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Dad car florida j-8 by benching | Make Your Own At www.toondoo.com

 

Outline of racism essay

I: Introduction (Thesis)- I think the roots of racism started in the beginning of mankind, and that kids inherit the roots of racism from their parents.

II:  Body Paragraphs

A:  Early maknind used to be suspicious of strangers

     1.  How they were more likely to survive and reproduce if they were suspicious.

B:  How our brains might be programmed from birth to put people into groups.

     1.  How skin color often determines who is a member of our religious group, neighborhood, and school.

C:  People are more likely to automatically classify by sex and age than by race.

D:  Racism is based on visual observations.

E:  Our nation is diminishing because we are crippling our kids about what schools they should attend and what people they should avoid.

     1.  Black on black crime.

F:  Color prejudice from the ancient world.

     1.  Egyptians distinguished between themselves, and the Greeks called foreign cultures barbarian.

III:  Conclusion- Racism has been around since the beginning of mankind through suspicion and later slavery.

     - Racism has been passed down through generations because people think their own race is superior.

 

Family Story:  Goal...to tell stories from a loved one (3 biographies /1 autobiography)

 

Story #1 (Biography) 

A funny story about my dad's best friend Dixon.  It is about how they went to the Southern Park Mall and how Dixon got a new belt.  Also how someone called him fatty. 

 

Story # 2 (Biography)

My dad's favorite memory with his favorite car. 

 

Story # 3 (Biography)

A story about my dad's favorite baseball player. 

 

Story # 4 (Autobiography)

When my dad got a big gauge in his right shin, and how it happened.  Steel sheets fell down on his steel-toed shoes and scraped his right shin pretty badly.

 

Research: Goal is to research and present information that supports a thesis statement.

 

Thesis Statement:

I think the roots of racism started in the beginning of mankind, and that kids inherit it from their parents.

 

Specific Research found:

Racism has started since the beginning of mankind.  Racism is getting worse. 

 

Questions:

Why did people want to own slaves?  Which group of people did people start out hating? 

 

Problems:

I don't exactly know when people started getting slaves from Africa. 

 

Sources

 

 

#11:  Topic:  The Roots of Racism

Key Questions:  Why are people racist?  Do parents and other family members determine if their child is racist?  Do friends influence you to be racist?  Are there certain groups of people that people are more racist to?  How long has racism been around?

Sources:

http://www.cbn.com/700club/ScottRoss/Interviews/Alex_Haley.aspx

Malcolm X book

Slavery book

Racist America by Joe R. Feagin

Movie- Mississippi Burning

http://www.anitra.net/activism/racism/#D

 

 

 

#10: - I put all the pictures that relate to change on the left side.

       - I put all the pictures that relate to loyalty on the right side.

       - My animations all relate to love.

       - My quotes are from Hermia and Lysander. 

       - The right side is supposed to be stable and the left side is more crazy and liberal.

       - I made the thesis bold and big at the top.

       - I made the quotes more colorful and different shapes.

       - I put my hyperlinks on the black to red sun picture, and the changing room picture.

       - My song is a crazy little thing called love.

#9:  My topic is LOVE.

My thesis statement is- The aspects of love that are explored in the relationships of A Midsummer Night's Dream are loyalty and change.

To-Do List

- Comment on my photos.

- Get definitions for loyalty and change.

- Cite sources.

- Support thesis/ make suptopics.

To-Get List

- Find a music clip.

- Get a few hyperlinks.

- Get pictures/graphics to cover it.

- More photos.

Shakespeare Essay

#8:  What Shakespeare is saying about love and infatuation is that love is unpredictable and that it can change.  The characters in the book were shocked at who they used to love, and what happened to them.  The relationships of Titania, Lysander, Hermia, Helena, and Demetrius changed.  The reason it changed between them was because Puck had put spells over them.  I think Puck caused most of the characters to have infatuation for each other because he made them love someone else for a while.

     Lysander and Hermia were happy together until they were put under a spell by Puck.  Puck ended up getting some of the spells screwed up, but Oberon didn't seem to care that much.  Anyway, Lysander now loved Helena, and Hermia was sad and confused.  Hermia says, "Here will I rest me till the break of day.  Heavens shield Lysander, if they mean a fray!"  She still loves Lysander even though at that point he didn't love her..  She started to hate Helena, but Helena couldn't believe that Lysander now liked her.

     Oberon and Titania were together until they got into a fight over the indian child.  Oberon was furious, so he sent Puck to cast a spell on Titania, making her fall in love with Bottom.  After the curse was broken over Titania, Oberon says, "Now my Titania, wake you, my sweet Queen!" Titania says, "My Oberon!  What visions have I seen!"  They were mad at each other at one point, and now they are together.  This is a good example of there infatuation for each other.  Oberon and Titania were mad at each other but they overcame it to be in love once again.

     Shakespeare shows how the love changed between the characters throughout the story.  Maybe it reflected his own life in a small way.  The characters were surprised about who they used to love, and that is where there infatuation happens. 

#7:

 

 

#6:  The line "Lord, what fools these mortals be" means that Lysander, Helena and Demetrius are obviously foolish.  Since Hermia doesn't like Demetrius, then Demetrius should smarten up and accept that.  Helena loves Demetrius, and since he despises her, she should also be able to accept that and stop crying about it.  She should man-up and deal with it.  Lysander is foolish because he knows that he can't be with Hermia because her father won't let him.  The consequences for them running away are bad, but they don't seem to understand that very well.  Even though Puck is a trickster, he is right about them all being foolish.

           #5:  Dear Abby:  I need some advice on how to deal with this crazy woman.  She never leaves me alone, and I have had relations with her in the past, but she never goes away.  I have tried explaining to her that I can't stand her, and that I don't love her, and she still doesn't go away.  I don't know what to do.  I am supposed to get married soon and if she still keeps bothering me I might go insane.  I don't know how she could still love me, because I am mean and nasty to her whenever she talks to me.  I desperately want to move on with my life but I can't get this girl away from me.  I want to know a way that I could make her leave me alone.  What is the best way possible?

- DYING IN THE DESERT.

     Dear DYING IN THE DESERT:  One way that you could get away from her would simply be just to skip town start a new life under a new name and grow a beard.  That way seems extreme, but another thing you can do is file a restraining order.  You also can just put up with it until after you are married, because she might give up and bother some other unlucky soul.  You can try new methods of talking and explaining things to her.  You can raise your voice and show her who the real man is, and tell her once and for all to stop bothering you.  If that doesn't work, I strongly suggest leaving your town for good and starting a new life.  I hope these suggestions are of help you you.

     #4:  What I think of watching the movie in class so far is that it seems a lot more interesting than the book.  I can also understand what is going on better with the characters actually talking.  I understand more about Bottom is like because he sounds louder and more abnoxious than I pictured him.  I also understood how Lysander acted.  I didn't think he was as harsh as he was in the movie.  I pictured him to be a smart-alec.  I noticed that the costume design was more modern than I thought it would be.  I pictured the people to be dressed more like a king or queen with shiny robes.  I also pictured it to be more like the Middle Ages.  The movie is definitely easier to understand than the book because before I didn't have a good visual picture of what was going on.

Wordle: bulk     #3:  I showed the charactistics of Lysander.

 

     #2:  What is funny about the actors in Act 1, Scene 2?  The actors are funny because some use humor that is the opposite of what they mean.  Especially Bottom, because he says at one point that he will speak in a monstrous little voice.  Another example is when he says "What beard were I best to play in?" He also said that he wants to be a tyrant instead of a lover.  The last example is when he says "Take pains; be perfect."  Bottom is mostly funny but I can tell that he doesn't like his role in the play, and he is kind of mean about it.  A lot of what he says are oxymorons that mean the opposite of what he says.

     #1:  I think that Hermia and her father Egeus have a bad relationship because he wont let her marry the person who she likes, which is Lysander.  He will only accept Demetrius.  In the book, Egeus says that Lysander has bewitche'd the bosom of his child by giving her rhymes, and interchanging love-tokeus with her.  Egeus is a stubborn guy who treats his daughter very badly.  Another example of how Egeus has a bad relationship with Hermia is that he says that as she is mine, I may dispose of her which shall be to Demetrius or to her death.  My last example is that Egeus gives her the options of death, marrying Demetrius, or becoming a nun.  Those are pretty bad options in my opinion.

 

New Book- The Last Best League by Jim Collins

 

5/12/09 page 230-246

#37:  Final Opinion- Since I'm almost done, I can easily say that this was a terrific book.  It showed me what it was like for 20-year-old college players to work extremely hard and have a chance of entering the MLB draft if they were lucky.  The Cape Cod League is the premier league for young players to get looked at by professional scouts and to get drafted.  Although coach Schiffner's Chatnam A's team had a poor season, and started off badly, they still fought to the very end.  They usually just came up short with some replacement guy failing to get the last run in.  Another thing, they had so many injuries during that season, that coach Schiffner had to end up bringing in replacements for replacements.  Overall, it was an excellent novel with lots of dreams from real kids being fufilled.  I especially liked that this book was honest, and honored some of the heroes from the past. (Ted Williams was one of them.)

 

5/11/09 page 216-230

#36:  The setting started off with Jamie D'Antona and his uncle going out on the Cape Cod waters to catch some fish.  They had a fun time together, and the five hours they spent with each other went by fast.  It is almost the end of the season now, with the days starting to get shorter.  At 7 o'clock the sky started turning red and dark, signaling the summer's end.  There was a party thrown at Mimi's house (the house where Jamie and a few other guys stayed) and Jamie was disappointed because he didn't want to go back to Wake Forest yet.  The game against Brewster that evening took place on the worst field in the entire league.  The grass had patches, and the pitcher's mound was uneven but the A's won in extra innings 6-5.

 

5/08/09 page 204-216

#35:  Why have the A's caught fire during the last 7 games of the season?  Jamie D'Antona is finally starting to play at his best.  He is the type of player to carry a team on his back.  Why has his defense improved so much?  Maybe because his back doesn't hurt him as much because he got an easier job.  I wonder why in August it is so ridicously hot compared to the other summer months?  The players are probably just tired of grinding out the long season.  Why is the schedule so tough and brutal with 6 games every week?  Probably because the players that go pro will have a better understanding of what a long major league season is like.

 

5/07/09 page 192-204

#34:  My earlier future prediction about the A's going to the championship game was wrong.  They cannot finish the season above .500 and are too many games out of the last playoff spot.  But not all is gloomy for the A's.  A couple of them were invited to Fenway Park for a tryout.  The setting there at Fenway had the greenest grass as said by the players.  They also got lost on their way up there.  They battled through heavy traffic, crossed a few bridges, and were a few minutes late.  The players also thought the park looked kind of dingy and old.  But what do you expect from a ballpark that has been standing for over 100 years.

 

5/03/09 page 180-192

#33:  Why did Hindman sign his pro contract the day before he was about to pitch for the A's?  It made coach Schiffner really mad, because once you become a pro you can't play on the Cape any longer.  Why was there only two Chatman players selected to the East/West all-star game?  Probably because D'Antona got snubbed, and that Chatman didn't have a good season.  Why were Stauffer's parents so nervous at the all-star game while Tim was relaxed?  They knew that this game would determine a lot about how much money he would get on his pro contract.  Why was Tim voted mvp when he only pitched one inning?  I don't know but that surprised me.

 

4/29/09 page 168-180

#32:  Scott Hindman is a pitcher that showed up on the A's team during the middle of the season.  He already has what most of the other guys don't have, a major league team trying to sign him.  It is the Angels.  They keep wanting to sign him before the end of the summer, so he doesn't return to Princeton for his senior year.  Hindman is a goofball, just like most of the other pitchers.  He blew out his arm during his freshman year of college, and had Tommy John surgery to repair it.  He didn't pitch until his junior year, and has done a lot of rehabbing and strength training.  He bulked up and added 30 lbs of muscle.  He probably likes weightlifting as much as I do.

 

4/26/09 page 156-168

#31:  Why does Jamie D'Antona put himself through working a full day, playing a game, and drinking at night?  He hardly ever relaxes, but has been doing a little bit better since his parents came to the Cape.  Scott Hindman, one of the A's pitchers, is getting looked at by the Angels.  I wonder why he thinks he is worth more money than he actually is?  He went to Princeton and had a 3.5 GPA and thinks that he is smarter than the scouts.  Why has his arm been bothering him the past 4 years?  How does he throw 95 miles per hour if he is in pain?  Will he make it to the big leagues or have to give it up because of arm problems?

 

4/22/09 page 144-156

#30:  Joe D'Antona is a character that I have learned a lot about recently in the last 20 pages of my book.  He is Jamie's dad, and is obsessed about baseball the way Jamie is.  He had cancer a couple of years ago, but went for chemo and radiation treatments that got rid of it.  He has gained his weight back and his hair.  He always shouts at Jamie and tells him what to do when he is batting, but Jamie doesn't mind.  He is the type of parent that usually gets on the coaches nerves.  One particular time he went on the field and gave Jamie soft toss.  Coach Schiffner saw this and was ticked off about it.

 

4/18/09 page 132-144

#29:  Jamie D'Antona is unusual in the way that he doesn't take care of his body like the other players.  He cares more about working his day job than working out and exercising.  He has a thick neck and broad shoulders.  But he is pudgey and kind of fat, and some scouts say that he has a "bad" body.  At his Wake Forest program, the head coach didn't make them do weight training or much running, but concentrated more on actual game stuff.  He loves to hit though.  He was a powerhouse at Wake Forest and hit lots of home runs.  But on the Cape it is a lot different for him.  He had tried a banned substance the year before, but had stopped uding it within three weeks. 

 

4/17/09 page 120-132

#28:  I wonder how the A's managed to blow a 4-1 lead in the eighth inning and lose 6-4 to the Orleans team on July 4th?  Schiffner's teams always win on July 4th.  They are now on a seven game losing streak and not carrying any momentum.  They put in their ace closer but I wonder why he blew such a big lead?  Schiffner gave his team some speeches about Ted Williams and Joe Dimaggio to maybe inspire them.  I wonder if it actually inspired them?  They all seemed really down in the dumps after that intense loss.  I wonder if this team is mentally tough enough to rebound from this game and start winning again?

 

4/12/09 page 108-120

#27:  The setting now includes the Fourth of July parade with over 20,000 fans watching the Chatman A's players.  They are throwing styrofoam baseballs at people, but mainly trying to throw them at the hot women.  They write their phone numbers on them and hope to get lucky.  There is a game played later that day with a massive capacity crowd watching, all wearing red, white, and blue.  This is the first time the players realize how popular they are around town.  They are all excited!  Usually Schiffner's teams get red hot after the fourth of July, and this team isn't going to be any different.

 

4/10/09 page 96-108

#26:  I wonder why Pauly didn't seem to car when he was pitching in the game?  Why did he grin after making that error to first base?  I think he doesn't care if the team does good or not.  The coaches didn't even pull him out of the game after he gave up 6 runs.  Why does Tim Stauffer run by himself and not talk to anyone?  He is the ace of the pitching staff and coach Schiffner thinks he will probably quit the team later in the summer.  I wonder why coach Schiffner said that he wouldn't blame him if he quit?  The Chatnam A's always do fair in the beginning of the season and hit their stride after July 4th.  I wonder why?

 

#25- Did Not Do.

 

4/01/09 page 84-96

#24:  Craig Morton has turned into the second-best hitter in the lineup next to Jamie D'Antona.  I learned a lot about him, including that he is really big and strong.  He is also a Christian and draws a cross in the dirt behind home plate before every game, and loves his mom a lot.  He has helped the team rise to a 6-6-1 record with two monstrous home runs and a few singles and doubles over the past few games.  He likes to drive fast and listen to loud music, and cruises wildly on jet skis in Florida.  He guards the the area around the catcher's box with ferocity and plays the game hard.  He also has an insane trajectory on his swing!

 

3/29/09 page 72-84

#23:  Future Prediction- I think the 2002 Chatman A's are going all the way baby!  Yeah yeah!  The all powerful Jamie D'Antona has started crushing the ball again and Morton is hitting them even farther.  They have finally broken out of their slump and started to win a couple games.  But that doesn't mean they will keep it up though.  The scouts are starting to watch more and more games which might make the players nervous.  But I think they are bringing the title back to Chatman this year.  I also feel a nice long winning streak that will see maybe 10 games.  If they keep it up, they are going all the way!

 

3/28/09 page 60-72

#22:  Coach Schiffner has finally began to worry about his team after their slow start to the season.  I wonder why Jamie D'Antona has gotten off to such a slow start?  He has one homer and a low batting average.  Why does the Cape Cod League require wood bats instead of aluminum bats?  Probably because that is what they use in the big leagues and for professional scouts to evaluate the players better.  I wonder how the players are going to hit the rest of the season?  There is an overwhelming amount of good pitching in the league.

 

3/22/09 page 48-60

#21:  Why are there so many injuries on the team so early in the season?  A few guys have elbow injuries while one of the outfielders pulled a hamstring and a back muscle diving for a fly ball during the second game of the season.  How did Craig Morton, a guy who they didn't even mention at all, hit a mega-bomb home run?  Even the coach said, "Oh...my.....God!"  That was intense.  I wonder why Tim Shauffer, the best pitcher on the team, made fun of Pauly, a shy kid who is unsure of himself?  This team looks to have a lot of potential with all the powers that can rake the ball.  I wonder if this team is poised to make it all the way to the title game in late summer, and if any of the players will get drafted into the mlb?

 

3/20/09 page 36-48

#20:  One character I think is the most unique on the team is Jamie D'Antona.  He is one of those guys with a real cocky attitude but is probably the best player on the team.  He has blonde hair with a goatee.  He also drives a black Ford F-150 which is personally think that is super cool.  In his first at-bat he drives an outside fastball way over the right center field fence for a tape measure home run.  After that everyone congratulates him and one guy said that he had  retard strength which I thought was funny.

 

3/11/09 page 24-36

#19:  The setting takes place in Cape Cod, Massachuessets.  It is kind of like a peninsula with a beach all around it.  Most of the people ther are very rich and live in mansions with pools and tennis courts.  The field they play on, Veterans Field, is kind of scrubby and doesn't seem to fit in with the surroundings. But in midsummer the field attracts up to five thousand people that come to watch future big league players.  The year is 2002, and in 2001 the team had made it one game away from winning the Cape Cod Championship which puts greater expectations on the 2002 team.

Jamie D'Antona has played on all-star teams in Alaska, Germany, and up and down the east coast.

 

3/10/09 page 12-24

#18:  I wonder how the players on the Chatman A's will handle being on their own the entire summer?  I bet at least 2 of them get into some kind of trouble, especially Jamie D'Antona.  I wonder why the police department doesn't like the Cape Cod baseball league members?  Probably because they think they are punks, or are jealous of them.  I wonder how this league can somehow produce 1 in every 6 major leagers?  Jamie D'Antona seems good enough to make it to the majors, but I wonder why he got in trouble at his college a lot?  He seems to be the main character out of all the guys mentioned, and will probably make the biggest impact in the book.  I also wonder why everyone in Cape Cod is rich?  All the players have the good life living at the fancy homes with swimming pools and big yards.  I wonder how they will treat the host families?

 

3/05/09 page 1-12

#17:  This book shows the stories of a few different baseball players from some of the better college programs all over the country.  They are in a league called The Cape.  This league produces on average 1 in every 6 major league players.  They play on Veterans Field in Chatham, Massachusetts.  It looks like a medicore high school field, not what the players had expected.  For John Schiffner the summer of 2002 began at four o' clock on the eighth of June.  Its where he would meet his new players and welcome them to Cape Cod.  All the athletes were studs, and were also cocky and anxious.

Independent Novel

The Mick by Mickey Mantle

Indie reading log

3/03/09 page 248-260 FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!

#16:  Setting:  The setting at the end of the book has Mickey mostly being at home, or in Florida helping the Yankees as the hitting coach during spring training.  He wanted to work for a casino in Chicago, but when he applied for the job, he was banned from baseball. They lifted that ban later in the 1980's with the new commissioner.  He and his wife Merlyn took their son Billy to a hospital in Kansas numerous times because he developed cancer behind his ear that spread to his entire body.  He was given a 25% chance of living, but beat the odds and continued to live a happy life.  The story ends with him and Whitey making it to Cooperstown to be inducted into the hall of fame together.

 

3/01/09 page 236-248

#15:  I wonder how Mickey withstood the pain he felt in his legs every day he played?  He finally decided to retire in 1969 where he couldn't run or jog.  In 1970, he realized that he couldn't stay away from baseball, and became a coach for the Yankees.  I wonder why he didn't take coaching seriously?  He always played every game hard for 18 years, but coaching just wasn't for him.  I wonder why the Yankees kept getting worse from 1963-1968?  I also wonder why they got rid of most of their farm clubs?  They produced most of their superstars.

 

2/27/09 page 225-236

#14:  Since 1964, Mickey's knees and legs have been getting worse and worse and he is beginning to think of retiring.  The team is deteriorating rapidly, and their minor league farm teams keep diminishing.  On top of that, they fire Yogi after one season, which makes Mickey really upset.  They bring in a new manager to replace him, and he sets a curfew that makes everyone mad.  They go from first in the division to sixth, dead last.  Its clear that the Yankee dynasty is over.  The new manager made Mickey shag fly balls in the outfield for drinking and missing his curfew.

 

2/25/09 page 210-225

#13:  I wonder how all of a sudden Mickey is talking about how he has four kids in 1963?  He only explained about three of them.  I wonder why Mickey doesn't spend that much time with his kids?  In the offseason, he is quick to leave the house to play golf.  He was always excited to leave the house even though some of his best memories were with his boys, as he explains.  I wonder why Yogi decided to become manager of the Yankees after playing for 18 years?  If I were him, I would of been satisfied with 18 years and a hall of fame career.

 

2/22/09 page 195-210

#12:  In 1960 the Yamkees made it all the way to the World Series again, and faced the Pirates.  But Bill Mazeroski hit a walk off homer in the last game to win it all for the Pirates.  Roger Maris was blooming into a terrific ballplayer, leading the league in rbi's.  But in 1961, Mantle and Maris were on an insane homerun tear.  Together they hit 115 home runs.  It was destiny for one of them to break the single-season home run record of 60 set back in 1927 by Babe Ruth.  But Mickey developed a bad fever from a shot given to him which cause him to miss about 12 games at the end of the season.  He finished with 54, while Roger finished with 61.  Although fans were booing him because they didn't want him to break the record. 

 

2/19/09 page 180-195

#11:  I wonder why Mickey's shoulder keeps bothering him in 1959, a year or two after he injured it?  Probably because he never tries to miss a game, even if the pain is unbearable.  I also wonder how he played through his severe knee injury only six months after he nearly tore every ligament in his knee?  He is just one tough dude.  His dad was the same way, working in the mines even though he was starting to get cancer.  I wonder why Yankees owner George Weiss keeps trying to reduce his salary every season when he gives other veteran players a lot more money?  I wonder how many more years old Casey will still be able to manage the team?  He is 69 years old in 1959.

 

2/16/09 page 165-180

#10:  Billy is Mickey's best friend on the entire team.  When he was traded, he didn't speak to manager Casey for five years, because he was still sore at him.  But he came to his senses and realized that it was owner Weiss' fault.  When he began to hear that he was traded, he went into the bullpen to hide.  But he couldn't escape the fact that he was going to be traded to Kansa City.  Mickey and Whitey tried to console him because he was crying, but ended up breaking down crying also.  Billy was a terrific second baseman, but still played hard in Kansas City.  He hit a homer off Whitey the following season.

 

2/12/09 page 150-165

#9:  The setting of this book has a nes place where Mickey hangs out: Dallas, Texas.  Although he isn't there much of the time, he is a part-owner of a bowling alley there.  Bowling was going to become a hobby for a lot of people, and the business was on the rise.  Mickey also brought his family up to New York with him for the entire season.  Each summer they would move to another town, where no one knew them.  Once people figured out that he lived there, they were always pestering him and wanting his autograph.  Billy was traded to Kansas City during the 1957 season, and Mickey was hurt badly.  After all,  they had been best friends for the last 5 years.

 

2/11/09 page 135-150

#8:  Mickey had his best season of his entire career in 1956.  He won the Triple Crown, which is the league leader in home runs, runs batted in, and batting average.  He began to get a lot of endorsement deals and even did a pancake commercial.  He also hit some tape measure home runs too.  A few were over 500 feet!  He was also learning how to be a father, and he wasn't always a good one.  He still had alcohol problems, but they weren't as bad as the previous year.  His biggest financial investment was helping to open up a bowling alley in Dallas, Texas.  Before spring training in 1927, he went to GM George Weiss to double his contract from 32.5k to 65k.  But George didn't let that happen, so Mickey became really mad.

 

2/10/09 page 120-135

#7:  I like how the author of this book is telling the entire story.  I feel that I can truly understand every detail and situation he is going through.  Most recently, he is describing how they won the pennant in 1955, but lost the World Series to the Dodgers.  He pretty much talks like a normal person without much without much writing practice, and that is what I like most about this book.  Most authors use big words and complicating storylines that honestly make me want to rip up the book.  Another thing Mickey describes is how he starts to develop a drinking problem that probably took a couple years of his career.  His wife Merylin locks him out of the house and runs to her parents house.  Mickey breaks a window to get inside and cuts up his hand.

 

2/8/09 page 105-120

#6:  Mickey and his best friend on the team Billy Martin have been hanging out during the winter months hunting quail and ducks.  Billy has recently gotten divorced, and was drafted into the army during the 1954 season.  Mickey then got a new roommate by the name of Jerry Coleman, who had the exact opposite personality of Billy.  He was serious, dedicated, and was always in around nine or ten.  Mickey went on to hit a new career high in homeruns with 27 and knocked in over 100 runs for the first time in his career.  But he came into spring training with a limp because he twisted his knee playing basketball in the offseason.  He soon began to favor that knee because it had been operated on twice already.

 

2/5/09 page 90-105

#5:  The setting turns from Mickey being home in Oklahoma during the offseason, to being back in New York playing for the Yankees during the 1953 season.  At Yankee Stadium they are in the middle of a pennant race as usual.  But something really funny happens to Mickey and Billy.  They are off drinking the night before they head off to Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, and miss the train.  So they head to the airport the next morning to catch a plane, when the snow is too deep for any planes to fly off of.  So they take a cab for 500$ up to Pittsburgh and sneak into the clubhouse.  And manager Casey gets super mad at them.  But Mickey hits a 565 foot homer his first at bat.

 

2/3/09 page 75-90

#4:  Mickey played in the minors for a while, until he started ripping the cover off the ball.  He was quickly brought up to the majors again.  They won the pennant and went to the World Series.  Mickey played right field and Joe Dimaggio played center.  A long fly ball came off the bat of Willie Mays and Mickey went to go get it, and turned his cleat on the rubber drain in deep right-center field and went down.  He tore some ligaments and had a boring offseason trying to rehabilitate.  But he got worse news, his dad was diagnosed with cancer.  This wasn't a surprise to Mickey because he knew because his father was getting weak.  He eventually died in a Denver hospital alone.  When Mickey heard the news he was heart broken, and slammed his fist against the wall in the hotel he was staying in.  He did make it to the funeral though.

 

1/31/09 page 50-75

#3:  Mickey gets his call up to the majors after his class C season with Joplin.  He had a tremendous season, leading the team in runs scored, rbi's, batting average, and home runs.  His father was thrilled about the opportunity that Mickey had in front of him.  Next season he will be a New York Yankee!  When he gets to New York he is amazed by all the people and shops.  During his first game, he is extremely nervous.  He gets a hit up the middle and drives in a run in the sixth inning, but during April he is in a pretty big slump, without any homers.  But on May 1, he hits a tape measure shot about 450 feet.  But he still slumps for a little while longer, and is sent down to Triple AAA ball.

 

1/30/09 page 25-50

#2:  Mickey is now getting an offer to play class D ball in the Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri (KOM) league.  This is the first time that Mickey will be on his own, and he is nervous about it.  His father is really excited about him getting to live out the dream that he never had the chance to live out.  He didn't like it for the first couple of weeks, but later on he got into the flow of things and enjoyed himself.  He was hitting good, but his fielding at shortstop was way below average.  He actually threw the ball over the first baseman's head so much, that they put up a fence to protect the fans.  In the offseason he worked in the mines.  He played so good that they promoted him to play class C ball with Joplin.  He is getting closer to becoming a Yankee.

 

1/29/09 page 1-25

#1:  I have really enjoyed reading this book so far. I already know a lot about Mickey Mantle, but this book tells about his youth at the beginning.  Mickey grew up really poor in the northeast part of Oklahoma.  His father worked in the coal mines, and briefly as a farmer.  He gets focused on his dream of being a major league player when he is about 17 years old.  He was a pretty good football player too until he hurt his ankle his sophomore year of high school.   His father used to make him practice baseball every day when he came home from work, while he played amatuer ball on the weekends.  Mickey says that his dad was the best player he had ever seen, but he never got a shot at the big leagues.  He learned all that he knew about baseball from his father.