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sports history

On Frank Robinson, Earl Weaver, and the Baltimore Orioles

John Fea   |  February 20, 2025

When I get the chance, I hope to read John W. Miller’s book The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented and Reinvented Baseball. The Washington Post is running a short excerpt. Here is a taste: Weaver changed how baseball […]

How Wilt Chamberlain helped Richard Nixon win Black voters

John Fea   |  July 17, 2024

Here is Shaun Assael at Politico: Wilt Chamberlain, the biggest basketball star in the world, folded his long legs into the taxi and climbed beside Richard Nixon. It was April 9, 1968, and the two had just attended Martin Luther […]

The wild story of 10-cent beer night at Cleveland Stadium

John Fea   |  June 4, 2024

Some fine sports writing here from Fredric J. Frommer at The Washington Post. He tells the story of the riot that occurred in Cleveland Stadium during a Cleveland Indians (now Guardians)-Texas Rangers game on June 4, 1974. This melee should […]

The Author’s Corner with Brian M. Ingrassia

Rachel Petroziello   |  March 11, 2024

Brian M. Ingrassia is Associate Professor of History at West Texas A&M University. This interview is based on his new book, Speed Capital: Indianapolis Auto Racing and the Making of Modern America (University of Illinois Press, 2024). JF: What led […]

The last time the Detroit Lions were in the NFC championship game it did not go well

John Fea   |  January 25, 2024

The Fea household will have a new member in May. My future son-in-law is a diehard Detroit Lions fan and we have watched him agonize over every game for the past two years. Emmett was not alive in 1992, the […]

Remembering the Virginia Squires

John Fea   |  December 15, 2023

I am a sucker for all things American Basketball Association. (Listen to my interview with historian Theresa Runstedtler about her book Black Ball: Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation That Saved the Soul of the NBA). I was […]

Sports historian Paul Putz takes his talents to Substack

John Fea   |  December 15, 2023

He’s the best historian of Christianity and sports in the business and now he is taking his talents to Substack. Here is Baylor University historian Paul Putz‘s introduction to “The Spirit of the Game“: Ten years ago I enrolled in […]

The Author’s Corner with Bonnie Hagerman

Rachel Petroziello   |  June 20, 2023

Bonnie Hagerman is Assistant Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality and Director of the Department’s Undergraduate Programs at the University of Virginia. This interview is based on her new book, Skimpy Coverage: Sports Illustrated and the Shaping of the Female […]

Why did the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals lose the World Series?

John Fea   |  May 19, 2023

Don Denkinger, the umpire who blew a call at first base in game six of the 1985 World Series, died on May 12, 2023. Watch: Here is Cardinals fan Will Leitch at The Washington Post: The reason the Cardinals lost […]

What it was like to be a Black man playing for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1960s?

John Fea   |  February 10, 2023

Here is Mark Dent at The Washington Post: When Mike Garrett, a Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Southern California, was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1966, the only thing he knew about his new home was the […]

Sports video of the day

John Fea   |  December 21, 2022

RIP Franco Harris.

Facing Nolan

John Fea   |  July 27, 2022

This documentary is a must see for any baseball fan:

AMAZING! (1969 edition)

John Fea   |  July 22, 2022

Here’s Curt Gowdy: People I recognize in this video: Joe Garagiola, Lindsey Nelson, Joe DiMaggio, and Pearl Bailey. Do you recognize anyone else?

Mets retire Keith Hernandez’s number

John Fea   |  July 9, 2022

Number 17 goes up in the rafters alongside the numbers of Jackie Robinson (42), Casey Stengel (37), Gil Hodges (14), Tom Seaver (41), Jerry Koosman (36), and Mike Piazza (31). You know this is a big moment in the New […]

Episode 96: “Thinking Historically about the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

John Fea   |  March 6, 2022

In this episode we talk with historian Bruce Berglund about Vladmir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Our conversation focuses on Putin’s use of history to justify the invasion, the insufficiency of the Russian military, the international ban on […]

What the six California Super Bowl stadiums tell us about The Golden State

John Fea   |  February 2, 2022

The Super Bowl has been (or will be) held in: SoFi Stadium (2022) Levi’s Stadium (2016) Stanford Stadium (1985) The Rose Bowl (1977, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1993) Jack Murphy Stadium (1988, 1998, 2003) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (1967, 1973) Here […]

Is professional wrestling fake?

John Fea   |  January 19, 2022

Of course it is. But that doesn’t really help us understand its historic appeal. In a fascinating piece at the blog of the Journal of Intellectual History, historian Aaron D. Horton offers a brief history of this form of “entertainment.” […]

My first John Madden memory

John Fea   |  December 29, 2021

As a kid I was a diehard Miami Dolphins fan. It is thus tough for me, over 46 years later, to post this highlight video from the 1974 AFC Divisional Playoff: To this day I cannot hear the names Ken […]