When authors Billy Staples and Rich Herschlag are asked to write a baseball column for The Trentonian, they decide to put their own stamp on it. Covering primarily Philadelphia and New York, they forego the dirt and seek out baseballs role models, well known and not so well known. They sidestep the steroids and find the stories of courage, dedication and humanity the mainstream press so often misses. Shortly after the All-Star break, another storyline develops. In Philadelphia, the 2008 Wo...

Josh Hamilton was the first player chosen in the first round of the 1999 baseball draft. He was destined to be one of those rare "high-character " superstars. But in 2001, working his way from the minors to the majors, all of the plans for Josh went off the rails in a moment of weakness. What followed was a 4-year nightmare of drugs and alcohol, estrangement from friends and family, and his eventual suspension from baseball.BEYOND BELIEF details the events that led up to the derailm...

Baseball's best writer offers an extraordinarily candid and thorough exploration of the inner craft of pitching from one of the game's best, David Cone.There is no big league pitcher who is more respected for his skill than David Cone.In his stellar career Cone has won multiple championships andcountless professional accolades. Along the way, the perennial all-star has had to adjust to five different ballclubs, recover from a career-threatening arm aneurysm, ...

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 ...

A collection of essays for ardent seamheads and casual baseball fans alike, The Utility of Boredom is a book about finding respite and comfort in the order, traditions, and rituals of baseball. It’s a sport that shows us what a human being might be capable of, with extreme dedication—whether we're eating hot dogs in the stands, waiting out a fog delay in our living rooms, or practising the lost art of catching a stray radio signal from an out-of-market broadcast. From learning about Americ...

The man Newsweek once called "the guru of baseball" offers profiles of top managers, sidebars, statistics, and snapshots of each decade.Widely considered to be one of the greatest minds in the history of the game, Bill James has changed the way we think about the sport of baseball. In this chronicle of field generals, strategists, and occasional cannon fodder, James writes with piercing insight about the men who hold what may be the most important spot in ...

Atlanta Braves third baseman and National Hall of Famer Chipper Jones—one of the greatest switch-hitters in baseball history—shares his remarkable story, while capturing the magic nostalgia that sets baseball apart from every other sport.Before Chipper Jones became an eight-time All-Star who amassed Hall of Fame–worthy statistics during a nineteen-year career with the Atlanta Braves, he was just a country kid from small town Pierson, Florida. A kid who grew up play...

"The Last Nine Innings is the last word on the inside of baseball. It's full of wonderful revelations and perceptions that help us understand the game in ways that we might never have imagined. Charlie Euchner has done a marvelous job in getting players to talk, simply, about how they play, and we're the wiser for it."—Frank Deford"Charlie takes an unorthodox approach to an emotional week and succeeds at finding the heart of both the tension of the World Series and the tech...

Pitching Strategies Explained is the most comprehensive and up-to-date book in the world today on the mental strategies used by top collegiate and professional pitchers. It is a must-have for any player, parent or coach hoping to maximize success at any level of the game.Pitching Strategies Explained leaves no stone unturned as it delves into every aspect of a pitcher’s strategic universe. In addition to drills, warm-ups and sample game plans, it includes a number of charts and tab...

“If we could have scored one more run than the White Sox in each game, I think we would have won the series”---so opined Boston manager Terry Francona. Sharp observations such as this have brightened the Red Sox Nation through the years. “All literary men are Red Sox fans,” said John Cheever. And while the Red Sox made it to the top of the baseball world in 2004 after a long and tortured history, presidential hopeful John Kerry remarked, “If anything prepares you to be president, it’s bein...

Funny, moving, and each one a diamond in the rough of the American consciousness, the essays in this book are the ultimate baseball conversation that pays homage to the perfect sport, in this perfect companion for all our personal baseball journeys.For some people baseball means a memory-of a certain dusty ball field on a certain summer day, or the first time they walked into a major league park and saw the perfect emerald playing field. For some, baseball means on...

This volume, formatted to current ebook standards and with an active table of contents, contains three complete books that provide an inside view of early baseball. Two of the authors are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.Works included are:“Pitching in a Pinch,” by Christy Mathewson“A Ball Player’s Career,” by Adrian C. (Cap) Anson”Base-Ball: How to Become a Player,” by John Montgomery Ward