Softcover. Lincoln NE, Bison Books/University of Nebraska Press, 1st, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 247 pages, b&w illustrations. In the spring of 1968, the Omaha Central High School basketball team made history with its first all-black starting lineup. Their nickname, the Rhythm Boys, captured who they were and what they did on the court. Led by star center Dwaine Dillard, the Rhythm Boys were a shoo-in to win the state championship. But something happened on their way to glory. In early March, segregationist George Wallace, in a third-party presidential bid, made a campaign stop in Omaha. By the time he left town, Dillard was in jail, his coach was caught between angry political factions, and the city teetered on the edge of racial violence. So began the Nebraska state high school basketball tournament the next day, caught in the vise of history. The Rhythm Boys of Omaha Central tells a true story about high school basketball, black awakening and rebellion, and innocence lost in a watershed year. The drama of civil rights in 1968 plays out in this riveting social history of sports, politics, race, and popular culture in the American heartland.

Hardcover. NY, Random House , 2nd pr., 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 421 pages. Taylor offers a vivid account of the fledgling days of the National Basketball Association and the intense competition between two of its biggest early stars: Bill Russell (of the Boston Celtics) and Wilt Chamberlain (of the Philadelphia 76ers). While both players were dominant men who anchored their respective teams, their personalities differed greatly. The quiet, reflective Russell turned a serendipitous showing in front of a scout into a legendary career largely through willpower and hard work, while the outgoing Chamberlain was a much more naturally gifted athlete whose skills drew attention and offers while he was barely a teenager. Taylor highlights this distinction, asking, "[C]ould determination trump talent?" Along with examining the physical and psychological battles between the two, Taylor depicts the NBA's raucous nature in the 1950s and '60s, when fights between players were frequent, and the brash Celtics coach Red Auerbach was routinely pelted with rotten tomatoes, lit cigars and eggs. Looking at everything, from each player's private demons to the racially charged era in which they competed, Taylor's book is by turns an intimate profile and a spirited look at the foundation of modern professional basketball. Mild soiling to text block, no markings.

Hardcover. Englewood Cliffs NJ, Prentice Hall, 1st, 1957, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 202 pages. Great color photos and essays from the golden age of Sports Illustrated. Work by Walker Evans, William Saroyan, Philip Wylie, Paul Gallico, etc. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Toronto, Random House Of Canada, 1st Ltd. Ed., 1995, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover. This is the Limited Signed Edition (#450 of 500), AUTOGRAPHED BY BOBBY ORR & HENRI RICHARD on the prelim page under a color photo of them squaring off in the 1971 Stanley Cup quarter finals. The book has a bright dust jacket and is housed in a maroon cloth slipcase stamped in gilt. All clean and bright. The Spirit of the Game is the first photo book to organize the story of hockey both chronologically and thematically, cutting across simple time lines or team-by-team organization. It is also a book full of detail about how hockey has changed - from skates to TV cameras, from the rule book to the fans in the seats. Photos span 106 years from the Montreal AAA, Senior Amateur champions of 1889, to the New Jersey Devils, Stanley Cup champions of 1995.

Softcover. Laurel MD, Den's Collector's Den, 1st, 1979, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 156 pages illustrated in b&w and color. Paper spine reinforced with clear tape. Otherwise 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.

Softcover. NY, Random House/Vintage Contemporaries, 1st, 1986, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 1st printing of the first American trade edition SIGNED by Ford on the title page with a black pen. No inscription. A trade paper original with glossy card covers. March Date: 1986. First edition is stated on the copyright page. Mild shelf wear, clean copy.

Hardcover. West Chester PA, Schiffer Publishing, 1st, 1984, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 128 pages illustrated in color and b&w. The story of the life and works of an American wildfowl artist. Lem's life is a tale of courage - of a man who overcame a withered arm, lack of formal education, cultural isolation, and severe illness to become one of the founders of American Wildfowl Art. This is a close look at how he and his brother, Steve, grew up together in the marshes along the Chesapeake Bay, how they subsisted as barbers and foragers, how they retained their independent spirits to create birds that pleased them - wildfowl art - while carvers around them were creating decoys just good enough for hunting ducks. Lem's work is described in pictures, accompanied by colorful comments and interesting insights by a collector who became one of the artist's closest friends. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Chicago, Rand McNally , 1st, 1953, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Poor, Hardcover, brown cloth with a very worn, tape-repaired dust jacket. 325 pages, b&w illustrations. Book is clean, very good. The dust jacket, not so much.

Softcover. Berkeley/Denver, Frog Ltd./Domo Productions, 1st, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 186 pages, b&w illustrations. This first volume covers basic sword movements (kenjutsu) and aikido open-hand techniques (taijutsu), beginning with training hall (dojo) etiquette, foundational body movements, and the art of falling (ukemi). Over 1,600 drawings and photographs show each stage of the foot and hand movements for dozens of sequences. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Viking Press, 1st, 1972, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. bit of fading to the green top edge. Angell was the consummate writer on baseball, and this, his first baseball book, is one of his major achievements. Thoughtful, funny, appreciative of the elegance of the game and the passions invested by players and fans, it goes beyond the usual sports reporters beat to examine baseballs complex place in our American psyche. Owner's inscription on the half-title page, light creasing to rear flap, otherwise clean.

Hardcover. NY, A. S. Barnes, 1st, 1949, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Fair, Hardcover, brown boards with green letting on the front cover and the spine. Dust jacket is fair only with tape repairs, chipping and a chunk gone from bottom of spine. Novel about the Quaker City Quakers, a major league team closely based on the Whiz Kids-the Philadelphia Phillies, with the main characters of the book closely based on the real Whiz Kids. For instance, Phillie coach Bennie Bengough was portrayed as Bennie Benson, Robin Roberts as Rossiter, Richie Ashburn as Robbie Ashton, etc. O'Rourke made no attempts to hide the connection. The book is dedicated to the Phillies, and O'Rourke thanks many of the Phillies by name in the introduction. Name in bold pencil on front fly leaf, otherwise clean

Hardcover. NY, Hyperion Books, 5th pr., 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 217 pages. "In early October 2001, Dominic DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky begin a 1,300-mile trip by car to visit their beloved teammate Ted Williams, knowing that he is dying. Bobby Doerr, the fourth member of this close group - "my guys," Williams used to call them - is unable to be with them because he is back in Oregon tending to his wife of sixty-three years, Monica, who has suffered her second stroke." "At the core of the book is the friendship of these four very different but extraordinary men, the key players in a remarkable Boston Red Sox team, who stayed close to each other for more than sixty years." The Teammates is the story of two the final one that DiMaggio and Pesky are taking to see Williams, and another, a flight back in time, as they and Bobby Doerr recall the wonders of their years together and reminisce about a magical era. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Library of America, 1st, 2015, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 594 pages. W. C. Heinz (1915-2008) was one of the most distinctive and influential sportswriters of the last century. Though he began his career as a newspaper reporter, Heinz soon moved beyond the confines of the daily column, turning freelance and becoming the first sportwriter to make his living writing for magazines. In doing so he effectively invented the long-form sports story, perfecting a style that paved the way for the New Journalism of the 1960s. His profiles of the top athletes of his day still feel remarkably current, written with a freshness of perception, a gift for characterization, and a finely tuned ear for dialogue. Jimmy Breslin named Heinz's 'Brownsville Bum"a brief life of Al 'Bummy" Davis, Brooklyn street tough and onetime welterweight champion of the world'the greatest magazine sports story I've ever read, bar none." His spare and powerful 1949 column, 'Death of a Race Horse," has been called a literary classic, a work of clarity and precision comparable to Hemingway at his best. Remainder dot to bottom edge otherwise clean.

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. Lincoln NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1st, 2020, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. Is there life after baseball? Starting from this simple question, The Wax Pack ends up with something much bigger and unexpected--a meditation on the loss of innocence and the gift of impermanence, for both Brad Balukjian and the former ballplayers he tracked down. To get a truly random sample of players, Balukjian followed this wildly absurd but fun-as-hell premise: he took a single pack of baseball cards from 1986 (the first year he collected cards), opened it, chewed the nearly thirty-year-old gum inside, gagged, and then embarked on a quest to find all the players in the pack. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, David McKay Co., 1st, 1950, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn and chipped dust jacket. Classic and vintage Major League Baseball: The story of Robin Roberts, Jim Konstanty, Richie Ashburn and the rest of the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies as reported by a Philadelphia sportswriter who covered the team. Profiles of each player, manager, owners, World Series statistics, box score of the pennant clinching game. 8 pages of b&w photos. Clean copy.

Softcover. privately printed, 1st, 2025, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 524 pages, b&w illustrations. This book, from first-time author and avid canoe paddler and builder, Peter Macfarlane, is a travel journal laced with memoir. It recounts a pair of odysseys undertaken by solo canoe along the USA's longest marked inland water trail, the 740-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail, and much more. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. NY, Albatross, reprint, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover, 280 pages, The World's Best Sailboats has become the most cherished and respected illustrated sailing book of all time. Its unique format includes over 400 spectacular color photographs by the world's leading nautical photographers coupled with astutely presented technical information on the best and most beautiful sailboats manufactured. Mate's insistence on uncompromising quality and his always engaging, entertaining style make this a timeless work and must-reading for anyone interested in sailboats. Its encyclopedic scope covering all aspects of sailboat design and construction, gleaned from personal visits to the world's best boatyards and interviews with the leading builders and designers, gives us not only a feast for the eyes and the stuff of dreams but also a thorough education. Mate visited the world's best boat builders from Finland to Italy, from Maine to California, and in his book evaluates and describes the sailboats of the nineteen best yards. The text is full of technical information on design and construction of available boats, while the magnificent color photos celebrate the beauty of sailboats and fine craftsmanship. His writing, as always is both informative and entertaining. Shelfworn dust jacket with wear to edges, short repaired tears. Book is clean, no markings. NOTE: DUE TO WEIGHT DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.

Hardcover. NY, Albatross, 1st, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover, 299 pages, The World's Best Sailboats Vol. 2 includes over 400 spectacular color photographs by the world's leading nautical photographers coupled with astutely presented technical information on the best and most beautiful sailboats manufactured. Mate's insistence on uncompromising quality and his always engaging, entertaining style make this a timeless work and must-reading for anyone interested in sailboats. Its encyclopedic scope covering all aspects of sailboat design and construction, gleaned from personal visits to the world's best boatyards and interviews with the leading builders and designers, gives us not only a feast for the eyes and the stuff of dreams but also a thorough education. Mate visited the world's best boat builders from Finland to Italy, from Maine to California, and in his book evaluates and describes the sailboats of the nineteen best yards. The text is full of technical information on design and construction of available boats, while the magnificent color photos celebrate the beauty of sailboats and fine craftsmanship. His writing, as always is both informative and entertaining. Shelfworn dust jacket with wear to edges, short repaired tears. Book is clean, no markings. NOTE: DUE TO WEIGHT DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.

Hardcover. NY/Cleveland, World Publishing, 1st, 1969, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in an edgeworn dust jacket, 223 pages, illustrated with photos. The story of a crucial nine-day stretch during the miracle season of the Amazin' Mets encompassing critical, controversial games with their arch enemy Chicago Cubs. Published in the middle of the magical 1969 baseball season which would see the Mets go on to win the World Series. No marking.

Hardcover. NY, Avery Publishing Group, 1st, 1991, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Story of the aborted 1904 World Series, with center photo supplement on coated paper. The 1904 World Series was called off, because of a clash of wills among John T. Brush (owner of the New York Giants), John McGraw (manager of the Giants), and Ban Johnson (president of the National League and instrumental in forming the New York Highlanders, later to be renamed the New York Yankees). Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Dutton, 1st US, 1969, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 80 pages of single and multiple panel humorous cartoons with sports and leisure themes.

Softcover. Lincoln NE, Bison Books/University of Nebraska, reprint, 2004, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 276 pages, b&w illustrations. Through in-depth interviews with players, their families, coaches, teammates, and league officials, Ron Thomas tells the largely untold story of what basketball was really like for the first Black NBA players, including recent Hall of Fame inductee Earl Lloyd, early superstars such as Maurice Stokes and Bill Russell, and the league's first black coaches. They Cleared the Lane is both informative and entertaining, full of anecdotes and little-known history. Not all the stories have happy endings, but this unfortunate truth only emphasizes how much we have gained from the accomplishments of these pioneer athletes.