Most baseball fans want to hear about stellar players and spectacular plays, statistics and storied franchises. Level Playing Fields sheds light on a usually unnoticed facet of the game, introducing fans and historians alike to the real fundamentals of baseball: dirt and grass. In this lively history, Peter Morris demonstrates that many of the game’s rules and customs actually arose as concessions to the daunting practical difficulties of creating a baseball diamond.Recove...

As befits a game traditionally passed from one generation to the next, baseball has always had a special reverence for origins. Claims of being first with any element of the game are disputed with fervor and passion. When the octogenarian Fred Goldsmith died in 1939, a headline proclaimed, 'Goldsmith Dies Insisting He Invented Curve Ball'; Fred Goldsmith understood the secret of immortality. Yet while countless thousands of words have been spilled on the subject of baseball “firsts,” there...

Sydney Charles Puddefoot, "Puddy" to his admiring fans, was a household name amongst football supporters between the two world wars, a time generally regarded as the golden age of British football. In this first-ever full-length biography, Peter Morris charts Puddefoot's rise to stardom: from his East London upbringing to hero status at his beloved West Ham United whilst still a teenager; his sensational world-record transfer to Falkirk; his return to England with Blackburn Rovers, where h...

I was five years of age when I first fell in love with the sea, which is the subject of the first story in my book All At Sea.I was a 'natural' at it, often performing a task on a boat before being told when or how to do it. I believe this knowledge came from a previous life spent on the water, and from the genes of two grandfathers who had been seafarers, and my father who had also spent some time at sea. Even my adventures in boatbuilding came without much formal training, but ra...

Set in a fractured, depopulated Britain, ‘No Repeat of Yesterday’ is a fast-paced thriller that asks questions about the trust we invest in those who wield power. The 2070s. A military-controlled regime fosters social cohesion via the charade of an external military threat. To this end, RAF pilot Nicole Dibaba conducts spectacular nocturnal raids against unoccupied industrial targets. As millions embrace the apparent realities, alternative voices invade the state-controlled media. Dibaba’s...

Today the baseball catcher is a familiar but uninspiring figure. Decked out in the so-called tools of ignorance, he stolidly goes about his duty without attracting much attention. But it wasn't always that way, as Peter Morris shows in this lively and original study. In baseball's early days, catchers stood a safe distance behind the batter. Then the introduction of the curveball in the 1870s led them to move up directly behind home plate, even though they still wore no gloves or protectiv...

This book is the result of one man's twenty-year quest to solve some of baseball's most enduring mysteries--the "cold cases" of major leaguers about whom virtually nothing is known. (In many instances, the various baseball encyclopedias list only their names and one other word: "deceased.") Some of these mysterious players had negligible professional careers and their time on a major league diamond was more the result of good fortune than anything else; others were stars in their day and t...

Do your employees plan exit strategies around the water cooler?Are your office hallways filled with nasty gossip?Is your productivity shrinking and your profits dissolving?As a manager, every day you're faced with disgruntled employees. Now Peter Morris, host of the popular radio show "The Business Shrink," draws on his long experience to help you fix these problems.Gleaning tips from experts such as CNN commentator Lou Dobbs and job search guru Martin Yate, ...

Kate, was the first of these stories to be published and was favourably reviewed by the poet laureate, Carol Anne Duffy. Forge ahead, was a competition winnner in an Irish writing competition. Many of the other stories won or were ranked highly in major writing awards showing that there is a lot of literary value in this work.Being presented in an electronic format does not allow end notes and influences to be published, however, a visit to the writers website can supply all that in...

Peter Morris wanted a lot of things in his life, but a child was never one of them. Then one night after too many martinis, he accidentally created one. Nine months later, the world was turned upside down when his son was born and this new father realized he had no idea what he was doing.In his collection of humorous anecdotes, Morris recounts what happens when people who once shunned children ignore their instincts and give birth to one. From drinking too many martinis on the nigh...

Abseiling Spiders is a very funny book focusing on the life of the author. Every incident is true and documentary proof (police receipts, photographs etc) is provided in the hardback edition.The book follows the author from birth in Belfast, where he was 'left with the nuns' to the day he finds out the truth about his birth. The rituals and procedures he must go through are perhaps akin to the journey of a modern day Ulysses. From Irish boarding school to British Special Forces.

A satisfying action thriller set in the modern world of Mixed Martial Arts.Roger Collins has been invited to give a display of his fighting skills by participating in a Mixed Martial Arts bout, which will be one of the highlights of the forthcoming Turkish annual wrestling tournament at Edirne in Turkey.As an ex member of the armed forces there's two things he can't turn down, a pretty face and a bit of adventure. Blistering action set in the world of MMA