When The Forgotten Borough Reigned The 1964 Little League World Champions

The 1964 Little League World Series was unique and memorable. The final game was won on a no-hitter spun by a pitcher on an All-Star team from the middle of Staten Island, the "forgotten borough" that appeared to have more in common with the American heartland than the rest of New York City. Not only had a Big Apple team never before even qualified for the World Series, but it was the first time a U.S. team defeated an international one for the championship. The members of the victorious Mid-Island Little League team were treated to a ticker-tape parade in lower Manhattan and a reception by the mayor as well as meetings with celebrities and baseball icons. When the Forgotten Borough Reigned takes the reader back to 1964, a transformational year for America in which baseball still firmly held its position as the treasured national pastime. Months before the opening of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, which quickly led to a tidal wave of change throughout Staten Island, there was a magical summer during which fourteen boys, none older than twelve, experienced a degree of fame few adults ever do while uniting the borough and city in frenzied celebration.

From an award-winning New York Times sports columnist, the definitive biography of one of baseball's most celebrated, mercurial, and misunderstood figures--legendary manager and baseball genius, Billy Martin

Wilker marks the stages of his life through the baseball cards he collected as a child. He captures the experience of growing up obsessed with baseball cards and explores what it means to be a fan of the game.

On January 24, 1975, six young businessmen were enjoying lunch in lower Manhattan’s historic Fraunces Tavern when a bomb placed inside the restaurant exploded, tearing through the building. It had been planted by a group claiming support for Puerto Rican independence known as the “FALN,” the most active domestic terrorist organization in American history. Among those businessmen were two sons of immigrants and only children–Frank Connor, with a wife and two young boys, and Alex Berger, whose wife was six months pregnant. Both were murdered, along with two other men, while dozens were injured, many horrifically.Shattered Lives, co-authored by Jeff Ingber and Joe Connor, Frank Connor’s son, chronicles the origins of the Puerto Rican independence movement, its transformation into a Cuban-led Marxist cause, the FALN’s decade-long reign of murder and destruction that was a precursor to future domestic terrorism, the hunt for the perpetrators by a group of dedicated FBI agents, the inexplicable escape from prison by the FALN’s chief bombmaker who eventually received asylum in Cuba, and the political maneuvering that led to Presidents Clinton and Obama granting clemency to FALN members.Through extensive, exclusive interviews with survivors and family, Shattered Lives describes the devastating impact of the Fraunces Tavern bombing on the Connor and Berger families and its many other victims, including NYPD officers, uniting them in their struggle to move forward while seeking justice for their loved ones.

Davey Johnson is best known for managing the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, and Baltimore Orioles—and taking all three clubs to their respective league championship series during his time at the helm. When teams needed to improve, they hired Johnson, and he delivered, memorably leading the Mets to the 1986 World Series title. Yet even as he raised the bar of their success, all three clubs parted ways with Johnson, a pattern that puzzles him to this day. A self-termed "army brat," Johnson kept moving, managing the Los Angeles Dodgers then the Washington Nationals before announcing his retirement in 2013. But managing baseball has been just one part of Johnson's fascinating life. A true Renaissance man, Johnson has also found incredible success as a land investor, pilot, scratch golfer, scuba diving teacher, and mathematician, pioneering the use of sabermetrics in the big leagues. Now, Johnson finally takes the time to meditate on his wild and remarkable journey, with reflections on not only his All-Star playing days and years of managerial success in New York, Cincinnati, and Baltimore, but on his entire career.

The events of 9/11 presented the financial industry with the greatest operational crisis in its history. Key officials were killed; others could not be located. Primary and backup sites were unavailable or inadequate. Massive amounts of critical data were lost, and there was a crushing inability to communicate, locate or verify information. It was not known for a time which firms could participate in the markets and to what degree, nor was it clear to what extent certain markets had been damaged and when they should reopen. Nor could the human impact of the 9/11 events be divorced from the business issues. Those grappling to restore the markets had to cope with their own feelings of anxiety, shock and loss, and to deal with a uniquely horrific blend of personal and professional difficulties. This book tells of the regeneration of the U.S. markets, day by day, immediately following 9/11, with a focus on the U.S. Government securities market. The bottom line is that 9/11 brought the most important financial market in the world - the one looked to by investors globally for safety in times of trouble - to the brink of paralysis. The crisis was ultimately resolved through the willpower and wisdom of groups of disparate individuals, accompanied by an unprecedented climate of cooperation among fierce competitors that embodied the American spirit at its finest.

Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often constrained by lack of adequate resources, sound policies, and national support. It is clear that change and advancements, both systematic and scientific, are needed in a number of forensic science disciplines to ensure the reliability of work, establish enforceable standards, and promote best practices with consistent application. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward provides a detailed plan for addressing these needs and suggests the creation of a new government entity, the National Institute of Forensic Science, to establish and enforce standards within the forensic science community. The benefits of improving and regulating the forensic science disciplines are clear: assisting law enforcement officials, enhancing homeland security, and reducing the risk of wrongful conviction and exoneration. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States gives a full account of what is needed to advance the forensic science disciplines, including upgrading of systems and organizational structures, better training, widespread adoption of uniform and enforceable best practices, and mandatory certification and accreditation programs. While this book provides an essential call-to-action for congress and policy makers, it also serves as a vital tool for law enforcement agencies, criminal prosecutors and attorneys, and forensic science educators.

Dan Epstein scored a cult hit with Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s. Now he returns with Stars and Strikes, a riotous look at the most pivotal season of the decade. America, 1976: colorful, complex, and combustible. It was a year of Bicentennial celebrations and presidential primaries, of Olympic glory and busing riots, of "killer bees" hysteria and Pong fever. For both the nation and the national pastime, the year was revolutionary, indeed. On the diamond, Thurman Munson led the New York Yankees to their first World Series in a dozen years, but it was Joe Morgan and Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine" who cemented a dynasty with their second consecutive World Championship. Sluggers Mike Schmidt and Dave Kingman dominated the headlines, while rookie sensation Mark "The Bird" Fidrych started the All-Star Game opposite Randy "Junkman" Jones. The season was defined by the outrageous antics of team owners Bill Veeck, Ted Turner, George Steinbrenner, and Charlie Finley, as well as by several memorable bench-clearing brawls, and a batting title race that became just as contentious as the presidential race. From Dorothy Hamill's "wedge" haircut to Kojak's chrome dome, American pop culture was never more giddily effervescent than in this year of Jimmy Carter, CB radios, AMC Pacers, The Bad News Bears, Rocky, Taxi Driver, the Ramones, KISS, Happy Days, Hotel California, and Frampton Comes Alive!--it all came alive in '76! Meanwhile, as the nation erupted in a red-white-and-blue explosion saluting its two- hundredth year of independence, Major League Baseball players waged a war for their own liberties by demanding free agency. From the road to the White House to the shorts-wearing White Sox, Stars and Strikes tracks the tumultuous year after which the sport--and the nation--would never be the same.