Baby Boomer Baseball

Baseball has enchanted generations of players and fans with its charm and has been a constant in American life since the nineteenth century. Growing up as a boy in the 1950s and 1960s, Robert Kravetz learned the art of fending for himself on the baseball diamond. There, he and fellow players settled arguments and honed their baseball skills, learning the intricacies of a beautifully simplistic game. His baseball hero—and the hero for millions of other boys—was Mickey Mantle. At seven years old, he would rip open the morning newspaper to see if Mickey had beaten out Al Kaline for the runs batted in part of the Triple Crown and Ted Williams for the batting average honors. In Baby Boomer Baseball, Kravetz relives his youth, sharing fascinating tales from the golden era of baseball and observing the game’s changes through its steroid era and beyond. Whether Kravetz is drawing on his awe for the game as a boy or on personal discussions with Gary Carter, Hank Bauer, Tommy John, Bob Mathias, Clete Boyer, Tim McCarver, and the former director of research of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Tim Wiles, he shares stories that will rekindle your love for America’s pastime.

Tapping into the nostalgic era of feel-good baseball in the late 1940s and moving up to the Mitchell report, this collection documents the story of baseball as seen through the eyes and experiences of the postwar generation. From daytime games heard on the radio to players testifying before Congress on steroid usage, baseball has undergone a major transformation over the past sixty years. This chronicling of such vast changes features stories involving famed players such as Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Roger Maris, and Nolan Ryan.

This encyclopedia defines and contextualizes the Baby Boomer generation and the wide-reaching contributions of its members throughout modern American history. Comprising some 80 million Americans born between 1946 and 1965, the Baby Boomers have significantly changed every aspect of American history and culture. The members of this generation experienced some of the most tumultuous times in American history; indeed, the Boomers helped create these pivotal eras. From the advent of rock and roll to disco and rap, from the sexual revolution to the arrival of AIDS, and from race riots to the election of a black president, Baby Boomers have seen it all. Through nearly 100 alphabetically arranged entries, this encyclopedia gives later generations insight into the contributions of the Baby Boomers, and it helps members of that generation better contextualize their own experiences. Included entries are written in a clear and engaging manner, covering politics and activism, entertainment, the economy, gender roles, arts, pop culture, sports, religion, drug and alcohol use, and many other subject areas.

For all the moms who washed our clothes and watched us play and wound up watching the mailbox and waiting for the phone to ring. A nostalgic pause in middle-aged baby boomeras lives, aJust a Little Raina]a is a collection of the reflections of several men and a one remarkable woman who played on the sandlots of the 1950s and early 1960s, traveled the world in the face of the Cold War, many as military brats, and got down to the grim task of the Vietnam War before they realized that their childhoods had ended. Chronicled by a first person narration that speaks for a generation, these old friends consider the quick ride that they were on and its impact on who they are now, both pragmatically and spiritually, and how different their childrenas lives are from their own. Regardless of your age or station in life, you will find a little bit of yourself in these pages, as these participants, older now, revisit their childhood dreams and a few nightmares with the magic of that big hit that they all got at least once in their lives, still sweet in their minds. Grandparents, hometowns, childhood and military friends, gone or gone their own way, but never forgotten, like the crack of a bat and the smack of a mitt which were the piperas call to a game for generations of boys who were caught up in the sirenas song of baseball. We have been trying to recapture the definitive moments of our past ever since it became the past and we began looking back wistfully, wondering where it went. Was it Fitzgerald who told us that we do not look back, searching for events, we merely search for our youth? If you didnat cry, or at least get choked up when a son and his dead father played catch in Field of Dreams, then you have lost the magic. But, I bet you had it once, just like all the rest of us did. We may have filed the unpleasant things in our lives off in some corner of our minds, but not baseball. We are still waiting for that perfect pitch. And just when the curtain is falling, weall be wanting one more at bat, one more race down the base path, one more real game.

While this book was written for male Baby Boomers and their significant others, it also includes Boomer history and what lies ahead as we experience the decade of our own sixties. This story reviews our Boomer luck, recounts the great history of being a kid in the 1950s, and the great opportunities provided by improved education in the 1960s, not to ignore a seemingly mind expanding culture. Turning sixty is not for the faint hearted. There are issues ahead. The first thing we all face is taking care of aging parents or what the author refers to as helping your parents check out. Then there are our own Boomer health issues including cataracts and prostate cancer. You likely think there is nothing funny about these topics but the quirky economist author finds humor in all of our aging experiences. This book covers Boomer issues, all in the context of our Boomer culture. We Boomers thought we would be young forever. Maybe that is why it is so amusing. RYAN CUSTER AMACHER was born 52 days too early to be an “official” Baby Boomer, but he in no way ever considered himself a member of Tom Brokaw’s “Greatest Generation.” In this book, the author chronicles the good luck of the first sixty years of the Boomer experience and guides Boomers into the humorous, but sobering experience of their personal sixties. Amacher, an economist, has a BA degree from Ripon College and a PhD from the University of Virginia. He has been a professor at the University of Oklahoma, Economics Department Chair at Arizona State, Business Dean at Clemson University, and President of the University of Texas at Arlington where he is now a Professor of Economics. He has worked at the Pentagon, writing a market plan for the All-Volunteer Army, the Federal Trade Commission as a consultant, and the US Treasury, on the Law of The Sea negotiations.

As Kay Hoflander personally knows, Baby Boomers are a generation all of their own. From having parents known as the "Greatest Generation" to witnessing the moon landing and ushering in the digital age, this generation has experienced it all. This collection columns are a compilation of the musings and adventures she has experienced as a Baby Boomer in a world more virtual than reality. The humorous and whimsical approach she brings to life leads readers to reminisce the writings of Erma Bombeck. Tackling everything from aging to "going viral", her columns remind us not to take life too seriously and maintain focus on the things that really matter. Join Kay Hoflander on a honest and refreshing look back on the experiences of this unique generation and the challenges of aging digital.

The author reflects upon his Fascination with growing up in post war America. Recalling Fond memories of the black and white cartoons of the day and then to marvel at the first new color television the family would own. Running outside after school to play until the sun went down. Having fun between the rows of the many new homes then under construction and watching communities grow amid the rise of the giant retail stores.

Born in 1949, Martin Feess joined the American baby boomer generation—one of the most privileged group of people to ever walk the earth. While growing up in a small Wisconsin town on a picturesque lake, Feess learned about Dick and Jane, collected an abundance of toys, played baseball, and watched hours of television westerns, just like many other boys of his generation. In a fascinating story of a boomer’s time as seen through a boomer’s eyes, Feess leads others through his experiences as part of the disillusioned generation of the Vietnam War as he matured, served in the army, attended college, and moved west to begin a new chapter. While sharing personal anecdotes, observations, and lessons learned, Feess provides a look into how his journey eventually took him to the Middle East, Europe, and Asia where he learned to embrace the perspectives of others living around the world. Through his experiences and historical reflections, Feess offers an educational window into the making of a unique generation that today looks back in laughter and forward in hope while attempting to better understand who we all are as Americans. A Baby Boomer’s Times, Travels, Thoughts, and Hopes shares personal stories, observations, and historical facts that provide an entertaining and thought-provoking slice of Americana.