His mental skills enable him to play consistently at or near his best despite the adversity baseball presents each day."My ability to fully focus on what I had to do on a daily basis was what made me the successful player I was. Sure I had some natural ability, but that only gets you so far. I think I learned how to focus; it wasn't something that I was necessarily born with." -- Hank Aaron"Developing and refining my mental game has played a critical role in my success in baseball. For years players have had to develop these skills on their own. This book provides practical strategies for developing the mental skills that will help speed you toward your full potential." -- Dave Winfield

    Thomas, the grandson of Walter Johnson, lives in Arlington, Virginia. He is currently editing, for audio release, the interviews taped by Lawrence Ritter for his classic The Glory of Their Times. Shirley Povich died in 1998 at the age of 92 after seventy-five years as an award-winning sportswriter for the Washington Post.

    Dan Quayle is the new commissioner, the Yankees have moved to New Jersey, and the Supreme Court has ruled that women can play in the major leagues. Enter Louise "Balls" Gehrig, sporting baby blue eyes and a smile that can steal a heart almost as quickly as she can steal a base. As first baseperson for the expansion Manhattan Meteorites, she's about to break baseball's gender barrier and change America's pastime forever.

    Lardner, including the six classic stories later collected as You Know Me Al. Two-thirds of the stories describe real teams, real players, and real situations, and the annotation and illustrations serve to identify the references of early twentieth-century major league baseball that Lardner covered as a reporter.

    The Cincinnati Reds played at Crosley Field from 1912 through 1970, and the ballpark holds an iconic place in the city's history as well as throughout Reds Country. One of the most beloved ballparks in Major League history, Crosley Field played host to the first night game and the first of Johnny Vander Meer's back-to-back no-hitters, as well as four World Series and two All-Star games. From the outfield terrace to the "Moon Deck," from Lombardi's "snooze" to Big Klu's biceps, Blackwell's "whip" to Rose's belly-flop slides, the Redlegs to the Big Red Machine, Cincinnati's Crosley Field has them covered in words and pictures. Greg Rhodes and John Erardi also present the great Negro Leagues teams that played at Crosley, as well as the field's many colorful characters, such as longtime announcer Waite Hoyt and the top-hatted vendor known as Peanut Jim. In April 2009, the Reds' Hall of Fame and Museum opens this season's key exhibit, Crosley Field Remembered, and Cincinnati's Crosley Field will be sold at the team's gift shop as a souvenir.

    150,000 first printing. $100,000 ad/promo.

    Culled from 30 years of publication in Sports Illustrated and elsewhere there are action shots, panoramas, and stills of players. Looss provides a commentary on each.

    Collecting from a wide range of sources—including newspaper accounts, letters, folk poetry, songs, and annual guides—Dean A. Sullivan of Fairfax, Virginia, progresses chronologically from the earliest known baseball reference (1825) to the creation of the Doubleday Myth (1908).

    

    Written at the culmination of Ryan's 27-season career, Ruth shares behind-the-scenes stories and candidly writes about their love, faith and commitment to each other.

    

    Here a legendary base stealer for St. Louis Browns tries to perpetuate his skills, an extraterrestrial pretends to be the Seattle Mariners mascot, and three middle-aged baseball buddies play a nostalgic pickup game in the women's wear section of K-mart. The collection was first published in 1988 as The Further Adventures of Slugger McBatt.