Murder at Ebbets Field

Murder at Ebbets Field
Author: Troy Soos
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2013-03-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0758287402

Anticipating the animosity between the Brooklyn Dodgers and his own team, Giants player Mickey Rawlings is nevertheless surprised when Florence Hampton, the widow of Dodgers owner William Daley, is murdered after an important game

Evil Summer

Evil Summer
Author: John Theodore
Publisher: SIU Press
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2007-10-04
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 9780809387496

In 1924, fourteen-year-old Bobby Franks was abducted while walking home from school, killed by a chisel blow to his head, and later found stuffed in a culvert in a marshy wasteland at the Illinois-Indiana state line. Acid had been poured over his naked body. Evil Summer examines the shocking kidnapping and murder of Franks by two University of Chicago students, Nathan “Babe” Leopold and Richard “Dickie” Loeb, both from families of privilege. In this new examination of the crime, author John Theodore takes readers into the minds of the two criminals as he focuses on three months in 1924. Theodore covers the killing, the confessions, the defense, and the sentencing surrounding the horrific murder, placing the killers’ actions and Clarence Darrow’s historic defense into the context of 1920s Chicago. Theodore deftly investigates the psychological dimensions of the crime, revealing the murderers’ fantasies, relationships, sexuality, and motives. The author examines the killers’ past, outlining Loeb’s obsession with detective fiction and crime and his editorial on random killing—written at age nine—and Leopold’s nightly master-slave fantasies and fascination with Nietzsche. Evil Summer, which includes twenty-three illustrations, meticulously traces the murder from inception to confession, including such details as the special-delivery ransom letter sent to Jacob Franks and the discovery of Leopold’s horn-rimmed eyeglasses lying on a railroad embankment near Bobby’s dead body. Theodore re-creates such scenes as the convergence of hundreds of people in front of the Franks home, Bobby’s body lying in a small white casket in the library, and Loeb being voyeuristically drawn to the home while Bobby’s classmates carry the casket to the hearse. Worldwide press coverage reflected the public fascination with the case in what was then called “the trial of the century.” The story became a media circus: Chicago’s six daily newspapers battled vigorously for readers, two Daily News cub reporters became part of the story, and the Chicago Tribune carried a voting ballot asking readers whether radio station WGN should broadcast the courtroom spectacle. The changing drama was delivered to Chicagoans every morning and evening, and the public feasted on every press run. More than a crime story, Evil Summer illuminates the dark side of American life in the 1920s, including the excesses of privileged youth, the troubled childhoods, the random victimization, the anti-Semitism, and the sexuality.

Death at the Ballpark

Death at the Ballpark
Author: Robert M. Gorman
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2015-10-27
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0786479329

When we think of baseball, we think of sunny days and leisurely outings at the ballpark--rarely do thoughts of death come to mind. Yet during the game's history, hundreds of players, coaches and spectators have died while playing or watching the National Pastime. In its second edition, this ground-breaking study provides the known details for 150 years of game-related deaths, identifies contributing factors and discusses resulting changes to game rules, protective equipment, crowd control and stadium structures and grounds. Topics covered include pitched and batted-ball fatalities, weather and field condition accidents, structural failures, fatalities from violent or risky behavior and deaths from natural causes.

Hanging Curve

Hanging Curve
Author: Troy Soos
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2000-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781575666563

A baseball player risks his career in 1922 when he agrees to play in a game against a black semi-pro team from East St. Louis. He realizes there's more at stake than his career when a black pitcher is lynched and killed by the Klan. Mickey investigates the murder, and is plunged into a shocking world of violence and corruption.

Murder at Fenway Park:

Murder at Fenway Park:
Author: Troy Soos
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2012-04-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 075828778X

A Red Sox rookie is accused of murder in the first Mickey Rawlings historical mystery “that will leave readers eager for subsequent innings” (Publishers Weekly). Boston, 1912. Fenway has just opened, Ty Cobb is a nationwide sensation, and rookie Mickey Rawlings has finally made it to the majors. But just when he sets foot inside the confines of the green monster, his all-star dreams come crashing down—Rawlings is fingered for the monstrous murder of his teammate Red Corriden. Sure, someone decided to use Red for batting practice. But just because Rawlings has fouled off a lot of balls in his time doesn’t mean the cops have to be as blind as a rookie ump when it comes to his innocence. With no one watching his back, Rawlings has no choice but to switch his baseball cap for a sleuthing hat to clear his name. Otherwise, it’s going to be a short season in the majors and a long one behind bars . . . “Equal parts baseball and mystery are the perfect proportion.” —Robert Parker “Soos’ delightful debut, mixing suspense, period detail and such legendary baseball greats as Cobb, Walter Johnson, Smokey Joe Wood and Tris Speaker, is a four-bagger.” —Publishers Weekly

Murder at Wrigley Field

Murder at Wrigley Field
Author: Troy Soos
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2012-04-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0758287801

A historical mystery with “first-rate wartime Chicago atmosphere” and starring a ballplayer who “turns double plays and solves murders with equal grace” (Publishers Weekly). While the nation wages war against Germany in 1918, utility infielder Mickey Rawlings has been traded to the North Side of Chicago. He's batting a career high (a respectable .274) and the Cubs are in first place. For the first time in a long while Mickey is feeling financially secure enough to buy furniture. That's when his best friend—rookie Willie Kaiser—is shot dead right on the diamond. While the official explanation is "accidental death from a stray bullet," Mickey thinks someone's taken the anti-war sentiment too far. Between collapsing bleacher seats and pretzel sabotage in the stands, Mickey's search for answers takes him from silent movies to speakeasies to the stockyards. As long as he keeps fouling off clues, it's only a matter of time before a killer is caught in a rundown—or Mickey is tagged out permanently. “[A] quietly effective portrait of wartime Chicago in the throes of painful German-baiting and on the verge of Prohibition.”—Kirkus Reviews Praise for the Mickey Rawlings Baseball Mysteries “Full of life.”—The New York Times Book Review “A perfect book for the rain delay…a winner.” —USA Today “Delightful…period detail that will leave readers eager for subsequent innings.”—Publishers Weekly

Ballparks of North America

Ballparks of North America
Author: Michael Benson
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 506
Release: 2024-10-16
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1476614741

What grandstand collapsed during a game, killing twelve? How high is the Green monster in Fenway? In what park was the outfield fence only 187 feet from home plate? Ballparks of North America is a comprehensive encyclopedia of the grounds, yards and stadiums used for organized baseball from the invention of the sport in the 1840s to the year 1988. Entries, listed alphabetically by community, cover everything from cornfields to Yankee Stadium. Each entry gives the location of the park, who played there and when, home run dimensions, seating capacity, architectural comments, attendance records, and anecdotes. More than 100 photos and drawings are included, some rare.

Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman
Author: Arthur Miller
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 146
Release: 1998-05-01
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 110104215X

The Pulitzer Prize-winning tragedy of a salesman’s deferred American dream Ever since it was first performed in 1949, Death of a Salesman has been recognized as a milestone of the American theater. In the person of Willy Loman, the aging, failing salesman who makes his living riding on a smile and a shoeshine, Arthur Miller redefined the tragic hero as a man whose dreams are at once insupportably vast and dangerously insubstantial. He has given us a figure whose name has become a symbol for a kind of majestic grandiosity—and a play that compresses epic extremes of humor and anguish, promise and loss, between the four walls of an American living room. "By common consent, this is one of the finest dramas in the whole range of the American theater." —Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times "So simple, central, and terrible that the run of playwrights would neither care nor dare to attempt it." —Time

Downtown

Downtown
Author: Pete Hamill
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2004-12-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0759512973

In this "beautifully written, sharply observed, and heartfelt" guide to his hometown (New York Times), legendary New York City journalist Pete Hamill leads us on an unforgettable journey through the city he loves. Walking the Manhattan streets he loves, from Times Square to the island’s southern tip, Pete Hamill combines a moving memoir of his own days and nights in new York with a lively and revealing history of the city’s most enduring places and people. “Pete Hamill lovingly captures the vibrant sights, sounds, and smells of Manhattan from Battery Park to midtown, the most important, most exciting stretch of real estate in the world.” --New York Daily News

The Final Game at Ebbets Field

The Final Game at Ebbets Field
Author: Noel Hynd
Publisher:
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2019-06-17
Genre:
ISBN: 9781074174767

The Dodgers' final game in Brooklyn was played on September 24th, 1957. From the author of "The Giants of The Polo Grounds," here's a thoughtful entertaining new account of that last game played by the Brooklyn Dodgers at baseball's fabled Ebbets Field. 'The Final Game At Ebbets Field' starts this unique collection of true baseball stories. Photographs and a treasure trove of new insights and details accompany this newly researched account. The book continues with a lively assemblage of true major league stories from the golden age of baseball, focusing on New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Brooklyn, with a touch of San Francisco at the conclusion. We meet the fascinating men and women of the first half of the 20th Century. We get to know the people and places of a colorful bygone time: back when there were sixteen teams and hundreds of legendary players. Meet, for example, the family that lived at a ballpark in New York, the female Olympic swimmer who became the pitcher and captain of the New York Female Giants. Spend time with championship Boston Red Sox team that featured the greatest everyday outfield ever. Go back to the day when John Dillinger played professional baseball and Al Capone asked a Chicago player for an autograph, a request that was not to be refused. Fly a single engine plane with Ruth Law, the skilled aviatrix who dropped a grapefruit from an airplane on the Brooklyn manager. Relive the torments of the A's owner who erected a spiteful wall in Philadelphia to prevent neighborhood fans from seeing his team's games.All these true stories and more are contained here, told in the wry amusing style of Noel Hynd, a former contributor to Sports Illustrated.'The Final Game at Ebbets Field' is an insightful romp through some of American baseball's quirkiest events. It's a memorable read! Come join us on a road trip into baseball's most colorful times.Praise for Noel Hynd's "The Giants of The Polo Grounds"......"A compelling and comprehensive history of an extraordinary ball club." - New York Times"Grandly digressive! The owners, stars like Mathewson and Mays, various eccentric players are all here in this vivid history by Sports Illustrated contributor Hynd." - Publishers' Weekly"Fans of all ages will treasure the crazy quilt text for its stylish recall of the game's summer roots." -Kirkus Library Journal"Just plain enjoyable as baseball is supposed to be." - The Pennsylvania GazetteE-book priced in a tribute to Ty Cobb's career batting average. Trade paperback publication, late May 2019.