Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 8/26/2007

8/26/1990:
Powerful two-sport star Bo Jackson of the Kansas City Royals returns from a six-week stay on the disabled list for a separated shoulder by unleashing a 450-foot homer on the first pitch he sees from Randy Johnson of the Seattle Mariners. Added to the three in a row he hit before being injured at Yankee Stadium on July 17, the prodigious clout gives Jackson an MLB record-tying four homers in four at bats. The 1985 Heisman Trophy winner from Auburn also has a double and a single in four at bats as K.C. rips Seattle, 8-2.

Birthdays:
Billy DeMars b. 1925
Tom Heinsohn b. 1934
Swede Savage b. 1946
Donnie Shell b. 1952
Ricky Bottalico b. 1969

MEMOIRS

Life was sweet in 1950s Wisconsin. And David Benjamin’s memories of it are the cherry on top. The Life and Times of the Last Kid Picked depicts a world of peewee baseball, penny candy, Doris Day movies, and frog hunting at the swimming hole. Funny, vivid, and nostalgic. Perfect for Lake Wobegone fans and Baby Boomers who like to remember when.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE LAST KID PICKED, by David Benjamin (Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2003)