{"product_id":"baseball-in-huntsville-paperback","title":"Baseball in Huntsville - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMark McCarter\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Rocket City Trash Pandas, who made their Class AA South debut last summer, rekindled the interest in professional baseball in this area. As a journalist, it rekindled my interest in looking at the team with some historical context, to the first baseball team in the area (in 1903, with Ty Cobb as a visiting player) to the arrival of the first affiliated team (in 1985) and its ultimate demise. I discovered interesting characters of the early days (the first \"graduate\" from Huntsville to the majors once placed a dead rat in a sportswriter's bed, perhaps a precursor to the horse's head in The Godfather). The Huntsville Stars era was populated with some legendary players, like Jose Canseco, who was the league MVP in the first year of the franchise, Mark McGwire, Tim Hudson, Ryan Braun and Nelson Cruz. The Huntsville area also produced some fascinating players like Gabby Street, famous for catching a ball dropped from the top of the Washington Monument, Jimmy Key, Craig Kimbrel and our \"Mr. Baseball,\" Don Mincher, who homered in his first World Series at-bat, enjoyed a 14-year career in the majors, became a team general manager, owner and, ultimately, president of the Southern League. Even as people embrace the freshness of the Trash Pandas, so often the conversation will turn to \"I remember when...\" moments from the Stars' era.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMark McCarter was the sixth sportswriter presented with the prestigious Mel Allen Award for \"lifetime contribution to sport\" by the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. A four-time Alabama Sports Writer of the Year by the National Sports Media Association, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Writers Hall of Fame in 2022 and named one of the \"50 Legends\" of the organization. He covered the saga of professional baseball in Huntsville for seventeen years for the \u003cem\u003eHuntsville Times\u003c\/em\u003e, having previously worked for the \u003cem\u003eChattanooga News-Free Press\u003c\/em\u003e and the \u003cem\u003eAnniston Star\u003c\/em\u003e. His work has been published in \u003cem\u003eSports Illustrated\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eFortune\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eSporting News\u003c\/em\u003e and numerous newspapers across the country.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 112\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.4 x 8.9 x 5.9 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e June 05, 2023\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53099732435168,"sku":"9781467152693","price":26.87,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0811\/5909\/4496\/files\/O6sh6ZnL7Z9781467152693.webp?v=1781709856","url":"https:\/\/improvedinc.myshopify.com\/products\/baseball-in-huntsville-paperback","provider":"Improved Improper Input Inc.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}