Baseball

by John Cairney (Author)

Superstition has been a part of baseball from the beginning. From good luck charms to human mascots to ritual statues of Babe Ruth to the curse of Colonel Sanders, there may be almost as many superstitions as players (or fans). Drawing on social science, religious studies and SABRmetrics, this book explores the rich history of supernatural belief in the game and documents a wide variety of rituals, fetishes, taboos and jinxes. Some of these have changed over time but coping with uncertainty on the field through magical thinking remains a constant.

Author Biography

John Cairney is a professor and the head of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia. Originally from Canada and a lifelong Toronto Blue Jays fan, he is the author of four other books and more than 300 published journal articles. He is also a member of the Society for American Baseball Research.

by Baseballevaluation Com (Author)

Fields of Gold, Baseball's Best Glove Work traces the best fielders in the history of professional baseball from the beginning of the game in 1871 through today. Presented by Stat Geek Baseball and baseballevaluation.com, the book ranks each position player who played 500 games and describes the Top Ten players who patrolled the diamond at each position. Also included is a ranking of all Hall of Fame players by Field Value, the Stat Geek Baseball metric for fielding, plus a ranking list for the Top Fielders for every current team, plus a whole lot more. If you've got a baseball fan in your family or are one yourself, then this study of baseball's best fielders through the history of the game may just be right for you.

by Michael Ian Borer (Author)

An unforgettable pilgrimage through America's oldest major league ballpark

by John Sailors (Author)

English for Baseball is the ideal study tool for English learners who love the sport. For players and for fans, the book teaches the language needed to discuss baseball and enjoy the game in English on TV. The book covers essential vocabulary, baseball jargon, baseball slang and idioms, conversation, grammar, and more. English for Baseball also makes learning fun, using lively conversations, funny comics, interesting readings, and historical photos.

Author Biography

John Sailors has 20 years of experience in ESL and educational publishing, that following some grueling years in the classroom. He has developed learning tools that range from books and magazines to multimedia to Web-based programs.

by Dave Bohmer (Author)

Many baseball observers have viewed Ford Frick as an ineffective commissioner of Major League Baseball, largely manipulated by the league's owners, and more of an observer than a changemaker during his tenure from 1951 to 1965. Dave Bohmer challenges this perception, presenting Frick as a key figure in some of the massive changes baseball underwent during his thirty-one years as an executive of the Major Leagues, first as National League president for seventeen years and then as commissioner for fourteen. Frick is rarely credited with any Major League accomplishments besides his role in founding the Baseball Hall of Fame, but Bohmer argues that Frick was, in fact, one of baseball history's most effective executives.

While National League president, Frick helped save four clubs from bankruptcy, enabling each to win a pennant. He was instrumental in assisting the sport's survival during the Great Depression and World War II and closely involved in integrating the game. On being named commissioner in 1951, he had a leading role in facilitating the transfer of seven franchises, ensuring baseball was now played in all sections of the country. In a similar vein, he assisted in preparing Major League Baseball for expansion. During his tenure, he helped to stabilize the Minor Leagues, led the way in establishing the player draft that is still used today, and, through numerous congressional hearings, protected baseball's antitrust exemption. He left his mark in other areas as well, such as protecting the player pension plan. This revisionist biography, with many untold stories of mid-twentieth-century baseball, casts new light on Frick's sizable contributions to the game and his lasting legacy.

Author Biography

Dave Bohmer is director emeritus of the Pulliam Center for Contemporary Media and Media Fellows Program at DePauw University.

by Courtney Michelle Smith (Author)

For nearly 40 years, Ed Bolden dominated black baseball in Philadelphia. He owned two teams, the Darby-based Hilldale Club and the Philadelphia Stars, and briefly led the Eastern Colored League, which he founded. Winner of two championships--one with each team--he experienced the highs and lows of the Negro Leagues. He remained with the Stars until his death in 1950, which foreshadowed the dissolution of the Negro Leagues in the face of Major League Baseball's integration. This book examines Bolden's leadership of both teams through economic downturns, racial discrimination and two world wars.

Author Biography

A native of the Philadelphia area and an avid Philadelphia sports fan, Courtney Michelle Smith is an associate professor of history and political science at Cabrini University in Radnor, Pennsylvania.

by Bookcreators Jenny (Author)

Easter 2021 - Easter Coloring Book for Adults
★★Easter Eggs, Easter Baskets, Bunnies, Flowers, and More!★★
Easter coloring book for adults is the perfect way to celebrate the Easter season. Contains 100 pages of Easter designs filled with Easter eggs, Easter baskets, bunnies, chickens, and more. Easter coloring book for adults, teens, men, and women. Carefully chosen design will provide hours of fun, stress relief, creativity, and relaxation. Full page designs are printed single side on paper stock. Relax and unwind as you color these dazzling illustrations.

This Easter coloring book for grown-ups features:

♥ A variety of styles sure to please all levels of colorists
♥ Contains 100 illustrations
♥ Each page is 8 1/2 by 11 inches
♥ Each page is professionally composed
♥ Beautiful and unique designs, no repeats

by Jonathan Bales (Author)

The daily fantasy sports marketplace is rapidly changing, and there's currently more incentive than ever to be a contrarian DFS player. But what does a true contrarian strategy look like, and what are the smartest ways to go against the grain? In Fantasy Baseball for Smart People: The Art (and Science) of Being Contrarian in DFS, Jonathan Bales maps out your plan of attack, providing equal parts strategy and analytics to help you become a profitable player. From the philosophy of antifragility to innovative stacking techniques to weather-adjusted ballpark stats, you'll learn both the art and science of daily fantasy baseball. Using historical data on what actually works on daily fantasy sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, The Art (and Science) of Being Contrarian in DFS is built on the premise that the best DFS players test their beliefs and constantly adapt in an ever-changing landscape. This book will teach you the tenants necessary to evolve, survive and thrive in DFS.

Author Biography

Jonathan Bales is the author of the Fantasy Sports for Smart People series, co-founder of FantasyLabs - a daily fantasy sports analytics platform - and founder of RotoAcademy.

by Bookcreators Jenny (Author)

Easter 2021 - Easter Coloring Book for Adults
★★Easter Eggs, Easter Baskets, Bunnies, Flowers, and More!★★
Easter coloring book for adults is the perfect way to celebrate the Easter season. Contains 100 pages of Easter designs filled with Easter eggs, Easter baskets, bunnies, chickens, and more. Easter coloring book for adults, teens, men, and women. Carefully chosen design will provide hours of fun, stress relief, creativity, and relaxation. Full page designs are printed single side on paper stock. Relax and unwind as you color these dazzling illustrations.

This Easter coloring book for grown-ups features:

♥ A variety of styles sure to please all levels of colorists
♥ Contains 100 illustrations
♥ Each page is 8 1/2 by 11 inches
♥ Each page is professionally composed
♥ Beautiful and unique designs, no repeats

by Jonathan Bales (Author)

"Jonathan uses the latest data from daily fantasy sports, and beyond, to provide unique insights and actionable tips for every type of player. This book is completely fresh and maybe his best. It's Moneyball for DFS." - CSURAM88, DraftKings $1MM Champion There's been a shift in the DFS industry; more than ever, top players are utilizing game theory, psychology, and advanced modeling to predict player performance and ownership in order to find an edge. In Fantasy Baseball for Smart People: How to Use Math and Psychology to Win at DFS, you'll have access to all of the latest daily fantasy baseball data-performance analytics, ownership percentages, and more-as well as simple ways to implement the numbers and exploit public biases to make money. You'll learn how to: -Predict ownership (with brand new ownership percentages) -Use new advanced batted ball data to find a huge untapped edge -Exploit Vegas lines -Benefit from others' mistakes How to Use Math and Psychology to Win at DFS is your guide to competing with daily fantasy baseball's elite.

Author Biography

Jonathan Bales is the author of the Fantasy Sports for Smart People series, co-founder of FantasyLabs - a daily fantasy sports analytics platform - and founder of RotoAcademy. Read more at JonathanBales.com

by Richard Bogovich (Author)

Widely considered the best black player of the 19th century, Hall-of-Famer Frank Grant challenged baseball's color barrier in the 1880s to play for all-white professional teams--two of which fought a legal battle for his services. This first full-length biography documents Grant's career highlights, including successful games against Major League teams and at-bats against Hall-of-Fame pitchers. Stories overlooked for more than a century are examined, including a falsified anecdote that obscured one of Grant's best games from history. New light is shed on the early years of the Cuban Giants, the first black pro ball club.

Author Biography

Richard Bogovich, a contributor to the Society for American Baseball Research's Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games of the Nineteenth Century (2012), works for the Wendland Utz law firm in Rochester, Minnesota.

by Neil Lanctot (Author)

The Hilldale Club of Darby, Pennsylvania, was the dominant team in black baseball during the 1920s. Their success came about largely through the efforts of Hilldale president and manager Edward Bolden. Bolden's professionalism and reputation for fair play were instrumental in his forming the Eastern Colored (EC) League in 1922. This absorbing story, highlighted with vivid photographs, chronicles the origins and development of black baseball.

Author Biography

Neil Lanctot is the author of the critically acclaimed Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution. He has written for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Baltimore Sun, and several other journals and anthologies. He lives in West Chester, Pa.

by Tony Massarotti (Author), Jason Varitek (Foreword by)

A unique look at the inner workings of a major league baseball team and how the Red Sox went from perennial losers to baseball's next dynasty.

When the Boston Red Sox defeated the Colorado Rockies in the 2007 World Series, they did more than win their second world championship in four seasons--they changed forever the identity of a franchise once defined by its spectacular failures. If winning the 2004 World Series permanently buried Boston's tragic past, the team's 2007 championship reinforced its promising future while changing the culture, mentality, and mind-set of the Red Sox and their followers.

Author Biography

Tony Massarotti began covering baseball in 1991 for the Boston Herald. He coauthored the bestselling book A Tale of Two Cities: The 2004 Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry and the War for the Pennant. He lives in the Boston area with his wife, Natalie, and their sons, Alexander and Xavier.

by Steven R. Porter (Author)

All Nate ever wanted was to be a champion.

But stuck in the minor leagues with the lousy players, his most immediate concern was to not be killed by the bad pitching.

Then out of nowhere, he is called up and asked to play for the best team in the majors. The majors? With minimal baseball talent and a humiliating nickname, did he even have a chance to succeed playing with the best athletes in Wapper Falls? But it wouldn't take long for him to learn that his biggest challenges have nothing to do with how well he can hit a baseball.

Join Fiddlehead and his teammates on this no-holds barred journey through the zany minefield that is the world of youth sports featuring cheating coaches, obsessed parents, corrupt officials, neurotic volunteers, and all the organized chaos a small town can offer.

by Baseball Notebooks (Author)

This composition notebook is perfect for students and professionals, taking notes in class, writing journals and essays. This college rule or medium ruled notebook has a cool and trendy cover designs for baseball fans and sports lovers

by Austin Gisriel (Author)

No other sport, and indeed few other activities evoke as much passion as does baseball. It is a passion that unites generations and genders, laborers and lawyers, Republicans and Democrats. Baseball serves as a common language, a unified way of perceiving the world, a means to greater understanding. Baseball's shrines, rituals, myths, and heroes certainly give it a religious aura, but many activities may be pursued "religiously." Baseball is beyond religion. It is a living myth that puts us in touch with Eternity, with the Infinite. Its Miracle is not some long-ago act that contradicts the laws of physics. Its Miracle is the scrubbing away of cynicism to reveal the fresh-faced child within who is ready to believe, eager to believe, who does believe. Fathers, Sons, & Holy Ghosts: Baseball as a Spiritual Experience is an examination in memoir form of how baseball nourishes the spiritual side of those who are part of the game.

Author Biography

Austin Gisriel would have replaced Brooks Robinson at third base for the Baltimore Orioles, and it was only a lack of talent that kept him from doing so. "I discovered I could handle a pen better than a bat," laughs Gisriel who has written a great deal about baseball, including Boots Poffenberger: Hurler, Hero, Hell-Raiser (2014: Summer Game Books) and Safe at Home: A Season in the Valley (2010). A graduate of Wesley Theological Seminary, Gisriel most recently self-published a collection of flash fiction entitled, Time Is A Pool, which focuses on those moments when life intersects with Life. Gisriel is the baseball analyst emeritus for 1380 ESPN Radio in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, and has also served on the Board of Directors of the New Market Rebels, a summer collegiate baseball team in the Valley Baseball League. He and his wife, Martha, have two grown daughters, Rebecca and Sarah, either one of whom would have been named "Brooks" had either one been boys. The Gisriels recently moved to Stephenson, VA after living in Williamsport for almost 23 years. Austin invites you to follow his blog at www.austingisriel.com

by Wes Singletary (Author)

In recent years, Florida s playgrounds have produced an abundance of exceptional professional baseball players: Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Luis Gonzales and Tino Martinez, to name only a few. Before 1950, however, only twenty-six Florida boys made it to the pros got their shot in the big leagues.
Players like Tampa s Al Lopez, a Hall of Fame member and baseball s first Hispanic manager, and Pensacola native Russ Scarritt, who set the Boston Red Sox record for most triples in a season his rookie year, blazed a trail that has opened the door for many of today s baseball superstars. Florida s First Big League Baseball Players, by baseball historian and enthusiast Wes Singletary, is a narrative journey into the early days of baseball in Florida before 1950.
When this project was undertaken only eight of the original twenty-six players were still living. Written from hours of interviews and presented in a narrative form that is engaging and informative, this collection allows the reader to journey back to a time when the game was more innocent and the heart of the men playing, a little bigger."

by Frederick J Day (Author), Raymond J McKenna (Author)

Feeling A Draft takes a comprehensive look at the origins of Major League Baseball's amateur player draft and the many twists and turns the draft has taken since it was instituted in 1965. The book delves into the mysteries of why some "Can't Miss" prospects fail to make an impact while other unheralded players carve out a place in the pantheon of baseball stars. In telling the story of the amateur player draft, Feeling A Draft presents the heretofore untold stories of the many baseball scouts who have scoured the country in search of those special athletes capable of achieving success at the Major League level.

by John Green (Author)

Life lessons generously mixed with humor, dust, tears, grass stains and the smell of leather.

by Eric Blabac (Author)

The modern game of baseball is a stark contrast to the game of the past and statistics have continued to move to the forefront of the game. Watching a game on TV or listening to it on the radio, one is constantly bombarded with numbers of all kinds - how can one make sense of it all? Numbers constantly fly across your screen during each game and even the more mature fans may not truly understand what they mean. As one can imagine, the diversity of baseball statistics, the methods that create them and the fans who follow them is immense. This book makes no attempt to develop the next 'super stat' or tell you why Babe Ruth is better than Barry Bonds (or visa-versa). It merely attempts to not only present all well-known baseball statistics, but to present it in a way as to help the reader truly understand what the statistic really means and how that statistic can be used. If you have ever flipped through the many books or encyclopedias on baseball statistics one will quickly come to a conclusion - any real explanation of these statistics are placed in the very back of the book (usually in very tiny text) and typically with no real discussion on their calculation, context, or application. This text attempts to not only standardize baseball statistics as a subject, but to allow anyone to understand these statistics as well calculate them - no PhD required (but I suppose it helps).

by Donald Hall (Author)

The essays in Fathers Playing Catch with Sons are a wonderful mixture of reminiscence and observation, of baseball and of fathers and sons, of how a game binds people together and bridges generations.

In the pantheon of great sports literature, not a few poets have tried their hand at paying tribute to their love affair with the game--Walt Whitman, Marianne Moore, and William Carlos Williams among them. This elegant volume collects Donald Hall's prose about sports, concentrating on baseball but extending to basketball, football and Ping-Pong.

Author Biography

Best known as a poet, Donald Hall lived by freelance writing on his New Hampshire farm. In addition to his many books of poetry, he published short stories, collections of essays, and children's books, including the Ox-Cart Man

by Dean A. Sullivan (Editor)

With Final Innings Dean Sullivan concludes his four-volume documentary history of baseball, whose three earlier volumes have been called "a broad array of illuminating and often unexpected materials" (Sports Collectors Digest), "an invaluable reference tool" (Newark Star-Ledger), and a "fascinating collection" (Washington Post), in which "ancient myths are shattered and new facts are uncovered" (USA Today Baseball Weekly). Culling the most pertinent, newsworthy, and just plain curious stories from newspapers and periodicals, and putting each into context, Sullivan constructs an informative and entertaining account of Major League baseball from 1972 through 2008. The 105 essays cover key topics such as George Steinbrenner's purchase of the Yankees, the first free-agent draft, the coming of lights to Wrigley Field, the cancellation of the World Series in 1994, and the BALCO steroid probe. They also bring to light lesser-known gems like the rise of sabermetrics and the federal injunction against team owners in 1995. Offering a you-are-there view of the events that made baseball into the game we know today, this book gives readers a chance to go back and experience baseball's recent history as it happened and was reported by many of the game's finest writers and most prominent voices.

Author Biography

Dean A. Sullivan is the editor of Early Innings, Middle Innings, and Late Innings, all available in Bison Books editions.

by Sky Benson (Author)

Do you want to be more than just a first baseman? Do you want to become the defensive leader, the quarterback of the infield, who calls the plays and puts them together? To reach your full baseball ability, "The Complete First Baseman" is the best book you can get. This book goes beyond the basics of playing. We'll talk about the mental side of the game and teach you how to stay focused when things get tough, talk to your friends clearly, and lead on the pitch. You'll also learn how to research your opponents, guess what plays they'll make, and make essential changes during the game. It's not enough to do well on the field to be a great first baseman. We'll discuss avoiding injuries, eating for top performance, and creating a pre-game routine that prepares your body and mind. "The Complete First Baseman" has everything you need to improve your game, no matter how experienced or new you are to the game. Step up to the plate, put on your glove, and be the defense force your team needs!

by Michael Ian Borer (Author)

An unforgettable pilgrimage through America's oldest major league ballpark

by Philip Theibert (Author)

EVERYTHING I KNOW I LEARNED FROM BASEBALL is a collection of inspiring and amusing life lessons drawn from the baseball and softball diamonds. The author, a third-generation baseball coach, creates a "Life Strategies Lineup," with nine keys to finding success and happiness: ATTITUDE, PREPARATION, FOCUS, CHARACTER, DISCIPLINE, COOPERATION, COURAGE, GROWTH, INDEPENDENCE. The book also includes over 40 inspirational quotes from well-known baseball personalities and others.

Perfect for coaches, baseball moms and dads, and young adults who want to get back to what is really important about the game that means so much to them - good sportsmanship, doing one's best, cooperation, and teamwork. The parallels between life and baseball are clear to those who enjoy the game, and this book uses the fundamentals of good baseball and softball to help ballplayers and parents map out a path towards success and happiness both on the field, and more importantly, at school, at the job, and at home and in relationships.

by Bob Costas (Author)

From his perspective as a journalist and a true fan, Bob Costas, NBC's award-winning broadcaster, shares his unflinching views on the forces that are diminishing the appeal of major league baseball and proposes realistic changes that can be made to protect and promote the game's best interests.

Front Jacket

From his perspective as a journalist and a true fan, Bob Costas, NBC's award-winning broadcaster, shares his unflinching views on the forces that are diminishing the appeal of major league baseball and proposes realistic changes that can be made to protect and promote the game's best interests.
In this cogent--and provocative--book, Costas examines the growing financial disparities that have resulted in nearly two-thirds of the teams in major league baseball having virtually "no chance of contending for the World Series. He argues that those who run baseball have missed the crucial difference between mere change and real progress. And he presents a withering critique of the positions of both the owners and players while providing insights on the wild-card system, the designated-hitter rule, and interleague play. Costas answers each problem he cites with an often innovative, always achievable strategy for restoring genuine competition and rescuing fans from the forces that have diluted the sheer joy of the game.
Balanced by Costas's unbridled appreciation for what he calls the "moments of authenticity" that can still make baseball inspiring, Fair Ball offers a vision of our national pastime as it can be, a game that retains its traditional appeal while initiating thoughtful changes that will allow it to thrive into the next century.

Author Biography

Bob Costas has won the Emmy Award as Outstanding Sports Broadcaster eight times and has been named National Sportscaster of the Year by his peers seven times. He has also received Emmy awards for his writing, interviewing, and reporting. His coverage of major sports events includes the World Series, the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, and the Olympics. In addition to his sports broadcasting, Costas hosted the Emmy Award-winning interview show Later...with Bob Costas on NBC. He will be hosting a new sports journalism program on HBO beginning in February 2001. A native New Yorker, Costas now lives in St. Louis, Missouri.

by Chris Enss (Author), Howard Kazanjian (Author)

It was the golden age of baseball, and all over the country teams gathered on town fields in front of throngs of fans to compete for local glory. In Rawlins, Wyoming, residents lined up for tickets to see slugger Joseph Seng and the rest of the Wyoming Penitentiary Death Row All Stars as they took on all comers in baseball games with considerably more at stake. Teams came from Reno, Nevada; Klamath Falls, Oregon; Bodie, California; and throughout the west to take on the murderers who made up the line-up. This is a fun and wildly dramatic and suspenseful look at the game of baseball and at the thrilling events that unfolded at a prison in the wide-open Wyoming frontier in pursuit of wins on the diamond.

Author Biography

Howard Kazanjian is an author and award-winning producer and entertainment executive who has been producing feature films and television programs for more than twenty-five years. While vice president of production for Lucasfilm Ltd., he produced two of the highest grossing films of all time: Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. He also managed production of another top-ten box-office hit, The Empire Strikes Back. Some of his other notable credits include The Rookies, Demolition Man, and the two-hour pilot and first season of J.A.G.Chris Enss is an author and award-winning screen writer who has written for television, short subject films, live performances, and for the movies, and is the co-author or author of more than twenty-five books, including The Cowboy and the Senorita; Happy Trails; The Young Duke; and Thunder Over the Prairie--soon to be a motion picture-- with Howard Kazanjian. Her recent books include Frontier Teachers: Stories of Heroic Women of the Old West and The Doctor Wore Petticoats. Enss has done everything from stand-up comedy to working as a stunt person at the Old Tucson Movie Studio. She learned the basics of writing for film and television at the University of Arizona.

by Larry Forcey (Author)

Born in obscurity, William Jennings finds refuge within the walls of an orphanage in the outskirts of Baltimore. Under the tutelage of Xaverian Brothers, he thrives, escaping into his studies of history and baseball. As he witnesses the first three World Series Championships, his imagination begins to weave adventures of heroism -- from the fields of play to the fields of battle.

by Dan Migala (Author)

In Dugout Wisdom: Life Lessons From Baseball, author Dan Migala finds the heart in baseball, collecting and sharing words of wisdom from 55 greats of the game. These first person accounts of baseball's pivotal life moments feature noted players such as Sparky Anderson, Wade Boggs, Rod Carew, Whitey Ford, Goose Gossage, Monte Irvin, Kirby Puckett, Nolan Ryan, Ryne Sandberg, Ron Santo and Mike Schmidt. These stories transcend baseball; stories that players, fans and people of all ages can relate to, sympathize with, and learn from. Portions of the proceeds from book sales will benefit the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation, the Association of Professional Baseball Players of America and the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum's education program.

by DK (Author)

Help your child power up their reading skills and learn all about baseball with this fun-filled nonfiction reader carefully leveled to help children progress.

• Covering engaging, motivating, curriculum-aligned topics.
• Building knowledge while progressing Grades 3 and 4 reading skills.
• Developing subject vocabulary on topics such as sports.
• Boosting understanding and retention through comprehension quizzes.

Author Biography

We believe in the power of discovery. That's why we create books for everyone that explore ideas and nurture curiosity about the world we live in.

by Walter A. Beede (Author)

Before travel-ball rankings and radar guns, there was the sandlot.

Dreams of the Sandlot is a heartfelt baseball memoir about a last-pick kid, one stubborn summer, and one grieving mentor who changed everything on a dusty field most people drove past without noticing.

This isn't a highlight reel. Effort is a choice; you earn respect, and treating people well is more important than the numbers in a box score.

Inside you'll find:

• A coming-of-age baseball story rooted in small-town summers and simple games


• Real-life lessons for young players who feel a step behind


• A powerful message for parents and coaches on helping without pushing too hard


• A clear-eyed look at travel-ball pressure-and what kids actually remember

Perfect for youth baseball families, coaches, former players, and anyone who misses the joy of catch in the backyard and the freedom of the sandlot.

Go back to the beginning-to Willow Creek, the dusty field, and the knock on the screen door that started it all.

by Ak Landow (Author)

LAYTON

Everyone thinks I have it all. The all-American superstar baseball player. The golden boy of Philly. The notorious playboy.

In reality, I'm just a lonely man who knows his career is hanging on by a thread.

Then an opportunity presents itself. My team is sold, and the new owners want to keep me around. The catch? I need to enter into a PR relationship with Arizona Abbott, the rising star of the local softball team. The most beautiful woman I've ever met. As it turns out, she's my dream come true.

The problem? She's my best friend's sister.

ARIZONA

After the toughest year of my life, I move across the country to play professional softball with my closest friends, to be near my brother, and to leave my baggage behind.

Needing to focus on my fresh start, I swear off baseball players.

All of them.

In walks Layton Lancaster, the man whose poster hung above my bed as a teen. I'm asked to pretend to date him to save my team and my league. I can't fall for a man like him again, so I need to keep him at arm's length.

The problem? My fantasy man isn't who I thought he was.

by Catherine Nixon Cooke (Author), Peter C. Goldmark (Foreword by)

David Lesch is a modern-day Renaissance man whose work has spanned continents and allowed him to explore cultures near and far. An acclaimed scholar, educator, author, and conflict resolution specialist, he has advised five U.S. presidential administrations at the highest levels about the head-spinning political, religious, and cultural complexities of the Middle East. He is the author or editor of seventeen books, including The History of the Middle East since the Rise of Islam, Syria: A Modern History, and The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History.

Long before, as the number one draft pick for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1980, Lesch followed his American dream, playing with many baseball greats until a shoulder injury sidelined him. He later became a distinguished professor of Middle East studies at Trinity University in San Antonio and was soon tapped by the United Nations, the U.S. State Department, and policy centers and governments internationally.

Dodgers to Damascus documents a part of the world that has been shrouded in mystery and plagued by conflict, power struggles, and warfare, and offers a firsthand glimpse inside modern Syria, its neighboring countries, and their connections to the rest of the world.
Lesch's work in Syria resulted in a tenuous relationship with President Bashar al-Assad and many tense situations, including a poisoned meal that almost cost him his life. His encounters with elected officials, diplomats, spies, and conflict resolution specialists have all the elements of a Hollywood thriller and parallel his personal story of loss, crisis, and redemption.

Author Biography

Catherine Nixon Cooke is a former journalist and editor and the author of many books, including In Search of Tom Slick: Explorer and Visionary and Juan O'Gorman: A Confluence of Civilizations. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.

Peter C. Goldmark is an independent consultant in philanthropy, environmental policy, international affairs and development, and organizational development. He served as director of the Environmental Defense Fund's climate and air program, chair and CEO of the International Herald Tribune, and president of the Rockefeller Foundation. He lives in New York City.

by Thomas W. Gilbert (Author)

"A fascinating must-read for baseball history buffs."--Publishers Weekly

Author Biography

Thomas W. Gilbert is the author of How Baseball Happened: Outrageous Lies Exposed! The True Story Revealed (winner of the Casey Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year) and many other books, including Baseball and the Color Line, Roberto Clemente, and Playing First. From his Greenpoint, Brooklyn, stoop he can throw a baseball to the former site of the Manor House tavern, where members of the Eckford Baseball Club enjoyed a post-game drink or two in the 1850s.

by John Nogowski (Author)

In Diamond Duels: Baseball's Greatest Matchups, we take a magnifying glass to some of the game's most entertaining and historic battles between hitters and pitchers, played out over breezy spring evenings, hot summer afternoons, and chilly fall evenings as the long, rumbling baseball season finally winds down. Then we look closer.

As a sport with such a rich and diverse history, baseball offers us a long and fascinating recounting of so many of those dramatic matchups-- if you know where to look. There are many untold stories inside the box scores; Duke Snider slamming 19 home runs off Robin Roberts, who must have groaned every time he saw No. 4 at the plate; a starry-eyed National League star Dizzy Dean finally getting to pitch to American League folk hero Babe Ruth, winding down his career with the Boston Braves; Yankees manager Casey Stengel deciding not to start left-handed ace Whitey Ford in some key moments throughout Ford's Hall of Fame career; Albert Pujols doing his best to upset those careful pregame pitching strategy sessions by going out and swatting a record 154 of his 703 career blasts in his very first at-bat of the game. Diamond Duels is a book for the old and the young baseball fan, those who want to know just a little bit more about those dramatic matchups between pitcher and hitter throughout the games of our lives as well as those who want to look back, find out something they hadn't thought of, enriching their everlasting baseball memories.

Author Biography

John Nogowski is an award-winning sports writer and teaches AP Language, English and Journalism at Gadsden County High School in Havana, Florida. He is the author of Last Time Out: Big League Farewells of Baseball's Greats (Lyons Press, 2022). He lives in Tallahassee, FL.

by Peter Morris (Author)

This book is the result of one man's twenty-year quest to solve some of baseball's most enduring mysteries--the "cold cases" of major leaguers about whom virtually nothing is known. (In many instances, the various baseball encyclopedias list only their names and one other word: "deceased.") Some of these mysterious players had negligible professional careers and their time on a major league diamond was more the result of good fortune than anything else; others were stars in their day and then vanished.

The Biographical Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research is committed to finding them and award-winning researcher Peter Morris tells the story of some of the most remarkable of the searches that resulted, many of which featured twists so surprising no mystery writer could have invented them.

Author Biography

Baseball historian Peter Morris is a two-time winner of the Seymour Medal for best baseball book of the year and was an inaugural winner of the Henry Chadwick Award for lifetime achievement in baseball research. He lives in Haslett, Michigan.

by Peter C. Bjarkman (Author)

Minnie Minoso. Martin Dihigo. Luis Tiant Sr. and Jr. "El Duque" Orlando and Livan Hernadez. These are only a few of the leading lights profiled in this SABR BioProject book. The 47 individuals profiled here represent only a small handful of the legions of memorable and sometimes even legendary figures produced over nearly a century and a half by an island nation where the bat-and-ball sport known as baseball is more than a national pastime, it is the national passion. The book presents 47 biographies in all, plus essays on Cuban baseball.

Author Biography

PETER C. BJARKMAN is author of 40-plus books on sports history and is perhaps best known in recent years as the leading authority on post-revolution Cuban League baseball and is also the first American to write regular columns and analysis on two "official" Cuban League baseball websites. His 2007 book, History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006 is universally recognized as the definitive work on Cuban baseball. Bjarkman's earlier pictorial history of Cuban baseball entitled Smoke: The Romance and Lore of Cuban Baseball (1999, Total Sports, with photographer Mark Rucker) is widely recognized as a landmark achievement in the field. Diamonds Around the Globe: The Encyclopedia of International Baseball (2005, Greenwood) won The Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award and was a finalist for Spitball magazine's CASEY AWARD as "Baseball Book of the Year." Bjarkman's 1994 study, Baseball with a Latin Beat: A History of the Latin American Game (McFarland), earned the Macmillan-SABR Baseball Research Award. SABR is the Society for American Baseball Research, a group of over 6,000 enthusiasts about the game of baseball whose research interests range from the game's history to statistical analysis, records, cultural impact, and more. The BioProject is a SABR effort to research, write, and publish biographies of every player--and every person--ever connected with organized baseball. Anyone with a love of baseball can join SABR and become a part of these efforts.

by Carroll Conklin (Author)

These were the heroes who owned the summers of the 1960s. Ernie Banks and Ferguson Jenkins. Billy Williams and Larry Jackson. Lindy McDaniel and Ron Santo. Don Kessinger and Glen Hobbie. During the summers of the 1960s, the heroes of the North Side wore Cubs uniforms. On their best days (which were, admittedly, too few), they were entertaining and inspiring. They smote hated rivals and sent their best to the All-Star game, in the decade when that mid-summer classic moved under the lights ... and into prime time. On their worst days, these Cubs heroes broke our hearts, squandering late-inning leads and pre-season hopes ... but they never lost our devotion. They were the heroes of our youth. Now their stories are collected in Cubs Heroes: Remembering the Chicago Cubs Who Helped Make the 1960s Baseball's Real Golden Age. The book profiles the best (and a few of the worst) of the Chicago Cubs of the 1960s. In all, there are 68 profiles of the infielders, outfielders, catchers and pitchers who played for the Chicago Cubs in the 1960s. Do you remember ... The hard-throwing right-hander who managed to win 20 games in 1968 despite losing 5 decisions by 1-0 scores? (page 100) The slugging third baseman who was a 9-time All-Star and won 5 Gold Gloves? (page 20) The shortstop who was a 5-time All-Star and led the league 3 times in assists? (page 15) The 6-time All-Star outfielder who averaged 162 games played from 1962 through 1970)? (page 51) The Cubs' workhorse right-hander who led the majors in wins in 1964 and lost 21 games in 1965? (page 98) The Gold Glove second baseman who was Rookie of the Year in 1962? (page 14) The journeyman reliever who spent 21 years in the minors, and led the team in ERA and winning percentage in 1961 (only 2 Cub pitchers that season had winning records)? (page 118) The hard-hitting first baseman who was an 11-time All-Star and hit 512 home runs? (page 12) The left-hander who went from a 20-game loser in 1962 to a 22-game winner in 1963? (page 94) The veteran reliever who won 13 games and led the league with 22 saves in 1963? (page 107) Their stories are here. Enjoy the memories.

Author Biography

Carroll Conklin combines a life-long passion for baseball with a three-decade career as a professional writer. A graduate of Ashland University and Bowling Green State University, Carroll has spent more than 20 years as an advertising copywriter and marketing strategist. He has taught copywriting and brand theory at The Ohio State University and the Columbus College of Art & Design. A prolific author, Carroll has also written books on topics ranging from marketing management to fear elimination. He preaches the "gospel" of the 1960s as baseball's real golden age at www.1960sBaseball.com.

by Vince Gennaro (Author)

Diamond Dollars is a fresh, provocative, insightful, and analytical look at the business of baseball by author Vince Gennaro, a consultant to MLB teams. Gennaro addresses some key questions that affect how teams make decisions, how they assemble their roster, and ultimately, their bottom line: * How does winning affect revenues for each team? * How much value does a berth in the postseason generate for the Red Sox and Yankees? * What is the Yankees' marginal revenue vs. marginal cost of winning? * What is the economic value of a highly productive Twins' farm system? * Why is a player's value "situational", depending on the competitiveness of his team and the market in which he plays? * How much was Carlos Beltran worth to the Mets in 2006? * How can we quantify Derek Jeter's "marquee value"...his ability to draw fans? * What is the relative cost of developing talent vs. buying it in the free agent market? * How can we quantify Nomar Garciaparra's injury risk and its impact on his dollar value? * What is the dollar value of Cubs' fans loyalty to their beloved team? * How have the Red Sox, Yankees and Cubs built their team as a brand? * How much Babe Ruth was worth to his Yankee teams of the 1920s and 1930s? Baseball teams may have thought conceptually about some of these issues, but Diamond Dollars gives them the math to measure the effectiveness of their thinking and practices. "Diamond Dollars provides an insightful look at the business of baseball-at the free agent market, teams' scouting and player development systems, and how clubs market their brands. The book mixes Vince's business acumen as a top executive at a Fortune 50 company with his passion for the national pastime." --Mark Attanasio, Chairman and Principal Owner, Milwaukee Brewers "Vince Gennaro shows a profound understanding of the economics of a team's baseball decisions. His analyses of a team's win-revenue relationship, the player development system and player valuation, make for a remarkably innovative examination of the baseball front office model that's just as informative for a baseball executive as for a fan." --Chris Antonetti, General Manager, Cleveland Indians "Diamond Dollars offers up exciting and stimulating new ideas about the business of baseball. It provides a set of metrics for decisions that have typically been a "gut feeling" for many organizations. I think teams should make this required reading for everyone in their organizations." --Jim Beattie, former Executive VP and General Manager, Baltimore Orioles and Montreal Expos "Vince Gennaro has written the best book I've read on the business of baseball. It serves as both a "how-to manual" for baseball owners and a tour guide for fans who scratch their heads at the things their teams do. It should find plenty of readers in both camps." --Dave Studenmund, Editor, The Hardball Times Annual

Author Biography

Vince Gennaro has been a consultant to Major League Baseball teams since 2006 and is President of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). He also appears regularly on MLB Network's studio shows including Clubhouse Confidential, a television show featuring leading edge base- ball analytics. Vince also founded the Diamond Dollars Case Competition series, which brings students and sports executives together in a forum that encourages students to apply their skills to solve real sports business problems. In addition, he teaches in the Graduate Sports Management pro- grams at Columbia University and Manhattanville College. This follows a successful business career, which is highlighted by a 20-year career at PepsiCo, and ownership of a pro sports franchise. At PepsiCo, Vince was President of Pepsi's Fountain Beverage Division, the general manager of a billion dollar bottling business, and led the world's leading snack brand, Doritos. An entrepreneurial startup endeavor early in Vince's career complements his success with a blue chip Fortune 50 company. At the age of 27, he raised capital, led the purchase of a franchise in the Women's Pro Basketball League-the forerunner of today's WNBA-and served as its President and General Manager. Vince's innovative work in baseball analytics-ranging from player evaluation and the development of new metrics, to placing a dollar value on players-has been the subject of articles in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and CNN Money. He has also written for Yahoo! Sports and contributed to The Wall Street Journal. He is a frequent guest commentator in the media on sports business topics, appearing on the YES Net- work, CNBC and Bloomberg TV, WFAN radio in NYC, and many other broadcast outlets. Vince serves on the Advisory Board of The Perfect Game Foundation. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago.

by H. A. Rey (Author), Anna Grossnickle Hines (Illustrator)

Play ball! George is going to watch a baseball game. One curious little monkey in one big stadium makes for one exciting day at the ballpark!

George is excited to cheer on the Mudville Miners at a very special baseball game, but it isn't long before this curious little monkey goes off to investigate the lively stadium.

The colorful fans and concession stands are exciting, but there's nothing quite like helping a friend in need.

by Chris Donnelly (Author)

Doc, Donnie, the Kid, and Billy Brawl focuses on the 1985 New York baseball season, a season like no other since the Mets came to town in 1962. Never before had both the Yankees and the Mets been in contention for the playoffs so late in the same season. For months New York fans dreamed of the first Subway Series in nearly thirty years, and the Mets and the Yankees vied for their hearts.

Author Biography

Chris Donnelly is the author of Road to Nowhere: The Early 1990s Collapse and Rebuild of New York City Baseball (Nebraska, 2023), How the Yankees Explain New York, and Baseball's Greatest Series: Yankees, Mariners, and the 1995 Matchup That Changed History.

by Chris Donnelly (Author)

Doc, Donnie, the Kid, and Billy Brawl focuses on the 1985 New York baseball season, a season like no other since the Mets came to town in 1962. Never before had both the Yankees and the Mets been in contention for the playoffs so late in the same season. For months New York fans dreamed of the first Subway Series in nearly thirty years, and the Mets and the Yankees vied for their hearts.

Author Biography

Chris Donnelly is the author of Road to Nowhere: The Early 1990s Collapse and Rebuild of New York City Baseball (Nebraska, 2023), How the Yankees Explain New York, and Baseball's Greatest Series: Yankees, Mariners, and the 1995 Matchup That Changed History.

by Chris Holaday (Author)

The best-known story of integration in baseball is Jackie Robinson, who broke the major league color line in 1947 after coming up through the minor leagues the previous year. His story, however, differs from those of the many players who integrated the game in the Jim Crow South at all professional levels. Chris Holaday offers readers the first book-length history of baseball's integration in the Carolinas, showing its slow and unsteady progress, narrating the experience of players in a range of distinct communities, detailing the influence of baseball executives at the local and major league levels, and revealing that the changing structure of the professional baseball system allowed the major leagues to control integration at the state level. Holaday illuminates many smaller stories along the way, including desegregation in Little League and American Legion baseball, the first Black players to play in the tiny foothills town of Granite Falls, North Carolina, and the pipeline of Afro-Cuban players from Havana to the Carolina leagues.

By showing how race and the national pastime intersected at the local level, Holaday offers readers new context to understand the long struggle of equality in the game.

by R. A. R. Edwards (Author)

The first deaf baseball player joined the pro ranks in 1883. By 1901, four played in the major leagues, most notably outfielder William "Dummy" Hoy and pitcher Luther "Dummy" Taylor. Along the way, deaf players developed a distinctive approach, bringing visual acuity and sign language to the sport. They crossed paths with other pioneers, including Moses Fleetwood Walker and Jackie Robinson.

This book recounts their great moments in the game, from the first all-deaf barnstorming team to the only meeting of a deaf batter and a deaf pitcher in a major league game. The true story--often dismissed as legend--of Hoy, together with umpire "Silk" O'Loughlin, bringing hand signals to baseball is told.

Author Biography

R.A.R. Edwards is a professor of history at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York.

by Todd Pelow (Author)

This book contains information to help you and your child figure out if you are ready for Travel Baseball and the commitment it requires. This includes detailed information on what to look for when evaluating baseball team options as well as what you should be looking for in coaches. This helps you understand how to properly evaluate your child's skill set and interest in preparing for next level competition. Baseball is sport that has a lot of failures, it is important that the whole family can be prepared in understanding how to navigate those ups and downs. This book provides a comprehensive overview on expectations and how to navigate the landscape of Travel Baseball.

by Adrian Jr. Burgos (Author)

In Cuban Star, an interpretive account of Alejandro "Alex" Pompez's life in context, Adrian Burgos, Jr. follows Pompez's--and baseball's--path through the twentieth century's changing social and racial landscape.

Author Biography

Adrian Burgos, Jr., is an associate professor of history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the author of Playing America's Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line. His work has been featured on NPR and ESPN's SportsCenter, in The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, and in other media outlets.

by Shara Puglisi Katsos (Author), John Bulens (Illustrator)

This is the third book of the Doggie Investigation Gang, DIG(TM) series. The Doggie Investigation Gang is run completely by three dogs that happen to be best friends and partners of their own detective agency. Cooper is a big yellow labrador, clever and loves a mystery. Charlie is a medium-sized spaniel, that is a bit of a worrier and never late for appointments. Pedro is a small, blind min pin that has mastered his sense of smell. Together, and with the help of their friends they solve mysteries in an effort to assist others. The intended audience for this series is second to fourth grade students. While being introduced to third-grade level vocabulary, speaker dialogue and chapter books they will learn hidden lessons such as conflict resolution, the value of individual strengths and differences and the importance of teamwork. A portion of the sales of this book will be donated to PAWS New England to assist in rescuing the dogs residing at Tipton County Animal Shelter, a high-kill shelter located in Tipton, TN.

by Lisa Wheeler (Author), Barry Gott (Illustrator)

When the plant-eating Green Sox face the meat-eating Rib-Eye Reds, baseball will never be the same.

Tied zip to zip, the game is a pitchers' duel until the Green Sox's hothead manager goes snout to snout with the dodo umpire and gets tossed out. The Sox respond with their veggie-powered bats and score three runs! Momentum swings back to the Reds before the seventh inning stretch, and they're all tied up in the bottom of the ninth. Will this game need extra innings, or will Apatosaur save the day?

Dinosaurs face off in prehistoric sports competitions--from baseball to wrestling and every sport in between! Will the plant-eaters become the champions? Or will the meat-eaters be victorious? Fast-paced, rhyming commentary and exuberant illustrations put readers right in the action. Sure to thrill dinosaur lovers and sports fans alike!

by James R. Walker (Author), Pat Hughes (Foreword by)

The crack of the bat on the radio is ingrained in the American mind as baseball takes center stage each summer. Radio has brought the sounds of baseball into homes for almost one hundred years, helping baseball emerge from the 1919 Black Sox scandal into the glorious World Series of the 1920s. The medium gave fans around the country aural access to the first All-Star Game, Lou Gehrig's farewell speech, and Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World." Red Barber, Vin Scully, Harry Caray, Ernie Harwell, Bob Uecker, and dozens of other beloved announcers helped cement the love affair between radio and the national pastime. Crack of the Bat takes readers from the 1920s to the present, examining the role of baseball in the development of the radio industry and the complex coevolution of their relationship. James R. Walker provides a balanced, nuanced, and carefully documented look at radio and baseball over the past century, focusing on the interaction between team owners, local and national media, and government and business interests, with extensive coverage of the television and Internet ages, when baseball on the radio had to make critical adjustments to stay viable. Despite cable television's ubiquity, live video streaming, and social media, radio remains an important medium through which fans engage with their teams. The evolving relationship between baseball and radio intersects with topics as varied as the twenty-year battle among owners to control radio, the development of sports as a valuable media product, and the impact of competing technologies on the broadcast medium. Amid these changes, the familiar sounds of the ball hitting the glove and the satisfying crack of the bat stay the same.

Author Biography

James R. Walker is a professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Communication at Saint Xavier University. He is the coauthor of Center Field Shot: A History of Baseball on Television (Nebraska, 2008) and The Broadcast Television Industry. Pat Hughes has been the radio voice of the Chicago Cubs since 1996.

by Lew Freedman (Author)

After winning Statehood in 1959, Alaska attracted thousands of collegiate stars who played for colorful teams such as the Fairbanks Goldpanners, Alaska Glacier Pilots, Peninsula Oilers, North Pole Nicks, and Anchorage Bucs. Hundreds went on to major leagues, including Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, home-run king Mark McGwire, and fireball pitcher Randy Johnson. And nowhere else is there an event like the annual Midnight Sun Game. Played in Fairbanks on June 21, the longest day of the year, it starts at 10:30 p.m. and continues until the next day, with no stadium lights.

Back Jacket

Freedman shares his best baseball stories from a state whose season is short but there's no shortage of future major leaguers passing through-some 300 in the past thirty summers. Read about: The annual Midnight Sun Game that starts without lights at 10:30pm. An Alaska League team so eager to get in a game on a soggy day that is sets the playing field on fire. The legendary radio announcer who exits mid-game, inviting a bystander to continue the play by play. The bullpen that sneaks off to a local tavern for a few beers - during the game! But, hey! This is no joke. Mark McGwire, Dave Kingman, and Dave Winfield (all pitching then) donned uniforms of teams such as the Fairbanks Goldpanners, Alaska Glacier Pilots, Peninsula Oilers, Valley Green Giants, Mat-Su Miners, North Pole Nicks, and Anchorage Bucs. Other Alaska League alumni: Hall-of-Fame pitcher Tom Seaver and fireball hurler Randy Johnson. And don't overlook H.A. "Red" Boucher, "the George Washington of Alaska baseball," and others who shaped baseball history in the north.