Before They Were The Cubs

Founded in 1869, the Chicago Cubs are a charter member of the National League and the last remaining of the eight original league clubs still playing in the city in which the franchise started. Drawing on newspaper articles, books and archival records, the author chronicles the team's early years. He describes the club's planning stages of 1868; covers the decades when the ballplayers were variously called White Stockings, Colts, and Orphans; and relates how a sportswriter first referred to the young players as Cubs in the March 27, 1902, issue of the Chicago Daily News. Reprinted selections from firsthand accounts provide a colorful narrative of baseball in 19th-century America, as well as a documentary history of the Chicago team and its members before they were the Cubs.

This lively, detailed book explores the personalities, events, and facts every Cubs fan should know. More than a look at the century-long wait for another World Series win, the book contains crucial information for Cubs fans, such as important dates, player nicknames, memorable moments, and outstanding achievements by singular players. This guide to all things Cubs also includes a list of must-do Cubs-related activities, which include taking in Wrigley field, traveling to Arizona for spring training, and sipping beers at the best Cubs bars around the country.This new, updated edition features the new generation of Cubs stars, including manager Joe Maddon, sluggers Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant, and ace Jon Lester.

Imagining a year in which the lovable losers never lose a single game, this idealistic resource identifies the most memorable victory in Chicago Cubs history on every single day of the baseball calendar season, from late March to late October. Ranging from games with incredible historical significance and individual achievement to those with high drama and high stakes, the book envisions the impossible: a blemish-free Cubs season. Evocative photos, original quotes, thorough research, and engaging prose and analysis add another dimension.

THE HABITAT Nairobi National Park lies to the south-southeast of the capital of Kenya, Nairobi, where the Athi Plains meet the Eastern escarpment of the Rift Valley. These plains form part of the semi-arid highland plateau lying between the coast and the Rift Valley. Both the city itself, and the Park bordering it, are a meeting place of two generally distinct types of landscape and climate. While to the east-southeast are semi-arid plains with grasslands and scattered trees, the western-north western parts are higher, hilly, cooler, more humid and support lush forests. The combination of latitude-a little over one degree south of the Equator -and altitude-average of 1600 m. (5000-5500 ft.) -combine to give Nairobi a most equable climate where the temperature varies during the year between about 11 degrees and 27 degrees centigrade (mean minimum and mean maximum for eight years). However, considerable changes are usually experienced within each day and a rise from 14 degrees C at 0600 hours to 22 degrees at 1100 hours is not unusual. Nairobi Park has a unique concentration of wild animals living in their natural habitat less than 10 km. from the centre of a modern city of half a million people. The only interference with the natural course of events in the Park is that normally required for the proper management of a game park, such as maintenance of roads and dams, and, in this particular case, partial fencing towards the city.

The Cubs have called Wrigley their home since 1916 and have treated their loyal followers with memories that have lasted for generations. From the legend of Babe Ruth's called shot to Kerry Wood's dominant twenty-strikeout performance, great games, notable names and a multitude of memorable moments have played out at Clark and Addison to create baseball's most recognizable relationship: the Cubs and Wrigley Field. The authors of Wrigley Field: 100 Stories for 100 Years return to celebrate this grand anniversary with Cubs 100: A Century at Wrigley, a new collection of baseball tales, including highlights from the exciting 2015 season, from storytellers such as Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Len Kasper and many others who know the symbiotic connection between the historic franchise and its iconic home.

Enos A. Mills shares his memories of the bears who had spent years observing them in the wild. He'd follow them not to track and kill them, but to observe and learn their habits. He also rarely, if ever, carried a gun. He was also never threatened by the animals. Excerpt: "One autumn day, while I was watching a little cony stacking hay for the winter, a clinking and rattling of slide rock caught my attention. On the mountain-side opposite me, perhaps a hundred yards away, a grizzly bear was digging in an enormous rock-slide. He worked energetically. Several slabs of rock were hurled out of the hole and tossed down the mountain-side. Stones were thrown right and left. I could not make out what he was after, but it is likely that he was digging for a woodchuck."

Ellen and Lorna, the twin lionesses transported from Lingmere Zoo in England to an African sanctuary, have been renamed. They are African lions now. Ellen has become Kimya, which means quiet and Lorna is now Huru, meaning free. Released into the wild, they are forced to fend for themselves as they face hunger, unbearable heat and, worst of all, the deadly wrath of the other animals. Will the sisters survive to create a new pride?

Readers will enjoy reviewing the best seasons in Cubs history in Season at the Summit. The Chicago White Stockings, later to become Wrigleyville's loveable Cubbies, were charter members of the National League, and the only franchise that has operated continuously in the same city between the first game played on April 1876 and today. During that time, over 1,750 ballplayers have pulled on Cub uniforms, and out of that number, co-authors Warren Wilbert and William Hageman have chosen the players who have put together individual seasons of such magnificent that they have merited a top-50 billing.

Did you know that European royalty once used cheetahs to hunt deer, or that caracals can capture birds by leaping six and a half feet straight up into the air from a standing start? Have you ever wondered whether domestic cats really do land on their feet when they fall, or how Canada lynx can stalk their prey in the winter without falling through the deep snow? Wild Cats of the World is a treasure trove of answers to questions like these, and many others, for anyone who's interested in learning more about the world's felids, including the ones with whom we share our homes. Mel and Fiona Sunquist have spent more than a decade gathering information about cats from every available source, many of them quite difficult to find, including scientific papers, descriptions of hunts, archeological findings, observations by naturalists and travelers, reports from government agencies, and newsletters from a wide variety of organizations. Weaving information from these sources together with their own experiences observing wild cats around the world, the Sunquists have created the most comprehensive reference on felids available. Each of their accounts of the 36 species of cat contains a description of the cat, including human interactions with it, as well as detailed data on its distribution, ecology and behavior, status in the wild, and efforts to conserve it. Numerous photographs, including more than 40 in full color, illustrate these accounts. Ranging from the two-pound black-footed cat to the five-hundred-pound tiger, and from the African serval with its satellite-dish ears to the web-footed fishing cat of Asia, Wild Cats of the World will fascinate and educate felid fans of any stripe (or spot).

Incredibly comprehensive, this book is the ultimate reference source to every aspect of these machines, including 22 very detailed model profiles and delivery details of 113,000 individual machines to 153 countries, color schemes and much, much more. It contains full international history of the popular Triumph Tiger Cub & Triumph Terrier motorcycles, technical and design specifications of engine and transmission components, lubrication, fuel and electrical systems.

The History of Profesional Hockey in Victoria is an in-depth examination of professional hockey in Victoria. It includes details on the different leagues, statistics on every game played by a Victoria team, and information on every player to dress for at least one regular season game. From the Patrick family to RG Properties, this book covers the ownership of teams and records the highlights and low points of every team. It was produced as a "thank-you" to the players who entertained Victorians over a century, giving us reason to cheer on many occasions and to be disappointed as well. Victoria enjoyed three championships, including the Stanley Cup victory in 1925. Little did the Cougars know that they would go down in history as the last non-NHL team to win the Stanley Cup, and the last non-NHL team to play in a Stanley Cup series. They were also the last West Coast team to win the Stanley Cup until Anaheim did it in 2007. The 1950-51 Cougars, led by their "kid line" of Andy Hebenton, Bob Frampton, and Reg Abbott, won the league title while the Maple Leafs (with Hebenton in the lineup) won the Lester Patrick Cup in the1965-1966 season. Included in the narrative is the story of the construction and operation of the different venues in which games were played. The politics behind arena construction are examined as well, with editorial cartoons to make the reader laugh about the folly of some ideas. Biographies of selected players tell the story of individuals and how they came to play hockey in Victoria. Learn from behind-the-scenes stories told by the players themselves. Lavishly illustrated, this is a book for those who love hockey history and its connection to Victoria, BC.

The author presents a month-by-month look at the Chicago Cubs' 1970 baseball season.

Environmentalist, independent researcher and author, Gareth Patterson has spent his entire adult life working tirelessly for the greater protection of African wildlife and, more particularly, for that of the lion. Born in England in 1963, Gareth grew up in Nigeria and Malawi. From an early age he knew where his life's path would take him - it would be in Africa, and his life's work would be for the cause of the African wilderness and its wild inhabitants. His is an all-encompassing African story. From his childhood in West and East Africa to his study of a threatened lion population in a private reserve in Botswana to his work with George Adamson, celebrated as the 'Lion Man' of Africa, we witness Gareth's growing commitment to his life's mission. This is nowhere more evident than in his account of his life as a human member of a lion pride, experiencing life and death through its eyes, as he successfully rehabilitated three famous orphaned lion cubs back into a life in the wilds. At considerable risk to his own personal safety, he exposed the sordid canned lion 'industry' in South Africa, bringing this shameful practice to international attention. After moving to the Western Cape he took up the fight for the African elephant, notably the unique endangered Knysna population, and published his astonishing findings in his 2009 book The Secret Elephants. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the stressful nature of his work, Gareth suffered a massive physical and mental breakdown in his forties, which he discusses here for the first time with an openness that underlines his courage. Lesser men might have been broken, but his 'lion's heart' fought back and he ultimately overcame his illness. Gareth Patterson's long-awaited autobiography is a moving account of one man's single-minded dedication to the preservation of Africa's wildlife. It is also a stark reminder that if the human race does not want to lose Africa's priceless wild heritage, there is no time to waste. 'The lion is my totem animal, and this is the story of my life in Africa, for the lion.'

Founded in 1869, the Chicago Cubs are a charter member of the National League and the last remaining of the eight original league clubs still playing in the city in which the franchise started. Drawing on newspaper articles, books and archival records, the author chronicles the team's early years. He describes the club's planning stages of 1868; covers the decades when the ballplayers were variously called White Stockings, Colts, and Orphans; and relates how a sportswriter first referred to the young players as Cubs in the March 27, 1902, issue of the Chicago Daily News. Reprinted selections from firsthand accounts provide a colorful narrative of baseball in 19th-century America, as well as a documentary history of the Chicago team and its members before they were the Cubs.

Cubs Forever celebrates the 60-year romance between the team, the superstation, and the fans. It brings to life some of the great games and moments in the team's history, such as Ernie Banks' 500th home run, the first night game at Wrigley Field, and four no-hitters. Add in stories from the men who work behind the scenes at Wrigley and WGN, plus interviews with the team's many stars over this six-decade period, and you have a baseball bonanza for fans of all ages.