"Better buckle up your box seat! This is gripping baseball fiction you simply will not find anywhere else. Gary Morgenstein exhibits in this book and its predecessor off-the-charts imagination and artistic vision." —Spitball Magazine In a world where laws restrict nearly every move people make, baseball pitcher Puppy Nedick and his ex-wife Annette are on the run. Branded by their government as American traitors and murderers, they and their friends must now navigate the chaotic remnants of London. As Puppy faces an uncertain future run by secret police, robots, and holograms, he is determined to save the world using the only weapon he has—baseball.
After identifying early conflicts between churches and baseball in the late-nineteenth century, Price examines the appropriation of baseball by the House of David, an early twentieth-century millennial Protestant community in southern Michigan. Turning then from historic intersections between baseball and religion, two chapters focus on the ways that baseball reelects religious myths. First, the omphalos myth about the origin and ordering of the world is reflected in the rituals and rules of the game. Then the myth of curses is explored in the culture of superstition that underlies the game. At the heart of the book is a sustained argument about how baseball functions as an American civil religion, affirming and sanctifying American identity, especially during periods of national crises such as wars and terrorist attacks. Building on this analysis of baseball as an America's civil religion, two chapters draw upon novels by W. P. Kinsella and David James Duncan to explore the sacramental potential of baseball and to align baseball with apocalyptic possibilities. The final chapter serves as a full confession, interpreting baseball affiliation stories as conversion narratives. In various ways
"Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was old school and stubborn. But after twenty straight losing seasons and his job on the line, he was ready to try anything. So when he met with GM Neal Huntington in October 2012, they decided to discard everything they knew about the game and instead take on drastic 'big data' strategies. Going well beyond the number-crunching of Moneyball, which used statistics found on the back of baseball cards to identify market inefficiencies, the data the Pirates employed was not easily observable. They collected millions of data points on pitches and balls in play, creating a tome of reports that revealed key insights for how to win more games without spending a dime"--
The one player guide every true baseball fan will want - the leading resource for the next generation of rising stars. The Baseball America 2018 Prospect Handbook is the ultimate guide to the next generation of baseball stars. The Prospect Handbook features in-depth analysis and statistics for 900 players, with detailed scouting reports, recaps of each team's amateur draft efforts, and a ranking of Major League Baseball's top farm systems. The Prospect Handbook is the must-have resource for information on the best prospects in baseball and is a valuable tool for fans, fantasy leaguers, and anyone who wants to know more about the player development process.
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.
Lawrence Block, Simon Brett, Ken Bruen, Christopher Coake, Stephen Collins, Tom Franklin, Jonathan Gash, Steve Hamilton, H.R.F. Keating, Laura Lippman, Bradford Morrow, Ian Rankin, John Sandford, William G. Tapply, and John Westermann, along with introductory comments by Otto Penzler, deliver up an ace anthology of original short stories that mix murder and mystery on the fairway. This collection is sure to appeal to sports fans and those eager to read stories by the most celebrated authors in the mystery genre.
Get to know the game with inspiring baseball biographies for ages 8 to 12! It's the bottom of the ninth, bases are loaded, and your team is down by three—who do you want coming up to bat? Discover the most talented players in every position on the field with Baseball Biographies for Kids! This lineup shows you what it takes to be a real MVP, with a run-down of stories, stats, and achievements of the best players in baseball, from the 1960s through today. Legends of the league—Get inspired by the players who defined the game, like Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax, and Ichiro Suzuki. Key career stats—Each biography in this baseball history book includes the player's life story, as well as their major statistics like games played, ERA, hits, and more. Draft your own all-star team—Fill out the included starting lineup sheet with your favorite picks for each position. Whether you're an aspiring athlete or just a big fan, this book of baseball stories for kids is sure to give you a greater love of the game!
A Constraints-Led Approach to Baseball Coaching presents a new approach to baseball coaching and practice. Applying a CLA to the player development process across the skill spectrum from the beginners to elite, this book uses practical examples to demonstrate the theoretical principles of the constraints-led coaching style embedded in research showing the numerous benefits of the approach. This book incorporates case studies and examples of how constraints are manipulated to develop more adaptable players that can perform at a higher level with a reduced risk of injury, shifting the reader’s view of skill acquisition from the concept of the one “correct” solution, acquired through repetition, to the ecological dynamics framework focused on variability, adaptability, and self-organization. Individual chapters cover major topics such as hitting, pitching, and fielding for players from Little League to the pros. This book illustrates the underlying principles so that coaches can develop their own practice activities. A Constraints-Led Approach to Baseball Coaching is a key reading for undergraduate students and practicing sports coaches, physical education teachers and sport scientists alike as well as practicing players and coaches in baseball and related sports.
I started my autobiography -- "Baseball, Golf, Wars, Women & Puppies" -- with a "grabber page" from my first trip to the Vietnam War on board the USS PERKINS (DD-877). Then, I followed with a chronological rendition which covered a trip to the Korean War and another to Vietnam during my 20 years in the U.S. Navy on three other different naval vessels, but began with the chronological format of a life of a river rat born somewhat infamously in 1932 on the banks of Memphis. My life in sports, approximately 16 years "moonlighting" as a photojournalist, my college education, followed by 12 years as executives with the Chicago White Sox (5) and Cubs (7), concluding with one of several ownerships of small companies rounded out my interesting career. I originally planned to continue with my three trips to the Vietnam and Korean Wars, including my injury and sad losses of shipmates and friends. Then, go to my childhood, parenthood, many exciting careers, etc., etc., etc. However, it didnt take too long for me to decide the categories overlap in too many places. Hence, A few years later Elvis Presley arrived on the planet and eventually became internationally famous there. Memphis, long known as the Home of the Blues, was to become also famous as the home of the King of Rock n Roll. My first high school, Whitehaven, is only a few blocks from Elvis Graceland. And, my Southside High bride and I began training our dancing shoes to the big bands of the 40s and peaked with the rocking and twisting of the 50s and 60s. Although only a senior-to-be in high school, the Korean War found me an early enlistee. Why? Because I was a youngster almost entering teenage during World War II. Everything was thrilling about the big one for a boy that age. All the toys were guns, tanks, jeeps, warplanes, etc. The war movies were always exciting and, in most cases, the hero ended up with the female star. As I was a young budding teenager, females were becoming of more interest in my life. I have never met any male whose sex life began earlier than mine (older girls are great teachers). Also, the U.S. Navy aircraft pilots were my idols. Landing airplanes on a sea-going vessel was my kind of challenge. I was so hooked that I joined the Navy to become a fighter pilot. The recruiter was surprised at how I could identify all aircraft of nations involved in WWII. I even memorized the horsepower of power plant(s), plus the cruising and maximum speed, of each airplane. My favorite was our Corsairs F4U, a gull-winged propeller fighter. It never occurred to me until this moment, recalling this tidbit, but one of these planes almost killed me. However, the moonlighting (working a civilian job at night) on shore duty between these wars helped prepare me for my career highlight era in Major League Baseball. There is no doubt about it, my leash of life is anchored to the sportsworld. My youth was playing or inventing sports orientated things. It gave me a second glance by people in the sportswriting and sportscasting fields. This all led to sports columnist and sports editor jobs in the newspaper business. This, along with learning the print business, was not only a challenge -- which I always relished -- but was mucho fun. The many hours and stress involved led to more and more alcohol. Which definitely made a honky tonk man out of me where there is plenty of wine, women, and song. The latter threesomes were like a personal little cloud that follows me throughout most of this autobiography. I wasnt able to attend college fulltime until I finished my 20 years in the U.S. Navy. Then finishing With Honors gave my mother extreme pride after her total education was a small (12 total students) high school in sticks of Mississippi. I had almost completed by Masters Degree and CA Lifetime Teachers Credential when I got into Major League Baseball and went to Chicago.
This is the story of the L.A. Dodgers' volatile fortunes during Sandy Koufax's transformation from a wild left-hander with a losing record on the verge of quitting the game, to an artist with exquisite control of the baseball--a veritable Mozart on the mound. From the Dodgers' sudden plunge into the baseball wilderness in 1960, to their return to pennant contention in Koufax's breakout year of 1961, through their catastrophic 1962 season--precipitated by Koufax's freak midseason finger injury--to their redemption in 1963 with their second World Championship on the West Coast, the narrative is set against the backdrop of John F. Kennedy's fleeting New Frontier presidency.
