Kirjahaku

Alfonso Ramon Lopez spent 36 years in the big leagues as a catcher and manager. He had a .261 lifetime batting average, compiled 1,547 hits and caught a then-record 1,918 games in a 19-year playing career. The teams he managed--the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox--won two pennants and finished runner-up 10 times in 17 seasons. He was the only manager to interrupt the Yankees' 15 year pennant dynasty from 1949, piloting the Indians in 1954 with an A.L. record 111 wins and guiding the White Sox in 1959. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977. Al Lopez of Tampa opened up baseball to individuals of Spanish, Cuban and Italian ancestry at a time when social barriers had just begun to recede. He symbolized for many Latins the path to success. This book is his first-ever biography. It is based, first, on the recollections of the man himself, and former players, family, and fans, and also on newspaper and periodical accounts, and archival resources.

Although he never played a day in the white major leagues, John Henry "Pop" Lloyd was one of the greatest baseball players who ever lived. A shortstop who could take over a game with his glove or his bat, Lloyd dominated early black baseball, drawing comparisons to the most celebrated National Leaguer of his day, Honus Wagner, who declared it a privilege to be mentioned with Lloyd. Beginning his career years before the first Negro National League was established, Lloyd played for a dizzying number of teams, following the money, as he'd put it, throughout the country and sometimes past its borders, doing several stints in Cuba. He was seemingly ageless, winning two batting titles in his 40s and playing at the highest levels of blackball until he was 48. (He would continue to coach and play semi-pro baseball for another ten years.) Admired by teammates and opponents alike for his generosity and quiet strength, Lloyd was also one of the most beloved figures in white or black baseball.

In recent years, Florida s playgrounds have produced an abundance of exceptional professional baseball players: Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Luis Gonzales and Tino Martinez, to name only a few. Before 1950, however, only twenty-six Florida boys made it to the pros got their shot in the big leagues. Players like Tampa s Al Lopez, a Hall of Fame member and baseball s first Hispanic manager, and Pensacola native Russ Scarritt, who set the Boston Red Sox record for most triples in a season his rookie year, blazed a trail that has opened the door for many of today s baseball superstars. Florida s First Big League Baseball Players, by baseball historian and enthusiast Wes Singletary, is a narrative journey into the early days of baseball in Florida before 1950. When this project was undertaken only eight of the original twenty-six players were still living. Written from hours of interviews and presented in a narrative form that is engaging and informative, this collection allows the reader to journey back to a time when the game was more innocent and the heart of the men playing, a little bigger."