Sports

Hardcover. NY, Thomas Dunne/St. Martins, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, price-clipped dust jacket, 290 pages, b&w illustrations. Early in the twentieth century, fate thrust a young Babe Ruth into the gleaming orbit of Ty Cobb. The resulting collision produced a dazzling explosion and a struggle of mythic magnitude. At stake was not just baseball dominance, but eternal glory and the very soul of a sport. For much of fourteen seasons, the Cobb-Ruth rivalry occupied both men and enthralled a generation of fans. Even their retirement from the ball diamond didn't extinguish it. On the cusp of America's entry into World War II, a quarter century after they first met at Navin Field, Cobb and Ruth rekindled their long-simmering feud--this time on the golf course. Ty and Babe battled on the fairways of Long Island, New York; Newton, Massachusetts; and Grosse Ile, Michigan; in a series of charity matches that spawned national headlines and catapulted them once more into the spotlight. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1st, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 385 pages, b&w illustrations. In this highly original history of the world's most famous bicycle race, Christopher S. Thompson, mining previously neglected sources and writing with infectious enthusiasm for his subject, tells the compelling story of the Tour de France from its creation in 1903 to the present. Weaving the words of racers, politicians, Tour organizers, and a host of other commentators together with a wide-ranging analysis of the culture surrounding the event including posters, songs, novels, films, and media coverage Thompson links the history of the Tour to key moments and themes in French history. He argues persuasively that this hugely popular sporting event has been instrumental in French attempts to grapple with the great challenges they have confronted during their tumultuous twentieth century from World Wars, political divisions, and class conflict to economic modernization, women's emancipation, and threats to public health. Name on half title page, otherwise clean.

Hardcover. London, Methuen & Co, Reprint, 1904, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, 323 pages. Hardcover. Extensive color illustrations by H. Alken throughout. Binding cracked between rear end paper and front fly leaf. Foxing to top edge and rear paste down and end paper. Some edge wear to spine, otherwise clean, tight copy.

Hardcover. Boston, David R. Godine, 1st, 2012, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 221 pages. Hardcover. Illustrated with full color and black & white photographs. Price clipped dust jacket with light wear. Clean, tight copy.

Hardcover. Long Beach, CA, Safari Press, 1st thus, 1989, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 187 pages, illustrated throughout in b&w. Pictorial boards, no dust jacket issued. Minor wear to covers, else a clean, tight copy.

Hardcover. Hamden, CT, Shoe String Press, 1st , 1960, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 168 pages, B&W photos. Hunting bears & wolves in the Arctic. Scarce hunting book. Dust jacket with light edgewear.

Hardcover. Brattleboro VT, Stephen Daye Press, 1st, 1935, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, black cloth with white lettering on spine, b&w illustrations, 207 pages, including a bibliography. A history of skiing is reviewed from Prehistory, the Ski in Literature, Skiing Becomes Sport, and Competitions and Records; a world-wide discussion by each country and area follows, all continents represented; Norwegian skii equipment manufacture is mentioned; facilities, conditions and the sport standing in each country are evaluated. Previous owner's signature on front fly leaf, otherwise clean.

Hardcover. NY, Rodale, 1st, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. While The Big O: My Life, My Times, My Game will not disappoint basketball purists longing for Oscar Robertson's play-by-play of favorite games, the attraction of this autobiography is Robertson's perspective on the evolution of the sport and on the racial struggles that were the context of his formative years. Called by many basketball experts the greatest all-around player ever, Robertson earned an astonishing array of honors including an Olympic gold medal, 12 NBA All-Star appearances, the NBA Rookie of the Year award, and the 1964 NBA MVP award. Most remarkably, Robertson remains the only player in basketball history with a triple-double season (double-digit averages for scoring, rebounds, and assists).While Robertson could have easily candy-coated this impressive record for his retrospective, he devotes large sections of his book to the racial battles he faced off court, and his final chapters recount his controversial efforts as an NBA union leader to create free agency, a pension plan, and disability protection for players. In telling his life story, he lays bare the racism and mistreatment he suffered at the hands of individuals and institutions throughout his career, from the Mayor of Indianapolis and Cincinnati University to the NBA and CBS Sports. At times, his critiques can seem excessive (e.g. his discussions of the distortions in the film Hoosiers, while interesting, are repeated a bit too often), and some sections (like his attempts to compare himself to contemporary players) border on self-indulgence. Yet, he seems justified in arguing that his achievements--largely accomplished on second-rate teams, against a back-drop of unprecedented racial strife, and before the modern era of sports-media saturation--are easily underrepresented. In the end, The Big O offers a complex, human portrait to complement a spectacular sports career.

Softcover. Charlottesville, University of Virginia Press, 1st pbk, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover. Illustrated with black and white photos.; A history of of the racially-charged integration of black players into baseball's southern minor leagues.

Hardcover. Silver City NM, High-Lonesome Books, 1st, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 219 pages, b&w illustrations. There is abundant information in this book about catfishing and other outdoor sports. But there is much more. There is insight into people met along the way on the author's journey around the country, into the author himself and his family, into our society in the nineties and its apparently weakening ties to all things natural. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Harcourt Brace & Co., 1st, 1995, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 306 pages, b&w photos. Chronicling the season that brought New York its first NBA title, the story of the New York Knicks, its players, general manager Eddie Donovan, and coach Red Holtzman follows their notable winning streak and difficult play-off challenges. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Urbana IL, University of Illinois Press, 2nd pr., 1995, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. 327 pages, b&w photos. An extraordinarily gifted athlete, Babe Didrikson Zaharias starred in track and field and won three Olympic medals in 1932. She picked up golf late yet quickly dominated the women's sport. She also competed in baseball, bowling, basketball, and tennis. Interviews with members of Babe's family, peers, and others inform Susan E. Cayleff's story of the athlete and the difficulties she faced as a woman trying to be her own person. The American public was smitten with Babe's wit, frankness, and "unladylike" bravado. But members of the press insinuated that her femininity, even her femaleness, were suspect. Cayleff looks at how Babe used her androgyny and athleticism to promote herself before crafting a more marketable female persona for golf. She also explores Babe's role as a cofounder of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA); her marriage to George Zaharias and their partnership in shaping her career; her romantic relationship with fellow golfer Betty Dodd; and her courageous public fight against cancer. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2nd pr., 1985, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Blending biography and social history, this portrait of one of the first Black Americans to win fame and respect in the twentieth century draws on new interview material and translations from German press coverage. 330 pages, b&w illustrations.

Hardcover. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1st, 1989, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. "...identifies the many economic pressures exerted on the game today and measures their effects both on the field and in the ticket office. He presents a detailed and original analysis of traditional baseball performance statistics from slugging to fielding and draws on a wealth of previously unpublished data divulged in recent collusion suits. At the heart of the controversy are the disparate claims of owners, who say they are loosing money and stay on only out of love for the game, and players, who insist they are being exploited by owner reaping huge profits."

Hardcover. NY, New York Yacht Club, 1st, 1975, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Two hardcover volumes, red cloth stamped in gilt with round gold New York Yacht Club ["NYYC"] insignia on the front covers. Matching red slipcase. 622 pages total. with additional material, by Robert W. Carrick. Frontis. in color. many b/w illustrations. Clean, bright set.

Softcover. Fairbanks AK, Pristine Publishing, 1st, 2000, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 205 pages, b&w illustrations, maps. A powerful collection of field data backed up by 17 years of hunting experience. This book is a well-organized, extensive reference overflowing with impressive hunting techniques and insights to wildlife behavior which are essential to your success as a float hunter. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Harrisburg PA, The Stackpole Company, 1st, 1954, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 287 pages. Pictorial endpapers. Maroon cover with gilt lettering and affixed picture of a hunter in bright color. Black-and-white illustrations throughout by Fred Everett and four color illustrations in addition to the frontispiece. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. Guilford,CT, The Lyons Press, 1st, 2002, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 492 pages. Here for the baseball fan, in one comprehensive volume, are Lardner's finest writings about baseball during its golden age. Out of a column written for The Saturday Evening Post evolved his most famous work, You Know Me, Al, which introduced the world to the bush-league pitcher Jack Keefe. Lardner's skills as the finest American humorist since Mark Twain are on full display in the stories "My Roomy," "Horseshoes," "Alibi Ike," and "The Yellow Kid." Also included are his outstanding journalistic pieces about the Chicago Black Sox World Series scandal of 1919 that chronicle his struggle to come to grips with a national betrayal, the memory of which still scars the sport to this day. LARDNER ON BASEBALL is a full, diverse, and exciting collection of works from a legendary writer who transformed a simple game into the stuff of great literature. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Knopf, 1st, 1981, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Halberstam, a lifeling fan of the game, explores the world of professional basketball as he spends the 1979-80 season travelling with the Portland Trail Blazers. Light fading to dj spine, remainder stamp to bottom edge.

Hardcover. NY, Harper & Row, 1st, 1972, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket ($8.95 on flap), Stated "first edition" on copyright page, with complete number line on Page 442. Author Roger Kahn follows the history of the Brooklyn Dodgers through their 1955 season, which took them to the World Series. A nice copy of this timeless favorite. Mild discoloration to covers, hidden by dust jacket.

Hardcover. NY, Birch Lane Press, 2nd pr., 1991, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 407 pages, b&w photos. A biography of Mike Tyson traces the mismanagement of his career, his stormy marriage to actress Robin Givens, and his adventures with Donald Trump in an expose that portrays a man grappling with the burdens of fame and fortune. Illingworth does an exceptional job summarizing the life of Mike Tyson. Almost everything on Tyson is covered. From his troubled youth to his rise to stardom, and ultimately, his downfall; the shocking knock out loss to James "Buster" Douglas and later, his rape conviction of a beauty pageant. Illingworth also exposes the business side of Tyson's career. The contracts, the deals with ABC and HBO, the multi-million dollar figures, the lawsuits, etc... Other subjects include Tyson's self-destructive lifestyle, his marriage and divorce to Givens, and his conflicts with Don King. Clean copy.

Softcover. New York, Excelsior Publishing House, reprint, 1893, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 79 pages plus publisher's ads in rear. Softcover with blue and red illustrated paper wrapper. Front cover states Ned Donnelly's Art of Boxing. 40 illustrations, Queensbury & London Prize Ring Rules with a Complete Manual on Training by John Golding. Copyright date inside says 1886, cover date states Dec. 15, 1893. Small strip of back cover gone at bottom. otherwise very good, clean.

Hardcover. New York, Harcourt Brace, 1st, 1999, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 474 pages, b&w illustrations. Light shelf-wear to dust jacket, else a clean, tight copy.

Hardcover. France, Arthaud, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 267 pages, with map laid-in. Minor dust jacket edge wear. Minor yellowing along dust jacket back cover edge. Otherwise, in very clean condition. With 169 helogravure illustrations. Protective clear dust jacket cover.

Barre, VGT, Barre Publishers, 1st, 1971, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover. Ltd. to 1,000 copies. #110. SIGNED BY ILLUSTRATOR MICHAEL MCCURDY. In slipcase. A very clean, tight copy.

Hardcover. Los Angeles, CA , Taschen, 1st, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 296 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Very clean, unmarked copy still in publishers shrink-wrap. This superb collection of 60s and 70s baseball images commemorates the sport's finest moments via the lens of legendary sports photographer Neil Leifer. Featuring over 300 photos. This unlimited popular edition is for readers on a budget or who were unable to get their hands on the original limited Collector's Edition.

Hardcover. NY, A Mountain Lion Book / Hearst Books, 3rd pr., 1984, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, b&w illustrations and photos, 223 pages. More than two hundred photographs comprehensively illustrate pitching technique from grip to follow through in a guide that details the Cy Young Award-winning pitcher's conditioning regimen and his ideas on mental preparedness. Includes contribution by Nolan Ryan, Steve Rogers, Steve Carlton, Mario Soto. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Lincoln NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 683 pages, b&w illustrations. He was not much of a player and not much more of a manager, but by the time Branch Rickey (1881-1965) finished with baseball, he had revolutionized the sport--not just once but three times. In this definitive biography of Rickey--the man sportswriters dubbed "The Brain," "The Mahatma," and, on occasion, "El Cheapo"--Lee Lowenfish tells the full and colorful story of a life that forever changed the face of America's game. As the mastermind behind the Saint Louis Cardinals from 1917 to 1942, Rickey created the farm system, which allowed small-market clubs to compete with the rich and powerful. Under his direction in the 1940s, the Brooklyn Dodgers became truly the first "America's team." By signing Jackie Robinson and other black players, he single-handedly thrust baseball into the forefront of the civil rights movement. Lowenfish evokes the peculiarly American complex of God, family, and baseball that informed Rickey's actions and his accomplishments. His book offers an intriguing, richly detailed portrait of a man whose life is itself a crucial chapter in the history of American business, sport, and society.

Hardcover. Lexington KY, Eclipse Press, 1st, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Patrick Smithwick has written an unusually moving memoir about growing up in the hell-bent-for-leather world of Thoroughbred racing as the son of Hall of Fame steeplechase jockey A.P. "Paddy" Smithwick. Racing My Father is the story of a son working alongside his father throughout summer mornings, and then hopping in a "hot car," windows up, heater blasting - so his father can sweat off a few more pounds - and driving his father to the track where the races will be held in the afternoon. Paddy Smithwick was a natural. He was a charismatic figure. He was the greatest steeplechase rider in America in the 1950s and '60s, winning all the big races, leading the country in raes won four times, dominating the sport with his style, ability, heart, and gentlemanly demeanor. Patrick Smithwick is also a natural. As a jockey, he won steeplechase races. As a writer, he's won awards. There are hints of the innocence of Huck Finn as Smithwick starts off his account of serving his apprenticeship with his father. The innocence ends when his father is paralyzed in a bad fall. Yet, the youthful Smithwick helps his father work his way back into racing, and the father-son, trainer-rider team ends up in the winner's circle at Saratoga Springs. Smithwick has recreated his own Yoknapatawpha County - with its gritty backsides and polished clubhouses, its knotty characters and sleek racehorses. Clean copy.

Brattleboro VT, Stephen Greene Press, 2nd pr., 1982, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, price-clipped dust jacket. Essays on Boston's favorite athletes: Ted Williams, Bob Cousy, Carl Yastrzemski, Bobby Hull and others. 248 pages, b&w illustrations. Short inscription on front fly leaf, otherwise clean.

Hardcover. NY, Simon and Schuster , 1st, 1970, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 256 pages, b&w photos. This is the book that launched Phil Berger's career. Controversial upon its publication 30 years ago, it freezes in time that great Knicks team. Willis Reed in his glory, Holzman at his best, Bradley struggling with his own popularity. The nerdy young Phil Jackson envious of that popularity. There's enough wry humor, revelation and wisdom to qualify "Miracle" as a treasure. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, McGraw Hill, 1st, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 270 pages, b&w illustrations. This work has been prepared as a loving remembrance by the Brown Bomber's son. Joe Louis is known in history as the legend who knocked out Max Schmelling in round one of their fight in 1938. Joe's son gives full character to the man of myth and history with many details and recollections from the champ's contemporaries. There is a complete boxing record, list of contributors, bibliography, plus photographs. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Doubleday, 1st, 1966, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, lightly chipped dust jacket. INSCRIBED BY CO-AUTHOR AL HIRSHBERG on front fly leaf. The autobiography of the great sports announcer who went from the Boston Red Sox to become a national television sports announcer and commentator.

Toronto, Macfarlane Walter & Ross, 1st, 1993, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclippws dust jacket. Road Games is a passionate, engrossing and authoritative chronicle of the extraordinary 1992-93 NHL season, one that ended with an inquiry into whether or not the Ottawa Senators deliverately "tanked it" to secure their first overall draft pick of hockey's newest sensation, Alexandre Daigle. This was the season that Mario Lemieux's involvement in a sordid scandal was forgotten when he overcame cancer to win the scoring title; Doug Gilmour emerged as one of the game's finest players; and European stars Selanne, Bure, Mogilny and Fedorov rose to preeminence, while the North American hockey heroes-Gretzky, Lemieux, and Lindros-endured a season marked by injury, sickness, disturbing controversy and moving comeback. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Safari Press, 1st, 2012, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 254 pages. Great African Trophies is a photographic showcase of some of the greatest game trophies ever taken on the Dark Continent, and it includes elephants, buffaloes, the big cats, spiral-horned antelopes, and dozens of other magnificent animals. The focus is on animals that rank in the top five of each species in the Safari Club International and Rowland Ward record books, but also included are historic, unlisted, and little-known trophies, along with their stories. This book is a feast for the eyes for anyone who loves African wildlife, and it contains the best available historical and modern photos of superlative African game animals, as well as the tales--many never before told--of the hunters who were fortunate to connect with them. The photos are accompanied by a description of where, when, and how the animal was taken, and the book provides, if possible, the details of the hunt and how it unfolded. Clean copy still in publisher's shrinkwrap.

Hardcover. NY, Simon & Schuster, 1st, 1996, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 254, b&w illustrations. A veteran of seven decades of professional baseball reminisces about his days in the Negro Leagues, offers an intimate portrait of Satchel Paige, and reveals his current work scouting for the Kansas City Royals at age eighty-two. Buck O'Neil was a former all-star player and manager for the Kansas City Monarchs; he also has the distinction of being the first black to hold a coaching position in major league baseball. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 6th pr., 1973, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket, 333 pages, b&w illustrations by Walter Dower.

Hardcover. Chicago, Masters Press, 3rd pr., 1998, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 328 pages, b&w photos. Even without his masterful debut as coach of the 1997-1998 Indiana Pacers, Larry Bird's brilliant, gutsy career with the Boston Celtics--three NBA championship rings and a trio of Most Valuable Player trophies--cries out for celebration and reassessment. He was a dominant player, a thinking player who controlled the game as much with his leadership as his keen passing, tough "D," and the soft touch of his jumper. In Larry Legend, Shaw interweaves chapters of Bird's biography with chapters chronicling his Coach of the Year season to create a hybrid volume; rather than do both well, he does both adequately. Everything is here--Bird's French Lick, Indiana, childhood; why he left Bobby Knight and the Indiana University pressure cooker for lower profile Indiana State; the glory years with the Celtics; the rivalry with Magic Johnson; the back problems; and the ways he re-created the Pacers in his own court-burned image. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Harper & Row, 1st, 1977, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 175 pages. For one full baseball season in 1976, Roger Kahn returned to his favorite sport to see how it was doing, talk to some of its practitioners and veterans, and try to find out whether it still the same old magic. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. NY, Simon & Schuster, 1st, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 327 pages, b&w illustrations. This engaging collection of 11 interviews with some of baseball's best players from the 1950s and 1960s, whose salaries were often less than $10,000, might have been better subtitled, "And, Come to Think of It, We Did" (play for nothing, that is). But those guys could play. Former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent just starts the tape and lets them talk. There's Ralph Branca, alternately bitter and philosophical about the Shot Heard 'Round the World that Bobby Thompson hit off him in 1951; Harmon Killebrew downplaying the monster homers he hit off everybody; Whitey Ford (236-106 lifetime) sharing great Yankee stories; and Brooks Robinson marveling more at his great peers than at his own illustrious career. Other interviewees include Bill Rigney, Duke Snider, Robin Roberts, Carl Erskine, Lew Burdette, Frank Robinson, and Billy Williams. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Syracuse NY, Syracuse University Press, 1st, 2010, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 142 pages, b&w illustrations. In 1950, future Hall of Famer Earl Lloyd became the first African American to play in a National Basketball Association game. A warm and gracious man, widely loved and respected, Lloyd has lived what he describes as an 'incredible journey' and has spent eighty years gathering passionate lessons from that experience. He was born in Virginia, a state he describes as 'the cradle of segregation', only sixty-two years after the end of the Civil War. Nicknamed 'Moonfixer' in college, Lloyd led West Virginia State to two CIAA Conference and Tournament Championships and was named All-American twice. One of three African Americans to enter the NBA at that time, Lloyd played seven games for the Washington Capitals before the team folded. He joined the Syracuse Nationals for six seasons and later played for the Detroit Pistons before he retired in 1961. Throughout his career, he quietly endured the overwhelming slights and exclusions that went with being black in America. Yet he has also lived to see basketball - a demonstration of art, power, and pride - become the black national pastime and to witness the inauguration of Barack Obama. In a series of extraordinary conversations with Sean Kirst, Lloyd reveals his fierce determination to succeed, his frustration with the plight of many young black men, and his sincere desire for the nation to achieve true equality among its citizens. CLEAN COPY.

Hardcover. Albuquerque NM, University of New Mexico, 1st, 1951, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Fair, Hardcover, light tan cloth stamped in dark brown, 244 pages. Illustrated with b&w photographs. Previous owner's name stamped inside front cover. Mountain lion and bear hunting on horseback, with dog packs on a 330,000 acre New Mexico working ranch. Dust jacket worn wit chipping, short tears.

Hardcover. New York, Robert M. McBride & Company, First Thus, 1946, 162 pages. Hardcover. Green cloth covers with gilt titles to spine, light scuffing to boards, toning throughout. Previous owner's bookplate to preliminary pages. Black & white illustrations and photographs. Clean unmarked copy.

Hardcover. Michigan, Tile Books, 1st, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 394 pages, hardcover with dust jacket. First in a series of baseball books to piece together the vast newspaper record of the nineteenth century. Mild rubbing and edgewear to dust jacket. Slight cocking to spine. Unmarked. Bright and clean; a tight copy. While Anson's greatest success was in being the lone player before 1900 to reach 3,000 hits, Cap Anson 1: When Captaining Meant Something: Leadership in Baseball's Early Years, examines him through his managerial and captaining roles with Chicago's National League team (the White Stockings, later known better as the Colts, before they became the modern-day Cubs) from 1879 to 1897. The book also compares Anson to other captain-managers of his day, and Chicago to contemporaneous teams with divided management: those with a combination of captains and bench managers.

Hardcover. NY, Doubleday , 1st, 1987, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 118 pages, b&w photographs by John Ranard. A very clean, tight copy.

Hardcover. Minneapolis, MN, Voyageur Press, Reprint, 2009, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 192 pages. Softcover. Very clean, unmarked copy with only minor edgewear. Chris-Craft is without doubt the most prestigious name in the history of American boatbuilders. This beautifully illustrated history of the Michigan-based company and its most significant powerboats begins in 1922, when the mercurial Christopher Columbus Smith and his three sons formed Chris Smith & Sons Boat Company. Modern color photography depicting restored and factory-original runabouts and cruisers details the evolution of Chris-Craft boats from the early hand-built years through the move to fiberglass hulls.

Hardcover. Romney WV, self-published, 1st, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 460 pages. Large format with many color photos. SIGNED AND INSCRIBED by author on title page. #314 of 1000 copies.

Hardcover. NY, Harper, 1st, 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 431 pages, b&w and color illustrations. For most of his life, Julius Erving has been two men in one. There is Julius, the bright, inquisitive son of a Long Island domestic worker who has always wanted to be respected for more than just his athletic ability, and there is Dr. J, the cool, acrobatic showman whose flamboyant dunks sent him to the Hall of Fame and turned the act of jamming a basketball through a hoop into an art form. In many ways, Erving's life has been about the push and pull of Julius and The Doctor. It is Dr. J who has stories to tell of the wild days and nights of the ABA in the 1970s, and of being the seminal figure who transformed basketball from an earthbound and rigid game into the creative, free-flowing aerial display it is today. He has a long list of signature plays - he's famous for winning the first dunk contest in 1976 with a jam on which he lifted off from the foul line, and he made a miraculous layup against the Lakers on which he soared behind the backboard before reaching back in to flip the ball in on the other side, with one hand. He inspired a generation of dunkers, including Michael Jordan, to express their improvisational talents. But Julius wasn't always as graceful and in control as Dr. J. Erving had a pristine image throughout his career and early retirement, but he was far from a perfect man. Here he gives detailed accounts of some of the personal problems he faced -- or created -- behind the scenes, including the adulterous affair with sports writer Samantha Stephenson, which led to the birth of his daughter, professional tennis player Alexandra Stephenson.Though his marriage survived that infidelity, the death of Erving's 20-year-old son Cory in 2000 in a tragic accident proved too much for the union to bear. Erving paints a raw, heartbreaking picture of the dissolution of his marriage, as his wife Turquoise began to blame him for his refusal to be paralyzed by grief for as long as she was. Their intense arguments came to a head when Erving stepped out of the shower one day to find his wife holding a lamp in one hand and a vase in the other, ready for a physical confrontation. "I knew somebody was going to get hurt, and it wasn't going to be me," he says. He packed a suitcase and he and Turquoise never lived under the same roof again.

Softcover. Thousand Oaks CA, Dragon Books, 3rd pr., 1993, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 145 pages, b&w illustrations. This book, as well as being a practical training manual, is an attempt to inform the reader of the history of Aikijujutsu and it's masters. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Abrams Press, 1st, 2022, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Illustrations, 470 pages with index. A groundbreaking, timely history of the largely unknown early days of Black basketball, bringing to life the trailblazers, entertainers, gangsters, and supremely talented athletes who made the game From the introduction of the game of basketball to Black communities in 1904 to the integration of the NBA in 1950, there was a full era in the development of the game. It was a time when Black players were discriminated against and opportunities were limited, but entrepreneurial men and women nurtured the game and breathed life into a sport they loved. This period was known as the Black Fives Era (teams at the time were often called "fives"), and was akin to the golden age of the Negro Leagues. But despite fierce rivalries between big-city clubs, innovative managers, and star players, this period is almost entirely unknown to basketball fans. Claude Johnson has made it his mission to change that. An advocate fiercely committed to our history, for more than two decades Johnson has conducted interviews, mined archives, collected artifacts, and helped to preserve an important, culturally rich era that otherwise would have been lost. The Black Fives is the result of his work, a landmark narrative history that will braid together the stories of these forgotten pioneers and rewrite our understanding of the story of basketball.