagues in the wake of Detroit s previous team, the Wolverines, falling apart
The 16-year reign of Ty Cobb, the ruthless legend who made many enemies but retired with more records than any man in baseball history
Power hitter Hank Greenberg s triumphant return from World War II, which led to Detroit prevailing over the Chicago Cubs in the 1945 World Series
The two-decade run of Al Kaline, who earned the nickname Mr. Tiger because of his extraordinary stats, consistency, and sportsmanship
Pitcher Denny McLain s spectacular 31-6 record in Detroit s 1968 season, which ended with a come-from-behind World Series victory over the St. Louis Cardinals
The remarkable rookie season of quirky pitcher Mark The Bird Fidrych, whose routine involved talking to the baseball on the mound
The phenomenal World Series-winning 1984 season, which was driven by players like Willie Hernandez, Kirk Gibson, Darrel Evans, Dave Bergman, Rusty Kuntz, Ruppert Jones, Jack Morris, Lance Parrish, and Alan Trammel

In the foreword, former Tigers manager Sparky Anderson describes the experience of sitting down with this remarkable book: Going through the history of the Detroit Tigers is like watching your six-year-old granddaughter walk through Disney World for the first time. There s something special every time you turn your head. Only a handful of teams can match the tradition of the Tigers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

John D. Butler
Fabulous book, I enjoyed it emensly, a must for all Tiger's fans.

JB

Wrong book
Amazon had better look into this.
I ordered the Chrysler book, and got the Detroit Tigers book.
Picture and title still don't match!

Keep the dream alive!
"The Corner" was rockin with 43,356 fans celebrating the end of an era at Tiger Stadium and a new beginning at Comerica Park.My dad and I were two of the lucky ones to attendthe final game on September 27, 1999. I'm a collector of"baseball memories" and treasure my ticket stubs embossed with a final day stamp and my dads scorecard.This oversized boook includes many similar memorabilia items including ticket stubs, scorecards, buttons, yearbook covers, baseball cards, programs, sports pages, and ballpark souvenirs that seem to jump off the page. Half of the pictures are in color, the other B&W photos reminded me of reading the sports section. Alhough nothing can duplicate the aroma of stale beer and peanuts wafting through the echos underneath the stadium as you walk up the ramp to a sunlit green infield, but this book does a good job of highlighting each era of Detroit Tiger baseball and quickly brought back alot of memories from The Corner. It would be a great gift for any Detroit Tigers fan.

A Quick But Well-Done History
Author George Cantor covered the Detroit Tigers for the Detroit Free Press during the 1960s.This book is a quick read, only 144 pages, but the book is filled with an interesting text and numerous photos both in color and black and white.I have followed the Tigers since 1951, and this period of time covered by the book brought back many memories.I did find one error in the book.On page 45 is a photograph of the Tigers celebrating their 1945 World Series victory over the Chicago Cubs.The author notes in the photo "Paul Richards in his chest protector."The catcher in the photograph with the chest protector is actually Bob Swift.Paul Richards is seated behind Swift without his uniform top.I know there are several books on the Tigers available to buy, and I can't speak for them.However, if you are a fan of the Tigers this book will provide you with a concise and interesting history, and the photos are great.

Awesome!
I bought this for my dad, and we both really love it. Since I was a kid, he's been talking about Tigers from his childhood--guys like Dizzy Trout and Hal Newhauser, and this book has great photos and accompanying stories of all the old-time Tigers. It takes you from Ty Cobb to Greenberg to Kaline and Cash to The Bird, Whitaker, Trammell, and all the way up to Verlander and Cabrera. Lots of coverage of the team's World Series appearances and other great moments. The photography is Sports Illustrated caliber, and there's tons of cool memorabilia. Visually, it's the best Tigers book I've ever seen. Very nostalgic. ... Read more