This book takes you back to majestic Yankee Stadium and other classic ball parks of the fifties and sixties. Coming to the plate, amid rising anticipation in the hearts of thousands of fans, is the handsome "kid from Oklahoma".
“Diane Shah was a boots-on-the-ground female sports reporter in the Cro-Magnon 1970s and brings it all back in this hilarious, well-crafted book.” —Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe sports columnist and New York Times bestselling author Strike fast, strike hard—whether it’s scoring a homerun or front-page news, Diane K. Shah, former sports columnist, knows how to grab the best story. In her memoir A Farewell to Arms, Legs, and Jockstraps, follow Diane’s escapades, from interviews with a tipsy Mickey Mantle, to sneaking into off-limits Republican galas, dining with Frank Sinatra, flying a plane with Dennis Quaid, and countless other adventures where she wields her tape recorder and a tireless drive for more. From skirting KGB agents while covering the Cold War Olympics to hunting down the three mechanical sharks starring in Jaws, Diane’s experiences are filled with real heart and a tongue-in-cheek attitude. An insightful look into the difficulties of navigating a male-dominated profession, A Farewell to Arms, Legs, and Jockstraps offers rich retellings and behind-the-scenes details of stories of a trailblazing career and the prejudices facing female sportswriters during the sixties and seventies. “Impossibly elegant, and the most fun ever. The only thing better than reading Diane K. Shah’s memoir was, I suppose, living it.” —Sally Jenkins, columnist and feature writer, Washington Post “Diane’s memoir is just like her columns—smart, funny, enlightening—just like her. Until reading it, I never really knew all the challenges she dealt with. She broke ground but never acted like it. I was lucky to work with the first female sports columnist in the country.” —Ken Gurnick, LA Dodgers correspondent for MLB.com
More than any other athlete, Mickey Mantle was the American hero whose life personified the great expectations and unfulfilled dreams of the twentieth century. Hailed by Casey Stengel as the next Ruth and successor to DiMaggio, Mantle would become the first true sports icon of the television age. In Mickey Mantle: America's Prodigal Son, former Sports Illustrated writer Tony Castro recounts a story of fathers and sons, rebels and heroes, and a youth's rite of passage. He interviewed over 250 of Mantle's friends, teammates, lovers, acquaintances, and drinking partners, producing an explosive biography of one of the world's most fascinating sports heroes and a telling look at the American society of his time.
Mickey Mantle played 18 years for the New York Yankees, leading the team to 12 World Series. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 and towards the end of his life, told his wife that he wanted to be remembered as a great teammate. Upon interviewing Mantle's teammates, author Randall Swearingen discovered a common thread of why they considered him to be a great teammate Mickey's ability to help the Yankees win games. This book pieces together amazing stories that have never been told in such a complete and accurate fashion, and is colorfully illustrated with images of actual memorabilia from the games and/or events in the book.
Award-winning sports writer Jane Leavy follows her New York Times runaway bestseller Sandy Koufax with the definitive biography of baseball icon Mickey Mantle. The legendary Hall-of-Fame outfielder was a national hero during his record-setting career with the New York Yankees, but public revelations of alcoholism, infidelity, and family strife badly tarnished the ballplayer's reputation in his latter years. In The Last Boy, Leavy plumbs the depths of the complex athlete, using copious first-hand research as well as her own memories, to show why The Mick remains the most beloved and misunderstood Yankee slugger of all time.
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.
TJ and Jonathan are teen-age friends and teammates on the JV baseball team. Like many young people growing up in America in the late sixties, they have heroes. For TJ, who is white, it is Mickey Mantle, the aging star of the New York Yankees. For Jonathan, who is black, it is Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the civil rights movement. Unfortunately, 1968 is a bad year for heroes and—America. Their friendship is strained to the breaking point when Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated. Jonathan, who is devastated by the murder, blames all white people, TJ included. TJ then has to struggle through the challenges of the JV baseball season in his racially-torn town, without the support of his friend. Is there anything that can repair their broken bond? Would it take still another American tragedy?
The ONLY nonfiction picture book about New York Yankee Mickey Mantle, one of the greatest baseball players of all time. From award-winning author Jonah Winter and #1 New York Times bestselling artist C. F. Payne comes this extraordinary picture-book biography that traces Mickey Mantle’s unparalleled baseball career. He could run from home plate to first base in 2.9 seconds. He could hit a ball 540 feet—the longest home run in major league history. He was the greatest switch hitter ever to play the game. And he did it all despite broken bones, pulled muscles, strains, and sprains, from his shoulders to his feet. How did a poor country boy from Commerce, Oklahoma, become one of the greatest and most beloved baseball players of all time? This is the story.
"My son at 10yo (90-lbs) is highly coach-able. I taught him the system in February and he hit well during the season but could only hit the ball around 180'. Then all of a sudden around June he started killing the ball. He was hitting home runs every game and hit a ball at least 250-feet" - Michael Parillo (via email) Sick of struggling to help hitters drive the ball hard with more consistency? Dramatically increase power without sacrificing swing quality. Literally thousands of coaches across the nation are getting predictably positive results with hitters using the CLS system. How? By applying human movement principles validated by REAL science to hitting a ball, and NOT "bro-science." THIS STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO CONSISTENT POWER TEACHES: How to master a handful of human movement principles, so you can slice the "teach hitting" learning curve in half. How to effectively load the body, so your hitters can optimize their batted ball distance potential. How elite-hitters are revealing ways to hit balls with High-Exit-Speeds, swing after swing, using three elements a 4-year-old can understand. Why 'loading and exploding the hips' is bad for lower back, and how to teach hitters a highly effective but SAFE swing. THE NEW EXPANDED EDITION INCLUDES: 'How to practice' section at end of each movement principle Chapter. How to train a 2-year-old to hit a moving ball (proof that NOT only elite hitters can be taught these movements). Why pitchers are taught to pitch around ineffective swing paths, and how to turn their weapon against them. Why coaches MUST focus their hitters' efforts on targeting and elevating pitches low in the zone. How to teach timing and get hitters on-time more often in games.