Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 8/27/2007

8/27/1954:
Schenectady, New York, wins the Little League World Series with a 7-5 win over Colton, California. Pitcher Bill Masucci, son of Schenectady coach Lou Masucci, goes the distance on a four-hitter and also hits a two-run homer. Twelve years from now, Schenectady team captain Jim Barbieri will earn the distinction of becoming the first player to appear in the LLWS and the real World Series when he plays for the 1966 National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Birthdays:
Nikki Pilic b. 1939
Buddy Bell b. 1951
Bernhard Langer b. 1957
Adam Oates b. 1962
Jim Thome b. 1970

HISTORIES

The crew of the trading ship Commerce left the port of Middletown, Connecticut, in May 1815 bound for the islands of Cape Verde. Working on a merchant ship was not without dangers, but certainly none of the men could have imagined that their fates would include being shipwrecked off the coast of Africa, wandering lost around the Sahara, becoming enslaved by an abusive Arab, being saved by a merchant, collecting a bounty for the merchant, and finally (for several) returning home. King makes the grueling saga terrifyingly real with his explanations of famine, dehydration, sun blindness, and other horrors. People calls it a cross between Master and Commander and Lawrence of Arabia. Do you dare?

SKELETONS ON THE ZAHARA: A TRUE STORY OF SURVIVAL, by Dean King (Back Bay Books, 2005)