Home Field Advantage ("Oakland, CA, The City that Changed the Face of Sports") is an amazing book about sports in Oakland by author and historian Paul Brekke-Miesner. Any fan of Oakland sports should own a copy.
The book includes decades of research about hundreds of famous and not so famous athletes. Some were born and raised here, others played for one of Oakland's professional or semi-professional sports teams.
Brekke-Miesner was born and raised in Eastmont ("in the shadow of the Chevrolet plant") and played football at Castlemont High School. He attended Oakland City College (now Merritt College) and covered high school and junior college sports for the Oakland Tribune and the Berkeley Gazette. He and his wife live in Fruitvale, and his sons (including @coolhandluke of 38thnotes.com) were athletes at Oakland Tech. Brekke-Miesner and other Oakland Tech parents and alumni helped build Rickey Henderson Field near Oakland Tech.
Links and References
- Home Field Advantage website (Archive.org)