DON'T PARK AT THE STATEHOUSE!

Last night (June 28) I attended the Summer Movie Series at the Ohio Theater. As I have many times in the past when attending that magnificent place, I parked under the Statehouse. It was my first visit since the new parking payment system was installed. A quote from the Ohio Statehouse.org website:

'The Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board operates a parking system that dramatically improves the speed of exiting the parking garage. The automated Pay-on-Foot payment machines provide customers with a quick transaction speed.'

That is a blatant falsehood. I can't imagine how the CSRAB approved this asinine system. I was fortunate to be the third person in the payment station line. It only took five minutes for the first person in line to get his ticket, so I didn't have to wait that long. By the time I got to my car to leave, there were over two dozen people standing in the line.

And there was still a person standing at the exit gate, taking the ticket and putting it into the reader there.

I'm hoping that the lot under Columbus Commons isn't using this new system so that I can park there on future visits.

I can't imagine attending a CSO show and waiting with hundreds of other folks to use the machine. Yes, I know there are a few stations: but people will go to the one near their car.

My first hope is that CSRAB gets enough negative feedback that will result in a change in the system. My second is that, if the option of converting other lots to this inefficient and annoying system comes up, that a modicum of intelligence will prevail and that the CSRAB says "no."

Who in the world reviewed the system and thought, "Yes, having people stand out in line in a parking garage is much better than being queued up in the comfort of their own cars? Can't wait until it's cold outside....

Truly, inexplicable. I worked at the Riffe Tower during the renovation of the Statehouse. It's an amazing building. Too bad such inspired leadership didn't apply to the parking garage payment system.

On to share my thoughts on facebook and my blog. No need to reply to this email.

And while I detest this system, I still wish you a good weekend,

Forbes Field - A cathedral in Pittsburgh

Unlike with any other sport, baseball fans identify with their team and the game beyond their own personal experiences. The Dodggers left Brooklyn well over a dozen years before I began following them. But they are as much a part of my baseball fandom as Kirk Gibson's 1988 World Series home run, which I remember in minute detail. As much of a Steelers fan as I am, I don't identify with the 1945 squad. But I know all about Nap Rucker, who peaked in 1911.

Another example of this bond is the nostalgia for bygone ballparks. Football stadiums don't generate the same nostalgia and fondness as lost baseball parks. And on that note, my meandering path has a point. Today, in 1970, the Pittsburgh Pirates swept a double header from the Chicago Cubs (who still stink). It was the last day for baseball in Forbes Field.

The Steelers played their first 30 seasons at Forbes, but will always be the longtime home of the Pirates. Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss bought some land at a discount from his friend, Andrew Carenegie. Drefyuss was ridiculed because the area was a whopping TEN minute trolley ride from downtown Pittsburgh! Can you imagine?

Roberte Clemente running down a fly ball
in Forbes Field. The beauty of baseball

Opened in 1909, it was a marvel of the day. It was the first concrete and steel stadium, with three tiers. It was pretty much considered the finest baseball stadium in the majors upon its completion. The Pirates would play there until June 28 (See? Now this Note makes sense), 1970. They opened Forbes Field with a loss to the Cubs. They closed it with a victory of the Cubs after losing the opener of a double header.

Home plate was dug up and helicoptered over to shiny, new Three Rivers Park, where it was in place for the first game. A few elements of Forbes have been retained/recreated on the University of Pittsburgh campus, which now covers the area. And fans still gather annually at the site to celebrate Bill Mazeroski's World Series winning home run in 1960.

Forbes Field, a grand old dame, has not been forgotten in Pittsburgh.

Bob's Books - Brooklyn Dodgers: The Last Great Pennant Drive, 1957 by John Norden, Jr.

Brooklyn Dodgers: The Last Great Pennant Drive, 1957, is a Kindle ebook by John Nordell, Jr. The book is essentially a  look at the season's box scores, with a short summary of the various games. I am a devoted Dodgers fan and love reading about the Brooklyn years. But this book, quite simply, is dull. It reads like someone, well, summarizing box scores. Without any of the numbers that give box scores their magic.

There’s not really much else for me to add. It’s the first book about the Dodgers I’m certain I’ll never re-read. This is one of my shortest reviews ever, but I don’t have much  more to say. If you want a good book on the subject, give a look at The Last Good Season: Brooklyn, the Dodgers and Their Final Pennant Race Together by Michael Shapiro.

Bob's Books - In Nixon's Web by L Patrick Gray III with Ed Gray

In Nixon’s Web, by the late L. Patrick Gray III, with Ed Gray (his son), is another memoir by a Watergate Era figure. I hesitate to call Gray (all uses of that name will refer to the elder) a “participant,” as he was never convicted of any wrongdoing. Of course, neither was Nixon..

Many of the major figures in Watergate have written memoirs, including G. Gordon Liddy, John Dean, Jeb Magruder, Bob Haldeman, John Erlichman, Maurice Stans, Nixon himself, and quite a few others. And there are plenty of books by journalists, experts, hacks, et al. Gray has come off poorly in most accounts and set out to ‘set the record straight’ (the name of Judge John J. Sirica’s book on Watergate).

To summarize, Gray was a successful naval man, actually commanding a submarine. He went to work for Nixon, was on a successful path at the Department of Justice and was selected by the President as acting director of the FBI upon the death of J. Edgar Hoover in 1972. It did not turn out to be the career move that he hoped for.

Mark Felt (Deep Throat) played
an integral role in Gray's time
at the FBI

It’s no surprise to find that Gray was viewed as an outsider. Several inside the Bureau hoped to take over: especially Mark Felt. Gray relied heavily upon Felt and refused to believe White House accusations that the career FBI man was actually ‘Deep Throat,’ Woodward and Bernstein’s secret informant. In fact, Felt’s revelation that he was Deep Throat came only a few weeks before Gray’s death from pancreatic cancer. The book offers “proof” that Felt could not have been the source, which is worth looking at, but not conclusive.

I believe that Felt quite likely was providing information to Woodward, and that information that the reporter received from other sources was included under the Deep Throat moniker, in addition to Felt’s stuff. Which would address Gray’s objection.

Presidential Counsel John Dean gave two files to Gray, in front of John Erlichman in the latter’s office. The files were from E. Watergate burglar’s E. Howard Hunt’s White House office safe and Dean told Gray that they contained national security information, had nothing to do with Watergate and should “never see the light of day.” Gray kept them for several months and then burned them. He felt that he had been ordered to do so with the President’s tacit approval, via Erlichman’s presence.

Gray also provided FBI files on the Watergate investigation to Dean, which he felt obligated to do since the FBI was an executive office. Dean was “the desk manager” for the cover up. Uh oh.

Unlike many of the memoirs I’ve read, Gray comes across as a man of integrity. Like other Watergate figures, he was used and tossed aside by Nixon. He was under extreme fire during his Senate Confirmation hearings to become permanent FBI director. While being told to his face that the White House supported him, behind the scenes they were stabbing him in the back. Erlichman was speaking of Gray when he said, “Well, I think we ought to let him hang there. Let him twist slowly, slowly in the wind. “ In typical Nixon fashion, one of his people would be sacrificed for the White House’s own purposes.

Gray was an outsider at the FBI, dealing with the after-effects of Hoover’s reign of intimidation. And he was an outsider among Nixon’s Palace Guard, sacrificed for self-preservation. Both the Watergate Special Prosecution Force and the Department of Justice investigated Gray, but all charges were dropped and he was exonerated of any wrongdoing. But Gray’s legacy is tarnished by the accusations of John Dean and Woodward and Bernstein. He did destroy the Hunt files, which certainly appears naïve, if not an obstruction of justice. But I would believe Gray’s account of events before that of just about any other Watergate figure.

Bob's Books - Bums No More by Stewart Wolpin

Bums No More, by Stewart Wolpin, is about THAT season. In the first forty World Series’, the Brooklyn Dodgers were 0-2.  And they were bad for a lot of those seasons, usually finishing in the second division. Larry MacPhail moved into the front office and righted the ship, with the team losing the 1941 World Series. A fellow named Jackie Robinson joined the team in 1947 and the Glory Years of Brooklyn baseball were underway. Between 1947 and 1956, the Dodgers appeared in six World Series. All were against the cross-town Yankees, and all were losses. Except for one. As the beloved once-Bums annually came up short in the Fall Classic, Brooklynites cried out, “Wait ‘til next year!” 1955 was finally Next Year.

Johnny Podres won 136 games for Brooklyn and Los
Angeles, including game two on his birthday. But none
were bigger than his complete game outing in the finale.

Subtitled The Championship Season of 1955, this book recounts the year that Gil Hodges, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella, Johnny Podres, Robinson and the other Boys of Summer won that elusive World Series. The first chapter gives a primer on the Dodgers. The stage is set for spring training in Vero Beach and the magical season is under way. First and foremost, this relatively slim book (130 pages, counting the index) is jam packed with photographs. The surfeit of pictures alone makes this book worthwhile for the Brooklyn Dodgers fan.

Ebbets Field, Jackie Robinson watching the Giants celebration of Bobby Thomson’s ‘Shot Heard Round the World’ as Ralph Branca walks away, head hanging, Duke Snider leaping in center field, lots of clubhouse shots, Sandy Amaros’ catch, fans in line for tickets, parades, celebrations: there are over 100 illustrations (all black and white, of course). It is a treasure trove of Brooklyn and the Dodgers in their lone season as World Series champs. If you believe in the magical aura of baseball in the ‘old days’ before overpriced superstars, and you have a feeling for the bond between fans and their home town teams back then, the picture of Ebbets Field on Pee Wee Reese night will give you goose bumps.

After a LONG run, Sandy Amoros grabs what might be the most important
catch in World Series history. Manager Walter Alston had just inserted
Amoros into the game as a defensive replacement that inning.

The writing does not come up short, either. You get a look at Walter Alston’s relationship with the team (he and Jackie Robinson were not friends). And you sense the looming storm as the Dodgers receive permission to play seven games in Jersey City. Only two seasons after Johnny Podres records the last out in game seven, the team would be the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The book contains many comments and remembrances from Brooklyn fans, most notably, Larry King. You get a sense of what the Dodgers meant to community and how Brooklyn lived and died with ‘Dem Bums.’ It ends with borough president John Cashmore talking about a new stadium and saying, “The Dodgers must never leave Brooklyn.” Well, they did.
As a fan of Dodgers history, I really liked this look at the 1955 season.  It’s an easy read and doesn’t take very long. But it captures the relationship between Brooklyn and the Dodgers and gives a look at the year the heartbreak ended: For a little while, at least. And you absolutely cannot beat the photo library.

Here’s a link to the New York Times story on game seven. The first sentence sums it up well.

Quite possibly, there has never been a more joyous
moment on the baseball field

Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey

On June 13, 1973, Steve Garvey, Dave Lopes, Bill Russell and Ron Cey  took what would become their familiar positions across the Dodgers' infield. They would play together for eight and a half years; the longest of any infield in major league history.

Second baseman Lopes would be traded to the A’s before the 1982 season, with first baseman Garvey (free agent to the Padres) and third baseman  Cey (traded to the Cubs) heading out of town for 1983. Shortstop Russell played in LA for all eighteen seasons of his career and had a (short) stint as manager.

The Dodgers won four western division titles and national league pennants during this time, going 1-3 in the World Series, losing to the A's in 1974 and the Yankees in 1977 and 1978 (Reggie Jackson INTERFERED!). The unstoppable force that was Fernandomania resulted in a win over the hated Yankees in 1981.

Bob's Books - The Lords of Baseball by Harold Parrott

The Lords of Baseball is an insider’s look from Harold Parrott. Parrot was a sportswriter for the Brooklyn Eagle who became the travelling secretary for the Brooklyn Dodgers during Branch Rickey’s tenure. He moved to Los Angeles with the team and became the ticket manager: the same position he held with the San Diego Padres and Seattle Pilots, as well as promotions manager for the California Angels.

First off, there is some fascinating stuff. There are plenty of baseball books by players, managers and sports writers; even a few owners (hello, Bill Veek). Plus, the occasional tome from a baseball-side executive, like Parrot’s long time coworker, Buzzy Bavasi. But it’s rare to find an informative account from an operations person, like Parrott. Having said that, a caveat: Parrott is a bitter writer.

There is a caveat for this book: Parrot is a bitter man. His dislike of the owners, various and sundry individuals, and most certainly, Walter O’Malley, cannot be described as “thinly veiled.” It is palpable, jumping off of page after page. A description of O’Malley, when the owner was calling Parrot’s wife to try and get her to coax Parrott to take a promotion, sums it up well: “…he was the villain who had forced our dear Mr. Rickey to walk the plank.” It’s safe to say you’re not going to get a lot of unobjective commentary from the ex-reporter on that topic. Now, that’s not to say Parrott isn’t honest, accurate, etc… I subscribe to Bill Terry’s statement that “Baseball must be a great game to survive the fools who run it.” Major League Baseball succeeds in spite of itself. Richard Nixon famously said, “I gave them a sword, and they stuck it in and twisted it with relish.” This book is Parrott’s sword and he’s happily twisting it.

O'Malley (left) would drive
Branch Rickey out of Brooklyn

Parrott stories and insights into the behind the scenes stuff over three decades (the game has changed mightily) are attention worthy. Branch Rickey regularly outwitted Pirates owner John Galbraith on trades. When the Dodgers won a World Series, some employees were given rings. O’Malley required them to turn in a previous ring (if they had one before they could receive the new one. Apparently you weren’t allowed to have two rings.  And Parrott says that O’Malley was going to fire manager Walter Alston in 1974 and bring back Leo Durocher. But the Dodgers hit a winning streak, Alston was kept and the Dodgers went to the World Series. That’s a story I’ve only run across in this book.

A particularly great look inside is when Parrott tells the story of how he had to inform Leo Durocher in mid-season 1948 that The Lip was fired. Naturally, Parrott was worried. Durocher had been thrown out of the first game of a doubleheader and was in a foul mood, shaving in his office, razor in hand. And Parrot wants to hurry up and do the deed because…he was also afraid of Durocher’s fiery wife, movie star Larraine Day. He wanted to be done and gone before she made her regular visit to see her husband. Understandably, Durocher is pissed at Branch Rickey, who had given Parrott his instructions from a hospital bed. Which he apparently checked out of as soon as Parrot was gone: Rickey fled to his farm in Maryland. Durocher’s Dodgers kept winning and he wasn’t actually fired. Except that Rickey arranged for Horace Stoneham, owner of the Giants, to buy Durocher to be his manager. Afterwards, Parrott went into Durocher’s empty office. Day had taken everything personal, leaving behind just one thing. An autographed picture of Rickey, addressed to her. That was left in the toilet.

Durocher going from the Dodgers to the Giants in 1948 is on the record. But Parrott gives the reader so much more. The book is full of stories like that.

Rare photo of actual Seattle Pilots game play at
Sicks Stadium in 1969. Parrot gives the inside
story on how the owners set the franchise up
for certain failure through...

If you accept that the author has quite a bit of disdain for much of the subject matter, this is an excellent read and provides a great deal of information that you aren’t likely to find somewhere else. I would buy this just for the Durocher and Jackie Robinson stories alone. You also get a look at the old days of sports reporting and the newspaper business (the Brooklyn Eagle was printing FIVE editions a day: sometimes more when events warranted). Parrott had an adventurous life in baseball and it is fun to read about. I think this is the best ‘baseball insider’ book I’ve read yet.

...Dewey Soriano: the
original Frank McCourt

Bob's Books - Superstars and Screwballs by Richard Goldstein

Richard Goldstein’s Superstars and Screwballs is an outstanding look at, as the subtitle proclaims, 100 years of Brooklyn Baseball. You will be hard pressed to find a better start to finish history of the Brooklyn Dodgers that also goes back beyond that franchise’s nascent beginnings. Goldstein begins with the flourishing of the not-yet national pastime in the CITY (not borough) of Brooklyn.  The Atlantics, the Eckfords, the Excelsiors, the Mutuals and more competed in the city’s parks.

Bennie Kauf (second from right) of the Brooklyn
Tip Tops was the Federal League's best player

Brooklyn teams were at the heart of the National Association of Base Ball Players (9 of 11 championships went to Brooklyn squads), the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (it wasn’t an amateur game anymore), the American Association, the one-year Player’s League (which resulted in construction of The Polo Grounds) and the Federal League. While ‘Dem Bums’ still cast their long shadow over baseball history, the sport was deeply enmeshed in Brooklyn culture and played by a myriad of teams.

But it is the Dodgers that are the enduring image of Brooklyn baseball and Goldstein gives us a great look at the franchise from their first season in 1883 (as a the minor league ‘Grays’) through the final 1957 pennant race. The Dodgers joined the American Association and then the National League, going through several name changes before settling on the Dodgers, abbreviated from ‘Trolley Dodgers.’ The first World Series was played in 1903, and in the days before divisions, the best team in each league played for the ultimate title: there were no playoffs. From 1903 to 1940, the Dodgers managed only two National League pennants, coming up short both times against their AL counterparts.

Three Hall of Famers: Manager Burleigh Grimes, coach
(and potential successor) Babe Ruth and short stop
(and actual sucessor as manager) Leo Durocher

There were a few  Hall of Famers like Zach Wheat, Dazzy Vance and Burleigh Grimes, and manager Wilbert Robinson. And some pretty good players, such as Babe Herman, Nap Rucker and Jeff Pfeffer, though they usually brought up the second division, finishing under .500 twenty-six times. But the team was interesting to read about, be it three runners standing on third base during a game, or Hall of Fame pitcher Rube Marquard being arrested for scalping tickets on the same day he was pitching in the World Series. Known as ‘The Daffiness Boys’ for most of this period of ineptness, Goldstein gives us a look at both the Dodgers and baseball at large during the period.

The legendary home of the Dodgers from 1913-1957 

Then, in the forties, front office exec Larry MacPhail transformed the Dodgers into winners, building a team that won a Brooklyn pennant for the first time in twenty-one years. Five years later, Branch Rickey brought in Jackie Robinson to break the color barrier and before long, Walter O’Malley took complete control and moved the team to Los Angeles. Goldstein covers it all, bringing you from the beginning of Brooklyn baseball, through the lean years of the Dodgers and onto the final glory years when the Yankees, Giants and Dodgers dominated the sport, coming to an end after 1957. And the stuff in the forties and fifties is great reading for a true baseball fan.

This is an excellent recounting of baseball in Brooklyn, dropping in details of fund raising efforts during the war years, behind the scenes ownership battles, the semi-plan to have Babe Ruth manage the Dodgers, and so much more that gives you a deep understanding of its subject. That includes black baseball, with a Brooklyn history of over eighty years during the game’s segregated era. Superstars and Screwballs remains the best book I’ve read on the history of the Dodgers franchise.

'Wait Til Next Year' was the Dodgers' fans' lament
after each World Series loss to the hated
Yankees. 1955 was finally 'Next Year'

STEELERS - Laying the Foundation (1960s)

The man whom Dan Rooney used to
get rid of head coach Buddy Parker

The hiring of Chuck Noll essentially began in 1965. The AFL was establishing itself as a real rival to the NFL, The Chief (Art Rooney) was in his sixties and slowing down and head coach Buddy Parker still believed an over-the-hill veteran was worth two draft picks or untested rookies. It was the Same Old Steelers in a changing environment. Dan Rooney, ever more active in team operations, told Parker that things needed to change. As you might imagine, that went over poorly with the old-school Parker, who had won a pair of NFL championships with the Lions.

After an exhibition game in 1965, Parker called Rooney with another of his impetuous trade demands, wanting to dump future pro bowler Ben McGee. Rooney said that he’d talk to Parker the next morning. Parker, used to going around Dan to the Chief, replied “You don’t understand. I’ve made up my mind – I’m gonna do it. And if you don’t like it, I’ll resign.” It was a power struggle that could only have one outcome. Parker continued on with, “I’m the coach, you can’t tell me what to do,” and “I can’t work like this. Maybe it’s better if I leave.” The next morning, two weeks before the start of the season, Parker resigned. You can picture Rooney patting him on the back as he accepts the resignation, a befuddled Parker being pushed out the door, wondering what just happened. Dan Rooney would begin instituting a new way of doing things in Pittsburgh, though the system would not change overnight.

Bill Austin (kneeling) with his Steelers coaching staff

Assistant coach Mike Nixon was a stop gap hire for the 1965 season, going 2-12. Nixon, who had previously coached the Washington Redskins, was one of the most unsuccessful coaches in NFL history. His career record was 6-30-2.

Bill Austin replaced him in 1966, coming with a strong recommendation from Vince Lombardi. After another 2-12 season in 1968 (his three year run yielded an 11-28-3 record), Dan Rooney was ready to make a move. The Steelers had experienced just eight winning seasons in thirty-six years of football and he wanted to do things differently.

Noll almost ruined his mentor's perfect season
with narrow 17-21 loss in the 1972 AFC
Championship Game

Among the interviewees was Joe Paterno, having just finished his third season as Penn State’s head coach. The Steelers had enjoyed success under a former college coach one time before: Pitt's Jock Sutherland. 

Noll, an assistant to Don Shula with the Baltimore Colts, had been on the losing side of Super Bowl III. The very next day, he knocked Dan Rooney’s socks off with a two hour interview. Two weeks later, he had the job. Noll had learned from Paul Brown, Sid Gillman and Shula: three legendary coaches. He had a very clear idea of how to build a championship team.

Noll took his first step on the road to success in the 1969 NFL draft. Hall of Famer OJ Simpson was taken first, followed by Notre Dame All American tackle George Kunz (an eight time pro bowler) and then Heisman runner-up Leroy Keyes of Purdue. Keyes, a running back and safety and possibly the greatest player in Purdue history, had a short, unsuccessful pro career.

Trivia Time out: A distant third in the Heisman voting was Terry Hanratty of Notre Dame. The Steelers would take him in the second round of the draft. Hanratty didn’t have much of a career, but he did replace Terry Bradshaw as the team’s starting quarterback at the end of the 1970 and 1973 seasons.

So, on January 12, 1969, Chuck Noll was coaching in the Super Bowl with the Baltimore Colts. On January 13, he interviewed with the Steelers. On January 27, he was introduced as the new head coach. And on January 29 with the fourth pick in the draft, Noll took Joe Greene, an All American defensive tackle at North Texas State University. After decades of futility, Steelers history was being rewritten week by week. Well, off the field, at least.

THAT's who Joe Greene is!

This draft pick was not received with universal acclaim. “Who Is Joe Greene?” was the lead story in the next day’s Pittsburgh Press. Greene later said that Pittsburgh was the last team in the league he wanted to play for, since they were always losers. LC Greenwood was picked in the tenth round, providing the team with the guts of what was to become The Steel Curtain.

At one of his first team meetings, Noll told the players most of them just weren’t good enough and would soon be gone. Ouch. From day one, Chuck Noll was going to re-teach the fundamentals and get his kind of driven, disciplined players. There would be no sugarcoating that Pittsburgh Steelers football was going to change: who played and how they played.

Bradshaw was a 'sure thing' who barely lasted
long enough to lead the Steelers to four
Super Bowls

Noll’s 1969 Steelers won their first game and dropped the remaining thirteen, which gave them the first pick in the draft: Almost. The Chicago Bears also went 1-13 and the Steelers won a coin flip for the top pick. Terry Bradshaw, a strong armed quarterback at Louisiana Tech, was the consensus number one and teams tried to trade for the pick. The Steelers held firm and the Bears were so disappointed that they traded out of the number two spot. So, with his first two number one picks, Noll grabbed a pair of Hall of Famers he could build his offense and defense around. Three Rivers Stadium opened in 1970, the Steelers won five games and the Noll Era was moving forward.

More Trivia: Only five players on the 1968 team would still be Steelers for the first Super Bowl: Andy Russell (LB), Ray Mansfield (C), Sam Davis (G), Bobby Walden (P), and Rocky Bleier. Chuck Noll got rid of almost every single player in five seasons.

And A Little More Trivia: The Cleveland Browns had the third pick in 1970. Like the Steelers, they took a highly rated quarterback: Mike Phipps. Phipps had a mediocre career and lost the starting job to Brian Sipe in 1976. Bradshaw won four Super Bowls and went into the Hall of Fame. The Browns had long been the better team, tallying eight championships in the pre-Super Bowl Era. They had played in what we would now call the NFC Championship Game in 1968 and 1969.

A few weeks after the draft - 'Gosh, coach, you mean play
in front of all those people?'

But you can point to the 1970 draft as the moment the franchises reversed course. By 1973 the Steelers were clearly superior and that has continued to this day.

THE FORMATTING WAS COMPLETELY SCREWY ON THIS. SORRY

STEELERS HISTORY - A Recap

My team history of the Steelers has been on quite a hiatus, but I have the next entry (the hiring of Chuck Noll) ready to go. Here are the links to the prior posts if you want a little refresher.

Obviously, we're getting into the good years now! And not to strain my elbow patting myself on the back, but for an informative yet not overly detailed look at the Steelers' history, I think this is some pretty good stuff. Especially the photos.

The Thirties
http://woodson26.blogspot.com/2011/03/steelers-1930s-1933-1939.html

The Forties
http://woodson26.blogspot.com/2011/03/steelers-1940s-1940-1949.html

The Iron Men (The Forties)
http://woodson26.blogspot.com/2011/02/pittsburgh-iron-men.html

The Fifties
http://woodson26.blogspot.com/2011/04/steelers-1950s-decades-winning.html

Gary Glick (The Fifties)
http://woodson26.blogspot.com/2011/04/gary-glick-1950s.html

The Sixties
http://woodson26.blogspot.com/2011/08/steelers-sixties-1960-1969.html

Laying the Foundation (The Sixties)
http://woodson26.blogspot.com/2012/06/steelers-laying-foundation-1960s.html

The Steelers played thirty-ish seaons at
Forbes Field, better known as home of the Pirates