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Growing up in the 60s and 70s, Tom Stanton lived for his Detroit Tigers. When Tiger Stadium began its 88th and final season, he vowed to att! end all 81 home games in order to explore his attachment to the place where four generations of his family have shared baseball. Join him as he encounters idols, conjures decades past, and discovers the mysteries of a park where Cobb and Ruth played. Come along and sit beside Al Kaline on the dugout bench, eat popcorn with Elmore Leonard, hear Alice Cooper's confessions, soak up the warmth of Ernie Harwell, see McGwire and Ripken up close, and meet Chicken Legs Rau, Bleacher Pete, Al the Usher, and a parade of fans who are anything but ordinary. By the autumn of his odyssey, Stanton comes to realize that his anguish isn't just about the loss of a beloved ballpark but about his dad's mortality, for at the heart of this story is the love between fathers and sons--a theme that resonates with baseball fans of all ages.
Conceived as a game-by-game journal, The Final Season is filled with baseball. Stanton steps up with graceful musings on the game, the park, the Tigers and their history, and, most spiritedly, a pair of living legends--former right fielder Al Kaline and announcer Ernie Harwell. But it's Stanton's thoughts about family--his own family and how the game and the ballpark have connected generations--that truly resonate. In his prose, this lovely old rust bucket of a ballpark, this repository of so many memories, becomes metaphor.
Fittingly, Stanton takes his father to the final game. "I've noticed something today," he writes of the e! xperience. "It's not the seventy- and eighty-year-old men who are wiping their eyes. It's the generation that came after them. And we're hurting not only for the loss of this beautiful place, but for the loss of our fathers and grandfathers--belatedly or prematurely. The closing of this park forces us to confront their mortality, and when we confront their mortality we must confront our own.... A little bit of us dies when something like this, something so tied to our lives, disappears." --Jeff SilvermanThree years ago, Kate rejected Edmund, Lord Shuttleworth's impassioned marriage proposal in no uncertain terms. Now he's back, and it's Kate's final season. She needs a straightforward, paper-only marriage, yet her feelings for Edmund are anything but straightforward!
Shocked by Edmund's reappearance at a lavish house party, Kate flees to the private study to compose herself. But her self-control doesn't last for longâ¦. Caught in a compromising ! situation, the man she can't possibly marry is suddenly announ! cing the ir betrothal to the ton!Three years ago, Kate rejected Edmund, Lord Shuttleworth's impassioned marriage proposal in no uncertain terms. Now he's back, and it's Kate's final season. She needs a straightforward, paper-only marriage, yet her feelings for Edmund are anything but straightforward!
Shocked by Edmund's reappearance at a lavish house party, Kate flees to the private study to compose herself. But her self-control doesn't last for longâ¦. Caught in a compromising situation, the man she can't possibly marry is suddenly announcing their betrothal to the ton!From the director of The Sandlot comes the true story of an underdog coach and the team that must defend their legacy against insurmountable odds. In the small town of Norway, Iowa, the high school baseball team, led by legendary Coach Jim Van Scoyoc (Powers Boothe, TV's Deadwood), has won 19 State Championships. But the small town heroes are dealt a series of unexpected blows that threaten to ! rob them of their 20th championship win. When talk of a school merger gets serious and Coach Scoyoc is fired, then replaced by his 24-year-old assistant, Kent Stock (Sean Astin, Rudy and The Lord of the Rings trilogy), failure seems inevitable. Tom Arnold, Rachael Leigh Cook and Michael Angarano join an excellent ensemble cast in this inspirational family gem.Touching and inspirational, The Final Season, based on a true story, is one of those baseball movies in which the game is synonymous with life itselfâ"if not actually bigger than life itself. Sean Astin (star of one of the most beloved sports films, Rudy) is solid and likeable as Kent Stock, an assistant baseball coach at Norway High School in an Iowa farming community. Working under local legend Jim Van Scoyoc (Powers Boothe in a particularly golden performance), who led Norway to 19 straight state championships, Stock is happy to lend a temporary hand. But he finds his destiny altered whe! n Van Scoyoc is pushed aside by a school board determined to c! lose Nor way High and stifle dissent by undercutting the teamâs chances of a 20th victory. On the wrongheaded assumption that Stock canât motivate kids, the coaching job is offered to him, and he takes to it immediately in his low-key way. Despite early struggles, Stock inspires his players to think about whatâs important in Norwayâs last shot at greatness: How do they want to be remembered?
Directed by David Mickey Evans (The Sandlot), The Final Season is thick with love for baseball, from extensive scenes of practice sessions to lyrical patches of dialogue about the way the characters of men are reflected in how they perform on the field. A Copland-esque music score reminds one that The Final Season is a piece of American folklore, and a strong support cast including Tom Arnold as one of Van Scoyocâs former players, Michael Angarano as a troubled rebel, and Rachel Leigh Cook as Stockâs love interest make this film a pleasure even for non-sports-! loving fans. --Tom Keogh2008 Yankee Stadium Final Season Game Used dirt in keychain (MLB Authenticated)
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