Okrent Daniel - American pastimes : the very best of Red Smith

EDITED AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY DANIEL OKRENT

AFTERWORD BY TERENCE SMITH

A S PECIAL P UBLICATION OF T HE L IBRARY OF A MERICA

Volume compilation of American Pastimes copyright 2013 by

Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., New York, N.Y.

Essays by Red Smith copyright 2013 by

The Literary Estate of Walter W. Red Smith.

Introduction copyright 2013 by Daniel Okrent.

Afterword 2013 by Terence Smith.

All rights reserved.

No part of the book may be reproduced commercially by offset-lithographic or equivalent copying devices without the permission of the publisher.

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Cards Trounce Reds for National League Pennant

Whose Color Compares with Resplendent Ruths?

Benswanger Honors the Pirate Who Made Him

Owens Mitt Betrays Dodgers as Yanks Take Game 4

Shortstop Bunny Griffiths Is a Major Minor Leaguer

Detroits Tommy Bridges Eyes 200th Win

Giants Steal from Dodgers Playbook in Ebbets Field Opener

Brooklyns Red Barber Talks a Great Game

Gonzlez Opens Door for Slaughters Mad Dash

Walter Perry Johnson, 18871946

Cookie Swings for Fence, Ruins Bevens No-Hitter

Al Schacht Picks His All-Screwball Lineup

Joe DiMaggio at 34

Large Jarge Magerkurth Hangs Up His Blue Serge

Branch Rickey vs. the Color Line

George Herman Ruth, Jr., 18951948

Red Sox Make Playoffs But DiMaggio Makes Them Work

Americas Pastime Mugs for the Camera

A.L. President Makes Wise Call

Casey Stengel Paces

Phillies Nab First Pennant in 35 Years

Mickey Mantle, Age 19, Says Hello, New York!

Yanks Allie Reynolds Pitches No-Hit Pennant Clincher

Bobby Thomsons Shot Heard Round the World

DiMaggio Leaves the Game He Loves

Army Levels Notre Dame, 59 to 0

Army, Navy, Commander in Chief

Yales Band Is Two Steps Faster Than Harvards

R.I. State Point Guard Thrills Crowd at Garden

Berkshire-Bound New Haven Line Makes First Postwar Ski Run

Miss Dorcas Lehman, Weightlifter

James J. Johnston, 18751946

A Proper British Boxer Gets Nailed American-Style

Tommy Bell Preps for Sugar Ray Robinson

Windy City Shoulders Graziano, a Roughneck and a Rowdy

Joe The Champ Louis Meets Mr. Ten-to-One

Harry Wills Observes the Liquid Diet

Fusari, Castellani, Dewars & Philco

Duke Nalon Wins the 500

No Rewrite Possible for Grandest Story in Horse Racing

George Monroe Woolf, 19101946

First Whirl, Son of Whirlaway, Makes Debut at Keeneland

Sunshine Park, Between Tampa and Clearwater

Jet Pilot Wins Kentucky Derby

Remembering Seabiscuit

The Calumet CapersCoaltown and Citation

The Christian Bettor: A Tale from the Track

Mr. Frank Keogh, Steward of Aqueduct

Herman Keiser Undertakes the Masters

Olympic Torch Lights Up Wembley Stadium

A Foursome Tackles the Banks of the Beaverkill

A Lovely Spring Morning in That Stream Just Out Back

A High-Summer Saturday with Mr. S.G.H. and Son

The Lessons of a Sunday on the Neversink River

Fifty Strikes a Day

Catch and Release in a Desert Swimming Pool

A Truckload of Happiness Up in the Andes

The Beaverkill Chuckles at the Greenhorn with a Fly Rod

Five Thousand Meters of Agony with Emil Ztopek

The Rev. Bob Richards Vaults for Heaven

But Is Sam Snead a Gentleman?

Doing Time for Dumping Games

The Need to Be In on the Action

Sugar Ray Robinson Survives Randy Turpin

Rocky Marciano Knocks the Old Man Out

End of the Road, for J.J.W., by R. F. Marciano

A Retirement Package for Jersey Joe Walcott

Beechers Gym in Brownsville Is Boxings Spawning Place

Archie Is One Tough Turtle But Rocky Cracks His Shell

Ray Closes Basilios Eye But Cant Close the Deal

A Confused Cus DAmato Puts Up His Dukes

Max Baer, 19091959

Rangers, Canadiens Face Off at the Garden

Best in Breeds and Breeders Strut at Westminster Kennel Club

The Green Kid on Middleground Plucks a Derby Trophy

Bringing It Home from Louisville, Courtesy Count Turf

Whirlaway and His World

Cutting the Ribbon at the New Aqueduct

Singular Acts of Greatness Redeem a Tainted Decade

A Wannabe Sportswriter Makes His Pitch

But Willie Mays Story Is Just Begun

Dodgers Carl Erskine Wrests Game 5 from Yanks

The Cards New Prexie Travels in Style

The Late Bill Cissell and His Bad-Boy Ways

Martins Hit in 9th Wins Yanks 5th Series in a Row

Statistics Prove Baseball a Scandalous Dawdle

Will Yankees Elston Howard Make Lineup in Birmingham?

My Old Home Team, the Green Bay Bays

Is the Pastime Pass?

Leo Durocher Leaves the Polo Grounds

Branch Rickey Was a Baseball Man, and More

Cornelius McGillicuddy, Sr., 18621956

Earl Sr. Was Bad for Pitchers

The Giants Whitey Lockman Dodges Glassware in Philly

The Kid Doesnt Suffer Fools Cheaply

Larsens Feat a First in Any Series

The Late, Great New York Giants

N.L. President Makes Disastrous Call

Phil Rizzuto Speaks from Experience

Musial Wont Save Record-Book Hit for Hometown Crowd

The Major Leagues vs. the Bean Ball

Napoleon Lajoie, 18741959

Casey Stengel at 70

Maris Chases Babe Ruths Ghost

The Mad Pursuit of the Maillot Jaune

A Relay as Tangled as a Plate of Spaghetti

The Secret Notre Damers of New York

Buck Shaws Eagles Eye Third NFL Championship

Packers Roll in the Snow and the Dough

A Nation in Mourning and a Game for Children

Fridays at the Garden in the 40s and 50s

Pattersons Year in the Wilderness

The Floyd-Ingo Street Fight, Resumed

Benny Paret and the Case Against Boxing

Cassius Clay Wins Bragging Rights from Sonny Liston

The Grand Prix of Endurance Racing

Nobodys a Winner in Fight over Draft Status

The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes

A Racetrack Where It All Began

A Horse, a Jockey, Hurdles, Death

Pros Pay Their Own Way at Frontier Days Rodeo

Straight-Hitting, Straight-Talking Lee Trevino

Raised Fists on the Victory Stand

The Elusive Smallmouth of Comely Door County