The Sodfather

By:   George Toma, Craig Handel
Imprint:   Big Kat Kreative LLC
Dimensions:   Height: 216mm,  Width: 140mm,  Spine: 18mm
Weight:   467g
ISBN:   9781962796057
ISBN 10:   1962796051
Pages:   290
Publication Date:   01 May 2024
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

George Toma first worked as an assistant groundskeeper for the Class A Wilkes-Barre Barons in 1942, which led to an 80-year-plus career in maintaining and supervising some of the most iconic athletic fields in North American sports. After working at various minor-league ballparks, Toma got his first taste of big-league groundskeeping in 1957 when he took a job with the Kansas City Athletics. He later became the Kansas City Chiefs' head groundskeeper from 1963 to 1990 and the Kansas City Royals' head groundskeeper from 1969 to 1995. Toma worked the first 57 Super Bowls, either as head field supervisor or consultant. He also did groundskeeping work for NFL games played in Barcelona, London, Tokyo, Berlin and Mexico City. His highly respected work led to other significant assignments, which included supervising the grounds crews during the 1984 and 1996 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and Atlanta and working at the 1994 World Cup. Toma has been inducted into eight Halls of Fame. Toma officially retired from full-time work in 1999 but then worked as a consultant for sports facilities and groundskeepers around the United States. Among the teams he worked with were the Minnesota Twins, who also employed his son Chip. Toma, who turned 95 in 2024, lives in Westwood, Kan., with his wife, Donna. Besides Chip, who's now retired, Toma has two other sons who carry on the family tradition of overachieving at work. Rick works for Servbank as the chief operating officer, and Ryan is a first officer for Delta Airlines. There are seven grandchildren - Brandy, Amanda, Alysse, Katie, Elizabeth, Addison and Joey - as well as eight great-grandchildren - Olivia, Sophia, Grace, Bella, Cali, Kenny, Stetson and Georgia. Just down the street from where the Tomas live is the George P. Toma Wiffle Ball Field at the Hollow, where wiffle ball games are played all summer long. The field has helped raise more than $1.5 million to help veterans and first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. After putting countless hours into restoring the field in 2019 and 2020, Toma still comes around to ensure the grass is lush and green. In other words, it's pristine. Craig Handel has written for newspapers in Wisconsin, Arizona, California, Massachusetts and Florida since he started writing in junior high. Inspired by his librarian and journalism teacher, he had his first published story in eighth grade. He sold newspaper subscriptions to earn enough money to buy a cassette recorder. In college, he earned degrees in broadcast and print journalism at Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Craig also has collaborated on six other books focused on diverse topics ranging from tales from an Irish storyteller, a way to optimize mental performance in sports and business, a New Jersey entrepreneur who became a self-made millionaire, a female entrepreneur who mastered in buying real estate in Southwest Florida and building and developing nonprofits. He considers being a consultant on the documentary Curveballs ... Secrets to the Game of Life with John Biffar and David Van Sleet to be one of the most inspiring and rewarding projects in his life. He feels the men featured on this amputee baseball team offer an amazing perspective on overcoming adversity and living a life of purpose and meaning. As a writer, Craig feels there's a correlation between a great story and great quotes while there's also a correlation between great quotes and the questions that are asked. This formula is one of the main ingredients in this book on George Toma as well as other books he's written. An avid gardener and swimmer, Craig lives with wife Isabel and their puppy Ollie in St. Petersburg, Florida.