We head West this week to pay a visit to the "California Sports Guy" Dan Cisco ("California Sports Astounding: Fun, Unknown, and Surprising Facts from Statehood to Sunday"), and stir up a rich bouillabaisse of little-known factoids about defunct, previously domiciled and otherwise forgotten teams and leagues who once called the Golden State home.

Discover the reason why Oakland was chosen as an inaugural franchise in 1960's American Football League debut - and why its original name was hastily changed to "Raiders" just weeks before its first game.

Follow the move of the Pacific Coast League's original Hollywood Stars to San Diego in 1936 to become the Padres - and how a talented young player named Ted Williams unceremoniously ended his pitching career there before making it to the bigs.

And learn which legendary NBA basketball helped launch the International Volleyball Association's Irvine-based charter Southern California Bangers franchise in 1975 - and ultimately become the league's commissioner two years later.

PLUS, we make a bevy of unsolicited suggestions for Cisco's inevitable revised edition (and you can too)!

California Sports Astounding: Fun, Unknown, and Surprising Facts from Statehood to Sunday - Buy book here

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We dial up Robert Cherry, author of the definitive biography of legendary pro basketball great Wilt Chamberlain ("Wilt: Larger Than Life"), to delve into the lesser-known (but enormously fascinating) aspects of the "Big Dipper"'s athletic career - including intriguing stops and stints with:

The Harlem Globetrotters (1958-59) - where Chamberlain effectively played out his senior college year after two years (and an NCAA Tournament Final) with Kansas, before becoming age-eligible for the NBA Draft;
The Philadelphia Warriors (1959-62) - "Mogul" Eddie Gottleib's burgeoning NBA franchise where Chamberlain was preordained to join by way of the league's territorial rights framework, and where he quickly shattered all kinds of scoring records - including a history-making 100-point game against the NY Knicks on 3/2/62;
The San Diego Conquistadors (1973-74) - the rival ABA's first (and only) expansion franchise that lured Chamberlain away from his remaining option year with the LA Lakers (after two consecutive NBA Finals appearances and a title in 1972) with a $600,000 offer to be the Qs' combo player/coach; and
The International Volleyball Association (1974-79) - where Chamberlain wore a myriad of hats as a founder, investor, owner, player (Southern California Bangers, Orange County Stars, Seattle Smashers), coach, and even league Commissioner.

California Sports Astounding: Fun, Unknown, and Surprising Facts from Statehood to Sunday - Buy book here

Wilt: Larger Than Life - buy book here