Boston Red Sox and All-Star David Ortiz, a.k.a. Big Papi, opens up on life and the Big Leagues in this dramatic and compelling rags-to-riches story of a baseball dream coming true.
Exposing trafficking, theft, fraud, and gambling in the major leagues, a founding member of the MLB's Department of Investigations reveals a news-breaking true story of power and corruption. In the wake of 2005's sometimes contentious, sometimes comical congressional hearings on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball and the subsequent Mitchell Report, Major League Baseball established the Department of Investigations (DOI). An internal and autonomous unit, it was created to not only eliminate the use of steroids, but also to rid baseball of any other illegal, unsavory, or unethical activities. The DOI would investigate the dark side of the national pastime--gambling, age and identity fraud, human trafficking, cover-ups, and more--with the singular purpose of cleaning up the game. Eduardo Dominguez Jr. was a founding member of that first DOI team, leaving a stellar career with the Boston Police Department to join four other "supercops"--a group that included a 9/11 hero, a mob-buster, and narcotics experts--keeping watch over Major League Baseball. A decorated detective as well as a member of an FBI task force, Dominguez was initially reluctant to leave his law-enforcement career to work full-time in baseball. He had already seen the game's underbelly when he worked as a resident security agent (RSA) for the Boston Red Sox in 1999 and become wary of the game's commitment to any kind of reform. Only at the persuasion a widely respected NYPD detective tapped to lead the DOI did Dominguez agree to join the unit, which was the first--and last--of its kind in major American sports. "We could clean up this game," his new boss promised. In Baseball Cop, Dominguez shares the shocking revelations he confronted every day for six years with the DOI and nine as an RSA. He shines a light on the inner workings of the commissioner's office and the complicity of baseball's bosses in dealing with the misdeeds compromising the integrity of the game. Dominguez details the investigations and the obstacles--from the Biogenesis scandal to the perilous trafficking of Cuban players now populating the game to the theft of prospects' signing bonuses by buscones, street agents, and even clubs' employees. He further reveals how the mandates of former senator George Mitchell's report were modified or ignored altogether. Bracing and eye-opening, Baseball Cop is a wake-up call for anyone concerned about America's national pastime.
Red Sox fans fill Fenway Park in Boston to see the living legend David Ortiz play. Known as "Big Papi," the designated hitter Ortiz has astonished baseball fans with huge hits and a big smile. In this fact-filled biography, readers discover that Ortiz learned about baseball from his father in the Dominican Republic. They follow Ortiz's path from high school to his first professional contract with the Seattle Mariners, his trade to the Minnesota Twins, and then his outstanding hitting and World Series triumphs with the Red Sox. A timeline and list of other living legends of baseball are included.
In the numbers-obsessed sport of baseball, statistics don't merely record what players, managers, and owners have done. Properly understood, they can tell us how the teams we root for could employ better strategies, put more effective players on the field, and win more games. The revolution in baseball statistics that began in the 1970s is a controversial subject that professionals and fans alike argue over without end. Despite this fundamental change in the way we watch and understand the sport, no one has written the book that reveals, across every area of strategy and management, how the best practitioners of statistical analysis in baseball-people like Bill James, Billy Beane, and Theo Epstein-think about numbers and the game. Baseball Between the Numbers is that book. In separate chapters covering every aspect of the game, from hitting, pitching, and fielding to roster construction and the scouting and drafting of players, the experts at Baseball Prospectus examine the subtle, hidden aspects of the game, bring them out into the open, and show us how our favorite teams could win more games. This is a book that every fan, every follower of sports radio, every fantasy player, every coach, and every player, at every level, can learn from and enjoy.
An account of the 2004 winning season of the Red Sox debunks popular myths and provides statistics and commentary on players and teams to explain how baseball games are won.
Baseball fans around the world know "Big Papi." David Ortiz is one of the greatest baseball players in the world. He's broken records and won awards, and his face is seen in magazines and on television. At the same time, he's built both a family and a charitable foundation. David is living out the dreams he had when he was growing up in the Dominican Republic. Read David's story--and find out how he traveled from the Dominican Republic all the way to the Big Leagues. Discover how he came to be the Big Papi that fans adore!
Among the lasting legacies of the Chicano Movement is the cultural flowering that it inspired--one that has steadily grown from the 1960s to the present. It encompassed all of the arts and continues to earn acclaim both nationally and internationally. Although this Chicano artistic renaissance received extensive scholarly attention in its initial phase, the post-Movimiento years after the late 1970s have been largely overlooked. This book meets that need, demonstrating that, despite the changes that have taken place in all areas of Chicana/o arts, a commitment to community revitalization continues to underlie artistic expression. This collection examines changes across a broad range of cultural forms--art, literature, music, cinema and television, radio, and theater--with an emphasis on the last two decades. Original articles by both established and emerging scholars review such subjects as the growth of Tejano music and the rise of Selena, how films and television have affected the Chicana/o experience, the evolution of Chicana/o art over the last twenty years, and postmodern literary trends. In all of the essays, the contributors emphasize that, contrary to the popular notion that Chicanas/os have succumbed to a victim mentality, they continue to actively struggle to shape the conditions of their lives and to influence the direction of American society through their arts and social struggle. Despite decades usually associated with self-interest in the larger society, the spirit of commitment and empowerment has continued to infuse Chicana/o cultural expression and points toward a vibrant future. CONTENTS All Over the Map: La Onda Tejana and the Making of Selena, Roberto R. Calderón Outside Inside-The Immigrant Workers: Creating Popular Myths, Cultural Expressions, and Personal Politics in Borderlands Southern California, Juan Gómez-Quiñones "Yo soy chicano": The Turbulent and Heroic Life of Chicanas/os in Cinema and Television, David R. Maciel and Susan Racho The Politics of Chicano Representation in the Media, Virginia Escalante Chicana/o and Latina/o Gazing: Audiences of the Mass Media, Diana I. Ríos An Historical Overview/Update on the State of Chicano Art, George Vargas Contemporary Chicano Theater, Arturo Ramírez Breaking the Silence: Developments in the Publication and Politics of Chicana Creative Writing, 1973-1998, Edwina Barvosa-Carter Trends and Themes in Chicana/o Writings in Postmodern Times, Francisco A. Lomelí, Teresa Márquez, and María Herrera-Sobek
Paul Petricca draws on his experience as a coach, player, blogger, and student of baseball and softball to share what hes learned about hitting in this essential guide for players seeking dramatic results at the plate. The author presents easy to understand hitting mechanics highlighting how the engineering concept of torque can be applied to hitting and is often the difference between a weak groundball or a long home run. Topics covered include understanding where hitting power really comes from and the importance of increasing bat speed through the fundamentals of a repeatable and powerful rotational swing. Hitters of all ages who adopt his eight hitting keys will enjoy a dramatic increase in bat speed and power almost immediately. Hitting with Torque is more than a set of hitting mechanics---its a mindset. Readers will be challenged to look past the worn-out hitting theories and myths that have been holding back hitters from reaching their full potential. With an open mind and practice, all hitters can unlock the power and consistency that is Hitting with Torque.
Ten years later, MLB.com writer Ian Browne caught up with many of the men from that never-say-die squad and wove their memories of the season, the playoffs, and their subsequent lives with his own journalism to create a book that is both poignant and hugely entertaining. Woven around the 2004 memories and insights of Derek Lowe, Keith Foulke, Dave Roberts, Gabe Kapler, Pedro Martinez, Johnny Damon, Mark Bellhorn, Tim Wakefield, Terry Francona, Theo Epstein, and others.A marvelous gift and profoundly satisfying read for Red Sox fans.