Chicago Cubs Yesterday & Today

From 1985 to 1992, The Baseball Hall of Shame series chronicled more than 100 years of baseball goofs and gaffes, selling more than 700,000 copies. Now, the authors of the most offbeat baseball books ever written are back, featuring their looniest lineup of classic stories and inducting their first new class of Hall of Shamers in twenty years. Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo cover everything from the battiest batters and craziest fielding fiascoes to the dumbest ballpark promotions and screwiest fan behavior. 

Hall of Shamers include outfielder Lou "The Mad Russian" Novikoff, who insisted his wife taunt him from the stands because it made him a better hitter... Pitcher Burleigh Grimes, who was so mean that he threw a beanball at the on-deck hitter... Outfielder Ping Bodie, who out-ate Percy the ostrich for the spaghetti-eating championship of the world... and Babe Ruth, who wore ladies' silk stockings for good luck. Among the new inductees are Ken Griffey Jr., who put a cow in manager Lou Piniella's office to pay off a steak dinner bet... Manny Ramirez, who abandoned left field to go to the bathroom during a game... and David "Big Papi" Ortiz, whose underwear was smeared with peanut butter as payback for the pranks he pulled on teammates. 

Filled with more than 200 stories and packed with photos, The Baseball Hall of Shame: The Best of Blooperstown is the most hilarious homage to the national pastime ever assembled, and a fitting testament to the Hall's motto: "Fame and shame are part of the game."

Author Joseph Cummins highlights pivotal victories that changed nations, from the Norman invasion of England in 1066 to the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1521 and the first fervid days of the French Revolution of 1789 to the bloody stalemate that ended the Iran-Iraq War in 1988. Each chapter delineates defining moments in the development of political philosophies, from Athens’ defense of democracy against Persian despotism to the championing of equal rights for all in the American Revolution. It recounts the heroism of armies and individuals, from the Spartans’ fight to the death against the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 BC to the Korean admiral who inspired his country to repel a massive Japanese invasion in the 1590s. It traces the transformation of battle tactics, from the prearranged set-piece encounters of the Napoleonic Wars to the massive naval landings and aerial bombardments of World War II, explains the scientific innovations that yielded the machine gun, the tank, and the atom bomb, and vividly renders the key victories that turned the tide of war, from Waterloo to Gettysburg and D-Day. At the same time, it reiterates the constants of conflict: the slaughters and massacres, including the Holocaust and the little-known Taiping Rebellion, which killed up to forty million Chinese; the personal sacrifices made by those battling tyranny, among them the rebels of revolutionary France, Greece, and Mexico; and the extraordinary influence of charismatic leaders, ranging from Napoleon and Pancho Villa to Mao Zedong and Hitler.

Sweeping in its scope, yet intimate in its insights into the motivations of politicians, strategists, commanders, and soldiers, this is a collection that will enhance your understanding of the modern world and your own place in it.