Terry Pluto

Captures the nine seasons of the American Basketball Association in the words of those who were part of the league's history

The Short, Wild Life of the Wild Life of the American Basketball Association - As Told by the Players, Coaches, and Movers and Shakers Who Made It Happen

Loose Balls

An account of the NBA from 1956 to 1966, after the introduction of the 24-second shot clock, highlights those who dominated the sport during its "glory days," including Red Auerbach, Wilt Chamberlain, and the Boston Celtics.

The Glory Years of the NBA

Tall Tales

Joe Tait

Joe Tait is like a family friend to three generations of Cleveland sports fans. This book celebrates his Hall-of-Fame broadcasting career with stories from Joe and dozens of fans, media colleagues, and players. He was "the Voice of the Cleveland Cavaliers." But to fans, Joe was also "one of us." Cavs basketball, Indians baseball, or Mount Union football, he made the game come alive, and wasn't afraid to speak his mind¿even when it might get him in trouble with the coach or the owner. He inspired a generation of young broadcasters, and phrases he invented became part of the common language of Northeast Ohio sports.These stories will make you feel like you're sharing a personal play-by-play recap with one of the best announcers in all of sports.

Stories from a Hall-of-Fame Sports Broadcasting Career

Joe Tait: It's Been a Real Ball

Presents a humorous, faintly bittersweet, behind-the-scenes look at the troubled history of the star-crossed Cleveland Indians, who, since trading away Rocky Colavito three decades ago, have only finished among baseball's top three one time

A Loving Lookat a Thirty-Year Slump

Curse of Rocky Colavito

If you remember the Kardiac Kids … the Dawgs … the old Stadium … Bernie and Marty and Ozzie … this book is for you! Like a Classic throwback jersey, it recalls favorite players and exciting moments from Cleveland Browns teams of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and more. They played it old-school. Doug Dieken set the NFL record for consecutive starts by a left tackle despite three knee surgeries, broken hands and thumbs, torn tendons, a broken arm and “a concussion or two. Maybe four or six. Hard to know.” Ozzie Newsome never expected to play tight end when he was drafted, then practically reinvented the position on his way to the Hall of Fame. Bernie Kosar carried a massive weight on his young shoulders as a hometown hero leading the Browns during years when the team offered a ray of hope to a downtrodden city. Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack together formed one powerhouse backfield and separately dealt admirably with adversity. Phil Dawson discovered that despite popularity and longevity, “Every kick could be your last.” Also includes Gregg Pruitt, Brian Sipe, Marty Schottenheimer, Reggie Langhorne, Brian Brennan, Bill Belichick, Tim Couch, Phil Dawson, and others. These insightful short profiles will entertain Browns fans of any vintage!

A Warm Look Back at the Cleveland Browns of the 1970s, ’80s, ’90s and More

Vintage Browns

Terry Pluto, one of Cleveland's top sportswriters, takes a hard look at the first 5 years of the new Cleveland Browns franchise and doesn't like what he sees. This book chronicles the backroom deals, big-money power plays, poor decisions, and plain bad luck that have dogged the venerable franchise since Art Modell skipped town in 1995. Legions of loyal fans stand by, waiting for a return to past glory. How much longer must they wait? Pluto sifts through the clues from the last five seasons and looks for answers.

False Start: How the New Browns Were Set Up to Fail

Tom Hamilton

Relive the most thrilling seasons of Cleveland Indians baseball in recent memory! Remember the excitement of those first years at Jacobs Field? When it seemed the Indians could find a way to win almost any game? When screaming fans rocked the jam-packed stands every night? When a brash young team snapped a forty-year slump and electrified the city? Those weren’t baseball seasons, they were year-long celebrations. Step back into the glory days with sportswriter Terry Pluto and broadcaster Tom Hamilton as they share behind-the-scenes stories about a team with all-stars at nearly every position . . . a sparkling new ballpark . . . wild comeback victories . . . a record sellout streak . . . two trips to the World Series . . . and a city crazed with Indians fever. Revisit baseball’s most fearsome lineup: Albert Belle’s mighty swing and ferocious glare . . . Jim Thome’s moon-shot home runs . . . Omar Vizquel’s poetry-in-motion play at shortstop . . . Kenny Lofton’s exhilarating baserunning and over-the-wall catches . . . These two Cleveland baseball veterans were there for it all. Now, they combine firsthand experience and in-depth player interviews to tell a richly detailed story that Tribe fans will love.

The Cleveland Indians and Jacobs Field 1994–1997

Glory Days in Tribe Town

Earl Weaver

A guide to managing a baseball team includes discussions of pitching, fielding, spring training, playing tactics, and dealing with umpires

Weaver on Strategy

Bob Ryan

This study of a game between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers provides an in-depth look at the plays, the players, the strategies--and the business concerns behind them all--in the world of professional basketball

A Night in the Life of the NBA

Forty-eight Minutes

Brian Windhorst

"Not your typical sports biography . . . Take[s] the reader behind the scenes in the Cavaliers’ front office, revealing how championship contenders are built" — Library Journal Two award-winning sports journalists give an in-depth look at how a team and a city were rebuilt around superstar LeBron James. When the Cleveland Cavaliers drew the top pick in the 2003 NBA draft, an entire city buzzed with excitement. After all, how often does a LeBron James come along? Especially for Cleveland, a midmarket Rust Belt city without a sports championship in forty years. Especially for the Cavaliers, a long-struggling team that had never reached the NBA finals. Soon, everyone had something riding on LeBron—billionaire team owner Dan Gilbert looking for a return on his investment . . . teammates eager for a championship ring . . . the league in need of the next Michael Jordan to promote . . . the shoe company with its multimillion-dollar endorsement deal . . . even popcorn vendors in the stands of Quicken Loans Arena and servers waiting restaurant tables in a downtown that now booms every game night. Terry Pluto and Brian Windhorst tell the converging stories of a struggling franchise that had to get worse in order to get better and a highly touted teenage phenom, the local kid who became their future. This book will fascinate any basketball fan who wants the inside story of how LeBron James became the young superstar shouldering the weight of an entire NBA franchise. Chock full of facts and analysis.

The Franchise: LeBron James and the Remaking of the Cleveland Cavaliers

A hard look at the unhappy beginnings of the new Cleveland Browns franchise, this book chronicles the backroom deals, big-money power plays, poor decisions, and plain bad luck that dogged the venerable franchise after Art Modell skipped town in 1995. How long should fans have to wait for a winner? A book the NFL does not want you to read.

How the New Browns Were Set Up to Fail

False Start

Pete Franklin

You Could Argue But You'd be Wrong

The Making of an MVP

Lebron James

More thoughtful essays by Terry Pluto ("the sportswriter who writes about faith"), based on his popular Plain Dealer column "Faith and You." These plain and personal musings cover topics we all face in everday life: insults and what they really mean, prayers that don't seem to get answered, endless sibling rivalry, figuring out how to our fathers, dealing with the loss of a pet, and more. Pluto writes for people who may not always feel confident in their beliefs but know faith is still important to them . . . For people who sometimes get mad at their church or disagree with their pastor yet don't want to lose the spiritual side of their lives . . . For people of different faiths or backgrounds or who aren't even sure they're religious. These essays doesn't claim to have all the answers, but the questions they raise give readers something to think about all week.

More Essays on Faith in Everyday Life

Faith and You, Volume 2

Cleveland's top sportswriter Terry Pluto wonders why, 66 long years after their team's last championship, despite a relentless pattern of heartbreak, teasing, and more heartbreak, capped with a decade of utter futility, fans still stick with the Cleveland Browns. Nobody's in a better position than Pluto to learn why: He gets a daily barraged of emails from readers letting their hearts bleed out, orange and brown. For this book he asked, and they told him, What is it about this team that makes you love them, hate them, and keep coming back for more? Covering the Browns from 1965 through present day, it includes stories from fans and former Browns players, as well as Pluto's expert analysis. It does for Cleveland football what Pluto's classic book about the Indians, "The Curse of Rocky Colavito," did for Cleveland baseball: It won't make the pain go away, but it might help you remember why it's worth enduring.

Things I've Learned from Watching the Browns

Presents a nostalgic portrait of the Cleveland Browns football team at its peak--its 1964 championship season--beginning with the controversial firing of manager Paul Brown by owner Art Modell

Cleveland's Browns and the Championship Season of '64

When All the World was Browns Town

Joe Charboneau

Burt Graeff

A biography of baseball phenomenon Joe Charboneau discusses the fascinating life and tempestuous career of the star rookie of the Cleveland Indians

Terry Pluto

Books

Your next favorite book is out there