Ted Williams And The 1969 Washington Senators

Heading into their ninth season, the expansion Washington Senators had never won more than 76 games in a season. New Senators owner Bob Short hired Hall of Famer Ted Williams to manage the team. Williams sparked the Senators to their only winning record for a Washington team since 1952. This book recounts that 1969 season in-depth.

Despite a long and uneven history, Major League Baseball's Washington franchises have hardly been the stuff of legend. However, in 1969, when new owner Bob Short coaxed batting legend and rookie manager Ted Williams out of retirement, these annual no-names climbed out of the depths and straight into the hearts of Washington baseball fans starving for a winner. Led by The Capital Punisher Frank Howard, whose tape-measure home runs sometimes seemed like optical illusions, the Senators simply won ball games with a determination rarely seen in D.C. environs. A Whole New Ballgame showcases the 1969 Senators' magical season, complete with updated player bios, new photographs, stats, game action, and stories. Foreword by Dick Bosman.

Ted Williams (1918?2002) was a paradox. His cool, controlled, and patient attitude while at the plate was incongruous with his explosive, unpredictable temper out of the batter?s box. With a swing that was both admired and feared, Williams has been called the greatest hitter of the last half of the twentieth century and was perhaps the greatest left-handed hitter of all time. In this biography Michael Seidel explores the complexities of the mercurial personality and amazing career of the near-mythic ?Splendid Splinter.? ø With the death of Williams in the summer of 2002, baseball lost one of its true greats. Yet controversy continued to surround Williams in death as news of a bizarre family dispute over the fate of Williams?s body captivated the country. In a new foreword to this edition, the author discusses the odd events surrounding the ballplayer?s death and their significance to the legend of Ted Williams.

Ted Williams tells of his childhood, his military experience, and his baseball career.

This personal look at beloved former baseball player, announcer, and writer Richie Ashburn gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the iconic winner of two batting championships.

“First in War, First in Peace . . . and Last in the American League.” Expressions such as this characterized the legend and lore of baseball in the nation's capital, from the pioneering Washington Nationals of 1859 to the Washington Senators, whose ignominious departure in 1971 left Washingtonians bereft of the national pastime for thirty-three years. This reflective book gives the complete history of the game in the D.C. area, including the 1924 World Series championship team and the Homestead Grays, the perennial Negro League pennant winners from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s who consistently outplayed the Senators. New chapters describe the present-day Nationals, who, in 2012, won the National League East led by the arms of Gio Gonzalez and Stephen Strasburg and the bats of Ryan Zimmerman, Adam LaRoche and rookie Bryce Harper. The book is filled with the voices of current and former players, along with presidents, senators, and political commentators who call the team their own.

"A biography of a baseball player whose path to stardom was cut short by war. Chapters cover his childhood years, high school and his professional career with the Chattanooga Lookouts, and the Washington Senators. Travis's time as a soldier is discussed,followed by chapters on postwar playing decline from 1945 to 1947 and his retirement from baseball"--Provided by publisher.

Widely regarded as the best manager of his time, Bill McKechnie built winners at every stop, took four teams to the World Series and became the only man to do it in three different cities. He tamed roughneck players with a fatherly approach to leadership and a scholarly approach to strategy. This biography covers the life of McKechnie from his birth in a Pittsburgh suburb in 1886, through his playing and managing days, to his retirement years in west central Florida. Firsthand accounts come from the author's interviews with McKechnie's only surviving child, who also provided family photographs for the book.

This is a paper edition reprint of study originally published in 1988 by the U. of California Press. The title refers to the historical process by which Washington was made into a heroic myth by the American people, and also to discussion of Washington's own active role in the process--evidence of his strong talent, often overlooked, as a political actor. The author is a historian affiliated with San Francisco State University. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Washington, DC, in 1901 as the Washington Senators. In 1905 the team changed its name to the Washington Nationals. But, fans and newspapers persisted in using the 'Senators' nickname. This title tells the story of this baseball team.