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1419 products
by Charles River (Author)
*Includes pictures
*Includes excerpts of contemporary accounts
*Includes a bibliography for further reading
"I had to fight all my life to survive. They were all against me, but I beat the bastards and left them in the ditch." - Ty Cobb
"Cobb is a prick. But he sure can hit. God Almighty, that man can hit." - Babe Ruth
As one of America's oldest and most beloved sports, baseball has long been touted as the national pastime, but of all the millions of people who have played it over the last few centuries, few have influenced Major League Baseball like Ty Cobb, whose career spanned over 20 seasons. The Georgia Peach overcame early hardships to set nearly 100 MLB records in his time as a player and player-manager for the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Athletics. With an MVP and Triple Crown under his belt by the age of 25, Cobb went on to produce statistics that still lead MLB in several categories, including 4,065 combined runs scored and RBIs, a career batting average over .365, and at least 11 batting titles. In cases where he's no longer the record holder, it would take decades for players like Pete Rose to play in more games and collect more at bats and hits, for Rickey Henderson to score as many runs, and for Lou Brock to steal more bases.
Even Americans who are relatively unfamiliar with baseball's storied history have likely heard of Ty Cobb and can recognize him as one of the sport's all time greats, but today his legacy is better known for controversy. In his day, Cobb was cast as a villain by fans of teams he played against, but he was portrayed in flattering manners shortly after his death. Things changed when other contemporary accounts came out and cast him as a vile racist, among other personal failings, much of which can be credited to the writing of sportswriter Al Stump and the modern biopic Cobb, released in 1994. It has only been recently that modern historians have pushed back a bit on those portrayals of Cobb and attempted to depict him in a more balanced light, and even then some of them have struggled. For example, in The Journal of American Culture, writer Hunter M. Hampton noted that biographer Charles Leerhsen's Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty, released in 2015, "succeeds in debunking the myth of Cobb that Stump created, but...spawned a new myth by conflating Stump's shortcomings to depict Cobb as an egalitarian"
Ty Cobb: The Life and Legacy of the Player Who Set the Most Major League Baseball Records profiles the controversial legend, both on the field and off it. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Ty Cobb like never before.
by Lindblad (Author)
Tulsa's longest relationship with any professional sport has been with baseball. And that love affair with its minor league teams has endured its share of peaks and valleys, of passionate embraces, periods of frustration and despair and joyous celebrations.
Baseball and Tulsa are currently living "happily ever after" with record-setting season attendance figures, more frequent appearances in postseason playoffs, having one of the finest stadiums on the Double-A level and its new partnership with one of baseball's most prestigious organizations, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ten major league teams, from powerhouses such as the Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals to the woeful St. Louis Browns, have placed developmental teams in Tulsa with varying degrees of success.
This book tells the stories of not only the men who wore the uniforms of Tulsa's professional baseball teams but also of many opposing players along with others who came through town and left their mark on the sport, for better or for worse.
You can read about ...
How a crude invention by the manager of the 1966 Tulsa Oilers opened up baseball to be played and enjoyed by young boys and girls around the world.
How a fan got fed up with constant booing from others nearby and his response was a yell that became a battle cry for Tulsa baseball fans.
How the 1921 Oilers and their home stadium were involved in one of America's darkest hours, the Tulsa Race Massacre.
What happened when future Hall of Fame players and managers visited the Oil Capital of the World for exhibition games.
How the Tulsa Drillers were the stepping stone for superstars with the Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame with connections to Tulsa.
And how the 1966 Oilers lost nine games in a row and, incredibly, strengthened their hold on first place.
by Tom Stanton (Author)
Tom Stanton's Ty and The Babe tells of the incredible saga of baseball's fiercest rivals, the forging of a surprising friendship, and the battle for the 1941 Has-Beens Golf Championship
Early in the twentieth century, fate thrust a young Babe Ruth into the gleaming orbit of Ty Cobb. The resulting collision produced a dazzling explosion and a struggle of mythic magnitude. At stake was not just baseball dominance, but eternal glory and the very soul of a sport. For much of fourteen seasons, the Cobb-Ruth rivalry occupied both men and enthralled a generation of fans. Even their retirement from the ball diamond didn't extinguish it.
Front Jacket
Praise for the Writing of Tom Stanton
DESIGN: More quotes TK
" Ruth and Cobb come together as never before in this charming story of rivalry and friendship. Stanton, a keen storyteller, has written a book that surprises and delights."
-- Jonathan Eig, author of "Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig"
" The wardrobe mistress of baseball history seems to have assigned the white hat to Babe Ruth and the black hat to Ty Cobb for all time. The Babe, the legendary Sultan of Swat, has become the patron saint of the sport, flamboyant and loud, larger than life, hail fellow well met, a character who hit mammoth home runs and wiped the runny noses of neighborhood urchins. Cobb has become the villain, foul mouthed and cantankerous, unliked and unloved by even his teammates. . . . Now Tom Stanton comes along to rearrange the roles in his terrific new book, "Ty and The Babe," which chronicles the relationship between the two baseball icons. He takes off the hats and tells us about the real people. And it all is great fun."
-- Leigh Montville, author of "The Big Bam"
" Wonderful! "Ty and The Babe" is rich, elegant, and powerful. Tom Stanton vividly brings back to life two rival sports icons in a rollicking tale filled with tension, humor, and warmth. It's fantastic."
-- Ernie Harwell, Hall of Fame broadcaster
" Frankly, "Ty and The Babe" had me hooked from the opening page, a thoroughly absorbing tale that has all the charm and elements of an unforgettable film-- the two greatest players from baseball's Golden Era, blood feuds, dueling rivals, brawling fans, mythologizing sportswriters and the consequences of a rapidly changing game . . . all capped off by a poignant golf match between a pair of fading titans. Tom Stanton has beautifully re-created the most romantic period of American sports, provided new and powerful insights into a pair of greatly misunderstood figures in Cobb and Ruth, and given baseball and golf fans everywhere something to cheer lustily about."
-- James Dodson, author of "Final Rounds" and "Ben Hogan: An American Life"
Author Biography
Tom Stanton is the author of four books, including the memoir The Final Season, winner of the Casey Award. A former Knight-Wallace Fellow, he published weekly newspapers and taught journalism at the University of Detroit Mercy before becoming an author. His stories have appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times. He and his wife live in New Baltimore, Michigan, and have three sons.
by Jason Turbow (Author)
The wildly entertaining narrative of the outrageous 1981 Dodgers from the award-winning author of Dynastic, Fantastic, Bombastic and The Baseball Codes
In the Halberstam tradition of capturing a season through its unforgettable figures, They Bled Blue is a sprawling, mad tale of excess and exuberance, the likes of which could only have occurred in that place, at that time.That it culminated in an unlikely World Series win--during a campaign split by the longest player strike in baseball history--is not even the most interesting thing about this team. The Dodgers were led by the garrulous Tommy Lasorda--part manager, part cheerleader--who unyieldingly proclaimed devotion to the franchise through monologues about bleeding Dodger blue and worshiping the "Big Dodger in the Sky," and whose office hosted a regular stream of Hollywood celebrities. Steve Garvey, the All-American, All-Star first baseman, had anchored the most durable infield in major league history, and, along with Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, and Ron Cey, was glaringly aware that 1981 would represent the end of their run together. The season's real story, however, was one that nobody expected at the outset: a chubby lefthander nearly straight out of Mexico, twenty years old with a wild delivery and a screwball as his flippin' out pitch. The Dodgers had been trying for decades to find a Hispanic star to activate the local Mexican population; Fernando Valenzuela was the first to succeed, and it didn't take long for Fernandomania to sweep far beyond the boundaries of Chavez Ravine.
They Bled Blue is the rollicking yarn of the Los Angeles Dodgers' crazy 1981 season.Author Biography
JASON TURBOW is the author of Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic, The Baseball Codes, and the audio book Baseball Forever!, narrated by Bob Costas. He's written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, and Wired, among many publications.
by Lawrence Baldassaro (Author)
Winner of the 2022 SABR Baseball Research Award
Before there was Joe DiMaggio, there was Tony Lazzeri. A decade before the "Yankee Clipper" began his legendary career in 1936, Lazzeri paved the way for the man who would become the patron saint of Italian American fans and players. He did so by forging his own Hall of Fame career as a key member of the Yankees' legendary Murderers' Row lineup between 1926 and 1937, in the process becoming the first major baseball star of Italian descent. An unwitting pioneer who played his entire career while afflicted with epilepsy, Lazzeri was the first player to hit sixty home runs in organized baseball, one of the first middle infielders in the big leagues to hit with power, and the first Italian player with enough star power to attract a whole new generation of fans to the ballpark. As a twenty-two-year-old rookie for the New York Yankees, Lazzeri played alongside such legends as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. He immediately emerged as a star, finishing second to Ruth in RBIs and third in home runs in the American League. Lawrence Baldassaro reveals Lazzeri to be one of the smartest, most talented, and most respected players of his time, the forgotten Yankee who helped the team win six American League pennants and five World Series titles.Author Biography
Lawrence Baldassaro is a professor emeritus of Italian at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is the author of Beyond DiMaggio: Italian Americans in Baseball (Nebraska, 2011), Baseball Italian Style: Great Stories Told by Italian American Major Leaguers from Crosetti to Piazza, and The Ted Williams Reader.
by Sridhar Pappu (Author)
"Both a pleasure and a revelation."--Daniel Okrent, author of Nine Innings
In 1968, two astounding pitchers would dominate the game as never before. One was black, the other white. The stoic Bob Gibson, together with the St. Louis Cardinals, embodied an entire generation's hope for integration at a heated moment in American history. The flashy Denny McLain was a crass self-promoter who lived a life apart from his Detroit Tigers teammates, searching for fame. But for one season, the nation watched as these two men and their teams swept their respective league championships to meet at the World Series.Gibson set a major-league record that year with a 1.12 ERA. McLain won more than 30 games in 1968, a feat not achieved since 1934 and untouched since. They would reach these heights against the backdrop of assassinations, while boys boarded planes to Saigon and riots swept through American cities, forever changing the fabric of this country.
In the grand tradition of David Halberstam, The Year of the Pitcher evokes a nostalgic season and its incredible characters through the story of one of the great rivalries in sports, painting an indelible portrait of the national pastime during our most turbulent era.
Author Biography
SRIDHAR PAPPU is "The Male Animal" columnist for the New York Times. He began his award-winning career as a feature writer for the Chicago Reader and has served as a columnist at the New York Observer, a correspondent for the Atlantic, and as a staff writer at the Washington Post and Sports Illustrated.
by David Brauer (Author)
Named a Top 20 Best College Baseball Book of All Time by Book Authority
No one changed the landscape of college baseball like Ron Fraser. The sport enjoyed little national interest until Fraser arrived at the University of Miami in 1963 and built his program into an entertainment empire and a national champion. Nationally televised college baseball games on ESPN can be traced back to Fraser's lobbying work in the network's early days. His efforts resulted in coverage growth and paved the way to making the College World Series one of ESPN's marquee events. He created zany, one-of-a-kind promotions, such as an open-heart surgery for one "lucky" fan (redeemable in a five-year window) and the first mascot devoted to a college baseball team (the Miami Maniac). Aimed at gaining attention for his program and putting fans in the seats, his innovations achieved desired results on both fronts. Miami Hurricanes baseball became widely popular as the sport's main draw in South Florida long before Major League Baseball expanded to the market full time. Fraser's biggest impact was on the field. Before the Miami Hurricanes football program became a household name, he put the school's athletics program on the map by winning its first national championship. Fraser inherited a floundering baseball program that had no equipment or following and could pay him only as a part-time employee; he built that program into a perennial national power that made regular appearances at the College World Series. Along the way, he developed countless players into All-Americans, MLB Draft picks, and eventual Major Leaguers. While some coaches have matched his wins and championships, none compare to his trailblazing and impact on an entire sport. David Brauer traces the roots of modern-day college baseball's success to Fraser's work at Miami. The Wizard of College Baseball is an inspirational and entertaining reflection on how one man forever changed college baseball--accelerating the sport's growth and setting a new standard for modern college baseball well ahead of his time.Author Biography
David Brauer is a communications, public relations, and marketing professional with more than two decades spent in the sports industry. His experience includes leadership in NCAA Division I athletics and summer collegiate baseball. A former baseball publicist at two Division I schools, he is a longtime college baseball aficionado and twenty-plus year College World Series attendee and season ticket holder. He is a University of Illinois graduate, who currently lives in Mahomet, Illinois, with his wife and two children.
by Lawrence Baldassaro (Author)
Winner of the 2022 SABR Baseball Research Award
Before there was Joe DiMaggio, there was Tony Lazzeri. A decade before the "Yankee Clipper" began his legendary career in 1936, Lazzeri paved the way for the man who would become the patron saint of Italian American fans and players. He did so by forging his own Hall of Fame career as a key member of the Yankees' legendary Murderers' Row lineup between 1926 and 1937, in the process becoming the first major baseball star of Italian descent. An unwitting pioneer who played his entire career while afflicted with epilepsy, Lazzeri was the first player to hit sixty home runs in organized baseball, one of the first middle infielders in the big leagues to hit with power, and the first Italian player with enough star power to attract a whole new generation of fans to the ballpark. As a twenty-two-year-old rookie for the New York Yankees, Lazzeri played alongside such legends as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. He immediately emerged as a star, finishing second to Ruth in RBIs and third in home runs in the American League. In his twelve years as the second baseman for Yankee teams that won five World Series, he was their third-most productive hitter, driving in more runs than all but five American Leaguers, and hitting more home runs than all but six. Yet for all that, today Lazzeri is a largely forgotten figure, his legacy diminished by the passage of time and tarnished by his bases-loaded strikeout to Grover Cleveland Alexander in Game Seven of the 1926 World Series, a strikeout immortalized on Alexander's Hall of Fame plaque. Tony Lazzeri reveals that quite to the contrary, he was one of the smartest, most talented, and most respected players of his time, the forgotten Yankee who helped the team win six American League pennants and five World Series titles.Author Biography
Lawrence Baldassaro is a professor emeritus of Italian at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is the author of Beyond DiMaggio: Italian Americans in Baseball (Nebraska, 2011), Baseball Italian Style: Great Stories Told by Italian American Major Leaguers from Crosetti to Piazza, and The Ted Williams Reader.
by Brain Sparklers (Author)
Embark on a journey of fun and creativity with the Totally Awesome Travel Activity Book! Perfect for young explorers aged 4 to 8, this delightful workbook is packed with engaging travel-themed activities designed to entertain and educate.
What's Inside:
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Coloring Pages: Bring to life exciting travel scenes with vibrant colors.Mazes: Navigate through intricate paths to reach your destination.I Spy: Sharpen observation skills with fun "I Spy" challenges.Matching Games: Improve memory and recognition with playful matching activities.Dot-to-Dot: Connect the dots to reveal hidden pictures.Word Search: Discover travel-related words in challenging word searches.Word Puzzles: Solve entertaining puzzles that spark curiosity.Simple Math Puzzles: Crack the code with fun math challenges.
Book Features:
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Single-Sided Coloring Pages: Prevents bleed-through and allows kids to display their artwork proudly.Large 8.5 x 11 Pages: Ample space for creativity and easy handling for little hands.Perfect Travel Companion: This keeps kids entertained during long journeys and makes traveling fun.Educational Fun: Combines learning with play to enhance early childhood development.
Why Choose This Book:
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All Travel-Themed Activities: Every page has travel adventures that inspire young minds.Great Gift Idea: Ideal for birthdays, holidays, or any special occasion for a child on the go.Hours of Entertainment: Provides endless fun and creativity for kids, making it a must-have for any trip.
Let your child's imagination soar with the Totally Awesome Travel Activity Book. It's more than just a book; it's a ticket to adventure and learning! Perfect for road trips, plane rides, or any time your little traveler needs some entertaining activities.
by Willie Randolph (Author)
In his beloved memoir, legendary baseball player, New York Yankee, and New York City sports figure, Willie Randolph tells the story of his life spent playing and coaching for the most storied professional sports team in the world, detailing his career on and off the field with some of baseball history's biggest stars and his years of coaching on the most memorable Yankees teams in recent memory.
For almost thirty years, Willie Randolph, the All-Star second baseman, World Series champion, and manager was a part of Yankee lore and mythology, whether playing with the legends Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson and witnessing the infamous Bronx Zoo at its rowdiest, or coaching as the Core Four--Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada--rose to fame and ushered in a new era of Yankee dominance.
In The Yankee Way, Willie Randolph shares stories from his life in pinstripes, opening up about the team that raised him and the city that molded him. With unparalleled perspective into three generations of team history, the former Yankee captain offers fresh, firsthand insight into some of the greatest players to ever play the game and the greatest teams ever to call the Bronx their home. From Don Mattingly to Bernie Williams, Goose Gossage to Mariano Rivera, and Billy Martin to Joe Torre, Randolph presents a view of baseball history from the inside, describing how teams became dynasties and managers became legends?all in the shadow of the man who brought them together, the Boss, George Steinbrenner.
A quintessential New Yorker, he shares memories of a rise that could only happen in the Big Apple--from the projects of East New York to the house that Ruth built, discussing his triumphs and struggles on and off the field along the way.
Back Jacket
For almost thirty years, Willie Randolph, the All-Star second baseman, World Series champion, and manager was a part of Yankee lore and mythology. In his long-awaited memoir, he shares stories from his life in pinstripes, opening up about the team that raised him and the city that molded him. With unparalleled perspective into three generations of team history, the former Yankees captain offers fresh, firsthand insight into some of the greatest players ever to play the game and the greatest teams ever to call the Bronx their home. From Don Mattingly to Bernie Williams, Goose Gossage to Mariano Rivera, and Billy Martin to Joe Torre, Randolph presents a view of baseball history from the inside, describing how teams became dynasties and managers became legends--all in the shadow of the man who brought them together, the Boss, George Steinbrenner.
A quintessential New Yorker, he shares memories of a rise that could only happen in the Big Apple--from the projects of East New York to the house that Ruth built, discussing his triumphs and struggles on and off the field along the way.
by Tim McCarver (Author)
Baseball's premier national televisionanalyst Tim McCarver presents fascinatingtales from the game's greatest players andpersonalities
Tim McCarver's Diamond Gems is a treasure trove offabulous anecdotes from the many baseball celebritieswho have appeared on "The Tim McCarver Show."A valuable mix of baseball history with a personaltouch, this book is a natural for everyone who lovesthe game. Includes tales from baseball greats Sandy Koufax, StanMusial, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Willie Mays, Yogi Berra, Tom Seaver, Cal Ripken Jr., JohnnyBench, Don Mattingly, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Chipper Jones, David Wright, and many more.
"Baseball is THE storyteller's game. So, if you love the game, you'll love Tim McCarver's treasure trove of stories. And you'll also understand why Tim never has to fear a rain delay."
--Bob Costas, NBC & HBO Sports
"Tim McCarver's Diamond Gems is the modern version of The Glory Of Their Times. It's fun and engaging and instructive and even sweet now and then. Tim could always call the pitches, and he also seems to get everyone to deliver their best stuff here."
--Frank Deford, author, The Entitled
by Timothy M. Gay (Author)
A three-time World Series winner and an early inductee into the Hall of Fame, lauded by Babe Ruth as the finest defensive outfielder he ever saw, and described as "perfection on the field" by the great Grantland Rice, Tris Speaker enjoys the peculiar distinction of being one of the least-known legends of baseball history. Tris Speaker: The Rough-and-Tumble Life of a Baseball Legend is the first book to tell the full story of Speaker's turbulent life and to document in sharp detail the grit and glory of his pivotal role in baseball's dead-ball era.
Playing for the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians in the early part of the twentieth century, Tris "Spoke" Speaker put up numbers that amaze us even today: his record for career doubles--792--may never be approached, let alone broken. Timothy M. Gay gives a rousing account of some of the best baseball ever played--and of some of the darkest moments that ever tainted a game and hastened the end of a career. Gay's four years of research on Speaker unearthed a document that suggests that cheating induced by gambling was far more widespread in early baseball than officials have acknowledged. Gay's book captures the bygone spirit of the big leagues' rough-and-tumble early years and restores one of baseball's true greats--and a truly larger-than-life personality--to his rightful place in the American sports pantheon.Author Biography
Timothy M. Gay is a writer based in northern Virginia. His essays and articles on the Civil War, politics, baseball, college basketball, and golf have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, and other publications. He is the author of several books including Satch, Dizzy, and Rapid Robert: The Wild Saga of Interracial Baseball Before Jackie Robinson.
by Jonathan a. Fink (Author)
When Professor Kevin Dempsey, longtime baseball fan, published his PhD dissertation, he never looked back. With inspiration from those who went before him, he used his research and the support of students, family, and friends to create the Republic Baseball League. Author Jonathan A. Fink has handily incorporated the history of baseball into a forward looking story that will leave baseball fans looking ahead to the next golden age of baseball.
by Zane Grey (Author)
This book has been considered by academicians and scholars of great significance and value to literature. This book forms a part of the knowledge base for future generations. So that the book is never forgotten we have re-typed, re-formatted, and re-published the book in a very modern format. Hence every reader would get a new book but without losing its old charm and feel. We at Alpha Editions, work towards the restoration of old and rare books so that they are never forgotten and are always available for the future generations.
by Jon Leonoudakis (Editor), Arnold Hano (Foreword by), Kelly Holtzclaw (Editor)
True Stories of Guts and Glory-
Rare and Remarkable Tales from Trailblazing Men and Women Who Risked Everything for the Game They Love
Say hello to Justine Siegal-the first woman to throw batting practice to and coach a major league team. Meet Maybelle Blair and her cohort Shirley Burkovich two women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which inspired the hit movie A League of Their Own. Get the scoop from world-class sports journalist Ron Rapoport, as he shares baseball stories from four decades of heartbreaks, hurrahs, heroes, and villains.
Baseball Pioneers takes you inside a darkened hotel room where Jackie Robinson gives one of his last interviews, behind the mask to reveal Perry Barber, a female umpire calling games for over 30 years, and to the mound for a glimpse inside the mind of Jim "Mudcat" Grant, the first African-American to win 20 games in the American League.
Skillfully crafted and brilliantly told, Baseball Pioneers echoes the winning aura of greatness-that secret code of special people gifted with an unwavering audacity to stand up for their beliefs, and the determination to never back down.
Baseball Pioneers is a new treasury of personal stories and deep perspectives from players and insiders who have helped bring change to the national pastime.
"A fascinating treasury of stories...Baseball Pioneers is a must-read not just for baseball fans, but for anyone needing a reminder of the true greatness of our shared American culture."
-Michael Fallon, author, "Dodgerland: Decadent Los Angeles and the 1977-78 Dodgers"
"There is more to baseball than the big bucks that buy a World Series championship and the heroes who become more remote every day. There is something called humanity, and Jon Leonoudakis taps into it brilliantly by focusing on the small but beautiful stories that illuminate the game's hold on the American heart."
- John Schulian, winner 2016 PEN ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing
"Jon Leonoudakis shows us how profoundly baseball can inform our lives. Not to be missed!"
-Jean Hastings Ardell, co-author, "Making My Pitch"
From award-winning baseball documentarian Jon Leonoudakis, the creative force behind the acclaimed television documentary series The Sweet Spot - A Treasury of Baseball Stories, comes the highly anticipated first volume of the book companion to the series.
Baseball Pioneers will make you laugh, cry, and may even make you pound the walls in anger. Once you pick it up, don't expect to put it down. These are American stories wrapped in a baseball parable, spanning the universe between pride and glory, and failure and sorrow, with all of the hits, runs, and errors that lay between.
Scroll up to get Baseball Pioneers now!
by Carroll Conklin (Author)
One miracle opened the 1960s. Another miracle closed it.Between Bill Mazeroski's epic home run in the 1960 World Series and the New York Mets' stunning upset in October 1969, it was a baseball decade of unparalleled excitement and drama, of record-shattering performances and unforgettable stars.It was baseball at its best. Power hitting versus power pitching. When complete games were routine for baseball's best pitchers, and games rarely lasted three hours. The 1960s were when records were shattered without the help of advanced chemistry. When there were no free agents or designated hitters, and beards were banned. When World Series games were played in the slanting daylight of October afternoons.The Ultimate Fan Guide to 1960s Baseball takes you inside the game as it was played by Mays and Mantle and Koufax and Gibson ... and their contemporaries (they had no peers). It recreates the seasons, the teams and the players who made the 1960s baseball's true golden age.Enjoy the memories.
Author Biography
Carroll Conklin combines a life-long passion for baseball with a three-decade career as a professional writer. He has published more than 20 books about baseball in the 1960s. He has also written books on topics ranging from marketing management to fear elimination. 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. Carroll preaches the "gospel" of the 1960s as baseball's real golden age at 1960sBaseball.com/blog. Followers at twitter.com/Baseball1960s receive highlights of what happened each day in 1960s baseball.
by Chris Lee (Author)
The Winner's Guide in Fantasy Baseball is the most comprehensive guide on the market to one of America's favorite hobbies. Where are the best websites to find fantasy baseball information? Which pre-season publications are worth your dollar? What should you look for in evaluating major and minor-league players? How do you value players for your league and adjust for draft inflation? How should you react when your league's draft isn't going your way? The Winner's Guide to Fantasy Baseball not only tackles these issues, but walks you through the "how's" and "why's" of each so that owners learn to think for themselves. If winning a league title is your ultimate goal, this book will help get you there.
by John R. Stanczak (Author)
The story of the most famous all-brother, semi-pro baseball team of all time began when Mary and Martin Stanczak were forced to flee their Polish homeland for America. They settled in Illinois where, like many immigrant families, they raised a large family-eleven children, ten boys and one girl. Those ten boys became a regional baseball powerhouse. This book recounts the history of the development of the Stanczak All-Brothers baseball team and details some of their more significant achievements, including their victory in the All-Brothers World Championship of 1929.
The book also includes some personal reminisces of the author from his own baseball-playing days and provides some highlights about the impact of the two World Wars on the game of baseball in the United States. It is a fascinating glimpse into three very American topics: the role of family, the immigrant experience, and how baseball brought Americans together.
by Zane Grey (Author)
Zane Grey, original name Pearl Grey, (born Jan. 31, 1872, Zanesville, Ohio, U.S.--died Oct. 23, 1939, Altadena, Calif.), prolific writer whose romantic novels of the American West largely created a new literary genre, the western.
Trained as a dentist, Grey practiced in New York City from 1898 to 1904, when he published privately a novel of pioneer life, Betty Zane, based on an ancestor's journal. Deciding to abandon dentistry for full-time writing, he published in 1905 The Spirit of the Border--also based on Zane's notes--which became a best-seller. Grey subsequently wrote more than 80 books, a number of which were published posthumously; more than 50 were in print in the last quarter of the 20th century. The novel Riders of the Purple Sage (1912) was the most popular; others included The Lone Star Ranger (1915), The U.P. Trail (1918), Call of the Canyon (1924), and Code of the West (1934). Prominent among his nonfiction works is Tales of Fishing (1925). (britannica.com)
The more books Grey sold, the more the established critics, such as Heywood Broun and Burton Rascoe, attacked him. They claimed his depictions of the West were too fanciful, too violent, and not faithful to the moral realities of the frontier. They thought his characters unrealistic and much larger-than-life. Broun stated that "the substance of any two Zane Grey books could be written upon the back of a postage stamp."
T. K. Whipple praised a typical Grey novel as a modern version of the ancient Beowulf saga, a battle of passions with one another and with the will, a struggle of love and hate, or remorse and revenge, of blood, lust, honor, friendship, anger, grief--all of a grand scale and all incalculable and mysterious." But he also criticized Grey's writing, "His style, for example, has the stiffness which comes from an imperfect mastery of the medium. It lacks fluency and facility.
Grey based his work in his own varied first-hand experience, supported by careful note-taking, and considerable research. Despite his great popular success and fortune, Grey read the reviews and sometimes became paralyzed by negative emotions after critical ones. (wikipedia.org)
by Zane Grey (Author)
There was Delaney's red-haired trio--Red Gilbat, left fielder; Reddy Clammer, right fielder, and Reddie Ray, center fielder, composing the most remarkable outfield ever developed in minor league baseball. It was Delaney's pride, as it was also his trouble. Red Gilbat was nutty--and his batting average was .371. Any student of baseball could weigh these two facts against each other and understand something of Delaney's trouble. It was not possible to camp on Red Gilbat's
by Drew Bridges (Author)
The Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in the seventh game of the 1955 World Series in the greatest baseball game ever played. The second-greatest baseball game ever played took place Saturday, June 29, 1957. No Yankees, Giants, Dodgers, Cardinals, or Red Sox were there. The game played out in author Drew Bridges's hometown of Hildebran in western North Carolina. Two teams of boys, ten to fifteen years old, faced off on the high school baseball diamond, no uniforms and no organized league. Bridges played second base, his brother played third, and their dad coached the team.
In this memoir, Bridges tells the story of that afternoon of baseball and how it came to be through his recollections and his father's wartime letters to his mother who was pregnant with their first child. It shares the words of an ordinary American serviceman who is dreaming about a life beyond war.
Field of Dreams meets A League of Their Own meets The Sandlot in this story of a soldier's return home from World War II and his work with others in the community to build a youth league baseball program. The Second-Greatest Baseball Game Ever Played shares the game of baseball through the eyes of a ten-year-old and shows how this game captured the heart and soul of a community and became so vital to all.
by Walter Beede (Author)
In my early years as a college coach, while out recruiting several local American Legion and Senior Babe Ruth tournaments, I began to hear about these "AAU" travel baseball tournaments. This was truly the very beginning of hearing that term, travel baseball. I was told these teams were made up of the best players from all over New England. As I began to scout and evaluate athletes at these various tournaments, it was clear they were. Attending travel baseball tournaments suddenly became part of my recruiting. As both a college head coach and a father, I could see my sons were going to be exposed to a different path than I had been. What I did not know is that events were already taking place that would make their baseball journeys, and the journeys of so many millions of boys, radically different than the one I experienced.
The business of Baseball has grown to become a four-billion-dollar industry. Young athletes and their families have become commodities for venture capitalists and larger, nationally known franchise travel programs. The hamster wheel of baseball is perennial and shows no signs of slowing down. On top of that, the MLB and college baseball worlds have changed dramatically, and those changes have affected youth baseball at all age groups. This is THE SHIFT, where "for the love of the game" has given way to an exclusive world of wealth and greed. Learn about it from someone who has lived it as a coach, mentor, and most importantly as a father.
by Dennis Snelling (Author)
Before the 1950 World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies were infamous for a record-breaking lack of achievement that dated from their conception in 1883 through the 1940s. When twenty-eight-year-old Robert Carpenter Jr. took over in 1944, the Phillies had won only a single National League title in more than sixty years. For the next five years, Carpenter and the newly hired general manager, Herb Pennock, would overhaul the team's operations, building a farm system from scratch and spending a fortune on young talent to build a team that would gain immense popularity and finally bring a National League pennant in 1950.
Nicknamed the "Whiz Kids" because they had so many players under thirty, the team caught lightning in a bottle for one season. Although they lost the World Series to the New York Yankees, the team became legendary in Philadelphia and beyond. The Whiz Kids is about a team that shocked everyone by winning, and then shocked everyone by never winning again. It includes a cast of characters and unusual storylines: a first baseman targeted for murder by a woman he had never met; a young catcher from Nebraska, Richie Ashburn, who became a Hall of Fame center fielder and later voice of the team for nearly three decades; a left fielder who lived and played in the shadow of his legendary father, then inspired Ernest Hemingway with the most legendary swing of a bat in franchise history; and a thirty-three-year-old bespectacled relief pitcher who won the Most Valuable Player Award with an undertaker as his personal pitching coach. The team succeeded under the watchful eye of its young owner, whose father handed him the team, and a college professor manager, only to see it slowly crumble as the slowest in the National League to integrate. The Whiz Kids recounts the history of a team that, though hand-built to be champions, fell short--yet remains legendary anyway.Author Biography
Dennis Snelling is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research and the Pacific Coast League Historical Society. He is the author of Lefty O'Doul: Baseball's Forgotten Ambassador (Nebraska, 2017), Johnny Evers: A Baseball Life, and The Greatest Minor League: A History of the Pacific Coast League, 1903-1957.
by Rob Price (Author)
The Ultimate Guide to Weight Training for Baseball is the most comprehensive and up-to-date baseball-specific training guide in the world today. It contains descriptions and photographs of nearly 100 of the most effective weight training, flexibility, and abdominal exercises used by athletes worldwide. This book features year-round baseball-specific weight-training programs guaranteed to improve your performance and get you results. No other baseball book to date has been so well designed, so easy to use, and so committed to weight training. This book will have players increasing arm strength, bat speed, and overall quickness and power on the diamond, leading to an increase in batting average, on-base percentage, steals, and overall performance. You will build the strength and power needed to hit the ball out of the park and you will build the stamina and endurance needed to go strong until the final pitch. Both beginners and advanced athletes and weight trainers can follow this book and utilize its programs. From recreational to professional, thousands of athletes all over the world are already benefiting from this book and its techniques, and now you can too!
by The Life Graduate Publishing Group (Author)
The Ultimate Baseball Training and Game Journal is Perfect for Kids & Teens to Record, Track and Improve Their Game Performance.
The Ultimate Sports Journal has been designed specifically for young baseballers to record both training and game sessions throughout the season. The clear layout provides the ideal journal for young players to document all of the information that can be used as a reflective tool for further improvement. It also provides the perfect document to keep team or club photos and collect autographs from the season.
The Ultimate Baseball Training and Game Journal includes 4 Key Sections:
Section 1: Season Goals
Section 2: Training & Game Logbook
Section 3: Season Notes
Section 4: Autographs and Photos
The journal provides sections for coach feedback, training development notes, game day details, results, and many more prompted questions to help young players include all the required information.
The Journal Specifics:
- 84 Pages
- 8.5 x 11 inch
- Training Session Templates
- Game Day Templates
- Pages for Season Notes
- 4 Pages for gathering autographs, teammate notes, or sticking in season photos.
This journal is the ideal resource and would also make the perfect gift for the young player, along with a great keepsake book to reflect on in the years to come.
Scroll up now and click the 'Buy Now' button to grab your copy today!
by Jonathan Fink (Author)
The Republic Baseball League tells the fascinating story of Kevin Dempsey, a college professor obsessed with baseball, and his quest to earn his PhD in Economics. Professor Dempsey's PhD thesis and dissertation will change professional baseball forever...
by Joe Posnanski (Author)
From the author of Baseball 100
"A fascinating account of a man who outlasted the ignorance of a nation and persevered to become a beloved figure...One of the best baseball books in years, filled with depth style and clarity." --Cleveland Plain Dealer
An award-winning sports columnist and a baseball legend tour the country to recapture the joys and wonders of two of America's greatest pastimes
When legendary Negro League player Buck O'Neil asked sports columnist Joe Posnanski how he fell in love with baseball, that simple question eventually led the pair on a cross-country quest to recapture the love that first drew them to the game. Baseball & Jazz recounts their emotional quest to find the heart of America's beloved sport that still beats despite the scandal-ridden, steroid-shooting, money hungry athletes who currently seem to define the sport. At its heart is the story of 94-year-old Buck O'Neil--a man that truly played for the love of the game. After an impressive career in the Negro Baseball Leagues in which he earned two hitting titles and one championship, O'Neil made baseball history by becoming the first African-American coach in major league baseball. Posnanski writes about that love and the one thing that O'Neil cherishes almost as much as baseball: jazz. This heartwarming and insightful journey is an endearing step back in time to the days when the crack of a bat and the smokey notes of a midnight jam session were the sounds that brought the most joy to a man's heart.
Back Jacket
When legendary Negro League player Buck O'Neil asked Joe Posnanski how he fell in love with baseball, the renowned sports columnist was inspired by the question. He decided to spend the 2005 baseball season touring the country with the ninety-four-year-old O'Neil in hopes of rediscovering the love that first drew them to the game.
The Soul of Baseball is as much the story of Buck O'Neil as it is the story of baseball. Driven by a relentless optimism and his two great passions--for America's pastime and for jazz, America's music--O'Neil played solely for love. In an era when greedy, steroid-enhanced athletes have come to characterize professional ball, Posnanski offers a salve for the damaged spirit: the uplifting life lessons of a truly extraordinary man who never missed an opportunity to enjoy and love life.
by Jeff Pearlman (Author)
"Pearlman's book develops a stark, unsparing picture of Clemens's life that surpasses anything that's come before." --Boston Globe
New York Times bestselling author Jeff Pearlman reconstructs pitcher Roger Clemens's life--from his Ohio childhood to the mounds of Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium--to reveal a flawed and troubled man whose rage for baseball immortality took him to superhuman heights before he crashed down to earth.
A fearless, hard-nosed Texan with a 98-mph fastball and a propensity to throw at the heads of opposing hitters, Roger "the Rocket" Clemens won 354 games, an unprecedented seven Cy Young Awards, and two World Series trophies over the course of twenty-four seasons. But the statistics and hoopla obscured a far darker story--one of playoff chokes, womanizing (including a long-term affair with a teenage country singer), violent explosions, steroid and human growth hormone use. . . and an especially dark secret that Clemens spent a lifetime trying to hide: a family tragedy involving drugs and, ultimately, death.
Back Jacket
A fearless, hard-nosed Texan with a 98-mph fastball and a propensity to throw at the heads of opposing hitters, Roger "the Rocket" Clemens won 354 games, an unprecedented seven Cy Young Awards, and two World Series trophies over the course of twenty-four seasons. But the statistics and hoopla obscured a far darker story--one of playoff chokes, womanizing (including a long-term affair with a teenage country singer), violent explosions, steroid and human growth hormone use...and an especially dark secret that Clemens spent a lifetime trying to hide: a family tragedy involving drugs and, ultimately, death.
In The Rocket That Fell to Earth, New York Times bestselling author Jeff Pearlman reconstructs the pitcher's life--from his Ohio childhood to the mounds of Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium--to reveal a flawed and troubled man whose rage for baseball immortality took him to superhuman heights before he crashed down to earth.
by Shawn Green (Author), Gordon McAlpine (With)
Two-time All Star Shawn Green shows how the surprising lessons the game has taught him transcend baseball and compose a life well lived.
Shawn Green's career statistics can be found on the backs of baseball cards in shoeboxes across America: 328 home runs, 1,071 RBIs, .282 career batting average, All-Star, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger...but numbers tell only part of the story. In the tradition of Phil Jackson's Sacred Hoops, Shawn Green illustrates the spiritual practices that guided his career and enabled him to "bring stillness into the flow of life." In The Way of Baseball, he shares the secrets to remaining focused both on and off the field, shedding light on a signature approach to living by using his remarkable baseball experiences to exemplify how one can find full awareness, presence, and, ultimately, fulfillment in any endeavor.Author Biography
Shawn Green's career in Major League Baseball spanned fifteen years with four teams. He finished in the top ten of league MVP voting three times. Visit him at ShawnGreen.com.
Gordon McAlpine is the author of three acclaimed novels: Joy in Mudville, The Persistence of Memory, and Mystery Box.
by Rob Ruck (Author)
In a new afterword Rob Ruck looks at the current state of baseball in the country that has produced Sammy Sosa and many other major league stars.
Back Jacket
In a new afterword Rob Ruck looks at the current state of baseball in the country that has produced Sammy Sosa and many other major league stars. Ruck teaches history at the University of Pittsburgh and is the author of Sandlot Seasons: Sport in Black Pittsburgh and other books. He was project director for the film Kings on the Hill, an Emmy-winning documentary on Negro League baseball.
Author Biography
Rob Ruck teaches history at the University of Pittsburgh and is the author of Sandlot Seasons: Sport in Black Pittsburgh and other books. He was project director for the film Kings on the Hill, an Emmy-winning documentary on Negro League baseball.
by Brad Null (Author), Dave Kaval (Author)
The strike of 1994 took a lot out of Major League Baseball. For the first time, a World Series was cancelled, something that hadn't even happened during World War II. When play resumed, people stayed away from the ballparks in droves, and attendance was at an all-time low.
Then, in the summer of 1998, balls started flying out of the ballparks in St. Louis and Chicago. Suddenly baseball was fun again. The Great Home Run Derby between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa resulted in both men breaking Roger Maris's 37-year-old record of 61 home runs in a single season. When the season was over, McGwire had hit 70 home runs and Sosa 66, and the New York Yankees had won the first of three consecutive World Series championships.
Among the fans in the ballparks that summer were two recent graduates of Stanford University who had decided that before launching into their careers they would indulge themselves in one of the ultimate baseball fantasies: to see a game in all thirty ballparks of Major League Baseball. To make matters interesting, they decided to view these thirty games and visit the thirty stadiums in less than forty days.
This is the chronicle of that adventure, the story of their experiences at the ballparks and at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, the Louisville Slugger Museum, and the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa. Each chapter offers a fan's-eye view of the stadiums and a description of their experiences at the ballparks -- Kaval and even give advice on what not to miss at each stadium. The notoriety the authors gained while making this pilgrimage earned them special treatment by representatives of the host teams, ballpark officials, and concessionaires.
These storiesfocus on all that is good and enjoyable in Major League Baseball. And they are illustrated throughout with photographs from The Summer That Saved Baseball.
by Brad Balukjian (Author)
A Los Angeles Times Best Seller
A 2020 NPR Best Book of the Year
Author Biography
Brad Balukjian is an entomologist and is faculty in the Natural History and Sustainability Program at Merritt College. He is also a freelance writer who has published in Rolling Stone, Slate, National Geographic, and other publications. He lives in Oakland, California, with his VCR.
by Stew Thornley (Author)
From Pig's Eye to a pig on the field, the long and rich legacy of the St. Paul Saints is central to the history of baseball in Minnesota. Celebrate the players, owners, managers, and fans-- and the Saints' return to downtown St. Paul near the spot where the Olympic team first played in 1859. Some fans remember the historic Saints, which provided top- notch baseball in the years before the Minnesota Twins. Others grew up with the current St. Paul Saints, which has pioneered the comeback of independent teams and leagues and left a significant mark on the baseball landscape, as well as adding the "Fun is Good" game- day atmosphere, illustrated best by co- owners Mike Veeck and Bill Murray. And, of course, there are the players, past and present, including Eric Tipton, Roy Campanella, Stan Williams, Ila Borders, J. D. Drew, and Darryl Strawberry, who have made invaluable contributions to the heritage of the game in the city, in the state, and in the Midwest. All of the fan favorite memories and baseball action are captured by Stew Thornley's The St. Paul Saints.
Stew Thornley, "the most recognizable and respected local baseball historian and writer" (City Pages), is author of more than forty books, including Baseball in Minnesota.
by John M. Rosenburg (Author)
""The Story of Baseball"" by John M. Rosenburg is a comprehensive and fully illustrated history of America's national game. This book covers the origins of baseball, the evolution of the game, and the key figures who have shaped its development over the years. It explores the cultural, social, and political influences that have impacted baseball, from the early days of amateur play to the modern era of professional leagues and global fandom. The book is filled with fascinating anecdotes, colorful illustrations, and insightful commentary that will appeal to both casual fans and serious students of the game. Whether you're a lifelong baseball enthusiast or just discovering the sport for the first time, ""The Story of Baseball"" is an essential read that captures the excitement and passion of America's favorite pastime.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
by Hank Patton (Author)
Calling All Baseball Fans!
Discover One of the Best Baseball Books - Packed with MLB Statistics and Amazing Trivia!Are you a baseball lover who lives for the stats, records, and history behind America's favorite pastime? Step into the batter's box with The Ultimate Baseball Trivia Challenge - the perfect addition to any fan's collection of cool things for baseball lovers and one of the top gifts for baseball fans of all ages.This book takes you on a journey through baseball's iconic moments, legendary players, and fascinating MLB statistics. With 34 engaging chapters, each featuring 18 challenging questions, you'll discover:- The story behind the first-ever box score in an American newspaper
- When baseball was first outlawed
- The record-breaking 2003 Detroit Tigers season
- How many AL East teams reached the World Series in its first 50 years
- What was the original name of the World Series?
by Michael F. Price (Author)
What drew these sons of truck drivers, steel mill workers, convenience store owners, corporate accountants, and lifelong criminals to a small, liberal arts college in northern West Virginia? Was it the school's rich history, excellent academics, or its reputation of producing graduates with character and values? Possibly. But ask any of the twenty-four players on the 1975 West Liberty State College team and they will answer with one word...baseball.Written thru the perspective of one that was on the team and experienced first-hand the transforming power of baseball to shape lives, the book traces their initial season together as the members of the Hilltopper baseball team learn to navigate the demands of the classroom with the demands on the field.In the end, it's clear that baseball brought Mouseyboy, Frenchy, Stace, Fresh, Zaugger, and the other members of the '75 baseball team to West Liberty, it was baseball that kept them at West Liberty, and it was baseball that played a major role in the accepting, responsible, and respectful kind of person these individuals have become in their adulthood. It truly was The Year That Was.
by Robert Whiting (Author)
Ichiro...Nomo...Hasegawa...Hideki Matsui...one by one they have come to America and made their mark as incredibly gifted and popular ballplayers. But this new wave of athlete-led by the sensational Ichiro Suzuki, whom many refer to as the best all-around player-is just the tip of a fascinating iceberg. Illuminating a deep and very different tradition of baseball, Whiting shows why more Japanese players will be coming to America...and how they will forever transform the way our game is played.
Grandly entertaining and deeply revealing, The Samurai Way of Baseball is a classic book about sports, business, and stardom-in a world that is changing before our eyes.
by R. M. Clark (Author)
Fans of Dan Gutman's Baseball Card Adventures and Julianna Baggott's The Prince of Fenway Park are going to root for April and Darren as they dig into the secret at Haney Field. Mystery and history go together like peanuts and Cracker Jack in this engaging baseball story!
Twelve-year-old April O'Day's summer has gotten off to a flying start. As the daughter of a former minor-leaguer, she really knows baseball. And when she wins the opportunity to be a bat retriever with her hometown's minor league team, she proves it, transforming her seven-day dream job into a summer-long adventure of runs, hits, errors . . . and a mystery to solve! Baseball-playing shadows are on the field, which only she, her friend Darren, and the team's owner, Mr. Haney, can see. And when April finds one of their shadow balls in the stands, the three are able to witness a 1940s Negro Leagues game.Who are these players-especially the one they call Flash, a lightning-fast base runner? And why are they at Haney Field? Can Marcus "Mayhem" Mayfield, a veteran of the Negro Leagues and the majors, help them solve this mystery? And as facts come into focus, will Mr. Haney try to keep an event from the 1960s hidden under the grandstands? Find out in this winning novel!
by Johanna Wagner (Author)
The View from the Stands is both the story of one fan's love of the game and an examination of the effect baseball has had on fans everywhere throughout its history. A collection of stories and insights compiled during the summer of 2002 in each of MLB's thirty parks, The View from the Stands provides us with the fans' perspective on every team and stadium in the league, and on the most important issues currently affecting the game. It gives a voice to the masses of people who fill our stadiums, and it explains how a child's game became the business it is today.
This book examines the entire experience of live baseball, from the uncomfortable seats to the misplaced marketing ventures to the incredible feeling of seeing Bonds circle the bases. Baseball touches our lives in so many unexpected ways. By introducing us to the little boys who rush to the edge of the stands in Wrigley, the recovering alcoholic who found a new family at the Metrodome, and many others from all walks of life, The View from the Stands tells the story of our love of the game--what draws us in and what keeps us coming back for more.
by James E. Elfers (Author)
During the winter of 1913 and the spring of 1914 the New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox took a trip around the world. Organized by crusty John McGraw of the Giants and the White Sox's Charles Comiskey, it was a trip of epic proportions--a tour to end all tours recreated here in all its monumental sweep and comical detail. This book follows the two teams, whose members include Christy Mathewson, Jim Thorpe, and half a dozen other future Hall-of-Famers, as they barnstorm across the United States and sail the seas to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, finishing with a game before twenty thousand fans and King George V. Along the way, baseball's envoys meet such dignitaries as Pope Pius X, tea magnate Thomas Lipton, and the last khedive of Egypt. They play the tables of Monaco, survive a near-shipwreck, and cram a lifetime's worth of adventures into six months. Their story, told here for the first time, gives readers a glimpse into baseball history and the innocence and spirit of a long-gone era.
Author Biography
James E. Elfers is a library analyst at the University of Delaware.
by Jonathan Fink (Author)
The Republic Baseball League tells the fascinating story of Kevin Dempsey, a college professor obsessed with baseball, and his quest to earn his PhD in Economics. Professor Dempsey's PhD thesis and dissertation will change professional baseball forever...
by Benjamin Baumer (Author), Andrew Zimbalist (Author)
From the front office to the family room, sabermetrics has dramatically changed the way baseball players are assessed and valued by fans and managers alike. Rocketed to popularity by the 2003 bestseller Moneyball and the film of the same name, the use of sabermetrics to analyze player performance has appeared to be a David to the Goliath of systemically advantaged richer teams that could be toppled only by creative statistical analysis. The story has been so compelling that, over the past decade, team after team has integrated statistical analysis into its front office. But how accurately can crunching numbers quantify a player's ability? Do sabermetrics truly level the playing field for financially disadvantaged teams? How much of the baseball analytic trend is fad and how much fact? The Sabermetric Revolution sets the record straight on the role of analytics in baseball. Former Mets sabermetrician Benjamin Baumer and leading sports economist Andrew Zimbalist correct common misinterpretations and develop new methods to assess the effectiveness of sabermetrics on team performance. Tracing the growth of front office dependence on sabermetrics and the breadth of its use today, they explore how Major League Baseball and the field of sports analytics have changed since the 2002 season. Their conclusion is optimistic, but the authors also caution that sabermetric insights will be more difficult to come by in the future. The Sabermetric Revolution offers more than a fascinating case study of the use of statistics by general managers and front office executives: for fans and fantasy leagues, this book will provide an accessible primer on the real math behind moneyball as well as new insight into the changing business of baseball.
Author Biography
Benjamin Baumer is Director of the Program in Statistical and Data Sciences at Smith College. He was formerly the statistical analyst for the baseball operations department of the New York Mets. Andrew Zimbalist is Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics at Smith College, a frequent sports industry consultant and media commentator, receipient of the Henry Chadwick Award from the Society of American Baseball Research, and author of many books, including In the Best Interests of Baseball? Governing the National Pastime.
by Kurt Taylor (Author)
How much do you know about baseball?
Do you just eat, breathe and sleep baseball?
No matter how big of a baseball fan you are, there's always a new story or factoid you've never heard before.
Can you name the last 20 teams to win the World Series? Do you know the pitcher with the only no-hitter on Opening Day?
What about the tragic story of Ray Chapman, the only professional player to die from being hit by a ball? Did you hear the one about Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays getting temporarily banned from baseball?
Within the pages of The Ultimate Baseball Activity Book, you'll find answers to all of these questions and more, while solving fun baseball-themed crosswords, word searches, matching games, and more along the way.
● Challenge the baseball expert in your family or friend group with over 100 activities, including puzzles, themed trivia pages, games, and more.
● Enjoy trivia spanning the entire history of baseball, from the original stars of the game to the current all-stars playing the sport today.
● Learn about the unsung heroes of the Negro Leagues and Jackie Robinson's impact on the game and American history.
● Relive some of the most thrilling moments from the World Series, Home Run Derby, playoffs, All-Star Game, and more.
● Involve the whole family or baseball team to see how many puzzles you can solve without the help of the Answer Key.
The Ultimate Baseball Activity Book is the true test of your knowledge of America's Pastime. We guarantee you'll walk away with a new piece of baseball trivia you didn't know before!
Are you up for the challenge?
by Noel Hynd (Author)
1957 was not just the time of the Brooklyn Dodgers' last National League pennant race. It was also the year when everything changed in American baseball. The major leagues voted to expand to California. A new generation of Black players rose to stardom - Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Ernie Banks, Jim Gilliam, Bill White, Don Newcombe, Minnie Minoso, and Curt Flood. The World Champion NY Yankees of Mickey, Yogi and Whitey still dominated the American League, but after 1957 New York City baseball would never be the same. There would not be another New York - New York World Series for more than forty years.'The Sputnik Season' tells the story of an historic pennant race through lively detailed accounts of the final, bitterly contested twenty-two games played between the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers, accounts that will fascinate fans of all eras. 1957 was the final year of the annual intra-city brawl between the two teams. It was one to remember and savor. The clubs played each other eleven times at the grand old Polo Grounds, ten games at iconic Ebbets Field and one mean-spirited event - Marv Grissom pitching against Don Newcombe - at rickety Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City. The season would end with one of the most thrilling World Series ever.Baseball historian Noel Hynd colorfully recreates a unique National League baseball season. He escorts the reader back to mid-century America and invites everyone to be present for one of the greatest seasons ever played. Almost every National League game featured at least one future Hall of Famer. The '57 World Series featured nine. Venture back in time and enjoy the days of Chevrolets with big fins, do-wop music, Ike, The Honeymooners, air raid drills, Elvis, Willie, Mickey and The Duke. 'The Sputnik Season' of 1957 was an extraordinary unforgettable time. *NEW YORK BASEBALL'S GOLDEN ERA - 1903 THROUGH 1957 Praise for Noel Hynd's books in this series: > THE GIANTS OF THE POLO GROUNDS - "A compelling and comprehensive look at a great ball club.... Editor's Choice." - NY Times. "Grandly digressive! The owners, stars like Mathewson and Mays, various eccentric players are all here in this vivid history by 'Sports Illustrated' contributor Hynd." - Publishers' Weekly"Fans of all ages will treasure the crazy quilt text for its stylish recall of the game's summer roots." - Kirkus Library Journal"Just plain enjoyable as baseball is supposed to be." - The Pennsylvania Gazette> THE FINAL GAME AT EBBETS FIELD - Winner 2020 SABR Award for Best New Work on the Brooklyn Dodgers.> MARQUARD AND SEELEY - "Hynd has captured the spirit of the times in this quaint and entertaining sidelight to sports and show-biz history." Publishers' Weekly*"Many children work hard to please their parents, but what I truly longed for was good times that were about us, not about me. That is the real hole the Dodgers filled in my life." - Gil Hodges*"Everything about the Polo Grounds was special, right down to the looped iron chains that separated each sector of box seats from its neighbor and could burn your bare arm on a summer afternoon if you weren't careful. Far along each outfield wall, a sloping mini-roof projected outward, imparting a thin wedge of shadow for the bullpen crews sitting there: they looked like cows sheltering beside a pasture shed in August." - Roger Angell, 'Let Me Finish' (2007)*"Along came Willie Mays... The era of Dark, Lockman, Westrum, Antonelli, Maglie and Wilhelm. Games that wound up 15-11 and 10-8 because of concrete hard diamonds, the wind and small ballparks." - Al Rosen*"We'd look into the Giants' dugout and see all that orange and black. It was enough to make you even hate Halloween." - Duke Snider
by Joey D. Myers (Author)
"If you're 10 years old and your coach tells you to get on top of the ball...tell him NO." - Josh Donaldson, 2015 AL MVP, 3-Time All-Star, Toronto Blue Jays "I do have a little bit of lift to my swing. Everybody swings different. When I get my best swing off, it's a line drive or it's in the air. If it's on the ground, it's not my best swing." - Nolan Arenado, 2-Time All-Star, Colorado Rockies Primarily Teaching Baseball Hitting Drills For Kids To Hit Ground Balls Is Idiotic & DOES NOT Make Sense The objective of this book is to guide coaches in picking "effective" drills to help kids get the ball in the air. In other words, this book will teach you HOW TO fish. CAUTION: this is a RANT to end all rants, REVEALING the ugly truth about teaching hitters to consistently hit ground-balls. You're in for a wild ride, so please proceed with caution... This book addresses the following objectives coming from pro ground-ball hitting coaches: -How many games they've won with grounders, -How fielding percentage is way lower than fly-balls, -That it's much easier to catch a fly ball, -How great outfielders track fly balls, -How more can go wrong with the defense keeping the ball on the ground (can't get a bad hop in the air!), -If their team hit more grounders, then they'd score more runs, -How some of the most winningest coaches in college baseball history, Gordie Gillespie and Augie Garrido as examples, stress keeping the ball on the ground to their hitters, -How you HAVE TO TEACH a 5'6", 135-pound High School hitter to hit the ball on the ground because his batted ball distance maxes out at 250-feet! And, -How even pro coaches and "great hitting instructors" never promote hitting fly-balls. By the end of this ground-ball RANT, you'll either be convinced getting the ball in the air is the most effective way to score runs (line drives are balls in the air by the way), OR you're being willfully ignorant, in which case, there's NO hope for you. What I do know for sure is, you'll continue to get beat on the ball field. DO NOT read this book if you believe great hitters cannot be made, and are just born. ENJOY!
by Michael Marshall Brown (Author)
Who are they? The men in blue have masks covering their faces and there's an undeniable, deep mystique about umpires.
The Umpire's Bunkhouse, Baseball Stories from Cooperstown's Dreams Park, will give the real truth about umpires. They come from all over the nation. They are wise and kind people who believe integrity is everything.
During an era of major league cheating scandals with cameras hidden in the outfield fences, and the threat of robots replacing human umpires, it is timely to read The Umpire's Bunkhouse.
Baseball umpires survive if not thrive staying together in primitive bunkhouses, with no heat or air conditioning and thin mattresses.
Read how a baseball bully is handled and ultimately overcome with a little help from the author's friends in blue. See how author Michael Marshall Brown recovered from triple bypass heart surgery barely a year prior.
Flashback to the author's memories of Cooperstown, as the author was the Sports Editor of the Daily Star newspaper and covered the nearby Baseball Hall of Fame in the 1980s. Read about personal contacts with stars of the game including Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Warren Spahn, Henry Aaron, and Cool Papa Bell.
by Branford McAllister (Author)
There are two basic ways to win the pitcher versus hitter war: -Overpower the hitter (like Justin Verlander)-Fool the hitter (like Barry Zito).The first requires dominating stuff, generally velocity. (Verlander's average fastball in 2012 was 94.3 mph. He also showcased a superb curveball.) And, it requires a fair amount of control to go with the overpowering velocity. Not many pitchers have that kind of ability, even in the major leagues. At lower levels, very few pitchers have the kind of overpowering stuff to rely just on that to get hitters out throughout a game. Those who do have electric stuff can dominate hitters. They are the fortunate ones, but not everyone has this advantage. For them, and for the overpowering pitchers at higher levels, something more than great stuff is required. So, in general, we need a more strategic, mental approach to get hitters out consistently.Pitching is a complex endeavor-both physical and mental. While there are many views on how to succeed as a pitcher, there are several principles that lead to success on the mound. Among these are the following: There is a limited number of things you can do with a ball: give it speed, give it direction, impart spin, and select an orientation of the seams. You can also combine pitches in different sequences and combinations. Otherwise, there is nothing you can to the ball. Every other factor that you can control is mental, and therefore absolutely essential to success. You cannot succeed consistently on the hill without having a plan in mind beforehand. So, if you prepare well, with solid mechanics, you can win each battle with hitters.The objective on the mound is getting outs. There is a strategy to doing this and it relies upon a thoughtful approach that considers your abilities and the situation. If you combine great physical preparation with a sound mental approach, you greatly increase your chances to get those outs, succeed on the hill, and give your team the best opportunity to win games.There are many books on baseball, a few of them about pitching. But, there are very few good books on the art and strategy: the tactics of pitching-specifically, books dealing with how to throw specific pitches, why they do what they do, when to throw them, to what locations, and how to set up hitters. There are few books that help pitchers "pitch" a good game-the subtleties of how to throw pitches and how to formulate game plans for pitching. The Tactics of Pitching is a practical manual for learning and teaching the science, mechanics, and strategy of pitching, suitable for amateur players and coaches through the college level.The book focuses on the following topics: -Pitching Philosophy-How Air Resistance Affects the Flight of a Ball-The Strikezone-Pitches-Situational Pitching-Mechanics Checklist-Correcting Problems-Mental Aspects of Pitching.
Author Biography
Dr. Branford McAllister has been involved with baseball for over 50 years, as player, coach, fan, and student of the game. He was a right-handed pitcher for over 20 years as an amateur player at both NAIA and Division I college levels and competitive amateur adult baseball leagues. He has coached at all levels from youth through high school. During his long baseball career he has been an astute student of the game, focusing on an in-depth and unique understanding of the science, art, and strategy of pitching. Professionally, Dr. McAllister spent a full career in the US Air Force as a fighter pilot followed by his ongoing career as a weapon systems engineer. He has a bachelors degree in mathematics from the USAF Academy and graduate degrees in history, engineering administration, and management. He has a website (www.mcallister-associates.com) devoted to leadership and doctoral research. Dr. McAllister lives in Niceville, Florida, with his wife of almost 36 years, with whom he has two adult children he coached throughout their amateur sports careers. This book captures much of the knowledge gained over his many years of thinking about and teaching the craft of pitching.
by Craig Ohlau (Author), Kevin L. Gingrich (Author)
"This book will touch the veins of your heart." -Bengie Molina, World Series Champion and author of New York Times Bestseller Molina
In the mid-1990s, a band of baseball-loving boys from the small town of Chester, Illinois, on the banks of the Mississippi River, pursue their dreams of state and national championships. Their fathers, guards in the local penitentiary that houses some of the worst criminals in US history, are their coaches. One dream comes true--the other doesn't.
This is the story of the dreams and of the town that made them possible. Filled with unforgettable anecdotes from perhaps the last (nearly) innocent age in America, The Sons of Chester recalls a childhood that in some sense is the twentieth century's version of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.
by Joseph Janczak (Author)
Big names have always dominated baseball, and one of the biggest in recent history is Roger Clemens--the Rocket. As a baseball great, he has shown what it means to succeed, both on the field and off, in his near quarter century of major-league service. The Rocket: Baseball Legend Roger Clemens journeys from Clemens's humble and sometimes difficult childhood through his illustrious career in Boston, Toronto, New York, and Houston. Clemens rose through the ranks, setting a new example of devoted work ethic and responsibility to team and fan alike. Through it all he remained a dedicated family man, not a trait usually associated with the free-for-all image of a major-league baseball player. Joseph Janczak traces Clemens's career from his high school days; through his University of Texas collegiate baseball (where he was given the pre-Rocket nickname of "Goose"); and on to his minor-league and major-league career. Baseball's image when Clemens first started in the halcyon days of the mid-1980s quickly dissolved into that of a sport saddled with crises and scandals, such as gambling, steroids, strikes, and fan distrust. But Clemens rose above it all and has set an example for the fans, who he says are the reason for his hard work on the mound each game. The Rocket includes thoughts from teammates, opponents, and Clemens himself on his legendary career. Janczak also discusses the ongoing steroid controversy and the Rocket's philanthropic endeavors to the community. Written for baseball fans of all ages and all levels of knowledge of the game, The Rocket shows why baseball is America's pastime and why some stars still deserve to be idolized.
by Society for American Baseball Research ( (Author)
In this issue . . .
If experiencing the game of baseball were limited to actual participation or in-person attendance, the sport would mean much less to all of us that it does. Because we read about the game, we can enjoy it long after the fact, and in a whole new form: digested, chewed, analyzed, stat-icized. The electronic media have also played a big part -- letting up "be there" for games many miles too far for a drive. This two-sided richness of enjoying baseball is at the two-sided center of this edition of The SABR Review of Books.
The SABR Review of Books is here to provide literary opinion, so we begin with a survey of a blue-ribbon panel of baseball writers and researchers, asking the question, "What books would constitute the essential baseball library?" We compiled the results and added the comments of the participants. What we got is an intriguing forum that sounds like a SABR bull session -- full of savvy and conversation.
The recent release of several books on or about baseball broadcasting is the other main section of this issue. First is Curt Smith's magnum opus, Voices of the Game. It's the first full-scale history of broadcasters and broadcasting. Accompanying that review are views of books by two characters who played big roles themselves in Smith's book: Jack Brickhouse and Ernie Harwell. Joep Oppenheimer reviews the former, Jim O'Donnell the latter. Then we asked videophile and sports broadcaster himself, Bill Borst, to review the baseball videos now available.
Baseball's literary legacy is much more than histories and narratives. It has spawned major works in both fiction and poetry. Yet while the wedding between baseball and poetry has been fruitful, baseball fiction often leaves an unfulfilled feeling. Why is that? We asked Luke Salisburgy, who has tackled the challenge of writing baseball fiction himself, why it's so goshdarned tough to do well. Poet Ira Stone provides us with a "Mediation" on the linkage of baseball and poetry, advising that "These poets did not seek to write about baseball. . . . These poets surprised themselves in creating poems wrapped in the mythology of baseball . . ."
Comparisons seem to be at the heart of nearly any baseball discussion, so it's only fair that two articles in this issue start with that premise. Adie Suehsdorf reviews Say It Ain't So, Joe and One Last Round for the Shuffler, two works that treat similar baseball characters: one a legend for his faults, the other barely a memory. For the first issue of The SABR Review Frank Phelps was asked to review Anton Grobani's Baseball Biography, and he did, but between contribution and publication, we got word of a "new and better" bibliography, this one by Myron Smith. So we asked Frank to review it. The result is a side-by-side comparison of the two. Must reading for baseball bibliophiles.
Always fascinating are those behind-the-scenes looks at the game that go beyond clubhouse chatter, into the worlds of power and prestige. Merritt Clifton analyzes what the notorious Bowie Kuhn said about himself in Hardball, and Don Warfield's book on Larry MacPhail is discussed by Philip Bergen.
This issue's "personal favorite" feature looks lovingly at Pitching in a Pinch, by Christy Mathewson. Rob Johnson even explains how he spent years searching for a copy of it he could call his own. And we all know that feeling.
But that's far from all: we have reviews of Joe Durso's Baseball and the American Dream, by Darrell Berger; Pete Cava on The Dixie Association; Lawrence Rubin squares off with The Sporting News on their "Fifty Greatest Games"; Glenn Stout discusses Maury Allen's Maris; and more.
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