Chicago Cubs fans always will remember the beloved 1969 team. Yet the 1970 Cubs are, in many ways, more interesting. The Cubs added fascinating characters like Joe Pepitone and Milt Pappas to the legendary nucleus of Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Ernie Banks. The team came closer than in any year between 1945 and 1984--finishing only five games out of first place in one of baseball's hottest pennant races. Offering a fast-paced look at the season month by month, William S. Bike moves beyond wins, losses and statistics to relive Ernie Banks's 500th home run, the addition of "the basket" to the outfield walls and other iconic moments from a landmark year at Wrigley Field.

Boston has been a proud baseball town for over a century. For those lucky enough to have passed through the turnstiles of Braves Field, the Boston Braves will forever live in the corridors of their collective memory. Baseball legend Babe Ruth finished his career on the historic diamond at Braves Field, while Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews was just getting started. When the franchise moved the team to Milwaukee in 1953, the Boston Braves helped usher in the modern age of Major League Baseball. Travel back to the Wig-Wam with author William J. Craig, to a time when players arrived at the ballpark by trolley car and a seat in the bleachers only cost sixty cents. From the astounding 1948 pennant season to the final inning, Craig pays tribute to a team that Boston fans will never forget.

Join author Tim Raab as he presents the champions, contenders, heartbreaks and heroics of this thrilling era of Ohio pigskin history.

Few things seem as important to Americans as sports, particularly football. By the middle of the twentieth century, Ohio high school football ranked among the mightiest in the nation. Dynastic programs Massillon and Canton McKinley dominated the 1950s. Not to be outdone, Barberton, Portsmouth, Cleveland Cathedral Latin and Jackson staked their claims to greatness, and championship squads from Benedictine to Marion Harding and Alliance fought their way to the top of the rankings though ever-steady Massillon continued their winning ways in the ’60s. Along the way, determined newcomers like Niles McKinley, Toledo Central Catholic, Wyoming, Sandusky, Bishop Watterson and Marion Catholic snatched their share of gridiron glory. At the decade’s close, the fierce Golden Bears of Upper Arlington forged their own dynasty. These are the stories of hundreds of young men who pushed themselves to their limits, and the coaches who pushed them to victory.

Ten years after a one-loss season and being ranked third in the nation, the University of Pittsburgh's historic football team had fallen on hard times. In 1973, the team hired former All-American Johnny Majors to right the ship, and he promptly recruited Tony Dorsett and Al Romano. Over the next four years, the new-look Panthers were brought back to prominence with stunning victories, culminating in the 1976 NCAA National Championship. Dorsett, a future Pro Football Hall of Famer, became the first college running back to eclipse two thousand yards in a season and was awarded the Heisman Trophy in the championship year. Author David Finoli tells the story of one of the most dramatic turnarounds in college football history.

Bounce off the ropes for a high-flying jaunt through the history of Magnolia State professional wrestling. At its peak, professional wrestling was arguably the most popular sport in Mississippi. The pageantry and colorful personalities appealed to grandparents and grandchildren alike. Author Jeffrey Martin invites readers to step inside the squared circle and revisit everything from the carnival wrestling days of the late 1800s to the chiseled melodrama of modern wrestling. Along the way, readers will learn about Billy Romanoff, the old-school wrestler turned promoter who made wrestling a weekly staple at the Jackson City Auditorium; Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee, who brought down the house on Friday nights at the Tupelo Sports Arena; and George and Gil Culkin, the father-and-son duo who split with "Cowboy" Bill Watts to create their own Mississippi territory, kickstarting the careers of Kamala, Terry Gordy, Michael Hayes and many other pivotal figures.

It may not be the Kentucky Derby, but Saratoga Springs went to the horses long before Churchill Downs.

Since the inaugural meeting of August 1863, Saratoga Springs is home to one of the oldest sports venues in the country and has been the scene of memorable races, often featuring legends of the sport. Although some of the epic moments are still familiar today, such as Upset's defeat of Man o' War in the 1919 Sanford Memorial, many of the triumphs and defeats that were once famous have been forgotten. Few remember the filly Los Angeles, who thrived at Saratoga, winning sixteen stakes races, or the influential, sometimes suspicious, reasons why the track was closed three times for a total of six years. Authors Allan Carter and Mike Kane take a look back at these and other important but neglected stories and present statistics from the pre-NYRA years and a rundown of the greatest fields assembled at America's oldest track.