NCW Libraries

Willie Mays is perhaps best known for "The Catch"--His breathtaking over-the-shoulder grab in the 1954 World Series. It is a classic visual that represents a transcendent figure who ushered in a new era of baseball, received standing ovations around the globe, and -- during the turbulent Civil Rights Era -- advocated understanding and reconciliation. Mays began as a teenage phenom in the Negro Leagues, became a cult hero in New York, and was the headliner...

Stan Ross was a great Major League hitter, and also a major league jerk. Upon reaching his 3000th hit and securing his place in the Hall of Fame, Stan retires, leaving his team in a lurch just before the playoffs. 9 years later when Stan is on the verge of sports immortality, a statistical error reveals that Stan, "Mr. 3000", is really Stan, "Mr. 2997". Now, at nearly 50 years old, and 3 hits shy of hitting his goal, Stan decides to make a comeback....

"The extraordinary, unlikely, and inspirational true story of the friendships formed between Cam Perron--a white, baseball-obsessed teenager from Boston--and hundreds of former professional Negro League players, who were still awaiting the recognition and compensation that they deserved from Major League Baseball more than fifty years after their playing days were over"--

In 1955, when racial segregation defined the South, two groups of twelve-year-old boys stepped onto a baseball field in a non-violent act of cultural defiance that would change the course of history.

"An inspiring picture book biography about Glenn Burke, the first Major League Baseball player to come out as gay, and the story of how he created the high five, the world's most recognizable handshake. Playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Glenn Burke could do it all--hit, throw, run, field. He was the heart of the clubhouse who energized his teammates with his enthusiasm and love for the game. It was that energy that led Glenn to invent the high...

"An enthralling, eye-opening portrayal of this barrier-breaking American hero as a lifelong, relentlessly proud fighter for Black justice and civil rights"--

Presents an illustrated biography of the man who broke baseball's color barrier and changed the way Americans viewed equality in sports. "Jackie Robinson always loved sports, especially baseball. He could run, leap, and throw better than any other kid around. But he lived at a time when the rules weren't fair to African Americans: Even though Jackie was a great athlete, he wasn't allowed on the best teams just because of the color of his skin. Jackie...

An eye-opening look at the life and legacy of Jackie Robinson, the man who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball and became an American hero.

A biography of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in the major leagues, as told by his daughter.

"Jackie Robinson heroically broke the color barrier in 1947. But how--and, in practice, when--did the integration of the sport actually occur? Bill Madden shows that baseball's famous "black experiment" did not truly succeed until the coming of age of Willie Mays and the emergence of some star players--Larry Doby, Hank Aaron, and Ernie Banks--in 1954. And as a relevant backdrop off the field, it was in May of that year that the US Supreme Court unanimously...