Bob Dolan has interviewed just about everybody who ever played pro sports in Cleveland. At least it seems that way sometimes, because Dolgan has reported on sports for The Plain Dealer in four decades, and has since 1997 written a very popular series of sports nostalgia stories for the paper.
This book collects Dolgan's best short profiles of the most interesting athletes--stars, bench-jockeys, and everyone in-between--who have played their game in Cleveland.
Dolgan recalls the on-field glory but looks beyond it, too, for the telling details that reveal the true character of the person behind the athlete. You'll find most of the big names here. But he also captures the stories of some extraordinary people who might otherwise be remembered only by a few statistics in a record book.
It takes all kinds to fill out the sports pages. Heroes, like Jim Brown and Rocky Colavito. Scamps, from Shoeless Joe Jackson to Albert Joey Belle. Good guys like Bernie Kosar and Mark Price. A few, like colorful spitballer Gaylord Perry, were a little bit of all three.