In the fall of 1908, no one could have guessed that the Chicago Cubs, a team that had dominated the National league three straight years, would for a century be shut out in its efforts to reclaim the world championship. Stars like Frank Chance, Ed Reulbach, and Three Finger Brown were still in their prime, and the Cubs had just emerged the winner in the most remarkable pennant race in history. In the decades since, the achievement of the 1908 Cubs has been overshadowed first by the events of the season, which included the Merkle Game and a playoff that pitted two all-time great pitchers against each other, and more recently by the calendar, as the centennial anniversary of the last Cubs championship closed in. This book rescues the 1908 team from its status as footnote to baseball history, following one of the all-time great clubs on a thrilling, season-long march toward the World Series.
Writer-photographer George R. Matthews has authored four books:
1. St. Louis Olympics, 1904. Arcadia Publishing, 2003.
2. A Complete Guide to the Wabash Trace Nature Trail. Morris Publishing, 2004.
3. America's First Olympics. University of Missouri Press, 2005.
4. When the Cubs Won It All:The 1908 Championship Season. McFarland and Company, 2009.
The St. Louis Olympics is a collection of original photographs from 1904 with captions telling the story of the Games. A Complete Guide... was a self-published book describing a local rail-to-trail nature trail in western Iowa. America's First Olympics describes the third modern Olympiad held in St. Louis, Missouri, as part of the World's Fair in 1904. When the Cubs Won It All tells the story of the 1908 Chicago Cubs team from spring training to the World Series during arguably the most sensational and exciting season in baseball history. 1908 was the last time the Cubs won the fall classic. Amazon selected this book for a Kindle Edition.
Two books are in progress: A biography of Zebulon Pike and Abbey Country: A Celebration of Wilderness. I have retraced the route of Zebulon Pike in Kansas and Colorado during the last year, 2009-2010.
Wilderness advocate Ed Abbey loved the southwest. I am photographing four of his favorite places: Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Vermillon Cliffs National Monument and Havasu Canyon. Appropriate Abbey quotes will accompany the photographs selected for the book. I intend to share royalties from the book with the Glen Canyon Institute to support their mission to remove the Glen Canyon Dam from the Colorado River and restore, according to Abbey, "the most beautiful place on earth," Glen Canyon.
I earned the Bachelor of Science degree from Frostburg State University, Maryland; Master of Arts degree from San Diego State University and attended the University of Utah for the Doctorate of Education program. After serving as a Marine Corps Battalion Training Officer (Captain), I concluded a twenty year career in education in 2006.
I enjoy adventure travel and have organized small group trips to destinations around the globe, including Mt. Kilimangaro, Kenya; Machu Picchu, Peru; Hawaii; Alaska; Chichen Itza and Yucatan, Mexico; Everglades, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and many other National Parks. My most enjoyable personal experience has been, on two separate occasions, living for a continuous year and two months in my tipi.
E-mail address: geomatt44@hotmail.com
