Author Archives: Paul Knepper

https://newbooksnetwork.com/the-wingmen It was 1953, the Korean War in full throttle, when two men—already experts in their fields—crossed the fabled 38th Parallel into Communist airspace aboard matching Panther jets. John Glenn was an ambitious operations officer with fifty-nine World War II combat missions under his belt. His wingman was Ted Williams, the two-time American League TripleContinue reading “Podcast with Adam Lazarus about his book The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/roberto-alomar Roberto Alomar was not just a five-tool Hall of Famer; he was a magician on the diamond, a generational talent whose defensive wizardry left teammates and opponents breathless. Yet, despite his twelve All-Star selections and ten Gold Glove awards, he has remained one of the most contentious and enigmatic characters in baseball’s history. RobertoContinue reading “Podcast with David Ostrowsky, author of Roberto Alomar: The Complicated Life and Legacy of a Baseball Hall of Famer.”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/when-the-game-was-war Four historic teams. Four legendary players. One unforgettable season. The 1980s were a transformative decade for the NBA. Since its founding in 1946, the league had evolved from a bruising, earthbound game of mostly nameless, underpaid players to one in which athletes became household names for their thrilling, physics-defying play. The 1987–88 season wasContinue reading “Podcast with Rich Cohen, author of When the Game Was War: The NBA’s Greatest Season.”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/marty-glickman For close to half a century after World War II, Marty Glickman was the voice of New York sports. His distinctive style of broadcasting, on television and especially on the radio, garnered for him legions of fans who would not miss his play-by-play accounts. From the 1940s through the 1990s, he was as iconicContinue reading “Podcast with Jeffrey Gurock about his book Marty Glickman: The Life of an American Jewish Sports Legend”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/mountaintop When the 1997 college football season began, the once-mighty Michigan Wolverines were dismissed nationally as a relic of a bygone era. Michigan had posted four straight four-loss seasons and started out No. 14 in the polls for the third straight year, its worst preseason rankings since 1985. Michigan was led by an accidental third-yearContinue reading “Podcast with Mark Snyder about his book Mountaintop: The Inside Story of Michigan’s 1997 National Title Climb”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/the-one-hundred-most-important-players-in-baseball-history Baseball lore and history is filled with many valuable players, and not all of them are the Hall of Famers you know. In The One Hundred Most Important Players in Baseball History (Artemesia Publishing, 2023) Lincoln A. Mitchell highlights the one hundred players who have had the biggest impact on baseball, popular culture, and history throughContinue reading “Podcast with Lincoln Mitchell about his book The One Hundred Most Important Players in Baseball History”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/earl-cureton-and-jake-uitti-earl-the-twirl-my-life-in-basketball-mcfarland-2023 Earl “The Twirl” Cureton was never a star player in the NBA, but then again, few people will ever be a celebrity athlete.  Earl’s story, instead, is about a life on the fringes of the league during its “Golden Era” of the ’80s and ’90s. A teammate of Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Michael Jordan, CharlesContinue reading “Podcast with Earl Cureton about his book Earl the Twirl: My Life in Basketball”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/baseballs-endangered-species Scouting has been called pro baseball’s personalized way of renewing itself from year to year and a pathway to the game’s past. It takes a very special person to be a baseball scout: normal family life is out of the question because travel is a constant companion. Yet for those with the genuine callingContinue reading “Podcast with Lee Lowenfish about his book Baseball’s Endangered Species: Inside the Craft of Scouting By Those Who Lived It.”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/roy-white-from-compton-to-the-bronx Roy White played on the New York Yankees from 1965 through the 1979 season. Roy grew up on the tough streets of Compton and created a successful all-star baseball career playing alongside such greats as Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Whitey Ford, Thurman Munson, Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, and many others. Today Roy White sitsContinue reading “Podcast with Paul Semendinger, co-author of Roy White: From Compton to the Bronx”

https://newbooksnetwork.com/black-ball Against a backdrop of ongoing resistance to racial desegregation and strident calls for Black Power, the NBA in the 1970s embodied the nation’s imagined descent into disorder. A new generation of Black players entered the league then, among them Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Spencer Haywood, and the press and public were quick to blame this cohort forContinue reading “Podcast with Theresa Runstedtler about her book Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation That Saved the Soul of the NBA”