During the 19th century, baseball was a game with few rules, many rowdy players and just one umpire. Dirty tricks were simply part of a winning strategy--spiking, body-blocking, cutting bases short or hiding an extra ball to be used when needed were all OK. Deliberately failing to catch a fly in order to have the game called due to darkness was also acceptable. And drinking before a game was perhaps expected. Providing brief bios of dozens of players, managers, umpires and owners, this boo...

“Easily the best baseball book ever produced by anyone.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer“This was the best baseball book published in 1966, it is the best baseball book of its kind now, and, if it is reissued in 10 years, it will be the best baseball book.” — PeopleFrom Lawrence Ritter, co-author of The Image of Their Greatness and The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time, comes one of the bestsellin...

**#1 New York Times bestselling author John Feinstein returns to his first love--college basketball--with a fascinating and compelling journey through a landscape of unsung, unpublicized and often unknown heroes of Division-1 college hoops."Uplifting...[A] heartfelt missive to college basketball." —The Wall Street Journal**John Feinstein pulls back the curtain on college basketball's lesser-known Cinderella stories--the smaller programs who no one expects ...

From its winners to its sinners, two bestselling sportswriters chronicle a dizzying trip through more than a century of baseball lore and legend.Some of the stories are celebrated—from Ruth's called shot to DiMaggio's streak to Mays's catch. Some of the men are titans of the game—Mantle, Williams, Koufax. But alongside those stories passed from generation to generation, Daniel Okrent and Steve Wulf have assembled tales both hard-to-believe and a pleasure to read. F...

On a torridly hot August day in 1920, Ray Chapman was struck and killed by a Carl Mays fastball, in what was and remains the only on-the-field fatality in the history of major league baseball. The drama of Good Guy Chapman versus Bad Guy Mays is a wrenching human tale. Add to it an intense pennant race, the meteoric ascension of Babe Ruth to baseball supremacy, the banning of the Black Sox for throwing the previous year's World Series, and the story grows to one of the most fascinating and...

The history of basketball spans more than a century, from its humble origin as a simple diversion during the harsh winters in America to today's perennial, rim-rattling show of international renown. Throughout the last 60 years, Pennsylvania has been at the forefront of the sports evolution, supplying the world with a steady stream of stars, from Wilt Chamberlain to Kobe Bryant, who have proven to be some of the best to ever play the game.In Heads of State: Pennsylvanias Greate...

A centennial celebration of the Boston Red Sox's home stadium and the city's historical landmark.Fenway Park evokes a team and a sport that have become more synonymous with a city's identity than any stadium or arena in the country. The park's instantly recognizable confines have seen some of the most dramatic happenings in baseball history, including Carlton Fisk's "Is it fair?" home run in the 1975 World Series and Ted Williams's perfectly scripted long ball in h...

From an AP sports writer and author, a history of Pennsylvania State University's Nittany Lions, with personal stories from coaches and players.In Tales from Penn State Football, Ken Rappoport puts you on the fifty-yard line and sometimes gets you a seat on the bench or a stall in the locker room. From the first team in the 1880s to the celebrated Joe Paterno teams of the 20th century, Penn State's most entertaining—and legendary—football stories are chroni...

Edd Roush was once ejected from a game for falling asleep in the outfield. Dan Friend played left field while dressed in a bathrobe. Outfielder Len Koenecke was killed attempting historys first skyjacking. Pitchers Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich swapped not only their wives but also their children, station wagons, and pets.Baseball history is brimming with the weird, the bizarre, and the hard to believe. Baseball's Most Wanted™chronicles 700 of the most outlandish player...

WE ARE . . . SPORTS BY THE NUMBERS. The new, exciting, and completely original book series continues with an in-depth look at the proud history of Penn State football.THE TEAM: Rooted in success achieved through dignity and situated amongst the rolling farmland of Pennsylvania’s “T” region, the Penn State football program has won two national championships and posted seven undefeated, untied seasons as far back as 1887. The Sports by the Numbers franchise combs through the program’...

Four years of labor-intensive research produced Ted's 8th book. This 300+ page tome pays homage to Philadelphia's oft-maligned, but always loved – Phillies. In 1915 the Phils won their first NL pennant (and they didn't win many more). This book commemorates the 100th anniversary of that magnificent fete. In here you'll find stuff you never suspected about guys who never knew even wore a Phillies uniform – but also plenty of info about the beloved stars of the past – Ashburn, Ennis, Roberts...

A deluxe baseball treasury unlike any other, complete with essays, photos, and player bios from The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.Everyone dreams of Cooperstown. It's a hallowed name in baseball, for players as well as their fans. It's a house where legends live; it's everything that's great about the game.Never before has the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum published a complete registry of inductees with plaques, photographs, and extend...