The making of the Blue Jays’ 2013 season.After a disastrous 2012 season, the Blue Jays had a major makeover, adding an array of star players through trades and free–agent signings, including R.A. Dickey, the best pitcher in the National League last year, and ticket sales have since soared. Starting with a behind–the–scenes look at the offseason fallout that led to the roster upheaval, this book covers every aspect of the 2013 season with a particular focus on the personali...

When Jose Bautista homered and flipped his bat in the 2015 playoffs, Blue Jays frenzy reached a fever pitch not seen since Joe Carter’s 1993 World Series home run.Those two home runs still bring tears and chills to Jays fans. And each season, each game, each at bat holds triumphs, heartbreaks and surprises of its own.In Bat Flip, editor Keith McArthur curates the very best writing about the Toronto Blue Jays, from the tragic postscript to Doug Ault’s 1977 opening day heroic...

The Toronto Blue Jays pitcher recounts his fateful season of injury, rehab, and reinvention in a memoir by “the best writer in a baseball uniform” (Tyler Kepner, The New York Times).After nearly a decade in the minors, Dirk Hayhurst defied the odds to climb onto the pitcher's mound for the Toronto Blue Jays. Newly married, with a big league paycheck and a brand new house, Hayhurst was ready for a great season in the Bigs.Then fate delivered a crush...

From one of Canada's top baseball writers and radio hosts: a retrospective of the Toronto Blue Jays on the 20th anniversary of Joe Carter's World Series-winning home run--and a look ahead to what promises to be their most successful season since. A must-have for all Blue Jays fans, and a great read for Toronto and Canadian sports fans in general.In Full Count, Jeff Blair takes us back to the days when the Toronto Blue Jays were "the Cadillac of franchises," and shows us ex...

What started as a baseball season like any other became the most thrilling sports story of 2015Canada’s team began the season with as many losses as wins, but things changed rapidly. With inspired moves by management at the trade deadline, and a bullpen rally not seen since the back-to-back championships of 1992 and 1993, they were back on top.The boys in blue went on to score 891 runs—127 runs more than the next best team—and finished with a superb record ...

From acclaimed sports writer and bestselling author Jeff Pearlman, a searing and insightful look into the life and career of Barry Bonds, one of the most celebrated, contradictory and controversial sports figures of our timeNo player in the history of baseball has left such an indelible mark on the game as Barry Bonds. In his twenty-year career, Bonds has amassed an unprecedented 7 Most Valuable Player awards, 8 Gold Gloves, and more than 700 home runs (and countin...

Whether it’s a ticket stub from a game that father and son saw together, an autographed photograph from a hero, or a puck that went up and over the boards, hockey memorabilia is a record of our beloved sport’s history.He Shoots, He Saves looks at hockey’s collectibles from hockey cards to commemorative beer cans to postage stamps. The book features artifacts from all 30 NHL teams, the greatest players of all-time, the WHA, the international game including the Summit Series...

"Dirk Hayhurst has done it again. . .Turns out he's a starter and a closer." —Tim Kurkjian, ESPNAs a major and not-so-major league pitcher, Dirk Hayhurst has learned to master more than striking out batters. While waiting for his name to be called in the bullpen, he honed his gifts as a storyteller, one the New York Times calls the "best writer in a baseball uniform." In this often hilarious collection of adventures on and off the diamond, Dirk details the intricacies of pulling of...

Changing the Game: A History of NHL Expansion celebrates an often-overlooked aspect of hockey history. The book provides comprehensive coverage of the NHL’s spread across the North American market in the 1920s along with the memorable expansions that began in 1967.Relive some great and painful moments from the debut seasons of forgotten teams such as the Montreal Maroons and California Seals along with fan favorites like the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. Every first-year NHL roster i...

Celebrating the persistence of Turtle PowerRaise Some Shell critically and cleverly examines the origins, evolution, and impact of the Ninja Turtles phenomenon — from its beginning as a self-published black-and-white comic book in 1984, through its transformation into a worldwide transmedia phenomenon by the middle of the 1990s, and up to the sale of the property to Nickelodeon in 2009 and relaunch of the Turtles with new comics, cartoons, and a big-budget...

This inside view with the Cardinals' Tony La Russa by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Friday Night Lights "should appeal to any baseball fan" ( Publishers Weekly).A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year"Plenty of books have taken us inside baseball, but August takes us directly inside players' heads." — Entertainment Weekly3 Nights in August captures the strategic and...

"Nobody enjoys the full kaleidoscope of the game quite like Kenny, from banana blades and '70s staches to air-brushed, mistake-laden hockey cards." —Jeff Marek, Sportsnet Hockey host and Marek vs. Wyshynski podcast co-hostHockey Card Stories reveals what was really going on in your favorite old hockey cards through the eyes of the players depicted on them. Some of the cards are definitely worth a few bucks, some a few cents—but every stor...