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Harvey Frommer
Dr. Harvey Frommer received his Ph.D. from New York University. Professor Emeritus, Distinguished Professor nominee, and recipient of the "Salute to Scholars Award" at CUNY where he taught writing for many years, he was cited in the Congressional Record and by the New York State Legislature as a sports historian and journalist. The prolific Frommer was also selected by Major League Baseball to be an Expert Witness in 2006 in a case involving trademark infringement.
His many sports
books include: Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball, New York City Baseball:
1947-1957, the New York Yankee Encyclopedia, and autobiographies of sports
legends Nolan Ryan, Red Holzman and Tony Dorsett. The prolific Frommer is also
the author of A Yankee Century, Red Sox vs Yankees: The Great Rivalry (with
Frederic J. Frommer), and Five O'Clock Lightning: The 1927 Yankees. His
REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM will be published in fall 2008 and his REMEMBERING
FENWAY PARK is set for 2010 publication.
Along with his wife Myrna Katz Frommer, he also teaches in the MALS program at Dartmouth College the course Preserving the Past: Oral History in Theory and Practice. Harvey has also taught Sports Journalism in Theory and Practice at Dartmouth College.
The Frommers @ Dartmouth.edu - Myrna and Harvey are a wife and husband team who successfully bridge the worlds... more
Frommerluxurytravel-arts - They are travel writers who specialize in cultural history, dining, hotels and resorts, and Jewish history... More
HARVEY FROMMER ON SPORTS
(MARCH
1927, EXCERPT) FIVE O’CLOCK LIGHTNING:
BABE RUTH, LOU GEHRIG AND THE 1927
Comfortable
among the high and mighty or the ordinary, friendly with the press, moving
around all over without body guards, Babe Ruth basked in his superstar status in
spring training. Getting a close shave in the downtown barber shop, telling a
few jokes each morning, visiting hospitals and cheering up the sick especially
children, patiently signing autographs at the dog track, posing for photos,
followed by fans on the St. Petersburg streets, wending his way from bar to bar,
boating and fishing for migrating king mackerel or chasing grouper in the Gulf
of Mexico, prevailing upon a hotel cook to prepare the fish for supper, the Babe
was having the time of his life. A
Yankee bridge game began in spring training. And the Babe plunged himself into
that, too. The extroverted Ruth and the shy Gehrig were pitted against Mike
Gazella and Don Miller, a young hurler from the
The Yankees
were quartered at the Beaux Arts style
Rising early before baseball
practice, he would play golf at the two-year-old Renaissance Vinoy Resort and
Golf Club in downtown
Much was made
of the time a man came around that spring of 1927 and said he was the uncle of
Johnny Sylvester. He made a big deal about telling all about how well Johnny
Sylvester was doing. The Bam
graciously made a big deal out of sending regards.
But moments
after the uncle departed, Ruth bellowed: "Who the hell is Johnny Sylvester?"
Johnny
Sylvester had been the subject of much newspaper attention. He was a sick kid
who the Yankee slugger had promised to hit a home run for during the 1926 World
Series.
Babe Ruth just could not remember names, not even the names of teammates.
Most people were called “kid,” by the Babe. Others had variations like “sister”
for young women and “mom” and “pop” for those with seniority.
Others got
nick-names, some logical, others totally illogical. The Babe called Waite Hoyt
“Walter” and no one could explain why.
Pitcher Urban Shocker was dubbed “Rubber Belly” and no one not even the
Babe could explain why. Those who did claimed it had something to do with the
flabbiness of Shocker’s mid section, but they wouldn’t swear to it.
Catcher Benny Bengough, who coined the name “Jidge” (German for “George”
) for Ruth, was called “Googles," a kind of affectionate corruption of part of
his surname. Catcher Pat Collins was “Horse Nose,” a derogatory reference to his
most prominent facial feature.
Railroad station redcaps were “Stinkweed.”
Beer baron
Jake Ruppert could remember names but never addressed anyone by a first name.
The Yankee owner was characterized in Ed Barrow's memoirs as an "imperious" man,
one who "in all the years I knew him, always calling me ‘Barrows,’ adding an 's'
where none belonged.
Ruppert “was
a fastidious dresser," Barrow remembered, "who had his shoes made to order,
changed his clothes several times a day, and had a valet."
Arriving in
style with his secretary Al Brennan for spring training in
“Ruth looks
great,” he announced. “Watch that boy. In fact, he may set another home run
record. The team as a whole is in fine shape, shows real fighting spirit and
looks like a winner, although I admit I'm not much of a prophet."
Harvey Frommer is his
33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 39 of them
including the classics: "
Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and
autographed.
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of two million and
appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.