Books with author Lew Freedman

In this compilation of stories from members of the Cincinnati Reds, baseball’s first professional team, Lew Freedman takes readers through decades of Reds baseball. In these firsthand accounts, players detail the most memorable games of their Reds careers.From the Cincinnati Reds’ inception, the team has been creating lasting memories for its devoted fans. Since the days of the Red Stockings, Cincinnati has featured Hall of Famers, such as Tony Pérez and Frank Robinson, both of whom are included in this book. Most recently, Barry Larkin, a member of the 1990 championship team, was inducted as part of the Class of 2012, and Freedman highlights Larkin’s memories of his Hall of Fame induction.From Joe Morgan and the Big Red Machine days of the 1970s, to Tom Browning’s heroics in the late ’80s, and Joey Votto and Bronson Arroyo’s recent brilliance, readers can relive many of the most exciting games in Reds history with some of the Reds’ most beloved players. This is a must-have for any fans of the Cincinnati ball club, past and present.

The pro football season of 1963 was dominated by the unexpected. In April, months prior to the beginning of play, it was revealed that two All-Star players, Paul Hornung and Alex Karras, were gambling on the sport and would be suspended from play for at least a year. Even worse, in May, one of the league’s bigger-than-life personalities, Big Daddy Lipscomb, was found dead, with police saying he perished from a heroin overdose, something those who knew him best still dispute. As play began in September, the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened its doors in Canton, Ohio, the same town where the National Football League was founded in 1921 and inducted its first class. Also, the war for players and prestige raged with the upstart American Football League trying to obtain equal footing in the public eye.On the field, it was to be the year the Chicago Bears and their aging owner-coach George Halas knew glory once more, fighting off the latest dynasty Green Bay Packers led by Vince Lombardi in a season-long chase for the Western Division title. Yet even that was overshadowed by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. While the nation mourned and other sports leagues suspended activity, the NFL played on with its regular season that sad weekend—a choice commissioner Pete Rozelle later called the worst mistake of his tenure.Clouds over the Goalpost is filled with controversy not only on the field, but off it as well. From the various suspensions to an exciting championship game between the Bears and Giants, 1963 was a year that the NFL would never forget—for both the good and the bad.

With 363 victories, Warren Spahn is the winningest left-handed pitcher in baseball history. During his 21-year career, Spahn won 20+ games thirteen times, was a 17-time All Star, a Cy Young–award winner, and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973. In addition, Spahn was also a war hero, serving in World War II and awarded the Purple Heart.To say Spahn lived a storied life is an understatement.In Warren Spahn, author Lew Freedman tells the story of this incredible lefty. Known for his supremely high leg kick, Spahn became one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. However, the road wasn’t as easy as it would seem.Struggling in his major-league debut at age twenty, manager Casey Stengel demoted the young left. It would be four years before Spahn would return to the diamond, as he received a calling of a different kind—one from his country.Enlisting in the Army, Spahn would serve with distinction, seeing action in the Battle of the Bulge and the Ludendorff Bridge, and was awarded a battlefield commission, along with a Purple Heart.Upon his return to the game, he would take the league by storm. Spahn dominated for over two decades, spending twenty years with the Braves (both Boston and Milwaukee), as well as a season with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. Pitching into his mid-forties, he would throw two no-hitters at the advanced ages of thirty-nine and forty. From his early days in Buffalo and young career, through his time and the military and all the way to the 1948 Braves and “Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain,” author Lew Freedman leaves no stone unturned in sharing the incredible life of this pitching icon, who is still considered the greatest left-handed pitcher to ever play the game.

With 363 victories, Warren Spahn is the winningest lefty in baseball history. Over 21 years, he won 20 or more games 13 times, was a 17-time All Star, won a Cy Young–award, then, of course, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Spahn was also a war hero, serving in World War II and awarded the Purple Heart.To say Spahn lived a storied life is an understatement.In Warren Spahn, author Lew Freedman tells the story of this incredible lefty. Known for his supremely high leg kick, Spahn became one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. However, the road wasn’t as easy as it would seem.Struggling in his major-league debut at age twenty, manager Casey Stengel demoted the young left. It would be four years before Spahn would return to the diamond, as he received a calling of a different kind—one from his country.Enlisting in the Army, Spahn would serve with distinction, seeing action in the Battle of the Bulge and the Ludendorff Bridge, and was awarded a battlefield commission, along with a Purple Heart.Upon his return to the game, he would take the league by storm. Spahn dominated for over two decades, spending twenty years with the Braves (both Boston and Milwaukee), as well as a season with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. Pitching into his mid-forties, he would throw two no-hitters at the advanced ages of thirty-nine and forty.From his early days in Buffalo and young career, through his time and the military and all the way to the 1948 Braves and “Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain,” author Lew Freedman leaves no stone unturned in sharing the incredible life of this pitching icon, who is still considered the greatest left-handed pitcher to ever play the game.

For Chicago Bears fans, anyone who ever wore the uniform is like family. Bears by the Numbers reintroduces readers to some of their long-lost ancestors, even those they think they already know.What do Al Campana, Frank Dempsey, Stan Wallace, Don Mullins, Gale Sayers, and Steve Trimble all have in common? They all wore number 40 for the Chicago Bears, even though more than four decades passed between the last time Campana last pulled on his jersey and the number was retired for Sayers in 1994 (along with 51 for Dick Butkus).Since the Chicago Bears first adopted uniform numbers in 1932, the team has handed out only 99 numbers to more than 1,000 players. That’s a lot of overlap. It also makes for a lot of good stories. Bears by the Numbers tells those stories for every Bear since ’32, from Red Grange to Pernell McPhee.This book lists the players alphabetically and by number; these biographies help trace the history of one of football’s oldest and most beloved teams in a new way.

“It took me a day to learn [the knuckleball] and a lifetime to learn how to throw it for a strike.”This quote, by pitcher and coach Charlie Hough, is the best way to understand baseball’s most baffling and mysterious pitch. Not even the best practitioners of the art of throwing a knuckleball know where it is going most of the time. As a pitch that floats and comes into the plate in what appears to be slow motion, it is miraculous that those who employ the pitch don’t get creamed all over the park by batters who seem to know that it’s coming.Including interviews with Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, former All-Stars Wilbur Wood and Tim Wakefield, as well as other famed knuckleballers, Lew Freedman (Clouds over the Goalpost, A Summer to Remember), breaks down the history of this infamous pitch, which it seems can be traced back to Chicago White Sox pitcher Ed Cicotte, as well as its effect on baseball as a whole.With pitcher R. A. Dickey, who rejuvenated his career from castoff to 2011 Cy Young Award winner, the knuckleball is still a topic of conversation in the sport, and it continues to be one of the many marvels of our national pastime.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

The Rise of the Seminoles is the fairy-tale story of Florida State University football. From 1973–75, the football team at FSU had a combined record of 4–29. The next season, Bobby Bowden took over as head football coach and, over the next thirty-three years, led FSU to twenty-one bowl game wins and two National Championships.The Rise of the Seminoles is not just about Bobby Bowden; it is about the season that started it all: 1976. Before Bowden took over and the University of Miami gained its notoriety, college football in the state of Florida consisted of the University of Florida. Florida State wasn’t even on the radar. Today, FSU is a football powerhouse and recently won the 2013 National Championship.Through the writing talents of Lew Freedman, one of only two reporters covering FSU during Bowden’s time, this book follows the incredible journey the Seminoles have taken through history. Drawing from firsthand experience and Bowden himself, Freedman is the perfect author to bring this story to life. No matter their age, fans of the FSU football program can enjoy and take pride in their team’s very own rags-to-riches story.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

While the Cleveland Indians are known lately more for being cellar dwellers than world champions, that wasn’t the case in 1948. Ranked by the Sporting News as the ninth-best team in baseball history, the ’48 Indians were a colorful group of guys, led by the always colorful Bill Veeck, the future Hall of Famer who was running his first team. But the Indians weren’t just well run in the front office; their team on the field was comprised of seven future Hall of Famers.Player-manager Lou Boudreau would not only lead his team to the playoffs, but would also become the first shortstop to ever win the American League’s Most Valuable Player award. He also relied on pitchers Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, and Negro leagues legend Satchel Paige (then forty-one years old), as well as second baseman Joe Gordon and right fielder Larry Doby, who followed Jackie Robinson by only a few weeks in breaking the color barrier in baseball.The Indians finished the ’48 season at 97–58 and were tied with Joe McCarthy’s Boston Red Sox, which led to the first-ever one game playoff in American League history. The Indians were victorious and would then defeat the Boston Braves in six games to win the World Series.The Monsters of Municipal Stadium is a fantastic look at one of the greatest teams ever to play the game, and at how everyone involved in this extraordinary season—from the players to management—made 1948 a memorable year for baseball and the city of Cleveland.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Kenny Sailors was a basketball star, and the inventor of the jump shot. He attended the University of Wyoming and was MVP in 1943 in college AA basketball. After WWII, he spent five years as an early player in the new NBA. As a youngster, Kenny was five-foot-seven but his older brother was six-foot-two so when playing basketball, Kenny had to jump up over his brother to get off a shot. That is how the jump shot was born, and Kenny used it in college and professional basketball. He played in Denver and several other cities whose team names have now changed, but he also played for the Boston Celtics with Bob Cousy. After he left the NBA, he moved to Alaska and in 1965 settled in the Glennallen area, where he was a fishing and hunting guide in the Wrangle Mountains for thirty-five years. Kenny Sailors passed away January 2016 shortly after his 95th birthday.

While the Cleveland Indians are known lately more for being cellar dwellers than world champions, that wasn’t the case in 1948. Ranked by the Sporting News as the ninth-best team in baseball history, the ’48 Indians were a colorful group of guys, led by the always colorful Bill Veeck, the future Hall of Famer who was running his first team. But the Indians weren’t just well run in the front office; their team on the field was comprised of seven future Hall of Famers.Player-manager Lou Boudreau would not only lead his team to the playoffs, but would also become the first shortstop to ever win the American League’s Most Valuable Player award. He also relied on pitchers Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, and Negro leagues legend Satchel Paige (then forty-one years old), as well as second baseman Joe Gordon and right fielder Larry Doby, who followed Jackie Robinson by only a few weeks in breaking the color barrier in baseball.The Indians finished the ’48 season at 97–58 and were tied with Joe McCarthy’s Boston Red Sox, which led to the first-ever one game playoff in American League history. The Indians were victorious and would then defeat the Boston Braves in six games to win the World Series.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.The Monsters of Municipal Stadium is a fantastic look at one of the greatest teams ever to play the game, and at how everyone involved in this extraordinary season—from the players to management—made 1948 a memorable year for baseball and the city of Cleveland.

Whether they wore white stockings or blue helmets, the baseball players of Chicago’s North Side have always had great stories to tell. Now fans of this loveable franchise will finally get to hear from twenty-eight of the best players as they relive that singular moment which defined their Cubs career. In this newly updated edition of Game of My Life Chicago Cubs, veteran sportswriter Lew Freedman brings readers off the bench and onto the field with such greats as Billy Williams, Ernie Banks, Ferguson Jenkins, and more.

The 73-0 NFL championship victory of the Chicago Bears over the Washington Redskins in December of 1940 was the most one sided game in the history. In this book readers will come to know the personalities, the personal history, and the personal commentary of the principles highlighted through contemporary and historical accounts. A dozen individuals who later were chosen for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH were involved in the game as owners, coaches, and players. Many names still familiar today like George Halas, George Preston, Sid Luckman, and Slinging Sammy Baugh are front and center. Red Barber called the action that day as the drama unfolded. Game preparation, the game, and its aftermath are all revealed and put into context with the era. This book concludes with a telling of what happens to the team and the key players in the years that followed.