August 1964 – Anderson, South Carolina: He showed up on the hill overlooking the McCants Junior High football practice field. From a safe distance, he watched the team practice each afternoon. After a week, Coach Harold Jones invited the young man to attend practice....
1937 – Los Angeles, California: After his business went bankrupt and two marriages failed, Lionel Mayell swallowed his pride and moved back home with his mother. When he was a boy, she had often referred to him as “the little runt.” Disappointed in his looks and tiny...
Spring 1961 – Palm Springs, California: At the end of spring training camp the Los Angeles Angels baseball team cut him from the roster. Manager Fred Haney’s feedback was short, to the point, “You don’t have a big league arm.” They gave him a bus ticket back to...
Early May 1984, Dodger Stadium – Los Angeles, California: Venerable Los Angeles Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda summoned 25-year-old rookie relief pitcher Orel Hershiser to his office after the game. With his red face inches from Hershiser’s face, Lasorda yelled,...
November 1996 – Ann Arbor, Michigan: Tom called his mother in California. He was ready to quit the University of Michigan football team. He had been seventh on the quarterback depth chart as a freshman and received a red-shirt. Now his sophomore season had been a big...
September 7, 1892, 9:00 p.m. – New Orleans, Louisiana: On a hot, sultry night in New Orleans more than 10,000 men, and a few women, crowded into the recently electrically illuminated Olympic Club to watch the Heavy Weight Boxing Championship. Tickets to the match...