Charlie Finley

Author : Roger D. Launius
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0802778577
Total Pages : 363 pages
Book Rating : 4.74/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Charlie Finley written by Roger D. Launius and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2010-07-11 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before the "Bronx Zoo" of George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin, there were the Oakland Athletics of the early 1970s, one of the most successful, most colorful-and most chaotic-baseball teams of all time. They were all of those things because of Charlie Finley. Not only the A's owner, he was also the general manager, personally assembling his team, deciding his players' salaries, and making player moves during the season-a level of involvement no other owner, not even Steinbrenner, engaged in. Drawing on interviews with dozens of Finley's players, family members, and colleagues, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius present "Baseball's Super Showman" (Time magazine's description of Finley on the cover of an August 1975 issue) in all his contradictions: generous yet vengeful, inventive yet destructive. The stories surrounding him are as colorful as the life he led, the chronicle of which fills an important gap in baseball's literature.

Author : Nancy Finley
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 162157542X
Total Pages : 212 pages
Book Rating : 4.29/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Finley Ball written by Nancy Finley and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-03-29 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of a losing baseball team that became a 1970s dynasty, thanks to the unorthodox strategies and stunts of two very colorful men. When Charlie Finley bought the A's in 1960, he was an outsider to the game—a insurance businessman with a larger-than-life personality. He brought his cousin Carl on as his right-hand man, moved the team from Kansas City to Oakland, and pioneered a new way to put together a winning team. With legendary players like Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, and Vida Blue, the Finleys' Oakland A's won three straight World Series and riveted the nation. Now Carl Finley's daughter Nancy reveals the whole story behind her family's winning legacy—how her father and uncle developed their scouting strategy, why they employed odd gimmicks like orange baseballs and "mustache bonuses," and how the success of the '70s Oakland A's changed the game of baseball.

Author : Bruce Markusen
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 456 pages
Book Rating : 4.80/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Baseball's Last Dynasty written by Bruce Markusen and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the first half of the 1970's no team dominated major league baseball like the Oakland A's. Led by future Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers, the A's captured five consecutive division titles, three American League pennants and three World Series trophies from 1971 to 1975. Baseball's Last Dynasty recounts the history of those colorful, controversial, and highly successful teams. As only the second franchise in major league history to win three consecutive Wold Series, the A's Ruled baseball in the era prior to the advent of free agency. With the help of an astute team of scouts, owner Charlie Finely assembled a nucleus of home-grown future stars wearing Oakland's garish green and gold uniforms: Bert Campaneris, Sal Bando, Joe Rudi, Gene Tenace and Vida Blue in addition to Reggie, Rollie and Catfish. In spite of such talents, the A's struggled to surpass the level of mediocrity until the hiring of baseball's version of Vince Lombardi -- Dick Williams. A fiery disciplinarian and disciple of Branch Rickey, Williams led Oakland to a first place finish in 1971, followed by consecutive world championships in 1972 and 1973. In chronicling the team known as the "Mustache Gang" and the Swinging A's, Baseball's Last Dynasty details the many fights and arguments in the Oakland clubhouse, the many controversies as well as the departures of Williams and Hunter. In the nearly quarter of a century that has passed since the A's won their trio of titles, no team has managed to duplicate the feat. Given the instability created by free agency and the difficulty of keeping a championship team's payroll under control, no team may be able to match theaccomplishments of Charlie Finley's A's. Exhaustively researched and including recent interviews with many of the key players, Baseball's Last Dynasty brings the story of this extraordinary team to life.

Author : Jason Turbow
Publisher : HarperCollins
ISBN 13 : 0544303237
Total Pages : 413 pages
Book Rating : 4.32/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic written by Jason Turbow and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-03-07 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An exciting and engrossing book. . . . will engage fans of Charlie O. Finley and the Oakland Athletics, along with anyone captivated by baseball history.” —Library Journal, starred review The Oakland A’s of the early 1970s: Never before had an entire organization so collectively traumatized baseball’s establishment with its outlandish behavior and business decisions. The high drama that played out on the field—five straight division titles and three straight championships—was exceeded only by the drama in the clubhouse and front office. Under the visionary leadership of owner Charles O. Finley, the team assembled such luminary figures as Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, and Vida Blue, and with garish uniforms and revolutionary facial hair, knocked baseball into the modern age. Finley’s need for control—he was his own general manager and dictated everything from the ballpark organist’s playlist to the menu for the media lounge—made him ill-suited for the advent of free agency. Within two years, his dynasty was lost. A history of one of the game’s most unforgettable teams, Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic is a paean to the sport’s most turbulent, magical team, during one of major league baseball’s most turbulent, magical times. “Masterfully recounts a thrilling period in Oakland A’s history.” —Billy Beane, executive vice president of baseball operations, Oakland A’s “Not to be believed, and yet 100 percent true.” —Steve Fainaru, senior writer for ESPN and author of League of Denial “A must-read for any fan of the sport.” —Chris Ballard, Sports Illustrated senior writer and author of One Shot at Forever “Carefully researched and often hilarious.” —San Francisco Chronicle “A chance to relive a period of outlandish moments in America’s pastime.” —Publishers Weekly

Author : Jason Turbow
Publisher : Anchor
ISBN 13 : 030727862X
Total Pages : 306 pages
Book Rating : 4.23/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Baseball Codes written by Jason Turbow and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2011-03-22 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An insider’s look at baseball’s unwritten rules, explained with examples from the game’s most fascinating characters and wildest historical moments. Everyone knows that baseball is a game of intricate regulations, but it turns out to be even more complicated than we realize. All aspects of baseball—hitting, pitching, and baserunning—are affected by the Code, a set of unwritten rules that governs the Major League game. Some of these rules are openly discussed (don’t steal a base with a big lead late in the game), while others are known only to a minority of players (don’t cross between the catcher and the pitcher on the way to the batter’s box). In The Baseball Codes, old-timers and all-time greats share their insights into the game’s most hallowed—and least known—traditions. For the learned and the casual baseball fan alike, the result is illuminating and thoroughly entertaining. At the heart of this book are incredible and often hilarious stories involving national heroes (like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays) and notorious headhunters (like Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale) in a century-long series of confrontations over respect, honor, and the soul of the game. With The Baseball Codes, we see for the first time the game as it’s actually played, through the eyes of the players on the field. With rollicking stories from the past and new perspectives on baseball’s informal rulebook, The Baseball Codes is a must for every fan.

Author : Dale Tafoya
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 1493043633
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.37/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Billy Ball written by Dale Tafoya and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-03-24 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the early 1970s, the Oakland Athletics became only the second team in major-league baseball history to win three consecutive World Series championships. But as the decade came to a close, the A's were in free fall, having lost 108 games in 1979 while drawing just 307,000 fans. Free agency had decimated the A’s, and the team’s colorful owner, Charlie Finley, was looking for a buyer. First, though, he had to bring fans back to the Oakland Coliseum. Enter Billy Martin, the hometown boy from West Berkeley. In Billy Ball, sportswriter Dale Tafoya describes what, at the time, seemed like a match made in baseball heaven. The A’s needed a fiery leader to re-ignite interest in the team. Martin needed a job after his second stint as manager of the New York Yankees came to an abrupt end. Based largely on interviews with former players, team executives, and journalists, Billy Ball captures Martin’s homecoming to the Bay area in 1980, his immediate embrace by Oakland fans, and the A’s return to playoff baseball. Tafoya describes the reputation that had preceded Martin—one that he fully lived up to—as the brawling, hard-drinking baseball savant with a knack for turning bad teams around. In Oakland, his aggressive style of play came to be known as Billy Ball. A’s fans and the media loved it. But, in life and in baseball, all good things must come to an end. Tafoya chronicles Martin’s clash with the new A’s management and the siren song of the Yankees that lured the manager back to New York in 1983. Still, as the book makes clear, the magical turnaround of the A’s has never been forgotten in Oakland. Neither have Billy Martin and Billy Ball. During a time of economic uncertainty and waning baseball interest in Oakland, Billy Ball filled the stands, rejuvenated fans, and saved professional baseball in the city.

Author : Bruce Markusen
Publisher : Saint Johann Press
ISBN 13 : 9781878282231
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.39/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Baseball Dynasty written by Bruce Markusen and published by Saint Johann Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Dandi Daley Mackall
Publisher : Sleeping Bear Press
ISBN 13 : 1627535802
Total Pages : 36 pages
Book Rating : 4.09/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Girl Named Dan written by Dandi Daley Mackall and published by Sleeping Bear Press. This book was released on 2013-09-01 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ten-year-old Dandi (affectionately called "Dan" by family and friends) lives and breathes baseball. She may not be a fence buster but she can "hit 'em where they ain't" in the neighborhood pick-up games. The boys know she's a contender. And there's no bigger fan of the 1961 Kansas City A's. So when Charlie Finley, the A's new owner, announces an essay contest to get batboys, there's no doubt Dandi will enter the contest. Dandi not only enters the contest--her essay wins! However, her joy is short-lived when the contest officials enforce the For Boys Only rule. Long before the boundary-breaking ruling of Title IX, young women across the country used grit and determination to prove that barriers of gender have no place on a level playing field. Dandi Daley Mackall's true-life story gives voice and testament to the spirit of these young sports pioneers.Dandi Daley Mackall conducts writing workshops across the United States and speaks at numerous conferences and young author events. She was an instructor at Highlights and taught novel writing for the Institute for Children's Literature. Her most recent Sleeping Bear Press book is Rudy Rides the Rails. Dandi lives in West Salem, Ohio. Renée Graef is well known as the illustrator for the "Kirsten" books in the American Girl children's book collection. She has also illustrated many books in the My First Little House series. Her books with Sleeping Bear Press include Paul Bunyan's Sweetheart and B is for Bookworm: A Library Alphabet. Renée lives in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

Author : Dan Epstein
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 1250007240
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.47/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Big Hair and Plastic Grass written by Dan Epstein and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2012-06-05 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Epstein takes readers on a funky ride through baseball and America in the swinging '70s in this wild pop-culture history of baseball's most colorful and controversial decade. Includes 8-page photo insert.

Author : Dean A. Sullivan
Publisher : U of Nebraska Press
ISBN 13 : 9780803292857
Total Pages : 340 pages
Book Rating : 4.56/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Late Innings written by Dean A. Sullivan and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The third volume in this exciting, well-researched history of America's pastime retraces some of the most important people and events in the game, from Jackie Robinson's shattering of the race barrier to the labor unrest of the 1970s.