Publisher Description

Jeffrey A. Kroessler's comprehensive and entertaining time line stretches from the pastoral entertainments of the Dutch to the corporate captivity of professional sports. He chronicles events ranging from the truly heroic to the heartbreaking, from moments of municipal greatness to inescapable social change. Through it all he plants the world of sport at the very center of New York's story.

Fully illustrated, The Greater New York Sports Chronology covers the spectacle of blood sports like bullbaiting to the birth of baseball, the now-forgotten six-day pedestrian contests, and today's New York City Marathon. Alongside great moments like the Mets' "amazin'" World Series win in 1969, Joe Louis's historic bouts with Max Schmeling, Jackie Robinson's breaking of baseball's color line, and Secretariat's remarkable Triple Crown win at Belmont, we encounter the point-shaving scandals of college basketball and the corrupting influence of organized crime in professional boxing. Beyond immortals like Lou Gehrig and Joe Namath, we also find such once well known figures as Joe Lapchick, Marty Glickman, Gertrude Ederle, and Toots Shor. Year by year, this chronology recounts chess matches, America's Cup races, dog shows, golf tournaments, polo matches, tennis games, and more. Kroessler describes the historic venues, boxing arenas, gyms, stadiums, ballparks, and racetracks that have come and gone, yet made New York the undisputed capital of American sport. Witnessing it all, of course, are the greatest fans in the world.

Notes

The great strength of this book, aside from Jeffery A. Kroessler's evident love of sports, is his vast knowledge of New York City and American history and his considerable skills as a researcher. There's nothing like this chronology. -- Clifton Hood, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and author of 722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and How They Transformed New York

Author Biography

Jeffrey A. Kroessler is an associate professor in the Lloyd Sealy Library at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is the author of New York, Year by Year: A Chronology of the Great Metropolis, which was named Best of Reference by the New York Public Library; Lighting the Way: A Centennial History of the Queens Borough Public Library; and Historic Preservation in Queens.

Table of Contents

Foreword Preface Introduction 1600-1799 1800-1849 1850-1879 1880-1889 1890-1899 1900-1909 1910-1919 1920-1929 1930-1939 1940-1949 1950-1959 1960-1969 1970-1979 1980-1989 1990-1999 2000-2009 Index

Review

Highly recommended. Choice

Promotional

The great strength of this book, aside from Jeffery A. Kroessler's evident love of sports, is his vast knowledge of New York City and American history and his considerable skills as a researcher. There's nothing like this chronology. -- Clifton Hood, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and author of 722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and How They Transformed New York

Review Quote

Highly recommended.

Promotional "Headline"

The most inspiring, infamous, embarrassing, and triumphant moments from centuries of New York sport.

Details