Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 8/13/2007

8/13/1944:
Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe and his brother Alec dominate the proceedings at the Negro Leagues All-Star Game at Comiskey Park, leading the West to a 7-4 victory before over 46,000 wartime fans. Third baseman Alec of the Cincinnati Clowns has two hits, including a triple, while his older brother Ted of the Birmingham Black Barons has three hits, including a two-run homer to cap a five-run fifth inning, leading the West to the win. Still going strong at age 42, Ted earned his nickname by often pitching the first game of a double header and catching the nightcap.

Birthdays:
Ben Hogan b. 1912
Bobby Clarke b. 1949
Betsy King b. 1955
Shayne Corson b. 1966
Jarrod Washburn b. 1974
Washington Post book critic Michael Dirda said it best when he wrote that MacCulloch’s book is not “a history” as the subtitle suggests, but “the history.” There is no other book that comes close to approaching the scope and elegance and relevance of this one. The rift that separated Protestant from Catholic in 16th-century Europe has shaped modern Europe, and the challenges the people encountered then are familiar now—struggles with Islam, the rise of fanaticism, and clashes between church and state. A compelling, elegant read.

THE REFORMATION: A HISTORY, by Diarmaid MacCulloch (Penguin, 2005)

The Reformation won the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction.