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Ted Williams
By Leigh Montville. 2004
He was The Kid. The Splendid Splinter. Teddy Ballgame. One of the greatest figures of his generation, and arguably the…
greatest baseball hitter of all time. But what made Ted Williams a legend - and a lightning rod for controversy in life and in death? What motivated him to interrupt his Hall of Fame career twice to serve his country as a fighter pilot; to embrace his fans while tangling with the media; to retreat from the limelight whenever possible into his solitary love of fishing; and to become the most famous man ever to have his body cryogenically frozen after his death? New York Times bestselling author Leigh Montville, who wrote the celebrated Sports Illustrated obituary of Ted Williams, now delivers an intimate, riveting account of this extraordinary life. Still a gangly teenager when he stepped into a Boston Red Sox uniform in 1939, Williams's boisterous personality and penchant for towering home runs earned him adoring admirers--the fans--and venomous critics--the sportswriters. In 1941, the entire country followed Williams's stunning .406 season, a record that has not been touched in over six decades. At the pinnacle of his prime, Williams left Boston to train and serve as a fighter pilot in World War II, missing three full years of baseball. He was back in 1946, dominating the sport alongside teammates Dominic DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, and Bobby Doerr. But Williams left baseball again in 1952 to fight in Korea, where he flew thirty-nine combat missions--crash-landing his flaming, smoke-filled plane, in one famous episode.Ted Willams's personal life was equally colorful. His attraction to women (and their attraction to him) was a constant. He was married and divorced three times and he fathered two daughters and a son. He was one of corporate America's first modern spokesmen, and he remained, nearly into his eighties, a fiercely devoted fisherman. With his son, John Henry Williams, he devoted his final years to the sports memorabilia business, even as illness overtook him. And in death, controversy and public outcry followed Williams and the disagreements between his children over the decision to have his body preserved for future resuscitation in a cryonics facility--a fate, many argue, Williams never wanted. With unmatched verve and passion, and drawing upon hundreds of interviews, acclaimed best-selling author Leigh Montville brings to life Ted Williams's superb triumphs, lonely tragedies, and intensely colorful personality, in a biography that is fitting of an American hero and legend.From the Trade Paperback edition.Baseball For Dummies
By Joe Morgan, Richard Lally. 2014
Play, watch, and understand America's favorite pastimeBaseball continues to be a popular game both as a spectator sport and as…
a pastime. Since the publication of Baseball For Dummies, 3rd Edition, baseball teams have changed, new MLB stadiums have been built, and rules have been updated. This updated 4th Edition brings you the latest information on the players, the places, and above all, the game.Baseball For Dummies is for baseball fans at all levels, from players and coaches to spectators who love the game. Baseball Hall of Fame player Joe Morgan explains baseball with remarkable insight, using down-to-earth language so everyone from the casual observer to the die-hard fan can gain a fuller appreciation of the sport.Improve your hitting, pitching, and fieldingFind a baseball team to play on, from Little League on upEvaluate stats, players, and recordsCoach baseball or umpire effectivelyGet more out of a trip to the ballparkThe latest on baseball stats and sabermetricsComplete with Morgan's personal lists of top-ten toughest pitchers, smartest players, and most strategic managers, Baseball For Dummies gives you all the inside tips, facts, and stats so you can have Major League fun!Francona: The Red Sox Years
By Dan Shaughnessy, Terry Francona. 2013
From 2004 to 2011, Terry Francona managed the Boston Red Sox, perhaps the most scrutinized team in all of sports.…
During that time, every home game was a sellout. Every play, call, word, gesture—on the field and off—was analyzed by thousands. And every decision was either genius, or disastrous. In those eight years, the Red Sox were transformed from a cursed franchise to one of the most successful and profitable in baseball history—only to fall back to last place as soon as Francona was gone. Now, in Francona: The Red Sox Years, the decorated manager opens up for the first time about his tenure in Boston, unspooling the narrative of how this world-class organization reached such incredible highs and dipped to equally incredible lows. But through it all, there was always baseball, that beautiful game of which Francona never lost sight. As no book has ever quite done before, Francona escorts readers into the rarefied world of a twenty-first-century clubhouse, revealing the mercurial dynamic of the national pastime from the inside out. From his unique vantage point, Francona chronicles an epic era, from 2004, his first year as the Sox skipper, when they won their first championship in 86 years, through another win in 2007, to the controversial September collapse just four years later. He recounts the tightrope walk of managing unpredictable personalities such as Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez and working with Theo Epstein, the general managing phenom, and his statistics-driven executives. It was a job that meant balancing their voluminous data with the emotions of a 25-man roster. It was a job that also meant trying to meet the expectations of three owners with often wildly differing opinions. Along the way, readers are treated to never-before-told stories about their favorite players, moments, losses, and wins. Ultimately, when for the Red Sox it became less about winning and more about making money, Francona contends they lost their way. But it was an unforgettable, endlessly entertaining, and instructive time in baseball history, one that is documented and celebrated in Francona, a book that examines like no other the art of managing in today’s game.Mickey and Willie
By Allen Barra. 2013
Acclaimed sportswriter Allen Barra exposes the uncanny parallels--and lifelong friendship--between two of the greatest baseball players ever to take the…
field. Culturally, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays were light-years apart. Yet they were nearly the same age and almost the same size, and they came to New York at the same time. They possessed virtually the same talents and played the same position. They were both products of generations of baseball-playing families, for whom the game was the only escape from a lifetime of brutal manual labor. Both were nearly crushed by the weight of the outsized expectations placed on them, first by their families and later by America. Both lived secret lives far different from those their fans knew. What their fans also didn't know was that the two men shared a close personal friendship--and that each was the only man who could truly understand the other's experience.Summer of '68
By Tim Wendel. 2012
The extraordinary story of the 1968 baseball season--when the game was played to perfection even as the country was being…
pulled apart at the seams From the beginning, '68 was a season rocked by national tragedy and sweeping change. Opening Day was postponed and later played in the shadow of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s funeral. That summer, as the pennant races were heating up, the assassination of Robert Kennedy was later followed by rioting at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. But even as tensions boiled over and violence spilled into the streets, something remarkable was happening in major league ballparks across the country. Pitchers were dominating like never before, and with records falling and shut-outs mounting, many began hailing '68 as "The Year of the Pitcher." In Summer of '68, Tim Wendel takes us on a wild ride through a season that saw such legends as Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, Don Drysdale, and Luis Tiant set new standards for excellence on the mound, each chasing perfection against the backdrop of one of the most divisive and turbulent years in American history. For some players, baseball would become an insular retreat from the turmoil encircling them that season, but for a select few, including Gibson and the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals, the conflicts of '68 would spur their performances to incredible heights and set the stage for their own run at history. Meanwhile in Detroit--which had burned just the summer before during one of the worst riots in American history--'68 instead found the city rallying together behind a colorful Tigers team led by McLain, Mickey Lolich, Willie Horton, and Al Kaline. The Tigers would finish atop the American League, setting themselves on a highly anticipated collision course with Gibson's Cardinals. And with both teams' seasons culminating in a thrilling World Series for the ages--one team playing to establish a dynasty, the other fighting to help pull a city from the ashes--what ultimately lay at stake was something even larger: baseball's place in a rapidly changing America that would never be the same. In vivid, novelistic detail, Summer of '68 tells the story of this unforgettable season--the last before rule changes and expansion would alter baseball forever--when the country was captivated by the national pastime at the moment it needed the game most.Summer of '68
By Tim Wendel. 2012
The extraordinary story of the 1968 baseball season--when the game was played to perfection even as the country was being…
pulled apart at the seams From the beginning, '68 was a season rocked by national tragedy and sweeping change. Opening Day was postponed and later played in the shadow of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s funeral. That summer, as the pennant races were heating up, the assassination of Robert Kennedy was later followed by rioting at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. But even as tensions boiled over and violence spilled into the streets, something remarkable was happening in major league ballparks across the country. Pitchers were dominating like never before, and with records falling and shut-outs mounting, many began hailing '68 as "The Year of the Pitcher." In Summer of '68, Tim Wendel takes us on a wild ride through a season that saw such legends as Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, Don Drysdale, and Luis Tiant set new standards for excellence on the mound, each chasing perfection against the backdrop of one of the most divisive and turbulent years in American history. For some players, baseball would become an insular retreat from the turmoil encircling them that season, but for a select few, including Gibson and the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals, the conflicts of '68 would spur their performances to incredible heights and set the stage for their own run at history. Meanwhile in Detroit--which had burned just the summer before during one of the worst riots in American history--'68 instead found the city rallying together behind a colorful Tigers team led by McLain, Mickey Lolich, Willie Horton, and Al Kaline. The Tigers would finish atop the American League, setting themselves on a highly anticipated collision course with Gibson's Cardinals. And with both teams' seasons culminating in a thrilling World Series for the ages--one team playing to establish a dynasty, the other fighting to help pull a city from the ashes--what ultimately lay at stake was something even larger: baseball's place in a rapidly changing America that would never be the same. In vivid, novelistic detail, Summer of '68 tells the story of this unforgettable season--the last before rule changes and expansion would alter baseball forever--when the country was captivated by the national pastime at the moment it needed the game most.Forever Blue
By Michael D'Antonio. 2009
Read Michael D'Antonio's posts on the Penguin Blog From the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist comes a revealing biography of "one of…
the most polarizing figures in baseball history" (The New York Times). If ever there was a figure who changed the game of baseball, it was Walter O'Malley, owner of the Dodgers. O'Malley was one of the most controversial owners in the history of American sports, altering the course of history when he uprooted the Dodgers and transplanted them from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. While many critics attacked him, O'Malley looked to the future, declining to defend his stance. As a result, fans across the nation have never been able to stop arguing about him and his strategy-until now. Michael D'Antonio's Forever Blue is a uniquely intimate portrait of a man who changed America's pastime forever, a fascinating story fundamental to the history of sports, business, and the American West. Michael D'Antonio's newest book, A Full Cup: Sir Thomas Lipton's Extraordinary Life and His Quest for America's Cup, is now available from Riverhead Books.High Heat
By Tim Wendel. 2010
What is it about a quality fastball that brings us to the edge of our seats? How is it humanly…
possible to throw more than 100 mph? And the big question: Who is the fastest pitcher ever? Drawing on interviews with current and former players, managers, scouts, experts, and historians, Tim Wendel delivers the answers to some of the most intriguing questions about the fastball, providing insight into one of baseball's most exhilarating yet mystifying draws. In High Heat he takes us on a quest to separate verifiable fact from baseball lore, traveling from ballparks across the country to the Baseball Hall of Fame, piecing together the fascinating history of the fastball from its early development to the present form while exploring its remarkable impact on the game and the pitchers who have been blessed (or cursed) with its gift. From legends such as Nolan Ryan, Walter Johnson, Steve Dalkowski, and Satchel Paige to present-day standard bearers like Tim Lincecum, Billy Wagner, and Randy Johnson, Wendel examines the factors that make throwing heat an elusive ability that few have and even fewer can harness. Along the way he investigates the effectiveness of early speed-testing techniques (including Bob Feller's infamous motorcycle test), explains why today's radar gun readings still leave plenty of room for debate, and even visits an aerodynamic testing lab outside of Birmingham, Alabama, in order to understand the mechanics that make throwing heat possible in the first place. At its heart, High Heat is a reflection on our infatuation with the fastball--the expectation it carries, the raw ability it puts on display, and, most of all, the feats and trials of those who have attempted to master it. As Wendel puts it, "The tale of high heat can lead in several different directions at once, and the real story has more to do with triumph and tragedy that with the simple act of throwing a baseball."Mookie
By Mookie Wilson. 2014
They said it was the #147;Curse of the Bambino. ” They said #147;the bad guys won. ” Now one of…
baseball’s all-time good guys, New York Mets legend Mookie Wilson, tells his side of the story#151;from the ground ball through Bill Buckner’s legs that capped the miraculous 1986 World Series Game Six rally against the Boston Red Sox to the rise and fall of a team that boasted such outsize personalities as Darryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez, Dwight Gooden, Gary Carter, Lenny Dykstra, and Davey Johnson. Growing up in rural South Carolina in the 1960s, Mookie took to heart the lessons of his father, a diligent sharecropper who believed in the abiding power of faith#151;and taught his son the game that would change his life. When Mookie landed in Shea Stadium in 1980, the Mets were a perennial cellar-dweller overshadowed by the crosstown Yankees. But inspired by Mookie’s legendary hustle, they would soon become the toast of New York. And even when their off-field antics#151;made famous by a contingency of the team called #147;the Scum Bunch”#151;eclipsed their on-field successes, Mookie stayed above the fray. In 1986, the Mets were a juggernaut, winning 108 games during the regular season and edging the Houston Astros for the National League pennant following a grueling 16-inning Game Six classic. In the World Series against Boston, in an epic at-bat that led to the Buckner error, Mookie would ignite a fire under the Mets, helping to force a Game Seven. New York would win to become World Champions. In an era when role models in sports were hard to come by, some tarnished by their own hubris and greed, Mookie Wilson remained the exception: a man of humility and honor when it mattered the most. WITH A FOREWARD BY KEITH HERNANDEZBases Loaded
By Kirk Radomski. 2009
Game of Shadows meets Ball Four in this explosive inside account of baseball's steroid era On a quiet street on…
Long Island early on a December morning in 2005, more than fifty federal agents stood outside a lovely new home waiting for the front door to be opened. When it did, there stood the central figure in one of the biggest scandals in sports history: Kirk Radomski. Radomski was a regular New York kid who, from the age of fifteen had the amazing fortune of working in the Mets clubhouse. The focus of his job was to give the players whatever they wanted or needed-he got their uniforms ready, packed up their homes at the end of the season, cashed their checks, and helped them beat the drug tests that would have led to suspension. And at the end of the 1986 season he even led the World Champions down Broadway during their victory parade. Eventually, he graduated to helping in other ways: providing them with steroids and human growth hormones. By the time the Feds knocked on his door, he was the main clubhouse supplier of performance-enhancing drugs to almost three hundred baseball players. Under threat of a long prison sentence-and after being identified by players he'd helped-he cooperated with Senator George Mitchell to produce the Mitchell Report, providing names and dates. Now he's ready to tell the whole story to the world. Radomski made little money from these transactions, and in this stunning book he will recount what baseball knew about the problem, his life since the report came out, and who took what. This is the tale of a young man seeing his heroes turn into clay, and the degradation of a once great sport into the drug-addicted spectacle it has become.Deep Drive
By Mike Lowell. 2008
The nationally bestselling, inspiring memoir from Red Sox hero and MVP of the 2007 World Series, third baseman Mike Lowell-…
now in trade paperback. In 2007, the Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell triumphed over a lifetime of adversity when he led the world's most zealously followed baseball team to their second World Series title in four years. But there was much more to the story than what happened that night in October. From his battle with testicular cancer, to the ups and downs of his baseball career, to the extraordinary journey and struggles of his Cuban family under the Castro regime, this is the story of a man who overcame every challenge thrown at him to become one of the best third basemen in baseball-and a true role model for his millions of fans.The Baseball ECONOMIST
By Bradbury, J. C.. 2007
Freakonomics meets Moneyball in this provocative exposé of baseball?s most fiercely debated controversies and some of its oldest, most dearly…
held myths Providing far more than a mere collection of numbers, economics professor and popular blogger J. C. Bradbury, shines the light of his economic thinking on baseball, exposing the power of tradeoffs, competition, and incentives. Utilizing his own ?sabernomic? approach, Bradbury dissects baseball topics such as: ? Did steroids have nothing to do with the recent homerun records? Incredibly, Bradbury?s research reveals steroids probably had little impact. ? Which players are ridiculously overvalued? Bradbury lists all players by team with their revenue value to the team listed in dollars?including a dishonor role of those players with negative values?updated in paperback to include the 2007 season. ? Does it help to lobby for balls and strikes? Statistics alone aren?t enough anymore. This is a refreshing, lucid, and powerful read for fans, fantasy buffs, and players?as well as coaches at all levels?who want to know what is really happening on the field. .Alma de Campeon
By Mike Lowell. 2008
A Well-Paid Slave
By Brad Snyder. 2006
After the 1969 season, the St. Louis Cardinals traded their star center fielder, Curt Flood, to the Philadelphia Phillies, setting…
off a chain of events that would change professional sports forever. At the time there were no free agents, no no-trade clauses. When a player was traded, he had to report to his new team or retire. Unwilling to leave St. Louis and influenced by the civil rights movement, Flood chose to sue Major League Baseball for his freedom. His case reached the Supreme Court, where Flood ultimately lost. But by challenging the system, he created an atmosphere in which, just three years later, free agency became a reality. Flood’s decision cost him his career, but as this dramatic chronicle makes clear, his influence on sports history puts him in a league with Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali. .Pitching in a Pinch: Baseball from the Inside
By Red Smith, Chad Harbach, Christy Mathewson. 2013
An inside baseball memoir from the game’s first superstar, with a foreword by Chad Harbach Christy Mathewson was one…
of the most dominant pitchers ever to play baseball. Posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of the Five Immortals,” he was an unstoppable force on the mound, winning at least twenty-two games for twelve straight seasons and pitching three complete-game shutouts in the 1905 World Series. Pitching in a Pinch, his witty and digestible book of baseball insights, stories, and wisdom, was first published over a hundred years ago and presents readers with Mathewson’s plainspoken perspective on the diamond of yoreon the players, the chances they took, the jinxes they believed in, and, most of all, their love of the game. Baseball fans will love to read first-hand accounts of the infamous Merkle’s Boner incident, Giants manager John McGraw, and the unstoppable Johnny Evers and to learn how muchand just how littlehas really changed in a hundred years. .Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes
By John Rosengren. 2013
Baseball in the 1930s was more than a national pastime; it was a cultural touchstone that galvanized communities and gave…
a struggling country its heroes despite the woes of the Depression. Hank Greenberg, one of the most exciting sluggers in baseball history, gave the people of Detroit a reason to be proud. But America was facing more than economic hardship. With the Nazis gaining power across Europe, political and social tensions were approaching a boiling point. As one of the few Jewish athletes competing nationally, Hank Greenberg became not only an iconic ball player, but also an important and sometimes controversial symbol of Jewish identity and the American immigrant experience. When Hank joined the Detroit Tigers in 1933, they were headed for a dismal fifth-place season finish. The following year, with Hank leading the charge, they were fighting off the Yankees for the pennant. As his star ascended, he found himself cheered wherever he went. But there were other noises also. On and off the field, he met with taunts and anti-Semitic threats. Yet the hardship only drove him on to greater heights, sharing the spotlight with the most legendary sluggers of the day, including Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, and Lou Gehrig. Hank Greenberg offers an intimate account of the man’s life on and off the field. It is a portrait of integrity, triumph over adversity, and one of the greatest baseball players to ever grace the field. .The Psychology of Baseball
By Mike Stadler. 2007
Get inside the minds of the stars of the diamond in this extraordinary tour of brain power, psyche, and sheer…
will. Yogi Berra once said, Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical. Even so, the Yankee great may have underestimated the brain power professional baseball players routinely draw on to perform such astounding feats of athleticism as hitting 98-mph fastballs and diving to catch line drives. In The Psychology of Baseball, Mike Stadler goes beneath the surface of the game to explore the psychology behind the actions of the games greatsand breaks down legendary moments from baseball history, such as Willie Mayss full-sprint over-the-shoulder grab in the 1954 World Series. Stadler begins with the minds role in the games basic skills, explaining the anticipatory thinking that can make a hitter see a rising fastball, the complex muscular coordination required to throw a major league heater, and the intense spatial calculations the brain must perform in a split second in order for a fielder to catch a struck ball. Stadler then discusses the hidden nature of streaks and slumps, explaining why a hot hitter is most likely just getting lucky and why theres no such thing as a clutch hitter, and also looks at the psychological basis of the so-called sophomore slump and the effect that a big-money contract has on a players performance. He also examines the personality types that are best suited to baseball, and explains what traits are most associated with success at the highest levels. A revolutionary new look at Americas pastime that will appeal to the many fans of bestsellers like Moneyballand Three Nights in August, The Psychology of Baseballis a must-read book for the serious baseball fan.Trading Bases
By Joe Peta. 2013
An ex-Wall Street trader improved on Moneyball's famed sabermetrics and beat the Vegas odds with his own betting methods. Here…
is the story of how Joe Peta turned fantasy baseball into a dream come true. Joe Peta turned his back on his Wall Street trading career to pursue an ingenious--and incredibly risky--dream. He would apply his risk-analysis skills to Major League Baseball, and treat the sport like the S&P 500. In Trading Bases, Peta takes us on his journey from the ballpark in San Francisco to the trading floors and baseball bars of New York and the sportsbooks of Las Vegas, telling the story of how he created a baseball "hedge fund" with an astounding 41 percent return in his first year. And he explains the unique methods he developed. Along the way, Peta provides insight into the Wall Street crisis he managed to escape: the fragility of the midnineties investment model; the disgraced former CEO of Lehman Brothers, who recruited Peta; and the high-adrenaline atmosphere where million-dollar sports-betting pools were common.Gil Hodges
By Tom Clavin. 2012
Due to his achievements as a player and manager, as well as his sterling character, Gil Hodges deserves to be in the…
Hall of Fame as much as any player honored by the institution. A towering figure during the Golden Era of the 1950s, Hodges was the Brooklyn Dodgers’ powerful first baseman who, alongside Jackie Robinson, helped drive his team to six pennants and a thrilling World Series victory in 1955. Dutifully following the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958, Hodges longed to return to New York City, and in 1962, joined the original Mets. He took over the manager’s spot on their bench in 1968 and transformed the team from a joke to World Champions in 1969#151;the Miracle Mets. Yet behind his stoic demeanor lay a man prone to anxiety and scarred by combat during World War II. His sudden death in 1972 shocked his friends and family and left a void in the hearts of baseball fans everywhere. Acclaimed authors Tom Clavin and Danny Peary delve into one of baseball’s most overlooked stars, shedding light on a fascinating life and career that even his most ardent fans never knew.