For Immediate Release
Just in time for Father's Day, June 9 release date for "The Year St. Louis Became A Baseball Town: The Cardinals, Babe Ruth, & The 1926 World Series."
Former White House reporter, St. Louis native explores magical year and forgotten stories that created the city's baseball obsession.
With a legacy of 11 World Series wins, the Cardinals are intertwined with the culture of the St. Louis region. But the city's baseball obsession actually traces back 100 years to 1926 with a legendary World Series upset of Babe Ruth's Yankees.
A new book by Terry Lemons, a former White House reporter originally from St. Louis, takes a fresh look at long forgotten events from a century ago that captivated not just the hometown fans, but much of the country. The 1926 season set in motion events that even today continue to affect the culture and traditions of St. Louis and Cardinals fans.
"The Year St. Louis Became a Baseball Town: The Cardinals, Babe Ruth, & The 1926 World Series" will be published June 9 by Arcadia Publishing's The History Press.
"Hard-core fans may know the basics of this riveting World Series, including Babe Ruth's stunning mistake of getting caught stealing second base for the final out," Lemons said. "But what inspired me to write this book wasn't just on the diamond; it was what happened around the games for fans and the city."
"Lost in time are compelling stories from 100 years ago that made St. Louis fans go crazy for the first time," Lemons added. "The 1926 season literally changed the culture of the city, and the aftermath of the championship can still be felt today. The victory transformed St. Louis into a baseball town, putting in place practices, traditions, loyalties, and an energy that have been passed down through time and can still be seen today."
Fascinating characters fill the 192-page book. There's Ruth, at the height of his fame, who charmed rowdy St. Louis fans with a historic three home-run game at Sportsman's Park. And there's Grover Cleveland Alexander, an aging alcoholic pitcher for the Cardinals who emerges as a hero after being released mid-season by the Chicago Cubs. Alexander, named after a former president, is eventually portrayed in the movies by future President Ronald Reagan.
"The Year St. Louis Became A Baseball Town" is set at a pivotal juncture in the nation's history, and surprising nuggets emerge in the book:
With a June 9 publication date, the book will be available in Missouri and Illinois at bookstores, Target, Walgreens and other locations where Arcadia Publishing books are carried. The book is also available online in both hardcover and paperback at Arcadia Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other locations.
Terry Lemons grew up in St. Louis and became a newspaper reporter after attending the University of Missouri. He wound up in Little Rock, where he covered Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Following the election, Lemons moved to the nation's capital where he covered the Clinton White House and Congress for the Arkansas newspaper. He later spent 25 years running national communications for the Internal Revenue Service in Washington. Following his retirement last year, he resumed writing, and his articles have appeared in publications including Forbes.com, Washington's The Hill and Alexandria (VA) Living magazine.
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