Kirjahaku

With a legacy that spans two fiercely loyal baseball towns a half-nation apart, the Baltimore Orioles - originally the St. Louis Browns - rank among baseball's most storied teams. One of the fifteen celebrated team histories commissioned by G. P. Putnam's Sons in the 1940s and 1950s, The Baltimore Orioles: The History of a Colorful Team in Baltimore and St. Louis chronicles the club's early history and is reissued on the fiftieth anniversary of their first season in Baltimore. Hall of Fame sportswriter Frederick G. Lieb begins with the history of baseball in Baltimore from its pre-Civil War beginnings and its major-league debut as the Lord Baltimores in 1872 to the championship seasons of the National League Orioles in 1894, '95, and '96 when the roster included Willie Keeler, Joe Kelley, Kid Gleason, Roger Bresnahan, Joe McGinnity, and John McGraw. After the turn of the century, Baltimore was briefly home to the Orioles of the American League from 1901 to 1902, then, after losing its franchise to New York, had to settle for the AAA International League Orioles until 1954. Under the leadership of Jack Dunn, the minor-league Orioles, while developing the talents of Babe Ruth, Lefty Grove, and other future major-league stars, won seven straight International League pennants from 1919 to 1926. Here, too, is the colorful history of the precursors to the current Orioles, the lovable and luckless St. Louis Browns, augmented for this edition with a new foreword from St. Louis sportswriter Bob Broeg on the escapades of the Brownies. Though they lost more than a thousand games and captured only a single pennant in fifty-three seasons, the Browns remain a legendary part of national lore. Taking their lead in different eras from larger-than-life figures such as Branch Rickey, Rogers Hornsby, Urban Shocker, and the Barnum of Baseball, Bill Veeck, the Browns ""boasted a one-armed outfielder, a hired hypnotist, the mighty midget [Eddie Gaedel] and - even the best ballplayer in the land - George Sisler,"" as Broeg recalls in his foreword. Originally published in 1955 and featuring twenty-two photographs, The Baltimore Orioles history concludes with the new American League team's first season in Baltimore, finishing seventh in the league but garnering the lasting adoration of their new hometown.

Fred Lieb's biography of Connie Mack was originally published in 1945 as part of the celebrated series published by G. P. Putnam. Known for their lively prose and engaging narratives, these Putnam books have become prized collectibles among baseball readers and historians. Cornelius McGillicuddy Sr., better known as Connie Mack, was a professional baseball player, manager, and team owner. He was a catcher for the Washington Nationals, Buffalo Bisons, and Pittsburgh Pirates. His last three seasons as a player-manager were with the Pittsburgh Pirates, after which he devoted his time exclu- sively to managing.The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball, Mack holds records for the most wins, losses, and games managed. He managed the Pittsburgh Pirates for five years (1894–1899) and then managed the Philadelphia Athletics for the club's first fifty seasons before retiring following the 1950 season. In addition to his managing duties, he was part-owner of the Athletics from 1901 to 1936 and sole owner until 1954. Among his achievements, Mack was the first manager to win the World Series three times (1910, 1911, and 1913) and is the only manager to have won consecutive Series on two separate occasions (1910 and 1911 and 1929 and 1930). His five Series titles remain the third most by any manager. However, constant financial struggles forced repeated building of the Athletics' roster, and Mack's teams also finished last seventeen times. Connie Mack was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937.Connie Mack: Grand Old Man of Baseball is filled with intimate glimpses of Mack and of the players he managed over the years. Mack and his teams always gave Athletics fans a great show—and readers can relive the excitement in this facsimile reprint of Frederick G. Lieb's classic biography.