{"product_id":"twilight-of-the-long-ball-gods-dispatches-from-the-disappearing-heart-of-baseball-9780803293274","title":"Twilight of the Long-Ball Gods: Dispatches from the Disappearing Heart of Baseball","description":"A report from the true heart of baseball, this anthology leaves behind the bad boys and big names of the major leagues to take readers to the places where the spirit of America's game resides. These are a veteran sportswriter's dispatches from the bush leagues and the sandlot, his tributes to the Negro leaguers, mining-town dreamers, and certifiable eccentrics who give baseball its heart and soul, laughter and tears. John Schulian, a long-time \u003ci\u003eSports Illustrated\u003c\/i\u003e contributor and former \u003ci\u003eChicago Sun-Times\u003c\/i\u003e sports columnist, puts together a portrait of a disappearing America--a place inhabited by star-crossed Negro Leagues slugger Josh Gibson; by a vagabond player still toiling for the Durham Bulls at thirty-six; by the coach who created the Eskimo Pie League for kids in a Utah copper-mining town. When he does venture into the big leagues, Schulian gives us the underdogs and the human touches, from Bill Veeck peg-legging toward retirement as the game's last maverick team owner, to musings on Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe at Christmas, to Studs Terkel's reflections on baseball. In the end, though, this collection belongs to the kid at a tryout camp, the washed-out semipro following the game on his car radio, the players who were the toasts of outposts from Roswell to Wisconsin Rapids--and to the readers who keep the spirit of the game alive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bison Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/01\/2005\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780803293274\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 185\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.48lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.06h x 6.64w x 0.45d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/01\/2005 pg. 102\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/01\/2005 pg. 1559\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2005 pg. 90\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"John Schulian","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39521079034037,"sku":"9780803293274","price":12.71,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_ed5408a2-ff39-465c-a357-783a92f070e3.jpg?v=1616503272","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/twilight-of-the-long-ball-gods-dispatches-from-the-disappearing-heart-of-baseball-9780803293274","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}