A Founding Father of modern baseball, Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy started out as a catcher and moved on to become the consummate manager and part owner of the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901 to 1950. Better known as Connie Mack, he cut a dashing figure clad in a business suit and straw skimmer. With an even-tempered manner, "Mr. Mack" was regarded as a unique combination of coach and father figure by his players—who included such all-time greats as Ty Cobb, Lefty Grove, and Chief Bender. This engaging autobiography, written with his characteristic warmth and enthusiasm, reads like a history of baseball during the first half of the twentieth century. Enhanced by seventy photos, Mack walks us through his amazing life—and the highlights of his legendary career. He holds the records for most wins and losses by a manager, he won nine American League pennants, brought the A's to eight World Series and won five of them. Plus, there has never been another man who has managed one sports team for fifty years. Achieving the ultimate recognition, the "Grand Old Man of Baseball" was elected to the National Hall of Fame in 1937, and was the first person chosen for the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

In The Grand Old Man of Baseball, Norman L. Macht chronicles Connie Mack’s tumultuous final two decades in baseball. After Mack had built one of baseball’s greatest teams, the 1929–31 Philadelphia Athletics, the Depression that followed the stock market crash fundamentally reshaped Mack’s legacy as his team struggled on the field and at the gate. Among the challenges Mack faced: a sharp drop in attendance that forced him to sell his star players; the rise of the farm system, which he was slow to adopt; the opposition of other owners to night games, which he favored; the postwar integration of baseball, which he initially opposed; a split between the team’s heirs (Mack’s sons Roy and Earle on one side, their half brother Connie Jr. on the other) that tore apart the family and forced Mack to choose—unwisely—between them; and, finally, the disastrous 1951–54 seasons in which Roy and Earle ran the club to the brink of bankruptcy. By now aged and mentally infirm, Mack watched in bewilderment as the business he had built fell apart. Broke and in debt, Roy and Earle feuded over the sale of the team. In a never-before-revealed series of maneuvers, Roy double-crossed his father and brother and the team was sold and moved to Kansas City in 1954. In Macht’s third volume of his trilogy on Mack, he describes the physical, mental, and financial decline of Mack’s final years, which unfortunately became a classic American tragedy.

Citizen Mack: Politics, An Honorable Calling is former Republican US Senator Connie Mack III's memoir, detailing his life in the world of Washington DC politics, and where that lead him afterwards. From his beginning as a member of the House of Representatives to his escalation to a Senator, Mack offers an inside look into the political culture and climate of America as it closed out the twentieth century and progressed into the twenty first.

No ballpark in Philadelphia was more revered than the one at Twenty-first Street and Lehigh Avenue. A must-have for fans of Philadelphia and baseball history! Originally called Shibe Park and later Connie Mack Stadium, America's first steel-and concrete stadium opened in 1909. When it closed in 1970, it had earned a special place in the hearts and minds of Philadelphia sports fans. Home of the Athletics for 46 years, the Phillies for 32 and a half seasons, and the Eagles for 18 years, it was also the site of many boxing matches, Negro League baseball games, and college and high school baseball and football games. Over the years, as the area developed, Shibe Park became known for its obstructed views, delicious hot dogs, Sunday curfews, absence of beer, and boobirds. Along with memorable teams and games, the ballpark played host to eight World Series and two All-Star Games. Join Rich Westcott, baseball writer, historian, author and president of the Philadelphia Sports Writers' Association, as he gathers archival photos capturing this legendary stadium's exciting history.

Diamond in the Desert by Myles Schrag chronicles 35 years of Connie Mack World Series excitement in Farmington, New Mexico. It is the first extensive look at baseball's profound impact on this unique region of America. Diamond in the Desert is a must-read for true fans and anyone interested in the limitless possibilities of the civic spirit.

Shibe Park was demolished in 1976, and today its site is surrounded by the devastation of North Philadelphia. Kuklick, however, vividly evokes the feelings people had about the home of the Philadelphia Athletics and later the Phillies.

This work is a game-by-game account of the Philadelphia Athletics' pitiful 1916 season, in which they won just 36 of 154 games. It starts with a brief biography of the team's living symbol--A's manager and co-owner Connie Mack--and moves through the birth of the franchise and into its first era of glory in which the A's won world championships in 1910, 1911, and 1913. Following the A's stunning defeat in the 1914 World Series to the underdog Boston Braves, Mack dismantled his championship club and finished last in the American League for seven straight seasons. The 1916 campaign was the nadir. The team's few solid veterans had a supporting cast of underachievers, college boys, raw rookies, no-hopers, and sub-par pitching. The book chronicles the daily grind of a team that had no chance to begin with and quickly became the laughingstock of the AL. Many humorous anecdotes, needless to say!