Jackie Robinson West: The Triumph and Tragedy of America's Favorite Little League Team

by George Castle

Overview

The competition level in Little League has never been tougher, but the kids on the Jackie Robinson West team faced their own set of challenges on and off the baseball diamond. The Jackie Robinson West team takes their fans and followers on a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs as each player shares a different part of the team’s history and experience, including a double-header with President Obama. Jackie Robinson West: The Story of the Youngest America’s Team leads readers on their harrowing path to the Little League World Series.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781630761271
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/01/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

George Castle has covered Major League Baseball and the Chicago Cubs since 1980 for a variety of newspapers and magazines. The author of twelve books, Castle hosts and produces a weekly syndicated baseball show, Diamond Gems. Castle has become a multimedia purveyor of baseball inside information and analysis, using a network of close clubhouse and front-office relationships to continually produce scoops and informative pieces that outflank other media. He has gotten to know—and gain the trust—of almost all of the important figures in Chicago and general baseball history. Castle has also appeared on a wide variety of network radio—including ESPN, Sporting News, and Sirius—and local sports-talk radio programs. He was tapped by producers as one of the historical experts on the Cubs for Wait ʼTil Next Year: The Saga of the Chicago Cubs, the HBO 2006 special on the team. He lives in Chicago.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

A Tarnished Team Now Goes with Chicago's Flow 1

One Woman's Gateway Leads to a Proud Story and Lessons for Today 23

A Nation's Darlings Bust the Stereotypes 33

A Chicago Village Blossoms from the Ground Up 45

Defense Also Works Off the Field in the Village 73

Joseph Haley Begins a Little League with a Little Help from Some Friends 89

Challenge from the Hall of Fame: How Bad Do You Want It? 117

Two Bloodlines Converge to Make a Catcher-Scholar 125

The Kid with an "Old Soul" 147

World-Wise but Still Firmly a Teenager 159

JRW Enjoys a Doubleheader with Obama 173

The Choke Points of Baseball in Color 181

"Have a Catch" Keeps the Game Going, Sometimes Barely 205

Teaching the Game on the Field and in Life 219

Mishandling Baseball's Lightning in a Bottle 229

Index 243

About the Author 256

Editorial Reviews

"The Jackie Robinson West champions were one of baseball's feel-good stories of the last ten years — until the Chicago team was stripped of its Little League title. Author George Castle dives deep behind the headlines and tells a compelling tale that will alter how many feel about these young athletes and their noteworthy moment in sports history." — Tom Stanton, author of Terror in the City of Champions and Ty and The Babe

“A fascinating blend of Little League baseball, Chicago politics, and the role of race in youth sports. This is not just a baseball book, but a book of regional history that touches all the bases. A revealing read.” —Douglas B. Lyons, author of 100 Years of Who’s Who in Baseball

From the Publisher