Baseball Books

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisThe 1927 New York Yankees are often considered one of the best Yankee teams of all time—perhaps one of the best major league teams ever. Yet often overlooked is the talented lineup from the following year. The 1928 Yankees even started the season on track to meet and possibly surpass the records and accomplishments of the season before. The 1928 New York Yankees: The Return of Murderers’ Row tells the story of this underrated squad that endured a roller-coaster season. With many players from the 1927 team still in the lineup—including Bob Meusel, Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Tony Lazzeri, Lou Gehrig, and Babe Ruth—the Yankees charged out of the gates to start the regular season on top of the standings. Yet, with just three weeks remaining in the season, the Yankees saw their lead disappear. Manager Miller Huggins pulled together his patchwork pitching staff and banged-up regulars and reserves to mount a nail-biting fight to the finish. Highlighted by numerous photos of the players, this detailed and thoroughly researched book provides an intimate look into a season to remember. From the Yankees’ preseason trip to Florida through their dominance, collapse, and subsequent rise, The 1928 New York Yankees will entertain and educate fans and historians of the national pastime.Trade ReviewThe 1927 New York Yankees were known as Murderers’ Row. As a team, they batted .307, scored almost 1,000 runs, and smashed 158 home runs in a 154-game season on their way to 110 wins, a 19-game finish ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Athletics, and a World Series title. This meticulously researched, heavily footnoted book, by a member of the Society for Baseball Research, describes their encore in 1928. That season was up and down, as the 1928 version of the team endured a miserable spring training then won an incredible 80 percent of their games through the first week of June and opened up a double-digit lead over the Athletics by early July. Then the roller-coaster season hurtled downward, and a combination of so-so play by New York and a performance by the Athletics that nearly matched the Yankees’ early-season blitz led to the Bronx Bombers briefly falling into second place before eking out the pennant by two and a half games before sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. VERDICT. . . .[T]rue lovers of Yankee lore and baseball historians will be appreciative. * Library Journal *The 1927 New York Yankees were arguably the greatest baseball team ever, perhaps even the greatest team in any American sport, winning 110 games and sweeping the World Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Gentile argues that the 1928 Yankees, led again by Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth, were almost as good, winning 101 games and sweeping the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Gentile explores this historic season by placing it in context, examining the greatest teams prior to 1928, looking at the American culture of the time, and detailing what their closest competitors did to try to combat the Yankees’ dominance. Gentile describes how the team was built, making important changes in the pitching staff over the previous season, and how it prepared during spring training to defend its championship. The bulk of the book is a day-by-day account of the season, drawn from newspaper accounts and peppered with colorful anecdotes. This exemplary sports history has a bibliography, a detailed index, and 13 photographs. * American Reference Books Annual *The 1928 Yankees: The Return of Murderers’ Row is a richly detailed, thoroughly researched look at a team that was stocked with veterans like Ruth, Gehrig, Hoyt, Bob Meusel, Earle Combs and Tony Lazzeri. . . .Gentile’s research and attention to detail is priceless. . . .[I]f you enjoy the history of the game, Gentile provides a different, interesting look at a team that battled hard to win its sixth A.L. pennant of the 1920s before cruising to a four-game sweep of St. Louis in the World Series. * The Tampa Tribune *Table of ContentsNote on Sources Preface Introduction - The Great Teams of Baseball Part I - The Background Chapter 1: We Live In a Marvelous Age Chapter 2: One of the Best Cities in the Circuit Part II - The Offseason and Spring Training Chapter 3: The Trade Embargo and Baseball’s Winter Meetings Chapter 4: Crescent Lake Park and the Trek North Part III - The Regular Season Chapter 5: Epidemics of Cold and Flu Chapter 6: Haymaking Season Chapter 7: The Makeup Games Begin Chapter 8: Yawning Spaces in Grandstands Chapter 9: A Painful Contrast Chapter 10: A Fine Kettle of Fish Chapter 11: Give Me Pennock and We'll Win Chapter 12: Failure to Harvest Hits Chapter 13: Won or Lost in the West Part IV - The Postseason Chapter 14: Just the Way the Colonel Likes It Afterword Postscript Appendix Bibliography Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisI really do believe I would be way up at the top of everything if I hadn’t been injured. When I was healthy, I really believe I was the best of anyone I ever saw play.—Mickey Mantle, reflecting on his career Mickey Mantle is one of baseball’s all-time greats. Playing for the New York Yankees for his entire professional career, Mantle was named to the All-Star team for 11 consecutive seasons, won three MVP awards, and was a seven-time World Series champion. He quickly became an icon who achieved hero status even while playing through injuries for most of his career. In Mantle: The Best There Ever Was, Tony Castro makes the impassioned argument that Mickey Mantle truly was the greatest ballplayer of all time. Acclaimed by the New York Times as the definitive biographer of baseball’s fabled number 7, Castro shares many of his personal conversations with Mantle, demystifying the legend and revealing intimate, never-before-published details from Mantle’s personal life. In addition, Castro offers illuminating new insights into Mantle’s extraordinary career, including the head-turning conclusion based on the evolution of analytics that the beloved Yankee switch-hitting slugger may ultimately win acclaim as having fulfilled the weighty expectation once placed on him: being even greater than Babe Ruth. Drawing from hundreds of interviews with ex-teammates, friends, and family—including Mantle’s widow and longtime mistress—Castro masterfully blends Mantle’s public and private selves to present a fully rounded portrait of this complex, misunderstood national hero.Trade ReviewThe secret love life of Mickey Mantle, the New York Yankee’s fabled baseball home-run hitter and 20th century American icon, was a scoop that veteran journalist Tony Castro swore to keep secret—until now. Whether you’re a baseball fan or not, Castro’s book will take you into a world of myth, magic, and reckless heroism of a bygone era that comes brilliantly alive in this wild, intimate, and astonishing book. -- Rex Weiner, author of Woodstock Census: Nationwide Survey of the Sixties Generation and The (Original) Adventures of Ford FairlaneIf you wish to fully understand the complicated life of Mickey Mantle, Tony Castro has written an extraordinary book. There has been a library of books written on Mantle, but none will explain him the way this book does. For you millions of Mantle lovers, this book is “The Best There Ever Was.” Don't you dare miss it. -- Peter Golenbock, author of Dynasty, The Bronx Zoo, and 7: The Mickey Mantle NovelIn this warm, intimate, and often startling book, Tony Castro relies on his own long relationship with Mickey Mantle, a great deal of research, and a remarkable series of interviews with the woman the Yankees star loved before and during his long marriage to give us an unforgettable portrait of a man whose talent and accomplishments were matched only by the demons he couldn’t escape. Mantle: The Best There Ever Was presents an American sports hero in all his glory, and all his torment. -- Ron Rapoport, author of Let’s Play Two: The Legend of Mr. Cub, the Life of Ernie BanksHow could such a young man from Commerce, Oklahoma, become such a hero to so many? Tony accurately brings to light in great detail the accolades as well as demons that Mickey endured both on and off the field. -- Andrew Vilacky, Safe at Home, Cooperstown, NYBeing a longtime friend of Mickey’s I personally witnessed many of the challenges he encountered in both his personal and professional life. Statistically, Mickey did not have the best numbers of all time, but Mantle: The Best There Ever Was solidifies what a great teammate and friend Mickey was. -- Tom Catal, Mickey Mantle Museum, Cooperstown, NYTony Castro scores a perfect 10 for #7 with his new bio of my childhood hero Mickey Mantle, for whom I took subways with my brothers from Brooklyn to the Bronx in those years when the Yankees were the only team in town. I’ve read many other books on The Mick in the years since but Castro has smacked a grand slam here, the best I ever read about The Best There Ever Was. -- Denis Hamill, former columnist, New York Daily NewsAuthor Tony Castro returns to the life of Mickey Mantle in the third volume of his trilogy about the New York Yankees baseball star, Mantle: The Best There Ever Was—and the reader is swept along on a journey through Mantle’s life, both the personal and the professional. And what a complicated life Castro portrays, including unbelievable success on the baseball field, a difficult marriage, a longtime affair, injuries, and a decades-long struggle with alcoholism. Castro, who as a child idolized Mantle, incorporates his own recollections of meeting and interviewing the then-retired Mantle, introducing a deeper layer to the story. You don’t have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this book. -- Deborah Kalb, writer, editor, and book bloggerIn Mantle: The Best There Ever Was, Tony Castro adds another compelling account to his Mickey Mantle Trilogy. Written with the authority of an insider, Castro adds new detail and dimension to Mantle’s life and career in this well-sourced page-turner. -- Dale Tafoya, autho, Bash Brothers: A Legacy SubpoenaedA handful of baseball immortals—like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Joe DiMaggio—have achieved levels of greatness such that their names are known to even casual fans. Was Mantle the greatest of them all? Author Tony Castro explores this question and makes a compelling case for "The Mick" in Mantle: The Best There Ever Was. Castro describes some of the monstrous seasons Mantle had, charts Mantle’s athletic career, and takes the reader into The Mick's often turbulent personal life. Reading the book, one can only wonder what Mantle may have achieved if he'd taken care of himself the way modern-day athletes do. -- Ruben Castaneda, staff writer, US News and World Report, and author, S Street RisingAn American literary stylistic masterpiece. Tony Castro paints Mickey Mantle through a prism of genius with the pinstripe magic of Gabriel Garcia Marquez phantasmagoria and realism. -- Tom Wolfe, author and journalist

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Book SynopsisA rare glimpse of professional ballplayers, not as pitchers, hitters, managers, and coaches, but as dads and grandads. Sons of major league baseball players grow up in a unique environment, not only because they are raised in part by professional athletes, but also because they are raised by the game itself. They come of age immersed in the distinct sounds and aromas of baseball. The locker rooms, the cinderblock-lined corridors beneath the stands, the dugouts, and the fields are the playgrounds of their youth. In Sons of Baseball, Mark Braff interviews 18 men who share their exclusive stories, ballpark memories, and the challenges and rewards of having fathers whose talents enabled them to reach the pinnacle of their profession. Each chapter is devoted to one son talking about his experiences, from the poignancy of one son’s disclosure that his dad has not been able to acknowledge his son’s sexuality as a gay man, to the humor of another son absconding with the groundskeepers’ cart in Cleveland. Including the sons of well-known players such as Cal Ripken, Yogi Berra, and Mariano Rivera as well as beloved lesser-known players, Sons of Baseball provides a unique, well-rounded perspective on the lives of professional ballplayers and their families. And with father-son photos from the families’ personal collections, this book is a rare, first-of-its kind compilation for all fans of the game. Table of ContentsForeword by Cal Ripken JrIntroduction Chapter 1. Jerry Hairston Sr. & Jr.—Following grandpa and dad into the family business Chapter 2. Roger & Kevin Maris—Still teaching lessons from dad Chapter 3. Larry Dobby Sr. & Jr.—From baseball to Billy Joel Chapter 4. John & Dusty Wathan—Cup ball and stories from Buck O’NeilChapter 5. Henry & David Rodriguez—Seeking dad’s acceptance: “All I wanted was a Barbie”Chapter 6. Mariano & Jafet Rivera—“Come on, Rivera, throw the cutter” Chapter 7. Vada Pinson Jr. & III—Yearning for a father’s loveChapter 8. Yogi & Larry Berra—Fielding fungoes from Mickey Mantle Chapter 9. Dave & Jeff McNally—A national television debut at age seven Chapter 10. Jack & Matt Aker—If it’s Tuesday, this must be LynchburgChapter 11. John W. Powell Sr & Jr—Stealing (and abandoning) the groundskeepers’ cartChapter 12. Gil Hodges Sr & Jr.—Embracing the legacyChapter 13. Tony Pena Sr & Jr.—Poking sleeping players with toothpicksChapter 14. Jim & Michael Bouton—Riding upside down to Yankee StadiumChapter 15. Leo Cardenas Sr & Jr.—“I should have made it” Chapter 16. Bobby & Robby Richardson—Getting past Frank Crosetti, baseball cop Chapter 17. Mike & Andy Hargrove—Fishing off Bo Jackson’s lapChapter 18. Ron & Brandon Guidry—Handfuls of Bazooka and other stadium funAcknowledgments A Note on SourcesAbout the Author

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Book SynopsisStories of baseball idols and heroes are oft-repeated, but what about those players who everyone thought would be the next great one and have since disappeared from the sport? What happened after they failed to meet the weighty expectations placed on them?In Baseball''s Great Expectations: Candid Stories of Ballplayers Who Didn''t Live Up to the Hype, Patrick Montgomery brings out from the shadows nine of those players who were once poised for greatness. They include a player who received a then-record-breaking MLB Draft signing bonus, a left-handed pitcher who was ordained to be the next Sandy Koufax, the only catcher to go straight from high school to the major leagues during the MLB Draft Era, and more. Drawing from extensive interviews with the players, family members, general managers, executives, scouts, and more, Montgomery shines a fresh light on these players and provides a candid perspective on the major leagues. Players reflect on their careers, what went wrong, how they feel about baseball now that their playing days are over, and, for many of them, how they have found new purpose in their lives. Baseball's Great Expectations reveals an often-overlooked side of professional baseball, of the struggles with injury, mental exhaustion, pressure, temptations, and sometimes just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The path to baseball stardom is not as glamorous as it is sometimes made out to be, and this book reveals just how difficult the journey truly is.

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Book SynopsisThe candid autobiography of all-star pitcher Sudden Sam McDowell, whose alcohol-fueled life quickly and famously spiraled out of control, and his ultimate redemption as a counselor for other athletes suffering from addiction.Sam McDowell seemed to have it all. Considered by many to be the next Sandy Koufax when he signed with the Cleveland Indians, Sam boasted one of the fastest arms in major league baseball. But on the inside, he was playing in an alcoholic fog, beset by addiction, depression, narcissism, and thoughts of suicide. The Saga of Sudden Sam: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of Sam McDowell is the captivatingly honest autobiography of the six-time American League all-star pitcher and self-admitted worst drunk in baseball. Sam holds nothing back, sharing the pressures he felt as a young baseball phenom, his frustrations over a lack of coaching to help develop his talent, the pitfalls of his dangerous alcoholic lifestyle, and his attempted suicide. When Sudden Sam finally hit rock bottom, certain he had been defeated by alcoholism, he instead found hope, rehabilitation, and sobriety. After extensive education and training, he emerged as the first successful counselor in major league baseball. Sam helped to turn around the lives of players who, just like him, had fallen into the abyss of addiction or faced psychological and emotional problems that were destroying their careers. With details of his own severe battles with depression and addiction told alongside the struggles of players who came to him for help, The Saga of Sudden Sam offers special insight into the longstanding addiction issues that plague Major League Baseball. It also provides understanding and hope to anyone struggling with addiction and shows that recovery is attainable.

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Book SynopsisA rare glimpse of professional ballplayers, not as pitchers, hitters, managers, and coaches, but as dads and grandads. Sons of major league baseball players grow up in a unique environment, not only because they are raised in part by professional athletes, but also because they are raised by the game itself. They come of age immersed in the distinct sounds and aromas of baseball. The locker rooms, the cinderblock-lined corridors beneath the stands, the dugouts, and the fields are the playgrounds of their youth. In Sons of Baseball, Mark Braff interviews 18 men who share their exclusive stories, ballpark memories, and the challenges and rewards of having fathers whose talents enabled them to reach the pinnacle of their profession. Each chapter is devoted to one son talking about his experiences, from the poignancy of one son's disclosure that his dad has not been able to acknowledge his son's sexuality as a gay man, to the humor of another son absconding with the groundskeepers' cart in Cleveland. With a foreword by Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and interviews with the sons of beloved players such as Yogi Berra, Mariano Rivera, Roger Maris, Gil Hodges, and Larry Doby, Sons of Baseball provides a unique, well-rounded perspective on the lives of professional ballplayers and their families.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisAs befits a game traditionally passed from one generation to the next, baseball has always had a special reverence for origins. Claims of being first with any element of the game are disputed with fervor and passion. When the octogenarian Fred Goldsmith died in 1939, a headline proclaimed, 'Goldsmith Dies Insisting He Invented Curve Ball'; Fred Goldsmith understood the secret of immortality. Yet while countless thousands of words have been spilled on the subject of baseball “firsts,” there has been no definitive source for the settlement of disputes. Peter Morris's endlessly fascinating A Game of Inches has now arrived to fill the void. Impeccably researched and engagingly written, this treasure trove will surprise, delight, and educate even the most knowledgeable fan by dispelling cherished myths and revealing the source of many of baseball's features that we now take for granted. The scope of A Game of Inches is encyclopedic, with nearly a thousand entries that illuminate the origins of items ranging from catchers' masks to hook slides to intentional walks to cork-center baseballs. But this is much more than just a reference guide. Award-winning author Peter Morris explains the context that led each new item to emerge when it did, and chronicles the often surprising responses to these innovations. Of few books can it genuinely be said that once you start reading, it's hard to put it down—but A Game of Inches is one of them. It belongs in the pantheon of great baseball books, and will give any reader a deeper appreciation of why baseball matters so much to Americans. (A companion volume, A Game of Inches: The Game Behind the Scenes, was published in the fall of 2006.)Trade ReviewI can't wait for the subsequent volumes. -- Keith Olbermann, News Anchor, Countdown on MSNBC; co-host, The Dan Patrick Show on ESPN RadioPeter Morris's A Game of Inches is the one that every serious baseball fan must have. -- Rob Neyer * ESPN the Magazine *A splendidly entertaining book. -- Donald HonigTruly amazing. -- Rob Neyer * The Griddle *Wonderful baseball anecdotes...a comprehensive volume of who-did-what-first adding a necessary human dimension to baseball facts and figures. * Philadelphia City Paper *Every season needs a browser’s delight of a baseball reference book. Morris’ remarkable volume may have set that standard. -- John Marshall * Seattle Post-Intelligencer *Absolutely fantastic.... There is no end to the historical detail, the delightful anecdotes, and the clear explanations. -- Dr. John D. Elgenauer, Super70s.com--BaseballOffering fascinating information on every page, this is a unique resource for baseball historians and serious fans. * CHOICE *Morris combines learning, precision, and devotion to produce this charming book...This is heaven for fans of the game.... * Library Journal *Morris' remarkable volume may have set [the] standard for this season and several to follow. -- John Marshall * Seattle Post-Intelligencer *It's an everything you ever wanted to know reference source for anyone who truly loves baseball. * Albany Times Union *Morris gives the scoop on three- and four-man umpiring crews, the history of bats, and more. -- Carol Herwig * USA Today *An encyclopedic effort....interesting observations. -- John Monaghan * Providence Journal *Clear some fresh space on your bookshelves. One of the all-time essential reference works for baseball has...arrived. -- Daniel Gabriel * Elysian Fields Quarterly *Majestic in their detail and exemplary in their dedication to scholarship, these books will leave the reader...exhilarated. * CHOICE *You could do no better than Peter Morris' A Game of Inches, an astonishingly well-researched history. -- Keith Olbermann * Msnbc *A great source for baseball history. * Daily News *Solid piece of near exhaustive research into...crucial aspects of the development of baseball. -- John P. Rossi, La Salle University * The Historian *

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Book SynopsisThis little book will teach you all you need to know about the most frustrating yet entertaining pitch in baseball: the knuckleball. It makes batters look foolish when it works; it embarrasses pitchers when it doesn't...or if it works too well. It humiliates catchers and umpires. It confounds spectators. Dave Clark has spent most of a lifetime studying the knuckleball, talking to the major league pitchers who have thrown it, and throwing a few of his own. His book explains the strange workings of the pitch and how it's used, no matter what your interest—whether you're a pitcher, batter, catcher, umpire, coach, spectator, or parent of any of the above. Everything Mr. Clark demonstrates in The Knucklebook is carefully illustrated with line drawings, so if you're an average high school pitcher who can throw strikes, you'll be able to throw a knuckleball exactly like a legendary Hall of Famer. You'll find appropriate and hilarious comments from those who have experienced the game of baseball as it's been affected by the wandering floater. Like those who throw the knuckler, all this information was scattered to far-flung corners of the baseball world until Mr. Clark gathered and compiled it. Reading his little book, you'll end up less mystified and more enlightened about this antic pitch. Or, like the pitch itself, you can just ride the breezes and enjoy the dancing flight from beginning to end. With 51 black-and-white line drawings.Trade ReviewA comprehensive look inside the world of the fluttering and frustrating—for hitters anyway—pitch. -- Todd Piken * Metro Daily News *It's nicely written, well organized, well illustrated and imbued with an engaging sense of whimsy. * Booklist *A guide to every aspect of baseball's most elusive pitch....explaining how and why the pitch is used. * Forecast *Like the knucklebook itself, The Knucklebook frustrates and delights.... Mr. Clark is terrific....Colorful and interesting stuff. -- Jonathan Eig, author of Get Capone/ ALI * The Wall Street Journal *A little gem.... After reading it, I am confident I can not only teach the knuckler but also throw a decent one myself. -- John Curtis * The San Diego Union-Tribune *The world's greatest collector of knuckleball lore. -- Ron Berthel * Scranton Sunday Times *There’s no pitch as magical as the knuckleball. Dave Clark is showing off the magician’s tricks but instead of breaking the illusion, he opens new doors. The knuckleball is given new life here, dancing through our minds as it dances through the air. Clark masterfully breaks down the pitch, the mindset, and could save the pitch from extinction with this important work. -- Will CarrollIf there is anyone alive who knows more about this ever-baffling, fluttering pitch than Dave Clark, he is either retired from, headed to, or currently in the Major Leagues on the strength of his knuckles. And even then, my money’s on Dave. -- Ben McGrath * The New Yorker *Nicely written, well organized, well illustrated...and imbued with an engaging sense of whimsy. -- Wes Lukowsky * Booklist *They say that '40 is the new 30.' If that's true, then I figure I've still got a shot at becoming the next Hoyt Wilhelm. Step 1? Memorizing every single page of Dave Clark's The Knucklebook. -- Rob Neyer * ESPN the Magazine *Dave Clark delivers a resounding strike with his in-depth coverage of baseball's most baffling pitch. -- John Kuenster * Baseball Digest *Quirky to say the least. -- Melissa McKeon * The Community Journal *

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Book SynopsisThis bestselling, highly-acclaimed account is a hilarious but scathing baseball tell-all. After being voted the 1977 American League Cy Young Award winner, Sparky Lyle was rewarded for his efforts by being benched. The Yankees, a leader of free agency, signed Goose Gossage as their closer. Things only went downhill from there and the 1978 season turned out to be one of controversy, firings, fights and acrimony. In short, it was a zoo.

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Book SynopsisFor many fans, their lifetime of experience with the Detroit Tigers ensured them that when their team roared, it would be Ernie Harwell's smooth southern voice that would be heard above the din. After 42 years as the "Voice of the Detroit Tigers," the 2002 retirement of Harwell signaled the end of an era. This profile on the famed broadcaster provides the lesser-known details on the background of a Detroit institution. Known for his voice and talent for calling games, fans will be able to know the man himself and what brought him to—and kept him in—the Motor City. The only play-by-play broadcaster to cover games across seven decades, Harwell saw (and accumulated accompanying stories about) everyone from Babe Ruth to Ichiro Suzuki, many of which are shared in this entertaining biography.

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Book SynopsisDuke Snider, former Dodgers great and Hall of Famer who played on both coasts, selects the top five players at each position and the top five Dodgers managers in this exciting compilation. Evoking cherished memories of one of the richest histories in sports and spotlighting the luminescent talent that has worn Dodgers blue, the book includes profiles of Zach Wheat, Burleigh Grimes, Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Gil Hodges, Steve Garvey, and Fernando Valenzuela.

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Book SynopsisA one-stop record containing everything Red Sox fans want to know about their favorite baseball team, this resource is packed with anecdotes, history, explanations of traditions, statistics, trivia, and photos.

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Book SynopsisWhether rediscovering the best team moments, or initiating into the histories and traditions of Red Sox fandom, this book about the Boston Red Sox is both a useful resource and cherishable memorabilia. Packed with anecdotes of past and current players, explanations about the beginnings of rivalries and traditions, detailed histories about the greatest players and moments in the franchise’s history, lists of the greatest teams ever, and year-by-year statistics, this collectible book is the primary source for anyone eager to be an expert regarding anything about the Red Sox. The book captures the essence of Boston's pride: Ted Williams’ home run for his final at-bat, Curt Schilling’s bloody sock, the Pesky Pole, the Green Monster, the Rocket striking out 20 batters, Carlton Fisk waving his home run fair, and, of course, overcoming a 3-0 deficit to beat the New York Yankees en route to Boston’s first World Series title since 1918.

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Book SynopsisWith more than 100 years to choose from, longtime Yankee sportswriter Phil Pepe narrows down the top 40 most fantastic moments in Yankee baseball. From the magical bat of Babe Ruth to the 26 World Series titles, there is no question that the Yankees are in a league of their own. Some of the famous and infamous moments highlighted in the book include Ron Guidry’s 260 strikeout season; Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak; perfect games by Don Larsen, David Wells, and David Cone; and the infamous wife swap between Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich. An extraordinary celebration of Yankee history, fans will have the opportunity to reminisce about these miraculous moments for years to come.

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Book SynopsisA one-stop record containing everything White Sox fans want to know about their favorite baseball team, this resource is packed with anecdotes, history, explanations of traditions, statistics, trivia, and photos.

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Book SynopsisA one-stop record containing everything Indian fans want to know about their favorite baseball team, this resource is packed with anecdotes, history, explanations of traditions, statistics, trivia, and photos.

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Book SynopsisA one-stop record containing everything Tiger fans want to know about their favorite baseball team, this resource is packed with anecdotes, history, explanations of traditions, statistics, trivia, and photos.

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Book SynopsisA one-stop record containing everything Angels fans want to know about their favorite baseball team, this resource is packed with anecdotes, history, explanations of traditions, statistics, trivia, and photos.

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Book SynopsisA one-stop record containing everything Diamondback fans want to know about their favorite baseball team, this resource is packed with anecdotes, history, explanations of traditions, statistics, trivia, and photos.

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Book SynopsisA one-stop record containing everything Brewers fans want to know about their favorite baseball team, this resource is packed with anecdotes, history, explanations of traditions, statistics, trivia, and photos. Hours of entertainment include insider stories, player biographies, greatest moments, biggest disappointments, memorable personalities, and top-10 lists.

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Book SynopsisEven the most ardent baseball fan will be amazed at the quirks, quips, and comments in Baseball Gold. Consisting entirely of bits and pieces of baseball’s offbeat history, this volume covers teams and a myriad of players, owners, managers, and broadcasters—from their exploits on the field to those behind clubhouse doors. It can even be picked up in the middle and read backward—one nugget at a time.

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Book SynopsisEvery baseball fan knows New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter is a great all-around player. But how about Alex Rodriguez, Jeter's teammate, former American League MVP, and probable future Hall of Famer? Many would argue he's even better than Jeter. And what about Jeter's seemingly unassailable status as one of the greatest Yankees of all time? Such discussions highlight one of the great joys of being a baseball fan: arguing over who's really great and who falls just short, who doesn't get the respect he deserves and who gets too much. In other words, who's overrated and who's underrated. In this book, baseball analyst, writer, and researcher Jayson Stark of ESPN considers the entire history of professional baseball and picks the most overblown and underappreciated players in the history of the game. His results, based on extensive research using both traditional and more modern methods of evaluating baseball players and performance, are provocative, entertaining, and go a long way toward settling many of baseball's most persistent debates. No book can hope to settle every baseball argument, but this book takes one of baseball's most enduring debates and provides some compelling and stunning clarity.

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Book SynopsisThe impossibly, incredibly, indisputably true story of how the Detroit Tigers jumped to the top of the American League almost overnight.

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Book SynopsisThe full story of the Cardinals’ fateful, and surprising, run to the 2006 World Series title is captured in this action-packed commemorative volume. The team's first title since 1982 is celebrated by collecting profiles of the season's star players, complete recaps of every postseason game, and stunning photography. The end result is a must-have keepsake for every St. Louis baseball fan.

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Book SynopsisA collection of inspirational and meaningful quotes perfect for every fan of the great game of baseball."Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical" said Yogi Berra and in celebration of this sport, spirit and American pastime we bring you The Baseball Fan''s Treasury of Quotations. Collecting over 200 sayings, wisdom and wit from the legends of baseball, this book promises to be a cherished collectable for every fan.

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Book SynopsisIn the summer of 1998 two of baseball leading sluggers, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, embarked on a race to break Babe Ruth’s single season home run record. The nation was transfixed as Sosa went on to hit 66 home runs, and McGwire 70. Three years later, San Francisco Giants All-Star Barry Bonds surpassed McGwire by 3 home runs in the midst of what was perhaps the greatest offensive display in baseball history. Over the next three seasons, as Bonds regularly launched mammoth shots into the San Francisco Bay, baseball players across the country were hitting home runs at unprecedented rates. For years there had been rumors that perhaps some of these players owed their success to steroids. But crowd pleasing homers were big business, and sportswriters, fans, and officials alike simply turned a blind eye. Then, in December of 2004, after more than a year of investigation, San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams broke the story that in a federal investigation of a nutritional supplement company called BALCO, Yankees slugger Jason Giambi had admitted taking steroids. Barry Bonds was also implicated. Immediately the issue of steroids became front page news. The revelations led to Congressional hearings on baseball’s drug problems and continued to drive the effort to purge the U.S. Olympic movement of drug cheats. Now Fainaru-Wada and Williams expose for the first time the secrets of the BALCO investigation that has turned the sports world upside down. Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroid Scandal That Rocked Professional by award-winning investigative journalists Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, is a riveting narrative about the biggest doping scandal in the history of sports, and how baseball’s home run king, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants, came to use steroids. Drawing on more than two years of reporting, including interviews with hundreds of people, and exclusive access to secret grand jury testimony, confidential documents, audio recordings, and more, the authors provide, for the first time, a definitive account of the shocking steroids scandal that made headlines across the country.The book traces the career of Victor Conte, founder of the BALCO laboratory, an egomaniacal former rock musician and self-proclaimed nutritionist, who set out to corrupt sports by providing athletes with “designer” steroids that would be undetectable on “state-of-the-art” doping tests. Conte gave the undetectable drugs to 28 of the world’s greatest athletes—Olympians, NFL players and baseball stars, Bonds chief among them. A separate narrative thread details the steroids use of Bonds, an immensely talented, moody player who turned to performance-enhancing drugs after Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals set a new home run record in 1998. Through his personal trainer, Bonds gained access to BALCO drugs. All of the great athletes who visited BALCO benefited tremendously—Bonds broke McGwire’s record—but many had their careers disrupted after federal investigators raided BALCO and indicted Conte. The authors trace the course of the probe, and the baffling decision of federal prosecutors to protect the elite athletes who were involved. Highlights of Game of Shadows include:Barry Bonds A look at how Bonds was driven to use performance-enhancing drugs in part by jealousy over Mark McGwire’s record-breaking 1998 season. It was shortly thereafter that Bonds—who had never used anything more performance enhancing than a protein shake from the health food store—first began using steroids. How Bonds’s weight trainer, steroid dealer Greg Anderson, arranged to meet Victor Conte before the 2001 baseball season with...

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisOn September 28, 1960—a day that will live forever in the hearts of fans—Red Sox slugger Ted Williams stepped up to the plate for his last at-bat in Fenway Park. Seizing the occasion, he belted a solo home run—a storybook ending to a storied career.In the stands that afternoon was twenty-eight-year-old John Updike, inspired by the moment to make his lone venture into the field of sports reporting. More than just a matchless account of that fabled final game, Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu is a brilliant evocation of Williams’ entire tumultuous life in baseball.Now, on the fiftieth anniversary of the dramatic exit of baseball’s greatest hitter, The Library of America presents a commemorative edition of Hub Fans, prepared by the author just months before his death. To the classic final version of the essay, long out-of-print, Updike added an autobiographical preface and a substantial new afterword.

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Book SynopsisSpanning nearly fifty years and featuring hard-to-find pieces, this anthology collects the most essential writings on American baseball, boxing, and more, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning sports journalistWalter Wellesley “Red” Smith was the most widely read sports writer of the last century and the first to win the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. From the 1940s to the 1980s, his nationally syndicated columns for the New York Herald Tribune and later for The New York Times traversed the world of sports with literary panache and wry humor. “I’ve always had the notion,” Smith once said, “that people go to spectator sports to have fun and then they grab the paper to read about it and have fun again.” Now, writer and editor (and inventor of Rotisserie League Baseball) Daniel Okrent presents the best of Smith’s inimitable columns—miniature masterpieces that remain the gold standard in sports writing.Here are Smith’s indelible profiles of sports luminaries, which show his gift for distilling a career’s essence in a single column. Unforgettable accounts of historic occasions—Bobby Thompson’s Shot Heard ’Round the World, Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series, the first Ali-Frazier fight—are joined by more offbeat stories that display Smith’s unmistakable wit, intelligence, and breadth of feeling. Here, too, are more personal glimpses into Smith’s life and work, revealed in stories about his lifelong passion for fishing and in “My Press-Box Memoirs,” a 1975 reminiscence for Esquire collected here for the first time.

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Book SynopsisBaseball is facing a crisis as it is riddled with accusations of steroid and drug abuse, testing, and debates about whether or not records will need to include an asterisk. In attorney David Ezra's new book Asterisk, he explores the public trials of the baseball community and debates questions such as Are accusations of steroid use justified? Or do today's well-trained players, whose teams play in newly constructed ballparks, shatter records because the game has changed?

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Book SynopsisA trip into the world of a Cubs fan, this brilliant collection of photos and insightful essays highlights 15 years with the Chicago Cubs, from the winter Cubs Convention to their springs in Mesa and, finally, to the Friendly Confines during the season. This passionate photo documentary is a must-have for any and all Cubs fans who love to reminisce about past seasons while looking forward to the future with unguarded optimism. Our Team—Our Dream puts the Cubbies and the throngs of fans who flock to Wrigleyville on display in one memorable collection.

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Book SynopsisRelive the historic 2007 Major League Baseball season as the Colorado Rockies put together one of the most amazing hot streaks in baseball history to reach their first World Series ever.

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