| Whatever Happened to Super Joe?: Catching Up with 45 Good Old Guys from the Bad Old Days of the Cleveland Indians Contributor(s): Schneider, Russell (Author) |
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ISBN: 1598510274 ISBN-13: 9781598510270 Publisher: Gray & Company Publishers OUR PRICE: $13.46 Product Type: Paperback Published: October 2006 Annotation: Remember "Super Joe" Charboneau? Many Indians fans do, even though his flash-in-the-pan career with the Tribe flamed out quickly. (Maybe it's because the onetime Rookie of the Year could open beer bottles with his eye socket and drink through his nose.) This book catches up with him more than forty former Cleveland Indians players of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s who also won a place in fans hearts even though their careers didn't lead them to the Hall of Fame. Veteran sportswriter Russ Schneider tracked down these former Tribe journeymen and got them to reminisce about their Cleveland days and what became of them since. The Indians teams of those years were terrible. But many of the players were loveable--or at least memorable. Like "Dirty Kurt" Bevacqua, so named because of his uniform, not his style of play. Harold ?Gomer? Hodge had a southern drawl that wooed Tribe fans and claimed to have a 4.000 batting average. At 165 lbs ?Scrappy? Jack Brohamer earned his name not only for his size |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Sports & Recreation | Baseball - History - Sports & Recreation | History |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 2006031519 |
| Physical Information: 0.52" H x 5.58" W x 8.44" (0.57 lbs) 210 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1960's - Chronological Period - 1970's - Chronological Period - 1980's - Cultural Region - Midwest - Geographic Orientation - Ohio - Locality - Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria, Ohio |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: From the mid-1950s through the mid-1990s, the Cleveland Indians fielded teams that just couldn't win. Yet each lousy team in those "bad old days" had its share of good guys, likeable and colorful young men who earned a spot in fans' hearts, if not the Hall of Fame. Guys like "Super Joe" Charboneau, whose Rookie of the Year season inspired a nickname, a book, and a theme song, but whose career flamed out fast. Or Gomer Hodge, the former farm boy who went 4-for-4 in his first plate appearances with the Tribe and proudly announced that he had a 4.000 batting average. Veteran sportswriter Russell Schneider caught up with 45 former Indians players who played in Cleveland during the "bad old days" and found out what they think now about their playing days and their lives after baseball. Good-fielding shortstop Duane Kuiper was satisfied hitting just one home run in eight seasons because, he said, "Any more than that and people start expecting them." Former knuckleball pitcher Tom Candiotti never pitched a no-hitter but did throw a perfect game--as a pro bowler. "Immortal" Joe Azcue tried hard to live up to his early nickname but his batting average proved him merely human. And shortstop Frank Duffy considered the Indians of the mid-'70s "just like a happy family" compared to what he found when he was traded to the Boston Red Sox. Sometimes nostalgic, sometimes tinged with disappointment, often humorous and insightful, their stories will take Tribe fans back to an age before multi-million dollar superstars, when the players were in it for the love of the game. |
Contributor Bio(s): Schneider, Russell: - Russell Schneider was a sportswriter and columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer for 32 years. He covered the Indians daily from 1964 through 1977. He has written one book on the Cleveland Browns and 12 books about baseball and the Indians, including The Cleveland Indians Encyclopedia, Lou Boudreau: Covering All the Bases, and The Glorious Indian Summer of 1995, and he is a lifelong fan of the team. He lives in Seven Hills, Ohio. |