I felt the cheers The remarkable silent life of Curtis Pride

Curtis Pride

Book - 2025

"From the deaf baseball legend and MLB Ambassador for Inclusion, a powerful anthem of ability diversity and overcoming the odds for readers of Nyle DiMarco's Deaf Utopia and sports memoirs such as Imperfect by Jim Abbott, Des Linden's Choosing to Run, and Limitless by Mallory Weggemann. FOREWORD BY NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME MEMBER CAL RIPKEN, JR. On a September night in Montreal in 1993, Curtis Pride got his first Major League hit, prompting a long, emotional standing ovation from the crowd of 45,757 fans. Profoundly deaf since birth, Pride couldn't hear their thunderous applause. But as the cheers grew louder and more insistent, he realized he was feeling thosevibrations within his chest-an undeniable acknowledgmen...t of an extraordinary achievement. Pride went on to play in 420 more major-league games over eleven different seasons with the Montreal Expos, Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, and New York Yankees. He was then hired as head baseball coach at Gallaudet, the world's leading university for deaf and hard of hearing students and was also named Major League Baseball's Ambassador for Inclusion. Pride has received countless national and local awards for his achievements and his service in inspiring and educating others. With candor, warmth, and humor, Pride writes from the heart in I Feltthe Cheers. From the first time he played T-ball at age six and gota couple of hits, he dreamed of playing in the major leagues. No matter how unlikely it seemed, or how much skepticism he faced from teammates or coaches, Pride stayed resolute. Far from it being a disadvantage, he came to see that his deafness could sometimes be a secret weapon, forcing him to use senses that other players take for granted. Curtis's personal journey is unique, but his message is a powerful, universal one, sure to resonate deeply with everyone who has faced difficult challenges. I Felt the Cheers is living proof that dreams can come true, no matter how impossible they seem."--Amazon.

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Subjects
Genres
Autobiographies
Published
New York, NY : Dafina Books 2025.
Language
English
Main Author
Curtis Pride (author)
Other Authors
Doug Ward (author)
Physical Description
240 pages ; 24 cm
ISBN
9781496750518
  • Author's Note
  • Foreword
  • Chapter 1. Destiny's Call
  • Chapter 2. Sound Decisions
  • Chapter 3. Little League, Big Dreams
  • Chapter 4. How Did This Happen?
  • Chapter 5. Goal Oriented
  • Chapter 6. Family Plan
  • Chapter 7. Kennedy High
  • Chapter 8. Minor Leagues, Major University
  • Chapter 9. Binghamton Blues
  • Chapter 10. Playing with Purpose
  • Chapter 11. Baseball Bliss
  • Chapter 12. Feeling the Cheers
  • Chapter 13. The Story of Our Lives
  • Chapter 14. Big-League Glory, Big-Time Disappointment
  • Chapter 15. Glory Days
  • Chapter 16. It's Not All Glory
  • Chapter 17. Starting Over in Montreal… and Beyond
  • Chapter 18. Pride of the Yankees
  • Chapter 19. Playing for Pride
  • Chapter 20. Travelin' Man
  • Chapter 21. On-the-Job Training
  • Chapter 22. Role Model: My Father
  • Chapter 23. My Mom
  • Chapter 24. The People You Meet
  • Chapter 25. He's No Dummy
  • Chapter 26. Follow Your Heart
  • Chapter 27. Being Heard
  • What People Say About Curtis Pride
  • Acknowledgments
  • Afterword
Review by Booklist Review

It is no wonder that I Felt the Cheers ends with quotes from notable baseball figures celebrating Curtis Pride. After reading his inspiring memoir, it is also only fitting that these quotes are focused on Pride as a consummate teammate, mentor, and innately athletic player with the highest of baseball IQs. Indeed, the fact that Pride was born deaf and managed to reach the highest echelons in a team-focused sport would seem an obvious outcome as readers follow his journeyman story that took him across North America and through varying levels of professional leagues. The narrative is a rich mix of sporting achievement (and failure, and then success again) and a celebration of the human side of sports, extolling the virtues of Pride's teammates, coaches, and ever-present family and describing his time coaching the team at Gallaudet University. Pride is not in the Hall of Fame, nor did he win a World Series. With I Felt the Cheers, however, Pride showcases that there is so much more to a successful life in baseball, and readers, surely cheering him on throughout, will be all the better for hearing his story.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.