Game Day!
Today in Cleveland Sports History
Given Cleveland fans’ passion and dedication to their sports teams, it sometimes seems like every day in Cleveland is a game day. Now, all Cleveland sports fans can feel the thrill of game day every day of the year.
Veteran sports journalists Budd Bailey and Larry Pantages have produced Game Day! Today in Cleveland Sports History, which captures highlights of the thrills, disappointments, surprises, and tragedies that have defined professional, collegiate, and amateur sports in Northeast Ohio over the last 150 years.
This fun book has it all for diehard Cleveland sports fans. For instance, how many fans knew that June 4 held such importance in local sports history? On that day in 1967, 10 nationally known Black athletes (including Jim Brown, Bill Russell and Lew Alcindor) met in Cleveland to show public support for boxer Muhammad Ali's refusal to be inducted into the U.S. military. Then, seven years later on the same date, the Indians’ famous promotion, "Ten-Cent Beer Night," resulted in a forfeited game as some fans in the crowd of 25,134 stormed the field and fights broke out with Texas Ranger players.
Take November 6. On that day in Cleveland sports history:
- In 1878, the Cleveland Press newspaper reported a decision to join the National League of baseball teams would be postponed because attendance was so small at a meeting to consider the question.
- In 1980, the NBA announced an unprecedented decision involving the Cavaliers under the ownership of Ted Stepien -- a ban on making trades after three key players and three future first-round draft picks were sent to other teams.
- In 1995, Art Modell stood at a podium in Baltimore and announced the Browns would play home games there beginning in 1996.
Local publisher Cleveland Landmarks Press’ newest release provides more than 1200 vignettes of major moments in Northeast Ohio sports history – from the on-field and on-court memories to trades, hirings, firings, and tons of other noteworthy tidbits. The edition provides a daily exploration of the important moments of the Guardians, Browns, and Cavs as well as stories about Northeast Ohio’s links to professional hockey, golf, tennis, bowling, soccer, and auto racing. It also features Northeast Ohio Olympians, and highlights of many local colleges and universities, including Kent State University, University of Akron, Cleveland State University – and even Ohio State University.
Game Day! is perfect for Cleveland sports fans who have grown up loving, suffering, cheering, and celebrating their favorite hometown teams and heroes.
more info...Order BookResisting Segregation
Cleveland Heights Activists Shape Their Community, 1964 - 1976
Resisting Segregation documents how Cleveland Heights citizens challenged a seemingly insurmountable social problem: the lack of housing opportunities for African Americans. In 1964, a group of white women, inspired by the national civil rights movement, joined with black citizens – leaders and visionaries – to fight for racial equality and open up Cleveland Heights for all.
Over the next 12 years, community activists lobbied city government to welcome integration and fought federal and state policies, resistant realtors, widespread racism, and hostile neighbors who enforced segregation. They worked as opponents bombed their homes and realtors preyed on homeowners’ fears through blockbusting. In the end, they created long-standing organizations and changed city government to forever shape the future of Cleveland Heights. They transformed a virtually all-white suburb into an enduring, integrated community with a vibrant civic culture.
Resisting Segregation is a must-read for anyone interested in the evolution of this unique community and for those looking for a path forward toward greater racial justice.
Produced by local publisher Cleveland Landmarks Press, Resisting Segregation demonstrates how citizen activism works, how people can fight systemic racism, and how our communities can improve with a commitment to racial equity.
more info...Order BookBernie Kosar
Learning to Scramble
Any football fan knows that scrambling is the way a quarterback can gain more time and more opportunity. But anyone familiar with Bernie Kosar’s football career knows he didn’t beat you with his physical prowess. Possessing slow feet, an awkward throwing motion and unorthodox mechanics, the kid from tough, blue-collar Youngstown, Ohio did not look like a prototype NFL quarterback. How he beat you – and he beat a lot of people over the course of his college and NFL career – was with a savant-like level of football intelligence and an indomitable will to win.
Chronicling his rise from the hard-up steel town of his birth, to prominence as the leader of the University of Miami’s first national championship team, and then to glory in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, the ride was not smooth and seldom came without a high cost. Kosar’s well-documented struggles came largely after his playing career ended, and the combination of physical, marital, familial, and financial issues transcended his uncanny ability to break down “Xs and Os” and ultimately cost him heavily.
Exploring his personal battles, “Learning to Scramble” is an unvarnished and completely authentic account of an extremely talented man’s ability to not only learn from his mistakes, but to evolve and develop new ways of approaching life. It’s a distillation of what can be done with just a little more time and a little more opportunity – all you can accomplish when you learn to scramble.
more info...Order BookAll Access Cleveland:
The Rock And Roll Photography of Janet Macoska
If rock and roll has been the soundtrack of your life, Janet Macoska has likely provided the visuals. Her celebrated body of work can be seen in the Smithsonian, the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Grammy Museum, and in Hard Rock properties around the world. This long-awaited compendium of native Clevelander Janet Macoska’s 40+ years shooting rock and roll subjects presents many never-before-seen images from Janet’s archives—combining iconic imagery with entertaining, behind-the-scenes stories.
The PSYCHOLOGY of COLLECTING:
Everybody Collects Something, YES You Do!
The PSYCHOLOGY of COLLECTING:
Everybody Collects Something, YES You Do!
But what is it that we collect? The book reveals the great variety in people's collecting interests, from the common like coins and clocks and comic books to the exotic like insects and human hair, and even to the bizarre such as mementos from crime scenes.
And why do we collect? Like the "what" of collecting, the "why" is also quite varied. Some do it as a hobby. Others consider it an investment. And many find their life's work in the realm of professional collectors.
In this just-published handbook of collecting tips and advice about the troubles some collectors get into, author Mark McKinley offers a comprehensive-and often amusing-look at the fascinating world of collecting.
Geauga Lake:
Sunrise to Sunset
This book traces the story of Northeast Ohio’s most famous amusement park. From its quiet beginnings as a picnic grounds in 1872, to its gradual evolution into an amusement park, the story continues through its dramatic climb in status to become a nationally recognized megapark. The narrative also covers its almost inexplicable and rapid decline, leading to its 2007 demise. Copiously illustrated with 150 black-and-white photos and 49 more in full color, the 112-page volume illuminates the changing strategies that different owners brought to the park and captures the many changes that regularly transformed the midway. For those who made Geauga Lake Park an integral part of their summer tradition, the book is sure to rekindle fond memories.
A Higbee History:
From Designer Labels to Casino Tables
From its 1860 founding as a modest dry goods emporium to its heyday as Cleveland’s premier department store, The Higbee Company became indelibly embedded in Cleveland consciousness. Decades of intriguing promotions, sparkling events in the store’s 10th floor community spaces, and distinctive dining in The Silver Grille made the Higbee experience memorable. That same classic Higbee energy is still alive, but today it’s centered on the beautiful Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, the building’s newest tenant. For almost a century Clevelanders have been drawn to the Higbee building, which has been a fixture in the heart of a great city. Relive the memories of years past, and learn about a key piece of downtown Cleveland’s newest renaissance. A Higbee History tells the entire story.
Favorite Recipes from Higbee's Silver Grille
Back in print! Originally included in two books and out of print since 2004, and after many requests for reprints, these recipes from Higbee’s fabled restaurant are available once again. This compact cookbook features selections of entrees, soups and side dishes, salads and dressings, breads and muffins, cakes and frostings, and pies from one of Cleveland’s most famous restaurants. Enjoy some Welsh rarebit and chicken a la king while remembering heartwarming memories of a time gone by in Cleveland.
Cleveland's Short Vincent:
The Theatrical Grill and its Notorious Neighbors
While police raided Short Vincent's seedy bars, celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Milton Berle, Jimmy Durante, and Judy Garland gravitated to the legendary Theatrical Grill for dinner or drinks. Perry Como and Dean Martin launched their careers there. Resident bookies, career gangsters, and wide-eyed tourists roamed the infamous street, once the center of Cleveland's bawdy behavior and edgy entertainment. Author Alan Dutka's nostalgic tour and pictorial history of this celebrated Cleveland hotspot paints a vivid portrait of the city most notorious neighborhood and its colorful denizens. more info...
Vintage Cleveland II:
More Photographs of Yesteryear
Vintage Cleveland II makes a return visit to historic Cleveland. Its 120 photos review an ever-changing downtown, the twists and turns of the Cuyahoga River, and the bridges which bind the city together. It explores the city's former grand hotels and favorite restaurants, its vanished movie theatres, and the supermarkets of the past. It flies over the city's airports, and takes a nostalgic look at the Great Lakes Exposition that drew millions to the lakefront in 1936-1937. It is sure to revive fond memories of a fading past.
The Peter Witt Streetcars of Cleveland
Cleveland was a dynamic leader in many areas at the start of the 20th Century. One such pacesetting sector was its street railway system whose lines crisscrossed the city. Perhaps its most significant contribution to public transportation came in 1915 with the invention of the Car Rider’s Car, designed by Cleveland Street Railway Commissioner Peter Witt.
Witt’s design, to which his name became permanently attached, was widely copied in systems across the United States and abroad as well.
Through text and photographs, this book details the seven different series of Peter Witt streetcars that operated in their home city of
Cleveland.
East Fourth Street:
The Rise, Decline, and Rebirth of an Urban Cleveland Street
Short in distance but long in memories, East Fourth Street's story has mirrored downtown Cleveland's dynamic rise, decline, and rebirth. Once home to Cleveland's opera house, central markets, and five-and-dime stores, Fourth Street fell into disrepair in the second half of the 20th Century. Yet, the historic alleyway found new life with help of visionary leaders, and now East Fourth Street serves as the center of a chic entertainment and residential district – perhaps the coolest place in Cleveland. Relive the stories and follow the renaissance of an urban Cleveland hotspot.
Founded in Faith:
Cleveland's Lost Catholic Legacy
This reverent book honors the history of the Diocese of Cleveland’s closed churches. Through both text and photographs, the book illuminates the great faith that built and sustained these churches. It also describes the role these parishes played in the spiritual and cultural life of their local communities. The book constitutes a great keepsake for all who cherish the rich history of the Catholic Church in Cleveland, Ohio.
A Euclid Beach Park Album
From the Flying Scooters to the Flying Turns, from the Log Cabin to the Laff in the Dark, and everything in between, the scene of Euclid Beach Park is captured in black and white and color photographs, none of which has been previously published.
The book is a heartwarming return visit to the place which holds wonderful memories for so many Clevelanders.
Pop Goes Cleveland!:
The Impact of Cleveland (and Northeast Ohio) on Pop Culture
From Superman and Forrest Gump to Dorothy Dandridge and Gary Dee, Cleveland’s contribution to what we know as popular culture is both broad and deep. Cleveland has produced many well-known trendsetters, whether it has been on the silver screen, radio, television, music, or art. Equal parts reference manual, trivia guide, photo album, and love letter, the book celebrates the symbiotic relationship between the region and its residents, many of whom have helped define American culture as we know it today.
Vintage Cleveland:
Photographs of Yesteryear
Vintage Cleveland offers a memory-recharging pictorial review of how the Cleveland landscape has changed over the past 125 years. It provides glimpses of structures now gone, such as Millionaires’ Row, Euclid Beach Park, the market houses, and the Detroit-Superior Bridge subway, to elements that keep renewing themselves, like the Erieview Corridor along East Ninth Street, the lakefront, the old Doan’s Corner’s neighborhood, and its adjoining University Circle. Each section of the book begins with a short historical essay, and all pictures have descriptive captions. The photographs come from the Bruce Young Collection, which forms part of the Cleveland State Library’s Special Collections Department. This soft cover book has 112 pages and contains 142 illustrations. more info...Order Book
A Cleveland Original:
50 Years Behind the Lens
An illustrated history of the career of veteran Cleveland news and
sports photographer Ron Kuntz. In his more than 50 years as a professional
photographer, Kuntz covered baseball, football, basketball, boxing, golf, horse
racing, and the summer and winter Olympic Games. He was also on the scene for
such news events as the Sam Sheppard murder trials, the Kent State war protest,
as well as the Hough Riot and Glenville Shootout in Cleveland. The book also
contains a chapter devoted to Kuntz’s commitment to prison ministry during
which he logged visits to some 2,000 prisons.
Surviving the Drought:
Cleveland Sports Fans Since 1964
How unique are Cleveland sports fans? Well, answer this question: how exceptional is the fact that a city with three major league franchises has not won a championship since 1964? And, how distinctive is it that when the Browns, Indians, or Cavs came close to winning it all, victories were snatched away from their diehard fans in most improbable ways?
For Cleveland sports fans, the last 48 (and counting) years has been a long odyssey through the desert in search of a championship. Since the clock ticked off the unlikely Browns’ victory in the 1964 NFL Championship against the mighty Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts, who could have known that Cleveland teams would suit up for more than 9,500 games and not come away with the title of “champion?”
Surviving the Drought tells the story of what it’s like to be a Cleveland sports fan through the voices of those who have lived and died with their favorite teams. The book celebrates their impressive perseverance. It compares Cleveland sports to other cities' and revisits the heartbreaks, but focuses mainly on the fans' hope, occasional poor judgment, and the creative coping mechanisms they’ve employed over the last four-plus decades.
more info...Order BookCitizen Soldiers:
107th Cavalry Regiment, Ohio National Guard
This book deals with the tradition of the citizen soldiers,
private citizens who originally served in self-supported militia and who were
ready to serve their state when some form of crisis occurred. In particular, it
covers the First Cavalry Troop of Cleveland, which eventually became a part of
the Ohio National Guard, and saw service on the Mexican border, in World War 1,
World War II, in Kosovo, and in Iraq. The troop also helped quell the urban
riots in Cleveland. In addition to its peacekeeping role, the troop was also
active in civic roles, participating in parades, escorting dignitaries, and
performing in equestrian competitions.
A Shaker Rapid Album
The Album offers a pictorial
history of the rapid transit cars that have carried passengers between
downtown Cleveland and suburban Shaker Heights. Drawing on their
extensive collections of Shaker Rapid photos, co-authors Jim Toman
and Jim Spangler trace the different kinds of cars used on the line
since 1920, from the 1200-series center-entrance fleet, through
the colorful PCC car era, to the current fleet of Breda LRVs which
have operated the line since 1982. Each photo section is preceded
by a short essay giving the basic history of the various fleets.
The photo selection covers the two branches of the Shaker line from
its outer terminals at Green and Warrensville-Center roads, through
Shaker Square, to the Cleveland Union Terminal station, on to the
1996 Waterfront extension, and many stops in between. The album
shows the cars in all kinds of weather and in many different paint
schemes. The “rapid” made the
development of Shaker Heights possible, and it continues to be one
of the most distinctive features identifying that classic Greater
Cleveland suburb.
Cleveland’s Towering Treasure:
A Landmark Turns 75
Cleveland's Towering Treasure, written to mark the Terminal Tower's diamond anniversary, offers a complete narrative about the complex, from the planning stage, through construction, to
the major changes that occurred in the transformation of the former
union station into The Avenue at Tower City Center.
In addition to the train station/shopping mall, the book also details the history of the Tower, the department store, the hotel, the former main post office, and the Landmark Office Towers.
Cleveland’s Towering Treasure makes a great gift for anyone interested in the history of Cleveland and its most beloved symbol.
more info...Order BookAcross Many Fields
A Season of Ohio High School Football
In our sports-crazed country, many states claim to "live and breathe" football. Texas, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Georgia can make compelling statements, but Ohio offers the strongest argument of all. The Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Canton Bulldogs, Ohio State, Massillon High School, Paul Brown, Otto Graham, Jim Brown, Woody Hayes, Miami University ("The Cradle of Coaches") - all are Ohio institutions with influence far beyond their borders.
Across Many Fields attempts to capture the essence of Ohio football by chronicling the 2001 high school season with a lively combination of pictures and textual insights. This book observes high school football less as a sport and more as a cultural event through which a wide variety of people take meaning.
During the 2001 season, writer Christopher Butler and photographer Jennifer Rothchild traveled across the state capturing the images, sounds and words of high school football in Ohio. They visited schools in all six high school divisions and saw big-city and small-town teams. All told, they watched 45 games in 15 weeks, taking over 400 rolls of film and conducting nearly 150 interviews.
Photos for the book illustrate every aspect of high school football, including pep rallies, team dinners, concession stands, referees, bands, cheerleaders, players, teachers, parents, pep clubs, trainers, coaches, and paramedics. The reader learns about every phase of the season from first game expectations, to mid-season highs and lows and ending with the two-day, six-game championship weekend that dominates state news headlines every first weekend in December.
The photos are full-sized and color, depicting the shapes, patterns, and forms that create high school football, a place where Fridays have an assumed and deeply understood purpose: that football demonstrates community, ritual, growth and instruction. The reader hears the sounds, appreciates the smells, and knows the feel of all the tangible facets of the game.
Interviews drive the text as the authors use excerpts from conversations to let the people around high school football tell its tale. The game explains itself through a confluence of opinion, young and old, athlete and administrator, devout fan and casual observer. In this way, Across Many Fields reads equal parts anthropologic rendering and sports book, attracting a wide range of interest.
more info...Order BookEuclid Avenue:
Cleveland's Sophisticated Lady
Take a walk down Euclid Avenue during its heyday from 1920 through 1970. The book takes a tour through the famous thoroughfare's glory years, including a look at department stores such as Halle's, Taylor's, May's, Sterling Lindner Davis, and the 11 theatres between East 17th and Public Square. It covers such specialty shops like Bonwit Teller, Richman Brothers, and Cowell and Hubbard Jewelers. You will read about such restaurants as the Alpine Village and Monaco's. It also includes 22 favorite recipes from Halle's Tea Room and Stouffer's restaurants. more info...Order Book
Cleveland Stadium:
The Last Chapter
For anyone who has ever gone to the old Lady by the Lake and
cheered in the Dawg Pound, rooted for the Tribe, and rocked with great
musicians, he or she knows how important Municipal Stadium was to Clevelanders.
The book takes the reader from the late 1920s, when the Stadium was put to the
voters, to 1996, when the wrecking ball crashed into the sides of the venerable
stadium. The book includes separate chapters on the history of the Browns,
Indians, and the special events that took place in the storied history of the
stadium. Although the new arena is now open, the old stadium will live on in
people's memories.
The book takes Cleveland sports fans back to the era when Cleveland Municipal Stadium was the main sports venue in Cleveland. The book also recalls the many other events that were held there, including religious events, rock concerts, and carnivals. The book also includes chapters on construction and demolition, and features a color photograph spread.
more info...Order BookThe Heart of Cleveland:
The Story of Public Square in the 20th Century
Thousands of pedestrians crisscross its walkways
or relax on its quadrants every day. Thousands of motorists drive
through it daily. Special occasions – sports celebrations, concerts,
political rallies, protests, and holiday lights – draw tens of thousands
to it many times a year. Cleveland’s Public Square is not only the
physical center of the city, but the civic heart of the Greater
Cleveland community. The story told here is of Public Square during
the course of the 20th century – with a brief look at what came
before. It covers the changes in the landscape of the Square itself,
the architectural developments that have defined the Square’s neighborhood,
and some of the numerous events that have taken place there.
The Square has been a microcosm of Cleveland’s promise and a reflection of what Clevelanders value. During good times and bad, Clevelanders have fought diligently to preserve the space at the city’s core laid out by Seth Pease and Amos Spafford more than two centuries ago. From grazing ground to corporate front yard, the Square has seen many changes, but it remains the city’s civic center.
The Heart of Cleveland takes the reader on a century’s journey to a forgotten past and through changes that have brought about a dynamic present.
more info...Order BookCleveland's Transit Vehicles
Compiled to mark the City of Cleveland's bicentennial year, this Kent State University Press publication offers a complete roster of all the transit equipment operated by Greater Cleveland transit organizations. The appeal is to the reader who is interested in viewing transit in greater detail, with the focus in particular on the various vehicles -- streetcars, buses, trackless trolleys, and rapid transit cars -- that transported riders throughout the 20th century.
Horse Trails to Regional Rails:
The Story of Public Tranist in Greater Cleveland
A Kent State University Press publication, the book is an extensive history of the development of public transit in Cleveland, a city that grew from an outpost of the new nation in 1796 to a manufacturing and industrial center within a century. How did Clevelanders get from place to place? What trends dominated the development of Cleveland's public transportation? In photos, maps, and words, the book takes readers through a detailed history of Cleveland's rise to prominence, struggles with urban decay, and renaissance in the late 20th century and how transit mirrored these developments.
Cleveland's Dynamic Transit Heritage
This brief volume takes the reader through the many changes and
developments of Cleveland public transit from the turn of the century to 1985.
From trolleys and interurbans to trackless trolleys and rapid transit, the work
reminds Clevelanders how they traversed the city during days long past. It
traces the development of the transit system from Cleveland Railway days
through Cleveland Transit days to the modern Greater Cleveland Regional Transit
Authority era.
