A sequel to The Wrong Stuff describes how the talented but iconoclastic baseball pitcher found himself blacklisted from professional baseball and his adventures around the world in his quest to play the sport he loved, competing in pickup games, town tournaments, senior leagues, and fantasy camps across the U.S. and Canada, China, Cuba, Russia, and South America. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.
It was 1982 when Bill Lee was famously booted from the Montreal Expos after he went AWOL in protest of another player’s mistreatment by management. His reputation for antics both on and off the field guaranteed that no other club would pick him up. The Ace from Space had landed on professional baseball’s blacklist, and so it was that one of the most popular major-league pitchers of our day was fated to pack his bags and wander the globe searching for a ball game. Have Glove, Will Travel is the chronicle of an amazing odyssey that began more than twenty years ago and continues today. Unable to live without baseball, Lee went anywhere he could find a game, beginning in the dank and dreary locker room of a Canadian hockey team that later became a softball team. We follow him around the world as he competes in pickup games, town tournaments, senior leagues, and fantasy camps, barnstorming like a modern Satchel Paige around the United States, South America, China, Cuba, Russia, and every province in Canada. At the heart of this story are the rollicking, colorful characters Lee meets during his travels, and the mishaps that befall him whether he’s sober or stoned. There’s the eccentric Latin pitching master Lee plays with in Cuba, who once struck out Ernest Hemingway. And a hilarious story that takes place in the backwoods of a British Columbia timber town, where Lee and Hall-of-Famer Ferguson Jenkins go fishing and end up being chased back to their pickup truck by a 450-pound black bear. Have Glove, Will Travel is so much more than the average baseball book. Lee’s humor, keen eye for detail, and extraordinary pitching intellect are always on display, but in the end this book is a love story about a middle-aged maverick who refused to stop pursuing his passion for a boy’s game long after the grown-ups told him he couldn’t play on their team anymore. Readers who loved Lee’s bestselling The Wrong Stuff, also written with Richard Lally, will find the long wait for this rich and wonderful sequel well worth it. Those who haven’t yet encountered the literary Bill Lee have a great treat in store.
A high school senior wins a space suit in a soap jingle contest, takes a last walk wearing "Oscar" before cashing him in for college tuition, and suddenly finds himself on a space odyssey.
How good could you become? If you gave up your job and pursued your passion with a single-minded resolve, what is your absolute ceiling? Could you go pro? Based on his successful blog of the same name, Evan Meagher answers that question in HAVE BAT, WILL TRAVEL. In a charming 'everyman' story reminiscent of George Plimpton's participatory journalism, he quits his job in finance in quixotic effort to determine if he can get paid to play professional baseball anywhere in the world. HAVE BAT, WILL TRAVEL is the true story of a man chasing a dream. What starts as a carefree conversation over a beer in college turns into an all-consuming obsession that brings Evan to Bois-Guillaume, a small town in Normandy, France. A fish out of water, Evan faces political intrigue, cultural misunderstandings, and a bullseye on his back as an expensive American import. On the verge of outgrowing a childhood pastime, Evan creates a humorous narrative that is, at its heart, about fighting Father Time to a draw.
"If I had my life to live over again, I wouldn't have time." -- Bob Hope The legendary wit and unmistakable voice of America's favorite showman are captured here in the master entertainer's memoir of his first fifty years in show business. From his one-night stands in vaudeville to countless performances for servicemen on U.S. military bases across the globe, this delightfully candid book of funny life stories is pure Hope. In his own words, Hope recalls his brief career as an amateur prizefighter; his flops and successes in vaudeville; memories of sharing the stage with Ethel Merman and Jimmy Durante; his courtship of the young singer who would become his bride; his forgettable first screen test; his friendship with Bing Crosby and their high jinks on the sets of the famous "Road" pictures; poignant and hair-raising trips to entertain the troops; a personal request from General Patton; and eighteen holes of golf with President Eisenhower. Bob Hope was the unchallenged king of the one-liner, a consummate performer, and a beloved supporter of our men in uniform, and his irrepressible spirit shines through in these hilarious, nostalgic, and truly memorable stories from a life lived to bring laughter to others.
In this candid, revealing, and entertaining memoir, the beloved New York Yankee legend looks back over his nearly fifty-year career as a player and a manager, sharing insights and stories about some of his most memorable moments and some of the biggest names in Major League Baseball. For nearly five decades, Lou Piniella has been a fixture in Major League Baseball, as an outfielder with the legendary New York Yankees of the 1970s, and as a manager for five teams in both the American and National leagues. With respected veteran sportswriter Bill Madden, Piniella now reflects on his storied career, offering fans a glimpse of life on the field, in the dugout, and inside the clubhouse. Piniella speaks from the heart about his teams and his players, offering a detailed, up-close portrait of the Bronx Zoo’s raucous personalities such as Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter, as well as his close friendship with Thurman Munson and his unusual relationship with George Steinbrenner. He also delves deep into his post-Yankee experiences, from winning a World Series for the controversial owner of the Cincinnati Reds, Marge Schott, to transforming the perennial cellar-dwelling Seattle Mariners into one of the league’s best teams. Some of the game’s brightest stars are here: Ken Griffey Jr, Randy Johnson, and Alex Rodriguez, Piniella’s supremely talented and controversial protégé. Throughout his time in the majors, Piniella has witnessed MLB grow into a multi-billion-dollar business. Piniella reflects on those changes, voicing his highly critical opinions on a range of controversial subjects, including steroids. Hilarious and uproarious, filled with eight pages of photos, Lou brings into focus a man whose deeply rooted passion for baseball has defined his life.
Wife Wanted: Single Alien Dad Needs a Mate Tragedy left Merit as the guardian to two young kits and he’s in over his head. He needs help. He has no time for romance and doesn’t think he needs it. He applies to Celestial Mates, willing to take the first available female, even a flat-faced, ugly human. What he gets is a woman whose mind challenges him and patience humbles him. He brought her to his planet under false pretenses. Now he hopes he can make it right before she leaves for good. This is a stand-alone story with a growly, sweet alpha, one stubborn human woman, a HEA, no cheating and no cliffhangers.
The latest collection from one the country’s most highly regarded outdoor writers takes readers bowhunting around the United States and the world. Don Thomas’ rich prose brings alive not just the adventure of the hunts, but also the people, places, and natural history he encounters along his travels. A semi-retired physician and active Alaska hunting guide, Thomas writes about fly-fishing, wing-shooting, bowhunting, and wildlife for numerous national publications including Gray’s Sporting Journal, Alaska, Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, and Shooting Sportsman. He also co-edits Traditional Bowhunter and writes a column for Bowhunter magazine.
There's a naked succubus in his bathroom, a fairy tale princess in his kitchen and a foul-mouthed demon in his fridge; Travis Thomson thought that, having returned from Samella (don't ask), his troubles were all over - but discovers that most of them have accompanied him home from that fantasy land to his flat (except the horse, which has turned up in his garden). A whole mess of mishaps just waiting to happen... But other problems have also arrived from Samella: the vampiric Prince Valerie and his sorcerer sidekick Damion have popped up in London's East End, eager for vengeance. Quickly acquiring a band of loyal followers who vaguely resemble the cast of a cockney soap opera, Prince Val and Damion discover the joys of living in a penthouse and robbing banks. Will they catch up with Travis and his companions before the Old Bill catch up with them?
