The purpose of this book is twofold: one, to give ballplayers an inside look at just what scouts are really looking for in their search for professional ballplayers; and two, to help them market and sell themselves so that scouts will know they exist and see them put their best skills on display. This book has been written with the intent of helping ballplayers keep their dreams of playing pro ball alive and flourishing. All any ballplayer wants is a shot at playing pro ball, and by readin...

"A kind of gonzo Moneyball": The New York Times–bestseller about two statistics-minded outsiders being allowed to run a professional baseball team ( New York Times Book Review).It's the ultimate in fantasy baseball: You get to pick the roster, set the lineup, and decide on strategies—with real players, in a real ballpark, in a real playoff race. That's what baseball analysts Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller got to do when an independent minor-...

The decline and fall of the Montreal Expos. In 1969 the Montreal Expos played their first game. Thirty-two years later the team that once boasted baseball’s best farm system is nearly dead. In this book former Expos president Claude Brochu gets to the bottom of the Expos’ story. From his successful marketing career at Seagram’s Claude Brochu was thrust into the role of Expos president in 1986. Back then the Expos were a team with terrific potential. But as the years went by attendance bega...

In his role as Australian captain, Michael Clarke has introduced a very different dynamic into the traditions of captaincy. Open, inclusive and articulate, Clarke is a refreshing change from the often gruff and monosyllabic leaders of the past. 2013 has produced his greatest challenge to date - leading an Australian team of uncertain quality against the might of a resurgent England. But underperforming players have not been his only problem, as the sacking of Australian coach Mickey Arthur...

Bryce Harper's unprecedented ascent to the major leagues, from a 17-year-old first overall draft pick to a headline-creating, 19-year-old rookie center fielder for the Washington Nationals, dropped him into the middle of the best season of D.C. baseball since the Great Depression. Washington Post sports reporters chronicled each moment on and off the field, from his first press conference in Washington, to watching him wash dishes after dinner at his parents' house, to his debut at Dodger ...

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Season Inside presents a thoroughly entertaining and deeply reflective examination of America’s greatest sport: baseball.What makes baseball what it is—the good as well as the bad? Who are the game’s heroes, and who its villains? What roles do managers play, and umpires and announcers and mascots and the media? What is the game’s future?To answer these questions, renowned sports journalist John...

From the front office to the family room, sabermetrics has dramatically changed the way baseball players are assessed and valued by fans and managers alike. Rocketed to popularity by the 2003 bestseller Moneyball and the film of the same name, the use of sabermetrics to analyze player performance has appeared to be a David to the Goliath of systemically advantaged richer teams that could be toppled only by creative statistical analysis. The story has been so compelling that, over ...

Most of us have dreamed of sitting in the dugout with our favorite baseball team, and at sixteen Matt McGough was no different. A few months after sending a blind application letter to George Steinbrenner, on Opening Day 1992 Matt found himself walking into the legendary Yankee clubhouse. There, amid the chaos and excitement, he was greeted by none other than his idol Don Mattingly — who promptly played a prank on him.Thus began two years of adventures and misadventures, from being set up ...

With all-new reporting, a completely revised and updated second edition of the bestseller that takes down the Great Satan of college sports: the Bowl Championship Series (BCS).Every college sport picks its champion by a postseason tournament, except for one: Divsiion I-A football. Instead of a tournament, fans are subjected to the Bowl Championship Series, an arcane mix of polling and mathematical rankings that results in just two teams playing for the championship...

The definitive work on the language of baseball—one of the “Five Best Baseball Books” (Wall Street Journal).Hailed as “a staggering piece of scholarship” (Wall Street Journal) and “an indispensable guide to the language of baseball” (San Diego Union-Tribune), The Dickson Baseball Dictionary has become an invaluable resource for those who love the game. Drawing on dozens of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century periodicals, as w...

In the tradition of Tuesdays With Morrie, a sportswriter recounts his friendship with legendary Tigers manager Sparky Anderson, the man who taught him not only the nuances of baseball, but also the importance of life's unwritten rules."For decades, it seemed like everyone in baseball knew Sparky Anderson, and almost all of us considered him a friend. But few knew him as Dan Ewald did. Here, Dan provides a unique ...

It’s What’s Inside the Lines That Counts brings together ballplayers, managers, an umpire, and the first head of the players’ union to describe the momentous changes to the game that took place in the 1970s and 1980s. Former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent draws from his ongoing oral history of the game to celebrate the era that spans the Miracle Mets through free agency to Cal Ripken’s historic consecutive-games streak.Willie McCovey remembers meeting the Gi...