ALTON - The Hayner Public Library District Hosts “St. Louis: The Best Sports Town in America: An Evening with Ed Wheatley” on Tuesday, January 16, at 6:30 p.m. at Hayner Library at Alton Square Mall Upper Level Performance Room Sports Historian, Author, and Documentarian to Present Lecture About St. Louis’ Rich Sports History St. Louis has long been known as a city with a rich sports history. Four of the most prestigious trophies in sports are named after St. Louisans — one in chess, one in golf, one in soccer, and one in tennis.
Can you name them? What about the four national football teams that started as St. Louis franchises? Did you know that in 2014, the United States Congress designated St. Louis as the Chess Capital of the United States? Can you name the two St. Louisans who teamed up to form Wimbledon’s first-ever interracial mixed doubles team? What “Hollywood legend” could regularly be seen racing his Datsun at a race track in Wentzville?
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Learn the answers to these questions and much more as we revisit the sights and sounds of St. Louis sports memories when author and sports historian Ed Wheatley explains what makes St. Louis a contender for the “Best Sports Town in America.” This program will take place on Tuesday, January 16, at 6:30 p.m. in the Hayner Library Performance Room at Alton Square Mall (upper level). Please call 1-800-613-3163 to register for this free program. Ed Wheatley is an award-winning and bestselling author, film producer, and sports historian. He is also a weekly sports contributor on a St. Louis drive-time radio program. His book, The St. Louis Browns – The Story of a Beloved Team, received numerous accolades and awards, including Sports Collectors Digest’s selection as the best baseball book published in 2017. It was also the Society for American Baseball Research’s 2017 Lawrence Ritter Award nominee for the best book in baseball. In 2020, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch selected his other book, Baseball in St. Louis – Little Leagues to Major Leagues, as one of the top twenty-five books of 2020. He has produced two baseball films shown on the PBS network, each receiving EMMY award nominations and a win in 2020.
His films were also selected for inclusion in the prestigious National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Annual Film Festivals in 2018 and 2019. His book Wrestling at the Chase, from which he produced a third PBS film last summer, also received an EMMY nomination. His newest book, St. Louis Sports Memories – Forgotten Teams and Moments from America’s Best Sports Town, explains why St. Louis is the best sports town in America.
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