Sports Immortals: Stories of Inspiration and Achievement [Hardcover]

Jim Platt (Author), James Buckley Jr. (Author), Franco Harris (Foreword), Maurice Lucas (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002

Honor the greatest athletes of all time with the world’s supreme collection of sports memorabilia. Sports Immortals spans more than a century of athletic achievement and contains more than a million mementos, including uniforms, gear, autographs, artifacts, tickets, programs, cards, games, and more. You’ll follow the path of sports history as you move through each chapter and discover the stories of more than 100 inspirational athletes, including:

-Jack Johnson
-Muhammad Ali
-Jim Thorpe
-Walter Payton
-Jesse Owens
-Wayne Gretzky
-Dale Earnhardt
-And more!

Your beloved sports heroes will come to life through the beautiful full-color photography and in-depth detail of Sports Immortals. No sports fan should be without it.

For the first time, this collection is being presented to the public in this visually stunning book.

The living memories on these pages represent the lifelong vision of collector Joel Pratt, who has worked tirelessly since childhood to gather sports memorabilia as the nucleus for a museum to honor sports legends.

In this book, athletes come to life through the stunning depth of the Sports Immortals collection and through beautiful, full-color photography. Revisit sports history and be inspired by the stories of great athletes every time you turn the page.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

For anyone who has ever saved a baseball program or treasured an autograph, this album is a marvel. Joel Platt started collecting sports memorabilia more than 50 years ago and has amassed more than one million pieces, 30,000 of which are on display at his Sports Immortals Museum in Boca Raton, Florida. Assembled by Platt's son, Jim, and sports historian Buckley, this volume showcases many of the jewels in the museum's crown. Beautifully designed, the book combines attractive four-color photos of the items (Wilt Chamberlain's high-school jersey, Cy Young's baseball shoes, Christy Mathewson's glove, and on and on) with brief snapshots of the athletes' careers and sidebars by Joel Platt describing how the various pieces were acquired. The snapshots are forgettable, but the sidebars are fascinating: imagine Platt introducing himself to Mathewson's widow and gaining access to a trunk of her husband's belongings that hadn't been opened since the Hall of Famer's death 36 years earlier. A browsing bonanza for all sports fans. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Joel Platt is the chairman and founder of Sports Immortals. His Sports Immortals Collection has been featured in Sports Illustrated, Sport Magazine, and numerous periodicals and national television features. The Smithsonian Institute has recognized Sports Immortals as "...absolutely the most outstanding collection on all sports..."

Jim Platt is the vice president of Sports Immortals. He has extensive experience in strategic marketing, strategic management, advertising, promotions, Internet development, and museum operations.

James Buckley, Jr., is the author of more than 30 books on sports and sports history for both adults and children. His recent books include Perfect: The Story of Baseball's Perfect Games; Baseball: A Celebration; The Visual Dictionary of Baseball; and Eyewitness Football.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 180 pages
• Publisher: Triumph Books; 1St Edition edition (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572434600
• ISBN-13: 978-1572434608
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 10 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,136,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect coffee table book, December 2, 2002

By 

Rob Engel (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sports Immortals: Stories of Inspiration and Achievement (Hardcover)

Truly an exceptional gathering of sports legends and their respective histories, Sports Immortals takes us on a tour that even sports-phobic individuals will love. From baseball and football, to skating and NASCAR, the pages capture the essence of the cultural phenomenon that we take for granted today.
Unexpectedly, most interesting are the pages which highlight not the obvious modern-day heroes, but rather the legends of yester-year, such as Jack Johnson (1910 African-American prize fighter) or Don Budge (1930's tennis champion).
Although some of the accompanying pictures are seemingly boring at first glance, they take on new life when you realize that these are actual items in Joel and Jim Platt's museum collection.

And that, of course, is the point of the book--to make us realize that these individuals are real and not simply the intangible "stuff of legend." In particular, the photos and supplemental annotations at the end of the book illustrate not only the diversity and amazing progress of the sports world (check out the 1864 ice skates!), but also the incessant controversies that accompany it (must-see letter of Jack Johnson's confession of throwing the big fight).

I now display the book proudly on my coffee table for all to view. What more can I say....the only thing better is to go to Boca Raton, FL to see it for real.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for the sports lover, October 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Sports Immortals: Stories of Inspiration and Achievement (Hardcover)

I received a copy of this book from my friend. This book is full of great stories and photographs of the greatest athletes of all time. The book goes beyond the typical information you have seen in the past and opens the door to interesting stories about the author's father, who has collected an amazing amount of incredible memorabilia. The photographs of the items in Joel Platt's collection amazed me. His story and moments with these athletes is also very inspirational.

I recommend this book and hope to one day see Joel realize his dreams of opening his Sports Immortals museum so that I can enjoy the full extent of his collection.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, December 6, 2002

By 

"craigz23" (Boca Raton, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sports Immortals: Stories of Inspiration and Achievement (Hardcover)

Wow! What a great book. Inspiring stories from the greatest athletes in the world. The stories are well written and enjoyable to read. It is quite evident that the book is a result of many years of hard work, dedication and a labor of love. The layout is awesome and the pictures are even better. It is a great gift for all ages.