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Tales from the Pittsburgh Pirates Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Pirates Stories Ever Told
This is a love story. It’s a collection of tales about a life-long relationship between the Pittsburgh Pirates and its fans. The story of the five-time World Championship team overflows with anecdotes and illustrations that tell us a great deal about the team, about the city, and about the people who call Pittsburgh their home. In a sense, the history of the Pirates is a mirror image of the people who were schooled in the “steel-mill mentality.”
The Pirates have been blessed over the past 100-plus years with a colorful cast of characters who have never been shy about revealing their true feelings. From Babe Adams to Joe Cronin to Roberto Clemente, and on to John Candelaria, Danny Murtaugh, and Willie Stargell, the players and coaches profiled share with their fans a focus on never giving up until the last out is recorded. Some stories will make readers laugh, some will bring a tear, and all are endlessly fascinating.
This book is a must-have for fans of the Bucs, and fans of stellar baseball writing.
The Pirates have been blessed over the past 100-plus years with a colorful cast of characters who have never been shy about revealing their true feelings. From Babe Adams to Joe Cronin to Roberto Clemente, and on to John Candelaria, Danny Murtaugh, and Willie Stargell, the players and coaches profiled share with their fans a focus on never giving up until the last out is recorded. Some stories will make readers laugh, some will bring a tear, and all are endlessly fascinating.
This book is a must-have for fans of the Bucs, and fans of stellar baseball writing.
- GenresSports
192 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 24, 2022
good, easy to read, fun.
June 1, 2015
Review Title: Piratical tales
The Pittsburgh Pirates as one of the oldest franchises in the majors have a long rich history of winning, losing, Hall of Fame winners ,and laughable losers. This collection of stories, arranged in name order, us full of interesting tales drawn from that history. Even a lifelong fan, like I am, will find something new.
Just two examples to sweet your appetite and save most perfume for your own read through the book:
The Pirates were the first team to let fans keep foul balls hit into the stands. After three fans refused to throw balls back during a 1921 game, and one fan was wrestled to the ground and arrested, the publicity was so negative that team owner Barney Dreyfuss declared that from then on fans could keep foul balls.
The Pirates team name was adopted after it was used as a negative newspaper epitaph when the team's signing of a renegade league player in 1889 was challenged by his original team. Even though an independent arbitrator ruled the Pittsburgh signing legal, newspaper writers sided with the other team and began referring for Pittsburgh team President J. Palmer O'Neill as "J. Pirate O'Neill". Embracing the attitude (and the alliteration) the Pittsburgh Alleghenies became the Pirates, one of the great names and logos in sports history.
The arrangement by name means that the stories aren't chronological, but given the timeless nature of baseball and the anecdotal nature of the stories the arrangement works. Compare to a similar collection of Pittsburgh Steelers stories by the same publisher which is arranged by date and appropriately so.
This is fun smile-inducing stuff for the Pirates fan on your gift list.
The Pittsburgh Pirates as one of the oldest franchises in the majors have a long rich history of winning, losing, Hall of Fame winners ,and laughable losers. This collection of stories, arranged in name order, us full of interesting tales drawn from that history. Even a lifelong fan, like I am, will find something new.
Just two examples to sweet your appetite and save most perfume for your own read through the book:
The Pirates were the first team to let fans keep foul balls hit into the stands. After three fans refused to throw balls back during a 1921 game, and one fan was wrestled to the ground and arrested, the publicity was so negative that team owner Barney Dreyfuss declared that from then on fans could keep foul balls.
The Pirates team name was adopted after it was used as a negative newspaper epitaph when the team's signing of a renegade league player in 1889 was challenged by his original team. Even though an independent arbitrator ruled the Pittsburgh signing legal, newspaper writers sided with the other team and began referring for Pittsburgh team President J. Palmer O'Neill as "J. Pirate O'Neill". Embracing the attitude (and the alliteration) the Pittsburgh Alleghenies became the Pirates, one of the great names and logos in sports history.
The arrangement by name means that the stories aren't chronological, but given the timeless nature of baseball and the anecdotal nature of the stories the arrangement works. Compare to a similar collection of Pittsburgh Steelers stories by the same publisher which is arranged by date and appropriately so.
This is fun smile-inducing stuff for the Pirates fan on your gift list.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews