In the 1930s, Monroe, Louisiana, was a town of twenty-six thousand in the northeastern corner of the state, an area described by the New Orleans Item as the “lynch law center of Louisiana.” race relations were bad, and the Depression was pitiless for most, especially for the working class—a great many of whom had no work at all or seasonal work at best. Yet for a few years in the early 1930s, this unlikely spot was home to the Monarchs, a national-caliber Negro League baseball team. Crowds of black and white fans eagerly filled their segregated grandstand seats to see the players who would become the only World Series team Louisiana would ever generate, and the first from the American South. By 1932, the team had as good a claim to the national baseball championship of black America as any other. Partisans claim, with merit, that league officials awarded the National Championship to the Chicago American Giants in flagrant violation of the league’s own rules: times were hard and more people would pay to see a Chicago team than an outfit from the Louisiana back country. Black newspapers in the South rallied to support Monroe’s cause, railing against the league and the bias of black newspapers in the North, but the decision, unfair though it may have been, was also the only financially feasible option for the league’s besieged leadership, who were struggling to maintain a black baseball league in the midst of the Great Depression. Aiello addresses long-held misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the Monarchs’ 1932 season. He tells the almost-unknown story of the team—its time, its fortunes, its hometown—and positions black baseball in the context of American racial discrimination. He illuminates the culture-changing power of a baseball team and the importance of sport in cultural and social history.

 The Birmingham Black Barons were a nationally known team in baseball's Negro leagues from 1920 through 1962. Among its storied players were Hall of Famers Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, and Mule Suttles. The Black Barons played in the final Negro Leagues World Series in 1948 and were a major drawing card when barnstorming throughout the United States and parts of Canada. This book chronicles the team's history and presents the only comprehensive roster of the hundreds of men who wore the Black Barons uniform.

True Tales from the Pelican State—from the longest Civil War battle to one of history’s worst man-made disasters Louisiana is well known for its spicy gumbo, Cajun music, and horrific hurricanes, but few may know why Tarzan once swung through the piney woods, how an entrepreneur used a land auction to build a town in a day, or how one man’s vision drew thousands of miracle-seekers to an empty field for over twenty years. It Happened in Louisiana goes behind the scenes to tell these stories and many more, in short episodes that reveal the intriguing people and events that have shaped the Pelican State. Discover how a well-drilling job gone awry turned an entire freshwater lake into a 1,300-foot-deep saltwater pit—and temporarily created the state’s tallest waterfall—in a matter of 48 hours. Relive the night that a life-changing performance finally put a world-famous rock 'n' roll legend on the path to fame. Learn the many disturbing reasons that one Louisiana prison—which today has its own radio station and annually hosts the longest-running prison rodeo in the United States—was once named the “worst prison in America.” Read about a determined, compassionate doctor from New Orleans who created a place of refuge and healing in his attempt to cure societal castaways who suffered from “the illness you do not talk about.” Bonnye Stuart is a tenth-generation New Orleanian who got her B.A. at Louisiana State University and her M.A. from the University of New Orleans. She is the author of It Happened in New Orleans, More than Petticoats: Remarkable Louisiana Women, and Louisiana Curiosities (all Globe Pequot Press) and Discovering Vintage New Orleans and Haunted New Orleans (both Rowman & Littlefield) and she lives in Tega Cay, SC.

The Negro Southern League was a baseball minor league that operated off and on from 1920 to 1951. It served as a valuable feeder system to the Negro National League and the Negro American League. A number of NNL and NAL stars got their start in the NSL, among them five Hall of Famers including Satchel Paige and Willie Mays. During its history, more than 80 teams were members of the league, representing 40 cities in a dozen states. In the end only four teams remained, operating more as semipro than professional teams. This book is a narrative history of the league from its inception with eight teams in major Southern cities until its demise three decades later.

Since 1971, 35 Negro League baseball players and executives have been admitted to the Hall of Fame. The Negro League Hall of Fame admissions process, which has now been conducted in four phases over a 50-year period, can be characterized as idiosyncratic at best. Drawing on baseball analytics and surveys of both Negro League historians and veterans, this book presents an historical overview of NLHOF voting, with an evaluation of whether the 35 NL players selected were the best choices. Using modern metrics such as Wins Above Replacement (WAR), 24 additional Negro Leaguers are identified who have Hall of Fame qualifications. Brief biographies are included for HOF-quality players and executives who have been passed over, along with reasons why they may have been excluded. A proposal is set forth for a consistent and orderly HOF voting process for the Negro Leagues.

Robert (Bobby) James Fischer was one of the world’s most mysterious and exciting personalities of the middle 20th century. He single handedly ended a 35 year span of Russian domination of elite chess when he defeated Boris Spassky for the World Chess Championship in 1972 in Reykjavik, Iceland. Fischer’s dynamic victory ignited in Americans a passion for the game of chess and a deep pride in being American during the height of the Cold War. The world knows the story of Fischer’s ascent to the pinnacle of chess genius and brilliance, and it knows of his psychological decline into social isolation, paranoia, and likely mental illness. Now, for the first time, through “A Psychobiography of Bobby Fischer: Understanding the Genius, Mystery, and Psychological Decline of a World Chess Champion,” we come to understand the inner workings of Fischer’s mind – the genetic, personal, family, cultural, and political factors that collectively provide a penetrating window into the “why” of Bobby Fischer’s genius and bizarre behavior. Renowned counseling psychologist and author Dr. Joseph G. Ponterotto deconstructs almost every aspect of Fischer’s personal and career life to sculpt an integrative psychological profile of this enigmatic world personality. Though there have been many articles, books, and films on Bobby Fischer, this text represents the first scholarly psychological assessment of the world’s most famous chess champion. Among the topics addressed in the current volume are Bobby’s early family environment and his natural intellectual gifts that predisposed him to genius in chess. Critical to understanding Bobby’s personality development is his relationship with his mother Regina Fischer and his sister Joan Fischer, as well as his relationship to his likely biological father, Paul Felix Nemenyi. These topics are explored in-depth and the impact of these relationships on Bobby’s psychological development is highlighted. Bobby’s later-life internal mental state -- his mistrust, anger, and hatred of Jews – is explored and the origins of this affective state are closely examined. Dr. Ponterotto also provides the first, carefully and cautiously sculpted psychological autopsy of Bobby Fischer relying on modern psychological assessment procedures. Of interest to readers will be a full chapter comparing the genius and mental health challenges of the United States’ two greatest chess champions who lived a century apart, Paul Morphy and Bobby Fischer. This book also explores the topic of the prevalence of mental illness among elite chess players, and provides a critical review of the research on the potential relationship between creativity (a hallmark of chess genius) and vulnerability to mental illness. Finally, Dr. Ponterotto outlines counseling and psychotherapy interventions that very likely could have helped Bobby throughout his life. Though there are numerous biographies on the life of Bobby Fischer, this text represents the first scholarly, systematically derived psychobiography of this great chess champion and enigmatic world personality. The book includes 10 content chapters and select Tables, Figures, and Family Genograms, as well as Appendices providing extensive detail on the life of Bobby Fischer and family. Finally, the book includes some original family photos never before published.

How good was Negro League Baseball (1920-1948)? Some experts maintain that the quality of play was equal to that of the American and National Leagues. Some believe the Negro Leagues should be part of Major League Baseball's official record and that more Negro League players should be in the Hall of Fame. Skeptics contend that while many players could be rated highly, NL organizations were minor league at best. Drawing on the most comprehensive data available, including stats from more than 2,000 interracial games, this study finds that black baseball was very good indeed. Negro leaguers beat the big leaguers more than half the time in head-to-head contests, demonstrated stronger metrics within their own leagues and excelled when finally allowed into the majors. The authors document the often duplicitous manner in which MLB has dealt with the legacy of the Negro Leagues, and an appendix includes the scores and statistics from every known contest between Negro League and Major League teams.