Don Strock’s 17 years in the NFL place him in the top-10 list of longevity for a quarterback. During that career he has witnessed and encountered just about everything that is a part of professional football. In Behind the Lines he talks about it all from his unique point of view.

"Behind the Lines is a riveting read. There’s so much inside stuff here -- coaches, players and fans." DAN MARINO

"This is an honest, frank look inside the world of pro football. You won’t put Behind the Lines down." LARRY KING

"Riveting reading. There’s so much inside stuff here. If you want a book that will tell you things about football that you never knew, Behind the Lines is for you." DAN MARINO

"Filled with all the anecdotes one would expect of ribaldry, camaraderie, professional jealousies, games won and lost. Strock also offers intelligent, informed opinions on such topics as instant replay, labor relations, steroid abuse, and female reporters in the locker room." BOOKLIST

"Innumerable insights, anecdotes, and inside angles all of which will be of great interest to the passionate football fan." LIBRARY JOURNAL

HOLZMAN ON HOOPS (Taylor Publishing 1991)

A follow-up to Red on Red in which Holzman offers anecdotes from his life in basketball, from the early years to the present.

The man who led the Knicks through two World Championships tells it like it was. Funny stories, behind-the-scenes details, fascinating statistics, challenging quizzes, intimate portraits of greats like Wilt Chamberlain, Walt Frazier and Julius Erving, and a liberal helping of hoops history - you name it, it's here.

RUNNING TOUGH (Doubleday 1989)

Offers a detailed inside look at the NFL and its most colorful players, including a no-holds-barred look at "America's Team, " the Dallas Cowboys. Dorsett also covers drug and steroid use among players, media stereotyping, the excesses of college recruiting, and his controversial trade to the Denver Broncos.

"Tony Dorsett, the No. 2 rusher in NFL history, says he faced racism every day when he played for the Dallas Cowboys and that America's Team was cliquish and racially polarized.

In excerpts from his book, ''Running Tough,'' which appear in the Aug. 19 issue of TV Guide, Dorsett said Dallas fans in 1977 wanted to see black football players kept in ''their place.''

''It was the first time in my life that I was exposed, on a daily basis, to the Southern drawl, the slow pace of life, the conservatism and the overt racism,'' the running back said in the book he wrote with Harvey Frommer. Dorsett, now a running back for the Denver Broncos, suffered a career-threatening knee injury Aug. 3.

''In Dallas, in the late 1970s, white people didn't seem to have a problem calling you a nigger to your face,'' he said. ''It wasn't that I hadn't been exposed to racial prejudice before, but where I came from (Pennsylvania), if they took a chance and called you nigger, they'd be 50 yards away and running.''

Dorsett got into some celebrated scraps in Dallas. During his first week with the team in 1977 he was charged with two counts of simple assault after what he said was a racially charged fracas at a disco.

The charges were later dropped but Dorsett said memories linger of that incident and others.

''As a young black guy in a fancy car around Dallas, I was stopped by the police more times than I care to remember,'' said the former Heisman Trophy winner from Pitt. ''I'd be in an elevator with a bunch of white people, and they'd move away from me and give me hostile looks.''

He said former quarterback Roger Staubach was ''one of the few people who truly seemed to understand what it was like for me then.''

Dorsett said the Cowboys were racially divided and the team's medical staff was not always honest with him. He said the trainers once told him his ribs were bruised, when he later found they were broken.

''Another problem on the Cowboys was cliques,'' he said. ''There was a lack of intermingling between black and white guys on the Cowboys. It was strange for me to see it. All through high school and at the University of Pittsburgh, all the black and white guys hung around together. We partied like friends. We liked each other.''

Dorsett said he held out for 21 days before signing for the 1985 season after learning Randy White and ''a bunch of other white guys were being set up for many years to come by the Cowboys.

''They were getting their after-football lives taken care of by new contracts with package deals that contained annuities. I felt that was treatment I was also entitled to, and I was determined to get it.''

He eventually settled on a ''20-year annuity worth $6 million and some other good things." United Press International, Tony Dorsett says racism marred Cowboy days, August 14, 1989

"America's Team was one wrought with racial problems and race-oriented cliques in the late 1970s, former Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett says in his new book.

"It was the first time in my life that I was exposed, on a daily basis, to the Southern drawl, the slow pace of life, the conservatism, and the overt racism," Dorsett said in the book, "Running Tough," which he wrote with Harvey Frommer.

Excerpts from the book are to appear in the Aug. 19 issue of TV Guide. Dorsett, the National Football League's No. 2 career rusher, is currently rehabilitating a knee injury suffered in the Denver Broncos' training camp.

In the book, Dorsett said Dallas fans in 1977 wanted to see black football players kept in "their place."

"In Dallas, in the late 1970s, white people didn't seem to have a problem calling you names to your face," he said. "It wasn't that I hadn't been exposed to racial prejudice before, but where I came from, if they took a chance and called you names, they'd be 50 yards away and running."

Dorsett, a native of western Pennsylvania, said former quarterback Roger Staubach was "one of the few people who truly seemed to understand what it was like for me then." Bergen Record, DORSETT: PAST COWBOYS TEAMS FULL OF RACISM, August 15, 1989

EXCERPT: RUNNING TOUGH
 
"Dorsett on the Cowboys: 'It Was Not a Free Atmosphere'"

There were a lot of people who came through Dallas in my time there who were afraid of Tom Landry.

The winning record, the aura he had about him, those things made him into a living legend. He was a strict disciplinarian, and he could be intimidating.

His lack of warmth also kept people away. Once we were both in a hurry to get out of Washington and back to Dallas, and we shared a limo going to the airport. He wouldn't do any talking. Then, at the airport while we were waiting to get on the plane, I tried to engage him in conversation. Nothing much happened. His mind was on other things, not on talking. When we got on the plane, I tried once again to talk with him, but he didn't talk back. The most I got back from him were short, straight-to-the-point answers. There was no small talk. So I finally just gave up and went to sleep. There were times when Tom could make you feel great. And there were other times when he would make you think you were nothing. Tom was capable of little verbal jabs, coldness, long looks at you. There was never any swearing on his part, no four-letter words. It was all controlled.

Tom's way with words, his bearing, carried a mystique all its own. There were all kinds of stories associated with it. One that I heard a few times concerned a rainy morning Tom drove to the team practice field. When Tom pulled over to his reserved parking space, he saw it was occupied by a car owned by a rookie linebacker, Steve Kiner. Soaking wet but controlled, Tom walked into our locker room. He looked Kiner in the eye. "I admire a man with courage," Tom said.

Walt Garrison was asked once if Tom Landry ever smiled. "How the hell should I know?" Walt answered. "I only played for Dallas nine years."

Punctuality was one of Tom Landry's big things. There was never any give and take at all as far as lateness was concerned; no one ever got the benefit of the doubt. If there was a rainstorm or a snowstorm or some problem with traffic -- that didn't matter. If you didn't get to a meeting on time, you'd get fined, regardless of your reason. The next time you were late the fine doubled, then tripled, then quadrupled. Flexibility, human consideration, were never part of the deal.

In my second season with the team I experienced that inflexibility first-hand. My mom and dad had come down to Dallas to watch me play in a game scheduled against the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 21, 1978. We had a Saturday practice and I overslept.

"Don't you think you ought to call someone?" my dad asked. "Won't you get into trouble?"

"I don't have anyone to call," I told him. "It's no big deal anyway. It's just a Saturday practice, a little dress rehearsal. We don't do anything much but walk through things."

The next day I got to the stadium and was told that Coach Landry wanted to see me.

"What happened yesterday?" he asked.

"I overslept. Sorry about that."

"That's too bad," he said. "You're not going to start this game and you probably won't even play."

"But, Coach," I protested, really taken aback. "I have to play. My family has come down here. They've come thousands of miles to see me play. This is what my life is all about, my family." Tom just looked at me.

"You won't play," he said softly.

I was so angry. My eyes filled with water. I was hurt real bad. That was Tom and the total control he had. There was no way you could go over his head to (Cowboys President) Tex Schramm or anybody else. Tom Landry ran that team, period.

I'll never forget that incident. It showed me just how unfeeling Tom Landry could be.

A kind of fetish about punctuality was part of Tom's atmosphere of control, and some silly rules and regulations were also part of the picture. There was a strict rule that no one could wear a baseball cap at meetings. It wasn't like we were sitting in some auditorium where everyone was dressed in black tie. But if guys came to meetings with caps on their heads and didn't take them off, they'd get fined. That was ridiculous. Wearing a cap doesn't stop anybody from concentrating.

The control mentality of the Dallas system was everywhere. On the road Dallas management would treat us like boys by putting security on the floors of the hotels that we stayed in. No one was allowed on the floor to visit you -- they couldn't even get up to one of those floors. If your mother wanted to visit you, she wasn't allowed up. Players had to go down to the lobby to visit with any friend or relative who came calling. Man, that was always an uncomfortable situation, being in the lobby with all those people, those fans, just hanging around. Guys complained, but it was just another example of the Cowboy way of life. It was not a free atmosphere.

Dan Reeves, my present coach [in Denver], is the kind of coach you respect and want to work hard for. He's dedicated to winning, but at the same time he tells jokes and treats players like men. It seems funny that Landry was the teacher and Reeves was his student. But lately the student had more success.

One of the ways Dan is a lot different from Tom Landry as a coach is that he gives his players much more freedom. At the training camp it is possible to leave on weekends or even during the week and drive back into the city. Your family is allowed to come up to the training camp and eat dinner with you and spend a night there. Beer is served on Wednesday nights. All of these things break the monotony, the grueling routine of an NFL training camp. All the players appreciate things like that.

Even so I still consider Tom Landry the best football mind around. You had to respect the man as far as preparing a team for a game was concerned. He covered everything. Tom had such a feel for the game that he could predict what would happen out on the field all the time.

With the Dallas Cowboys on a downslide there were all of these attacks on Tom Landry and what he'd done with the team. I still think he's a great coach. His record speaks for itself -- all the things he's accomplished. But in the center of his ways he hadn't changed in years. If he had changed it would have helped the Cowboys.

When everybody else is changing, you have to change too if you want to still be up with the best. You have to change, go with the flow, or else you get lost in the shuffle.

When Buddy Ryan was with Chicago and brought in what he called the Bear defense -- that was a change. Everybody's been changing throughout the league. But you haven't seen Dallas changing that much. All over the NFL teams started developing big offensive lines. The Cowboys, previously the innovators, in this case were the followers. It took the Cowboys and Tom Landry a few years before they started to do what others had already done.

People asked, "What had Tom Landry brought to football lately?" Sure, years back he brought in the multiple offense, the shotgun, and back in my rookie year he would put a back or a tight end in motion and trap a man over center. That was a good innovation and worked well. But when people asked what Tom Landry had done lately, it was a legitimate question.

Tom Landry had been in Dallas for 29 years and was one of the most visible personalities in the National Football League. He was almost like a permanent fixture. At least we thought he was. It seemed to everyone that Tom would never be fired, would never be dealt with the way he was. But I guess his dismissal just goes to show that no one is really secure in this business. Those are just the hard and cold facts about it. Anyone can be fired.

I've seen a lot of players treated the way Tom was -- without any warning, without any respect. But you just felt that would never happen to Tom because he was a class guy who meant so much to the National Football League for so many years. But it happened.

I wish Tom nothing but the best. I had my disputes and misunderstandings with him, but I've always admired him.

I felt for Tom Landry, the way things ended, and I hope one day our paths will cross again.

From the book "Running Tough: Memoirs of a Football Maverick" By Tony Dorsett and Harvey Frommer. Copyright 1989 by Tony Dorsett and Harvey Frommer. To be published by Doubleday in October, 1989. LOS ANGELES TIMES SYNDICATE

 

Primitive Baseball (Atheneum l988)

"Frommer has loaded his book like a corked bat with baseball history." PLAYBOY

"Fascinating." PHILADELPHIA NEWS

"Lots of interesting details." COURIER-GAZETTE (Rockland, ME)

"A brisk tour of the origins of America's most popular sport." MILWAUKEE JOURNAL

"Captures the spirit of the game." PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY

"A trivia buff's delight and a baseball fan's treat." YANKEES MAGAZINE

"Interesting perspective on a by-gone era." SPORTS BOOK DIGEST

"Chronicle of baseball in its first quarter century, plus profiles of its first stars." DALLAS MORNING NEWS

"Entertaining history...an impressive collection." SACRAMENTO BEE

"Handy reference that belongs in the fan's library." AUSTIN-AMERICAN STATESMAN

"Jammed with arcane information covering the game's roots, early corporate history, principal players, teams and parks. " KIRKUS

150th ANNIVERSARY ALBUM OF BASEBALL (Franklin Watts 1988)

Baseball has been America’s game for over 15 decades. It is a sport played and watched by millions around the world throughout their lives. Baseball is Opening Day and the seventh game of the World Series, the man in blue – the umpire, and the seventh inning stretch. It is heroes and marker moments and history waiting to be made. Acclaimed sports historian Harvey Frommer has a handle on all of this in this words and pictures book.

Baseball's Greatest Managers (Franklin Watts l985)

"Leo ('The Lip') Durocher, Wilbert ('Uncle Robbie') Robinson, and John('Little Napoleon') McGraw are among the 21 managers singled out by Frommer as the best of all time. . . . {Using} anecdotes and interviews, Frommer explores their lives and careers." LIBRARY JOURNAL

"Prolific sports author Harvey Frommer offers this gem of a book for all baseball history and trivia buffs and plain old fans of all ages. . . . Never dry or superficial, this book is full of personal anecdotes and quotes that give insight into the lives of the men who walk the professional tightrope between genius and scapegoat." VOICE of YOUTH ADVOCATES

"An excellent, enjoyable study." RED BARBER

"The manager of a major league baseball team cannot, as a rule, run, hit or field. Most prominent managers were, in fact, some of the worst players in major league history. Walter Alston, for instance, came to bat once in the major leagues and struck out. Nonetheless, Harvey Frommer builds a case for the claim that a manager's handling of player talent and game strategy does indeed win or lose ball games.

In 1901, Pittsburgh manager Fred Clarke replaced popular shortstop Fred Ely (who complained of a pain in his finger) with a young outfielder named Honus Wagner. The converted outfielder went on to win eight batting titles and set numerous fielding records at shortstop -- while becoming the catalyst for three consecutive pennant winners. In 1929, Philadelphia manager Connie Mack surprised everyone by selecting 35-year-old journeyman Howard Ehmke, who had appeared in only 11 games all season, to open the World Series against the Cubs. Ehmke responded with a 13-strikeout, complete-game victory.

In 1949, New York Giant manager Leo Durocher traded four players to get the young double-play tandem of Eddie Stanky and Alvin Dark, key players on the Giant's 1951 championship team. A rookie center fielder on that same 1951 team asked Durocher to be returned to the minors after a slow start, but Durocher told Willie Mays: "You're my center fielder and that's all there is to that." Frommer makes it clear that the best managers consistently put themselves in a position to win.

Frommer's list of 21 pilots includes managers from every era of the game -- from Cap Anson to Dick Williams (who has fielded titlists with the Red Sox, Athletics, Expos and Padres). Frommer chooses not to list some very successful managers such as Sparky Anderson and Tommy Lasorda in order to include some fine managers burdened with bad personnel for most of their careers -- such as Connie Mack, Wilbert Robinson and Bucky Harris. Ironically, some of the best managers have lost their jobs for failing to do the one thing that a manager cannot do -- win the game between the foul lines.

Although baseball has reigned as perhaps the quintessential American sport for more than 100 years, Frommer notes that the art and skill of managing baseball teams remains poorly understood and undervalued -- even by the baseball establishment. Such successful managers as Williams, Bill McKechnie and Casey Stengel had to move from team to team in their careers. Former and now current Yankee manager Billy Martin has returned to the helm of George Steinbrenner's ballclub for the fourth time; Martin has been fired seven times in his managerial career, a testimonial of sorts. Frommer's book, a treasure-trove of managerial lore, entertainingly focuses long-overdue attention on the greatest managers and is a welcome addition to baseball literature." LOS ANGELES TIMES

"A fine book and a valuable addition to baseball literature which we will make frequent use of." BASEBALL HALL OF FAME

"Rich collection, a fascinating study." JOE GERGEN, NEWSDAY

"One of the most prolific and energetic baseball authors offers many insights into managers. I enjoyed the book immensely." MILTON RICHMAN, UNITED PRESS

"Interesting addition to baseball lore." LIBRARY JOURNAL

"A good balance between old-timers & contemporaries." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"An absorbing look." BANNER, NASHVILLE, TN

"One of the great baseball books." DAILY NEWS, BOWLING GREEN, KY

"Solid, historical consistency throughout." PITTSBURGH PRESS

"Quick reading. An enjoyable trot through baseball's colorful past." TUSCON STAR

"A perceptive collection full of reading pleasure." YANKEES MAGAZINE

"Baseball as history." DAILY PRESS, NEWPORT NEWS, VA

"Certain to entertain baseball fans." ASBURY PARK (NJ) PRESS

"One of the most prolific and energetic baseball authors offers many insights into managers. I enjoyed the book immensely." MILTON RICHMAN, UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

"The manager of a major league baseball team cannot, as a rule, run, hit or field. Most prominent managers were, in fact, some of the worst players in major league history. Walter Alston, for instance, came to bat once in the major leagues and struck out. Nonetheless, Harvey Frommer builds a case for the claim that a manager's handling of player talent and game strategy does indeed win or lose ball games.

In 1901, Pittsburgh manager Fred Clarke replaced popular shortstop Fred Ely (who complained of a pain in his finger) with a young outfielder named Honus Wagner. The converted outfielder went on to win eight batting titles and set numerous fielding records at shortstop -- while becoming the catalyst for three consecutive pennant winners. In 1929, Philadelphia manager Connie Mack surprised everyone by selecting 35-year-old journeyman Howard Ehmke, who had appeared in only 11 games all season, to open the World Series against the Cubs. Ehmke responded with a 13-strikeout, complete-game victory.

In 1949, New York Giant manager Leo Durocher traded four players to get the young double-play tandem of Eddie Stanky and Alvin Dark, key players on the Giant's 1951 championship team. A rookie center fielder on that same 1951 team asked Durocher to be returned to the minors after a slow start, but Durocher told Willie Mays: "You're my center fielder and that's all there is to that." Frommer makes it clear that the best managers consistently put themselves in a position to win.

Frommer's list of 21 pilots includes managers from every era of the game -- from Cap Anson to Dick Williams (who has fielded titlists with the Red Sox, Athletics, Expos and Padres). Frommer chooses not to list some very successful managers such as Sparky Anderson and Tommy Lasorda in order to include some fine managers burdened with bad personnel for most of their careers -- such as Connie Mack, Wilbert Robinson and Bucky Harris. Ironically, some of the best managers have lost their jobs for failing to do the one thing that a manager cannot do -- win the game between the foul lines.

Although baseball has reigned as perhaps the quintessential American sport for more than 100 years, Frommer notes that the art and skill of managing baseball teams remains poorly understood and undervalued -- even by the baseball establishment. Such successful managers as Williams, Bill McKechnie and Casey Stengel had to move from team to team in their careers. Former and now current Yankee manager Billy Martin has returned to the helm of George Steinbrenner's ballclub for the fourth time; Martin has been fired seven times in his managerial career, a testimonial of sorts. Frommer's book, a treasure-trove of managerial lore, entertainingly focuses long-overdue attention on the greatest managers and is a welcome addition to baseball literature." Blume is a frequent contributer to The LOS ANGELES TIMES

This is much more than a collection of statistics. Popular baseball author Harvey Frommer re-creates the legendary statistical achievements in the game’s history, using contemporary accounts of the events, historical perspectives on their durability and interviews with the record setters themselves.

"…is a book that will be read and enjoyed over and over again." MCCORMICK MESSENGER

"Frommer is at it again. The popular baseball has come up with his fifth book on the sport and it is a dandy. Above all, it offers another chance to relive some of the magic moments of baseball and meet again many of the heroes of the game." CHATANOOGA TIMES, October 12, 1987

Rickey and Robinson: the Men Who broke Baseball's Color Line (Macmillan l982)

National Baseball Hall of Fame, Selected Bibliography: Rickey and Robinson

"My great respect, gratitude and warmth for your scholarly work and to preserving the legacy of my dear husband." RACHEL ROBINSON

"A vivid account of the two as genuine American heroes." WASHINGTON POST

"Touching." NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"One of the best...brutally honest with no punches pulled." AMSTERDAM NEWS

"A fine and sympathetic biography." LIBRARY JOURNAL

"A worthy effort." MILWAUKEE JOURNAL

"Interesting, exciting book." JERSEY JOURNAL

"Thorough research, a vivid account." CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"Covers all the bases, briskly paced." SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER-CHRONICLE

"Frommer's analysis of Rickey's motives sets book apart...raises all the right questions in interesting ways." BOOKLIST

"An unusual and deeply moving book." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"Whether you lived the period or merely heard about it, you'll enjoy it even more if you read Frommer's book." ST LOUIS POST DISPATCH

"A celebration, a nostalgic account." EBONY

"What makes the book worth the price of admission is how he integrated the two lives of the principals." TOLEDO BLADE

"Pleasant, upbeat look at this unusual pair-up." KIRKUS

dailybruin.ucla.edu, isbn.nu

Baseball’s Greatest Rivalry (Atheneum l982, l984)

Sports Lingo (Atheneum l980, l983)

"A marvelous piece of work." RED BARBER

"An alphabetically arranged assemblage just right for fans of all sports." BOOKLIST

"A handy reference work" LOS ANGELES TIMES

"An excellent reference source and comprehensive collection." UNITED PRESS

"One of those volumes to place in a handy pile, open for a browse. Part of the fun is the exploring and discovering." MONTREAL STAR

"Complete, informative." KLIATT

"An organized dictionary for those who know a lot about sports and for those who wish to know more." EL PASO REVIEWS

"Makes the meaning of the terms clear to non-experts. Very enlightening." SCHENECTADY GAZETTE

"Organized, handy and informative." KFAC, Los Angeles

''Putting mustard on it'' and ''plum ball'' are not just gustatory descriptions; they also apply to the world of sports. The first deals with a baseball pitcher who is throwing hard, the other is a racquetball term for a cinch shot. Each is included in the recently published ''Sports Lingo: A Dictionary of the Language of Sports,'' compiled by Harvey Frommer. Browsing through it, one comes across a surprising number of terms borrowed from the dinner table.

Baseball leads all other sports, with such fare as this: Baltimore chop, beanball, can of corn (a lazy, high fly ball), cup of coffee (a very brief stay as a player in the major leagues), forkball, grapefruit league, jam the hitter, nightcap, pepper game and slab (the pitcher's rubber). And, of course, for home base it's plate, or dish.

In golf, a most wholesome sport, there are greens. In basketball, there's a dunk. In football, a ball carrier hit by defenders both fore and aft is said to be ''sandwiched;'' a poor kick is a ''shank,'' and there is a particular formation called a ''wishbone.''

One entire sport has the name of a food: squash. The most distasteful term of all comes from hockey. At certain moments, a defensive player will take it upon himself to eat the puck. It's a funny game." SCOUTING; Sporting Fare: Food for Thought By Ira Berkow in The New York Times March 25, 1983

"QUIZ

HEY, BATTER, BATTER

Who knew baseball and the food world had so much in common? Test your command of baseball lingo by matching up these baseball terms that also could allude to food.

-- 1. Baltimore chop

-- 2. Batter

-- 3. Bean

-- 4. Bunt

-- 5. Can of corn

-- 6. Cup of coffee

-- 7. Cut

-- 8. Dig in

-- 9. Drive in

-- 10. Forkball

-- 11. Grapefruit league

-- 12. Hot stove league

-- 13. Jam the hitter

-- 14. Nightcap

-- 15. Pepper game

-- 16. Rhubarb

-- 17. Slice the ball

-- 18. Whiff

A. Pregame warm-up action where a player taps the ball to teammates who field the ball and flip it back to him.

B. To tap, but not swing, at a ball to get it to roll just a bit onto the playing field.

C. The spring-training schedule of the major-league teams in Florida.

D. A hard-smashed ball near home plate that bounces high in the air and gives the runner a chance to beat the throw to first base.

E. A batter's swing.

F. To swing at a pitch and miss it. To strike out.

G. To strike a batter in the head with a pitched ball.

H. The act of a batter getting firmer footing in the batter's box by using the spikes on his shoes to loosen the ground. Metaphorically, a situation where a batter bears down in his concentration against a pitcher.

I. A lazy, high fly ball.

J. A ball thrown by a pitcher who grips it with his index and middle fingers spread apart; this pitch dips downward as it approaches the plate.

K. To pitch a ball close to a hitter so as not to allow him to extend his arms when he swings and to keep him off balance.

L. The player who is up at bat.

M. To bat a run in, to cause a run to score.

N. To hit the ball so that, for example, it veers left when batted by a left-handed hitter, or vice-versa.

O. Designation for wintertime baseball doings and gossip.

P. A very brief time as a player in the major leagues.

Q. The second game of a doubleheader.

R. A passionate difference of opinion that produces an extended argument on the playing field.

Answers: 1. D, 2. L, 3. G, 4. B, 5. I, 6. P, 7. E, 8. H, 9. M,

10. J, 11. C, 12. O, 13. K, 14. Q, 15. A, 16. R, 17. N, 18. F"

Source: "Sports Lingo: A Dictionary of the Language of Sports" by Harvey Frommer, (Atheneum, 1979, $9.95); ENRIQUE RODRIGUEZ/erodriguez@journalsentinel.com

Copyright 2002 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 16, 2002

THE GREAT AMERICAN SOCCER BOOK (Atheneum 1980)

A BASEBALL CENTURY: THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS THE NATIONAL LEAGUE (Macmillan 1976)