Vince The Librarian

I wrote in a previous entry about the demolition of historic Tiger Stadium in Detroit, and a book the library has about Philadelphia’s Connie Mack Stadium AKA Shibe Park, which was torn down in 1976 after being the home of two major league baseball teams (Phillies and Athletics) for several decades. At present, the playing field of Tiger Stadium remains along with the stadium structure from dugout to dugout. Hope remains that this part of sports history can be saved and put to new use.

Another book has been added to the library collection that deals with a similar topic, in yet another city. In this case, not only was the classic stadium lost, but the team that played there also departed, leaving an entire borough of New York City with a broken heart that (for some, at least) may never really heal.

The borough, of course, is Brooklyn. The team is the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the stadium was known as Ebbets Field. Native New Yorker Bob McGee tells the story in The Greatest Ballpark Ever: Ebbets Field and the Story of the Brooklyn Dodgers (call number GV 416 .N48 M36 2005).

McGee begins by describing a 1960 photo showing the wreckage of Ebbets Field, three years after the Dodgers played their last game there before heading west to Los Angeles where they remain to this day. He found the photo on the same end of the country that the Dodgers left Brooklyn for, just up the west coast in San Francisco. Where, as anyone familiar with baseball history knows, is where the former New York Baseball Giants (who played in Manhattan at the Polo Grounds, like Ebbets Field long gone) moved to in the same year (1958) as the Dodgers. What once was a New York City inter-borough rivalry thus became, and remains, a northern vs. southern California rivalry.

One really gets a sense of how much the Dodgers meant to Brooklyn from this book, as well as a vivid picture of the various people who played a part in the story of the team and its home stadium. The Ebbets family, whose name appeared on the stadium, figure prominently beginning with Charles Ebbets Sr.

The fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers remind one of the Green Bay Packers faithful, with their blue collar, every day folks appeal and strong loyalty to the team and the town. They suffered through many a “close but no cigar” season, particularly during the 1950s when the Dodgers won several National League titles only to come up short against the New York Yankees in the World Series. “Next year” came at last in 1955, when Brooklyn’s team finally defeated their enemies from the Bronx.

Sadly, only two seasons after the joy of victory, Brooklyn endured the agony of losing its beloved Dodgers. The villain of the story was Walter O’Malley, who over several decades was able to gain ownership of the team. He acted as if he wanted to keep the team in Brooklyn, while at the same time secretly and sometimes not so secretly plotting his move to Los Angeles. To this day, there are people in Brooklyn who curse O’Malley for taking their team away from them. And in the decades since 1957, other fans in other cities have seen the teams they love moved by greedy owners. A prime example being the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League, who snuck out of town in the middle of the night in 1984 on their way to Indianapolis.

Of course, no account of the Brooklyn Dodgers would be complete without telling the story of Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson, who in 1947 became the first African American major league baseball player in the modern era. Jackie Robinson’s courage and dignity was so extraordinary that his jersey number 42 has been retired not just by the Dodgers, but by Major League Baseball as a whole.

Branch Rickey, the Dodger general manager who made the bold move of signing Robinson, was a graduate of the University of Michigan law school and managed the Wolverines baseball team from 1910 to 1913.

The first part of the title of this entry comes from a previous book about the Brooklyn Dodgers that quickly became a classic of sports literature: The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn. The library also has this book, and the call number is GV 875 .B7 K3.

We are always getting new additions to our collection here at the Thompson Library, and here are some brief words about some recently acquired books in the realm of sports.

Women and Sports in the United States: a documentary reader (call number GV 709.18 .U6 O74 2007) is edited by Jean O’Reilly and Susan Cahn. O’Reilly teaches at the University of Connecticut and Cahn is a professor at the State University of New York. Cahn is also author of the book Coming on Strong: gender and sexuality in twentieth century women’s sports which is available at the Thompson Library (call number GV 709 .C34 1994). They have put together a book that would serve very well as a textbook for an introductory course on women’s sports in the USA. The book begins with a timeline of women’s sports in the United States that starts in 1882, and includes a wide variety of articles and book chapters.

Just recently, the long talked about demolition of historic Tiger Stadium in Detroit began. Some saw the old ballpark as an aging eyesore. To others, including myself, Tiger Stadium was a priceless storehouse of memories, very worthy of preservation. What is happening presently in Detroit has happened in other cities as well. Bruce Kuklick, in To Everything a Season: Shibe Park and urban Philadelphia (call number GV 416 .P477 K85 1991), tells the story of the Philly equivalent of old Tiger Stadium. Shibe Park, also known as Connie Mack Stadium, was home to two major league teams in the City of Brotherly Love. Originally built in 1909 for the Philadelphia Athletics (now the Oakland A’s), the park was home to the A’s until 1953 when they moved to Kansas City. The Philadelphia Phillies also played there, leaving after the 1970 season for a new home called Veterans Stadium, now also gone. Following the Phillies departure, Connie Mack Stadium stood empty until it was torn down in 1976. Sadly, it appears a similar fate is in the cards for Motown’s classic field of dreams at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull.

The late 1960s were a time of great social change and upheaval in the United States. Even in the often conservative realm of sports, there was evidence of this. At the 1968 Olympic games, United States track and field athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos took first and third place in the 200 meter race. On the medal winners podium, they raised their black gloved fists in a Black Power salute. Smith and Carlos were expelled from the Olympics, and suffered much criticism and mistreatment for their brave statement for social justice. Four decades later, Tommie Smith gives his account of this story, placing it in the context of his life story,  in Silent Gesture: the autobiography of Tommie Smith (call number GV 697 .S65 A3 2007).

Barbara J. Keys takes an international approach in Globalizing Sport: national rivalry and international community in the 1930s (call number GV 706.34 .K48 2006). She focuses specifically on international politics and the establishment of international sports organizations, as well as the Los Angeles Olympics of 1932, the Berlin Olympics of 1936, and soccer in the Soviet Union.

These are just a few of the many great books the Thompson Library has on sports topics. Check the Mirlyn catalog for others!

Sometimes it seems like every day I find some really neat-o thing online that i did not know was there before. Please allow me to introduce you to a couple of these things.

For over half a century, Sports Illustrated has been the leading weekly sports magazine in the United States. Its writers and photographers have long been known as the best in the business, providing excellent written and visual accounts of the people and events of the sporting world.

Now, you can view every back issue of this great magazine in full color at the SI Vault website:

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/

At present, there is a basic search box as well as an advanced search with “exact phrase,” “at least one of the words,” and “without the word(s)” options. There does not appear to be a way to browse the issues by date. There is a top ten most popular topics list that is clickable. Also, it appears that SI will highlight whatever is happening at the present time in sports and provide links to back issues with similar content. Since it is currently “March Madness” time, the currently featured links have to do with NCAA basketball championships of the past. The April 2, 1979 issue is front and center today (March 28, 2008) and features  none other than Michigan State’s Earvin “Magic” Johnson on the cover. It is hard to believe that it is almost 30 years since the Magic Man and his Spartan teammates beat Larry Bird and Indiana State. Some other featured covers include the one from April 3, 1967 with a very tall young man who was then known as Lew Alcindor of UCLA. He would later convert to Islam, change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and have a lengthy career as a pro. And also play on the same Los Angeles Laker teams as the above mentioned Magic Johnson.

Sports fans will definitely want to check out this great archive of memorable moments!

Ann Arbor is the home of the University’s original campus and the great Wolverines sports teams. It is also a very cool and interesting city in general, with a rich history. The Ann Arbor District Library has collected many historical photos of the city at:

 http://www.aadl.org/gallery

There are five main “albums” of images. The “pictureAnn Arbor” album contains a variety of images submitted by local residents. Events such as the famous Art Fair and Michigan football are included, as well as some really interesting historical pictures such as ones of Michigan Stadium and Crisler Arena being built.

The other four albums focus on specific topic areas: history of the Ann Arbor police department, downtown Ann Arbor streets, Ann Arbor architecture, and Ann Arbor signs. Take a trip back in time to 1972, when a gallon of gas at the Mobil station on the corner of Main and Beakes was just 34 cents for regular and 38 cents for premium!!!

http://www.aadl.org/gallery/a2signs/beakes/A2signs039.jpg.html

The gas station itself is long gone now, as of course are those prices!

The venerable Fleetwood Diner, on the other hand, is still around, and is one of the better places in town to get tasty but not necessarily good for you grub:

http://www.aadl.org/gallery/a2signs/ashley/A2signs265.jpg.html

And here we see the humble beginnings of what is now a major big business. This is the original location of the first Borders Book Shop, which has since grown into a chain with locations seemingly everywhere. And it all started on State Street in Ann Arbor:

http://www.aadl.org/gallery/a2signs/A2signs386.jpg.html

Just a few examples of what you can find at the Ann Arbor District Library’s photo gallery.

March Madness is upon us once again, which means it is time for the college basketball postseason. The U of M Ann Arbor women’s team has improved greatly with new coach Kevin Borseth and will likely play in the postseason for the first time in a while. That team in East Lansing also had a winning season, although Michigan did win one of two games against the Women of Sparta. Michigan high school girl’s basketball has been moved to the winter season, so here too the postseason is in progress. As for the pros, the WNBA plays in the summer so it will be a couple more months before we get to see Flint native Deanna Nolan and the Detroit Shock in action at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

 The Thompson Library has a number of books about women’s basketball, covering many of the great teams and individuals in the history of the sport.

Basketball as we know it today was invented in December of 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts by Dr. James Naismith. It was not long afterward that phys.ed. teacher Senda Berenson of Smith College adapted Naismith’s game for women. She is considered to be the “mother of women’s basketball.” Berenson’s story is told in the book Senda Berenson : the unlikely founder of women’s basketball by Ralph Melnick (call number GV 884 .B47 M45 2007).

Two of the elite programs in women’s college basketball are the Tennessee Volunteers led by coach Pat Summitt and the Connecticut Huskies led by coach Geno Auriemma. Read about these great teams in Hoop tales: Tennessee Lady Volunteers by Randy Moore (GV 885.43 .U58 M67 2005) and Hoop tales: UConn Huskies women’s basketball by Terese Karmel (GV 885.43 .U44 K37 2005).

The 1972 passage of the federal law known as Title IX led to the formation of varsity sports teams for women and girls in US colleges and high schools. In the early days of collegiate varsity competition, some smaller schools fielded top teams. One of these was at Immaculata College in Philadelphia. The “Mighty Macs” tale is told in O God of players : the story of the Immaculata Mighty Macs by Julie Byrne (GV 885.43 .I525 B97 2003).

The first attempt at professional women’s basketball in the United States was the Women’s Basketball League (WBL) which lasted from 1978 to 1981. Mad seasons : the story of the first Women’s Professional Basketball League, 1978-1981 by Karra Porter (GV 885.515 .W66 P67 2006) details the history of the WBL.

At least two of today’s WNBA teams have had books written about them. Jayda Evans wrote about the Seattle Storm in Game on! : how women’s basketball took Seattle by storm (GV 885.52 .S295 E93 2006) and Vince Prygoski did the same for the Detroit Shock in Worst to first : or a ’shock’ing tale of women’s basketball in Motown (GV 885.52 .D48 P78 2006). Prygoski is also the writer of this blog, and a good person to speak with if you are interested in research on sports topics.

Finally, an excellent general history of women’s basketball is Shattering the glass : the remarkable history of women’s basketball by Pamela Grundy & Susan Shackelford (GV 886 .G78 2007).

These are just a few of the books we have on women’s basketball. In addition to what the U of M Flint library has, the U of M Ann Arbor libraries also have many books that you can have delivered to the Flint library through the Mirlyn catalog.

You can also find a lot of articles in our databases, including in the ProQuest historical newspapers that were mentioned in my previous post.

Come and learn the history of women’s basketball, and then check out a game at the Palace, Crisler Arena, or your local high school!

ok, guess it is about time for me to write something more here.

we have a virtual plethora of excellent resources of all kinds here at the Thompson Library. one of my favorites is a database called ProQuest Historical Newspapers. For a long time, access to old newspapers has been primarily through the medium of microfilm. This is still commonly used, and in fact we have a lot of newspapers and other publications in microfilm format still.

but, this is after all the Age Of Computers And The Internet, and library archival materials are increasingly becoming available in a much more convenient and easy to use online format.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers offers full text images of articles for several major United States papers. This means you get the articles exactly as they appeared in the original paper publications. A brief summary of the papers available follows.

The New York Times is available from the first issue dated September 18, 1851 to the end of 2004. The first issue was actually titled “New-York Daily Times” complete with the hyphen in the city name.

 The Chicago Tribune is available from 1849-1986, for Midwestern focused news.

The West Coast gets coverage in the Los Angeles Times, from 1881 to 1986.

For historical news from the nation’s capital, check out the Washington Post with coverage from 1877 to 1991.

Finally, the premier source of business and financial news in the USA, the Wall Street Journal, is archived from 1889 to 1990.

In addition, several historical African American papers are available including the Atlanta Daily World, the Los Angeles Sentinel, the New York Amsterdam News, the Pittsburgh Courier, and the Chicago Defender.

Anyone doing historical research needs to take a look at ProQuest Historical Newspapers. It can also just be plain fun and interesting to, for example, look up a paper from your birthdate and see what was going on in the world that day. Or, for another example, you could look up articles on the Detroit Lions in 1957, when they last won an NFL Championship. Just to verify that yes, indeed, they were once a good team! Never mind that it was so long ago that the players were not yet required to have face masks on their helmets, and in fact the Lions quarterback at the time (Bobby Layne) chose not to wear a mask. What can i say, they were made of tougher stuff back then.

This is Vince Prygoski, Reference and Instruction Librarian at the University of Michigan-Flint Frances Willson Thompson Library.

I sometimes can be found at the third floor reference desk at the library. Other times I am in my office which is Room 221 in the library. When you get off the stairs or the elevator, there it is. If I am in my office with the door open, you will see a plethora of women’s sports memorabilia including a poster and a picture autographed by the greatest basketball player ever to come from Flint. That would be Deanna Nolan, #14 for the WNBA’s Detroit Shock. Also, lots of Maize and Blue stuff, because i was a loyal Wolverine long before I started working here in 2000!

 Anyway, if I am in my office with the door open, please stop by and ask me any questions you may have about library research or whatever. I am here to help you make the most of your time at the University, and to find the information you need.

I also teach a lot of Research Instruction classes to groups of students, so there is a good chance you will see me for one of those at some point.

I do liaison work with the following departments: Africana Studies, Education (including Education Administration),  Music, Social Work, and Womens and Gender Studies.

I am also very interested in sports (as you can tell from the previous paragraph about my office decor!), popular music and culture, progressive political and social movements, and whatever else seems interesting on any given day.

I have written and published a book about the Detroit Shock titled “Worst to First, or, a ‘Shock’ing tale of women’s basketball in Motown.” I have a couple other book manuscripts either done or in progress and i cover women’s basketball for the U of Michigan fan site umgoblue.com. I am also a book reviewer for the academic journal “Popular Music and Society.”

More to come later!!!!!

My e-mail address is prygoski@umflint.edu

My office phone # is (810)762-3404