High-Flying Birds: The 1942 St. Louis Cardinals (SPORTS & AMERICAN CULTURE)
By Jerome M. Mileur
1942: Americans suddenly found themselves at war but were not about to be distracted from the National Pastime. With only one player older than thirty, the St. Louis Cardinals were the youngest and fastest team to win the National League pennant and World Series. The team featured rookie Stan Musial, future Hall-of-Famer Enos Slaughter, and ace pitcher Mort Cooper, the National League s Most Valuable Player of 1942. With their winningest season ever, posting 106 victories, the 1942 Redbirds have been called the greatest Cardinal team of all time. Mileur provides a game-by-game account of the season with play-by-play action.
Amazon Sales Rank: #121833 in Books Published on: 2009-03-15 Original language: English Number of items: 1 Binding: Hardcover 304 pages
About the Author Jerome M. Mileur is the former owner of a Double A Eastern League professional baseball club in the cities of Holyoke, Massachusetts; Nashua, New Hampshire; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania from 1982 to 1995. He is Emeritue Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a member of the Society for American Baseball Research.
Teamwork: A Case History Jerome M. Mileur hits a home run with his account of the "high-flying birds" from the summer of '42; the team that surprised and surpassed the talented Brooklyn Dodgers with a remarkable late season surge, and then polished off the mighty Yankees in the World Series so efficiently, they almost seemed bored by it all. This book was anything but boring for this diehard Cardinals fan and baseball historian. It's also a fascinating case history about the remarkable accomplishments that transpired when a bunch of hardworking, blue-collar ballplayers got together and defined what the essence of "teamwork" is all about. It's a story that makes you believe once again, that just about anything can be accomplished if a group of individuals work in perfect harmony with each other and collectively, rise above any reasonable expectation level. A Valentine to a Great Baseball Team What a terrific team; what a great baseball season! While the Cardinals had been competitive throughout the latter part of the1930s, they had not won a championship since 1934. They had challenged for the pennant in 1941 while losing to the Brooklyn Dodgers, but in 1942 the Cardinals enjoyed their winningest season up to that time with 106 victories. They then went on to take the World Series against the New York Yankees in five games. This book offers a fine discussion of a dramatic season, in no small part because the Brooklyn Dodgers also won 104 games and barely lost to the Cards. The Dodgers had a 10 game lead as late as early August but St. Louis caught fire in the last two months of the season, winning 43 of their final 51 games--and 12 of their final 13--to catch and surpass the Dodgers. When the dust settled, the Cardinals had finished two games ahead. This team also enjoyed several standout performances; pitchers Mort Cooper and Johnny Beazley finished one-two in National League wins and ERA. Cooper, the league's MVP, was 22-7 with a league best 1.77 ERA. Beazley finished 21-6 and had a 2.14 ERA. Most important, this was the first full season of Stan Musial, and he made an immediate impact with a .315 batting average. He was joined in the outfield by Terry Moore and Enos Slaughter. Slaughter also had a standout year, batting .318, leading the league in hits, and ranking among the league's leaders in RBIs and runs scored. There is more to this story than the stunning victory of the Cardinals in the 1942 baseball season. First, it represented the beginning of a dynasty in which the Cards won three more pennants and two World Series championships in the 1940s, taking the flags in 1943, 1944, and 1946, and triumphing in the World Series in 1944 and 1946. Second, 1942 represented the last year of Major League Baseball in which a majority of the players were not lost to military service in World War II. This is an important story and deserving of full discussion. Third, this was also the last year of Branch Rickey's reign in St. Louis. He departed the Cardinals thereafter for Brooklyn where he went on to lead the Dodgers and build it into one of the powerhouses of the National League. Finally, the success of the Cardinals in St. Louis in the 1940s finally drove the Browns, the American League entry in St. Louis, from the city. It demonstrated that the city was not big enough for both of them. The author deals with each of these issues to some degree but concentrates on the day-to-day story of the season. "High-Flying Birds" is an enjoyable, sometimes insightful history of the rise of the Stan Musial Cardinals. I was pleased to recommend it for publication and to give it a five-star rating. Enjoy.
Nike Boston Red Sox Red Training Sleeveless T-shirt
From Nike
Whether you're training on the playing field or working out in the gym, this sleeveless Nike top is the ideal shirt for any aspect of your sports life!
Amazon Sales Rank: #339083 in Sports & Outdoors Brand: Nike
Very Comfortable Pro: -Sizing appears the same as other sleeveless Nike shirts like this that I have owned... that was appreciated, thank you -This funky synthetic material is super thin and light, as well as soft and comfortable, made from alien DNA and not cotton -I swear the material is a little elastic, so it moves with you some/has some give... like a loose second skin... feels nice to work out in -No tag on the inside of the collar (information is silk-screened like the "B" Red Sox logo) -Official MLB item Con: -The Nike swoosh and "B" Red Sox logo are stenciled, not sewn, bummer Bottom line: I really like it and recommend it to all Sox fans out there.
Trenton Thunder MLB Replica Home Cap
Replica home cap with team logo on the front. Replica of the caps worn on the field by your favorite team. Velcro adjust. One size fits most.Team sales only.
Baltimore Orioles Cap - New Era 5950 Alt Cap (7 3/8)
From Star Struck
This is the official alternate cap worn on the field by all your favorite players. Wool blend. These are exact size fitted caps; please click on the Size Info button below to see the chart to determine your correct size.
Size: 7 3/8 Brand: New Era
Great Hat at a Great Price While the Orioles just changed uniforms this past off season they didn't drop this alternate hat that they've been wearing more and more often. Even better was when I found it on sale. New Era makes the best MLB hats and while their sizing consistency sometimes leaves something to be desired this hat fits and looks great.
America's Baseball Legends - A Video Tribute to the Game's Greatest Heroes
From Diamond Entertainment
Featuring Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Micky Mantle, Hank Aaron and over 20 more legends!
Major League Baseball video scrapbook
AMERICA'S BASEBALL LEGENDS is recorded in SP mode and HiFi sound. Most of the vintage film, kinescope and TV videotape clips used here are at best of "fair" quality; quite a few are pretty awful-looking. An anonymous narrator quickly runs through a list of prominent ballplayers while heavy-on-rhythm upbeat synthesized orchestrations play underneath. (Not available on DVD)
Total running time: 58:30
PROGRAM (athletes given a quick mention are listed in brackets)--
[Christy Mathewson, Rogers Hornsby, Walter Johnson, Ty Cobb]
1951 ceremonies for the 100th anniversary of the National League
Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams
[Bob Feller], Roy Campanella, Carl Furillo, Phil Rizzuto,
Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson
Bobby Thompson's 1951 "Shot Heard 'Round the World"
[Sal Maglie, Don Newcombe, Bob Lemon]
Mickey Mantle, Warren Spahn, [Joe Black], Stan Musial
Hank Bauer, [Ernie Banks], Bill Mazeroski's World Series home run, 1960
Ken Boyer, Moose Skowron, Willie Mays, Yogi Berra
[Gil Hodges, Early Wynn], Bob Allison, Duke Snider, Eddie Matthews
[Robin Roberts], Allie Reynolds, [Eddie Lopat, Carl Erskine]
Johnny Podres, Whitey Ford, [Nellie Fox], Roger Maris, Frank Robinson
[Roberto Clemente, Harmon Killebrew], Sandy Koufax, Hank Aaron
[Billy Williams, Don Drysdale, Carl Yastrzemski]
Pete Rose, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson
[Tom Seaver, Willie McCovey, Johnny Bench, Reggie Jackson]
Brooks Robinson, [George Brett, Nolan Ryan], Joe Torre
Also recommended (VHS only):
The "Baseball Classics" series features vintage documentaries of World Series play.
Volume #1 is called: 1952 & 1953 World Series:Yankees/Dodgers
MLB Men's Washington Nationals Schedule Series Watch #MLB-SW-WAS
From Game Time
Wear your team's schedule on your wrist with a Game Time NFL or MLB Schedule Watch! Forget about trying to read the newspaper's fine-print sports schedules! And don't sit glued to your TV waiting for your team's schedule to appear. The Game Time Schedule Watch is the only watch in the world that keeps you in touch with your favorite NFL or MLB team. Each Watch is pre-programmed with your favorite sports schedule displaying upcoming games, locations and start times. It even plays a melody at the start of each game as a reminder so you don't miss the kickoff or first pitch... how neat is that?? And there's more to shout about... you can update your Schedule Watch directly off the internet each season. All you do is hook up the custom designed USB connector and download the whole shebang in minutes... it's that easy! Be the first in your crowd to own one of these Watches, and you'll feel like a high-paid network sports commentator. Watch these fine features! Official team logo displayed; Stainless steel bracelet; Fine Citizen quartz movement; Water-resistant to 3 ATM (102 feet); Lifetime limited warranty. State Team Selection. Order your Watch today! AVAILABLE SEPARATELY: Game Time NFL Schedule Watch - word search in our Store for 'Game Time'. Game Time MLB Schedule Watch
- Size: Adult
- Color: WASHINGTON NATIONALS
- Brand: Game Time
- Model: MLB-SW-WAS
- Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 1.00 pounds
- Band material: Polyurethane
- Bezel material: Plastic
- Case material: Plastic
- Clasp type: Buckle
- Dial color: grey
- Dial window material: Plastic
- Movement type: Quartz
- Water-resistant to 165 feet
The GAME TIME Brand
GAME TIME is the leader in licensed sports watches with licenses for all major sports including the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, 21 top NASCAR® drivers, and over 70 colleges and universities. In 2006 GAME TIME was once again recognized by the NFL as the top selling watch licensee in its history.
In 1999 GAME TIME invented and patented the world’s first Schedule Watch, a watch that displays a sport’s season schedule and even plays the national anthem when the game starts as a reminder. The Fishkill, New York based company offers an industry leading 14 different styles of watches in all price ranges from its inexpensive digital watches to its elite Diamond Swiss Chronograph Legend Series. GAME TIME’s variety of styles include casual and dress watches, sport watches, and non-traditional versions like clip-on and pocket watches, all featuring your favorite team’s logo. Many styles are available in men’s, ladies’, and youth sizes.
Each GAME TIME watch is first and foremost a precision time piece backed by the only limited lifetime warranty available in the licensed sport watch industry. Every Analog watch is constructed of high-grade materials including most with Citizen® Quartz Movement. The General Manager Series and Owner/Alumni Series watches feature the logo etched in 23K Gold, while the Sapphire series has a Platinum logo and real Sapphire Glass crystal.
In 2006 GAME TIME introduced GTen, a new division featuring special non-sports licensed watches. GAME TIME Entertainment offers a very diverse stable of licenses including Speed Racer®, Dubble Bubble®, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE®) wrestlers, Orange County Choppers®, Victory Motorcycles®, Polaris®, and Military Mascots (a GTenTM exclusive). More licenses are on the way!
Whether you’re a fan who likes big and bold team colors, or the subtle quiet approach, GAME TIME has a watch for you. With your favorite team on your wrist, you’ll always know when it’s GAME TIME.
Only a few things keeping it from perfection
I'm not sure where I first saw this item (Game Time Men's MLB team Schedule Series watch, in my case Washington Nationals) but it looked like a really neat gadget and nearly instantly appealed to me because, well, it's a gadget and because it relates to my being a baseball fan.
I'm sure that I could find some means of getting a schedule for my favorite team or perhaps all of the teams in MLB into one of the portable devices that I carry around, be it my 'Smartphone' or my iPod Touch, but then again I don't always carry my iPod Touch and I'm too frugal to pay for a data plan to use with my Smartphone (I have a Smartphone so I can sync my contacts and schedules with my PC, but I don't carry a data plan as I don't want to shell out that much money for what really seems to be a limited network usage experience).
When I'm home I can easily check the team schedule online, or I could just check in the "old school" printed newspaper and find the daily match-up information if I want to, but then I tend to simply glance at the information when I do see it and not remember it later in the day as game time rolls around. (Some may ask why not surf for such information while at work and the answer to that question is that while it's ok to check news sites and such, the internet at work is really supposed to be used for work and not for amusement...)
Anyway, as I mentioned above, I grew intrigued with this device from pretty much the moment I first saw ads for them online. I wear a watch nearly all of the time and having the schedule information where I can look at it quickly and easily (at a glance) is really nice. Add in the melody feature that plays the "Take me out to the ballgame" tune when the game is starting and you have a pretty nifty little gadget.
I mention in the review title that a few things keep this item from perfection. What are those things? One would be that there are parts of the information on the display that are hard to read/see. The LCD font is good, but not perfect, and some parts of some letters on the display are a bit thin and not as clear as one might wish for. The team logo takes up a healthy portion of the display space and is merely stenciled and/or painted onto a small covering over the bottom third (give or take) of the display. If that logo were perhaps a bit smaller, then there might be more room to enlarge the fonts on the screen a little. That said, well, part of the appeal of this watch is having the logo for your own favorite team displayed for others to see your team spirit, so I don't expect future versions will be all that different.
One of the other things holding back perfection is the cost for future schedule downloads and the worry that such updates might not be available for some reason or another (if the leagues decide to stop doing business with the makers of the device as an example). The device ships with a special USB cable and adapter that connects the device to a PC (sorry Mac users, the device's instructions don't mention Mac at all, and simply state the operating systems supported as "Windows ME, Windows 2000, and Windows XP". That said, it appears that Windows Vista wouldn't be a problem at all...) and users are instructed to visit the manufacturer's website at www.schedulewatch.com Once you connect to that website you'll find that the manufacturer charges a nominal fee ($9.95 at the time this review is written) for schedule updates. The process appears to be fairly straight forward and simple enough and is documented nicely in the simple and clear instructions that come with the device.
I mention that the instructions are simple and clear and they are just that, though I note at least one part of the instructions that was wrong -- the procedure that tells how to turn off the melody shows the wrong button. It was easy enough to experiment and find the proper button, but it could be frustrating trying to follow the instructions only to find that you just can't turn off the melody (which seems to be defaulted to being 'on' when you purchase the device).
On the plus side the battery for the device is user replacable in what seems to be a very easy process. The back of the device offers a cover that can easily be opened by using the edge of a penny or similar coin. Turn the battery cover clockwise and it should pop off easily enough and allow quick access to replacing the CR2032 battery.
Possibly related to that plus is another slight negative, the device is NOT really water resistant. The instructions note Water/splash resistant only -- do not submerge. It would be nice to be more assured that the device would be more water resistant so owners/users wouldn't need to worry about keeping it from getting soaked, but I expect that the device would be just fine if you don't try to swim with it on.
That about covers things for this review. If you're looking for a buy it or not recommendation, I'd say this is easily something that is worth spending your money on, even if the price seems a little high compared to budget priced watches that can be found so easily. The Game Time Men's MLB Schedule Series watch seems to be constructed to be relatively durable, with a bezel that helps protect the LCD display and should help prevent scratching and other damage.
Picking Winners For The NBA (National Basketball Association): Receive My Very Own Top Nba Picks For Life, Plus Much More. Limited Time Only! (Volume 1)
By Harry J. Misner
This book includes LIFETIME Access my top sports pick(s) VIA Picks Network (a $2,999 value). You'll also have the ability to purchase turnkey handicapping sites for only $2,000 at anytime in the future. See site for complete details. You'll also receive a copy of my first book called; GA "Gambling Aimlessly" is for Bitches which will show you how to change your betting advantage from -110 to +120 or more on all your straight wagers. This information is worth $1,000's in itself. I also throw in some of my own gambling angles that I like to use during the year, in addition to special discounts on all my future books you wish to purchase. So you'll not only receive my very own National Basketball Association (NBA) Handicapping Picks for LIFE, but some other useful information as well. So I hope you enjoy it!
About the Author
www.HarryMisner.com