Lew Freedman

This is a history of major league baseball's first All-Star game, originally conceived in 1933 as a one-time "Game of the Century" (including greats such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Carl Hubbell and Lefty Grove) to lift the spirits of the nation and its people in the midst of the Great Depression. The game was so successful that it became a yearly event and an integral part of the baseball season. The work covers the game, from the Chicago Tribune's early advocacy for the contest through every play, and the later accomplishments of many of the individuals involved.

Over beer and hamburgers at the Two Rivers Lodge near Fairbanks, Alaska, a small group of mushers conceived a gutsy idea for a new sled dog race that would be more challenging than any other marathon race in the Far North. In 1984, mushers organized the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race between Fairbanks and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Soon, mushers adopted an unofficial race motto, "Survive first, race second." The Quest trail boasts fewer checkpoints, longer wilderness runs, and more campouts. The trail crosses three mountain passes, including the dreaded 3,685-foot Eagle Summit, a killer of mushers' dreams. Outdoor survival skills and self-reliance are on a par with commercial sponsorships and high-tech sleds and mushing gear.

This is the story of how the hapless Chicago White Sox, badly hurt by the banning of players after the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, floundered until the 1950s when they were finally rebuilt and had their first success in 40 years. The culminating event was the capture of the 1959 American League pennant, made possible by aging pitcher Early Wynn. Wynn, nearly 40, was the best pitcher in the game that season, winning 22 games and the Cy Young Award. He was the last piece in the puzzle that put the Sox over the top and, in addition to the team's historic season, the book tracks his life before, during and after baseball.

This revealing biography explores Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning as an athlete and as a man. From the moment Peyton Manning arrived in the National Football League at the start of the 1998 season, he has been a numbers machine, completing passes at a dazzling rate and throwing touchdowns at a pinball-machine clip. Fans, teammates, and NFL foes alike have been in awe of what Manning's right arm has wrought. In Peyton Manning: A Biography, sportswriter Lew Freedman chronicles Manning's life, from his childhood as the son of New Orleans Saints' quarterback Archie Manning through the many laurels won during his high school and college careers to his record-setting play with the Colts. The book also covers Manning's off-the-field activities as a product spokesperson, as well as his PeyBack Foundation, designed to help underprivileged children. Finally, it looks at the Manning football dynasty, including brother Eli Manning's success as the Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the New York Giants.

He pitched a baseball game that was more than perfect, and yet he lost. Southpaw Harvey Haddix had logged a solid but unspectacular career by the time he took the mound on May 26, 1959. Facing the Milwaukee Braves, he set down the first 36 batters in a row, or 12 innings' worth--a perfect game three innings longer than the norm. But his Pittsburgh Pirates couldn't score, either, and Haddix lost in the 13th inning on a controversial play. This book recounts Haddix's one-of-a-kind performance and describes the official decisions that changed the historical record.

LeBron James is simultaneously on the cutting edge of basketball greatness and as a cultural icon. Through the international exposure of the National Basketball Association and its televised games in more than 100 countries, and as a global marketing presence, the star of the Cleveland Cavaliers is rapidly becoming one of the world's most familiar faces. This biography traces the key events in the life of LeBron James during his dizzying rise to fame in high school to his emergence as the first overall pick in the NBA draft as an 18-year-old, to his carrying the underdog Cavaliers to the 2007 NBA Finals. Hyped relentlessly from the time he was a high school sophomore in Ohio, James has lived up to all advance billing and with his charm, smile, and extraordinary basketball skills. James' all-around talent and unselfishness on the court are the trademarks of his play that have made him one of the most feared scorers in the league, but also one of its most versatile rebounders and passers. This biography offers a well-rounded portrait James from the difficulties encountered being raised by a single mother and overcoming poverty, which at times caused the family to move from home to home. Lew Freedman of the Chicago Tribune chronicles the milestones in the life of LeBron James during his dizzying rise to fame. Also highlighted are James' remarkable endorsement deals, particularly his $90 million deal with Nike. The volume is rounded out with a timeline and a bibliography of print and electronic sources to provide suggested readings for students and sports fans alike.

When Jackie Robinson became the first African American player in major league baseball in 1947, elbowing aside the league's policies of segregation that had been inviolate for 60 years, he became a symbol of opportunity and acceptance for African American players everywhere. Robinson withstood discrimination to establish himself as a Hall of Fame player, and to lead future generations of black players into the previously all-white world of Major League Baseball. Written for students and general readers alike, this biographical encyclopedia chronicles the history of African American baseball through the life stories of the game's greatest players, the legends who played a significant role in the integration of the major league. From Negro League stars Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, to color line shatterer Jackie Robinson, and those who followed them in the limelight, such as Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, readers will learn how the inclusion of African American players in Major League Baseball improved the sport and race relations in the United States during this critical period in history. Providing detailed accounts of each player's amazing professional achievements, this insightful reference describes how the spectacular talents of African American players elevated Major League Baseball forever. Features include a timeline of important events, numerous photographs, and a bibliography of print and electronic sources for further reading.

Picking up where the best-selling IDITAROD CLASSICS left off, this new collection of insightful and hair-raising stories introduces readers to more of the men and women who brave Alaska's annual 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome. Champions Doug Swingley, Martin Buser, Jeff King, and others tell how they came to love the race, how they train their dogs and themselves, and how they challenge the harsh weather and conditions found in the Last Great Race.

This is the stirring biography of George Attla, the little-known Athabaskan Indian from the tiny Koyuk River villge of Huslia, Alaska, who limped to the starting line in the 1958 Fur Rendezvous World Championship sled dog race in Anchorge. Attla's record-setting victory shocked the mushing establishment and ushered in a new era of sled dog racing. Over the next four decades, Attla and his village dogs captured more sprint championships than any other musher as he defended his titles repeatedly against better-financed teams from Alaska and the Lower 48 states. Becoming a mushing legend wasn't easy. Years of Attla's boyhood were spent in hospital beds far from home. Finally returning to Huslia, his knee permanently fused as a result of cripping bone tuberculosis, Attla turned to dog mushing to escape alienation and anger. Spirit of the Wind is an inspirational story you will not soon forget.

Alaska-a northern land associated with long winter nights-has a unique baseball history that may astonish some readers of Lew Freedman's new book. Nowhere else is there an event like the annual Midnight Sun Game. Played in Fairbanks on June 21, the longest day of the year, it starts at 10:30 P. M. and continues until the next day. No stadium lights used. Author Lew Freedman writes about the visionary H. A. "Red" Boucher, who started a northern baseball dynasty with the first Gold panner program in 1960; about crusty Jack O'Toole, the Glacier's Pilots' skipper whose huddles at the mound were legendary; about Ernest "Lefty" Van Brunt, who teacher pitching they way some instructors teach mathematics; and about the incomparable Steve Agbaba, who talked a good game on just about every radio station in the state.

Meet rugged, independent, determined, and hard-working Joe Redington, Father of the Iditarod, a man who found his destiny in Alaska. In an inspirational biography, Lew Freedman chronicles Redington's birth on the Chisholm Trail and his boyhood in the Depression--homeless, motherless, roaming the country looking for work. Alaska was his rebirth in 1948. On his own piece of dirt, a man could raise a family, hunt, fish, run dogs, and stand up for what he believed. Redington helped rescue Alaska dog mushing from extinction, creating a legacy in a thrilling thousand-mile race across Alaska, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.