Cleveland sports history goes well beyond The Shot, The Fumble, The
Drive and so many other ignoble moments. Many of the city's most
illustrious sports tales are long-forgotten chapters of tribulations and
tragedy, of fleeting fame and enduring milestones. There are forgotten
firsts, such as football's first pass and the invention of baseball's
slider having ties to Cleveland. There are overshadowed tragedies like a
fatal crash involving an Indians pitcher occurring the same year two of
the team's hurlers were killed in a high-profile boating accident. And
then there are the near misses--like George Steinbrenner coming within
seconds of owning the Indians and a famous musician who almost became a
Cleveland Brown. From basketball to boxing, hockey to Heisman,
journalist Marc Bona chronicles more than a century of unremembered
tales.