David Maraniss now brings the great baseball player brilliantly back to life in "Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero," a book destined to become a modern classic. Much like his acclaimed biography of Vince Lombardi, "When Pride Still Mattered," Maraniss uses his narrative sweep and meticulous detail to capture the myth and a real man. Anyone who saw Clemente, as he played with a beautiful fury, will never forget him. He was a work of art in a game too often defined by statistics. During his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he won four batting titles and led his team to championships in 1960 and 1971, getting a hit in all fourteen World Series games in which he played. His career ended with three-thousand hits, the magical three-thousandth coming in his final at-bat, and he and the immortal Lou Gehrig are the only players to have the five-year waiting period waived so they could be enshrined in the Hall of Fame immediately after their deaths.

    The author of "Beyond the Shadow of the Senators" explores the life of all-star center fielder Curt Flood and the landmark Supreme Court case that changed professional sports forever.

    Continuing in the grand tradition of sabermetrics, the authors provide a revolutionary way to think about baseball with principles that can be applied at every level, from high school to the major leagues. Tom Tango, Mitchel Lichtman, and Andrew Dolphin cover topics such as batting and pitching matchups, platooning, the benefits and risks of intentional walks and sacrifices, the legitimacy of alleged clutch hitters, and many of baseball's other theories on hitting, fielding, pitching, and even baserunning. They analyze when a strategy is a good idea and when it's a bad idea, and how to more closely watch the inside game of baseball. Whenever you hear an announcer talk about the unwritten rule or say that so-and-so is going by the book in bringing in a situational substitute, The Book reviews the facts and determines what the real case is. If you want to know what the folks in baseball should be doing, find out in The Book.

    It offers: • In-depth, insightful essays on all 30 Major League Baseball clubs, with no-holds-barred evaluations of at least 50 players per organization • Baseball Prospectus’s exclusive (and deadly accurate) PECOTA projection system, forecasting the chances that a player will break out, improve, or collapse • In-depth features on the true costs of injuries, adventures in win expectancy, the limitations of statistical analysis—plus all our stats explained! The Baseball Prospectus team of cutting-edge analysts includes Mark Armour, Andrew Baharlias, Jim Baker, James Click, Clifford J. Corcoran, Clay Davenport, John Erhardt, Gary Gillette, Steven Goldman, Thomas Gorman, Gary Huckabay, Jay Jaffe, Rany Jazayerli, Christina Kahrl, Jonah Keri, Mark McClusky, Dave Pease, Dayn Perry, Nate Silver, and Keith Woolner. Check out www.baseballprospectus.com for year-round baseball coverage.

    And if you’re relatively new to the game, there’s certainly more than enough to keep you asking questions about the fine points of Major League Baseball. This revised and updated edition of the Baseball Field Guide explains the rules in plain English, enhanced with plenty of examples and illustrations you won’t find anywhere else. The result is an easy-to-use and entertaining reference guide that’s designed for quick and intuitive searches, helping you understand every aspect of the game while adding to your enjoyment of the sport. Inside you’ll find: the rules that apply before, during, and after the game equipment specifications and field requirements the duties of the coaches, managers, and umpires the rules for spectators (yes, they have rules, too) the clearest explanation anywhere of the infamous Infield Fly Rule!

    Cal and Bill Ripken understand this like few others.From their father, Cal Sr., a legend in the Baltimore Orioles organization for 37 years, they learned to play the game the right way. Those lessons, paired with their combined 33 years of big league experience, helped develop the Ripken Way, a method of teaching the game through simple instruction, solid explanations, encouragement, and a positive atmosphere. In Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way, Cal and Bill share this approach to coaching and development.Whether you're teaching your children at home, managing the local travel team, or working with high school-level players, Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way will help you make a difference both on and off the field, with these features:More than 50 drills covering defense, hitting, pitching, and baserunningAge-specific practice plans for players ranging from 4 to 15+Strategies for setting goals and reasonable expectations for your players and teamAdvice on communicating with parents, players, and staffMethods for creating a positive and fun environment in which kids can learn the skills and strategies of the gameBill Ripken was once voted by his peers as one of the big league players most likely to become a manager. Cal Ripken, Jr., known as baseball's Iron Man, is a member of the game's All-Century Team and a future Hall of Famer. Together, they are proof positive that the Ripken Way is the right way to teach the game of baseball.

    Their goal is winning baseball. They show how every at-bat or pitch is a test, particularly as players advance to higher levels. The book will help build attitude, confidence, and the ability to focus and make adjustments, helping players reach their maximum performance. In Mental Toughness, many leading professional players share their insights and offer a glimpse into the minds of major leaguers-how they think and why they act in the ways they do. Praise for Mental Toughness: "A very important book...it should be required reading for all professional players."-Keith Lieppman, Oakland A's director of player development. "I wish I'd had Mental Toughness around when I was a kid trying to figure out how to get to the big leagues and the Hall of Fame. It's a great book."-Don Sutton, Hall of Fame pitcher. "I can't imagine a better helper than Mental Toughness. It's a book that can show you how important the mental game is, and how to master it."-Orel Hershiser, Cy Young Award winner.

    The son of an Oklahoma miner, he was the anchor in center field for a Yankees team that won seven world championships. He was three times the league MVP, he won the Triple Crown in 1956, and in 1961 he dueled teammate Roger Maris in a thrilling race for the single-season home run record. He was so famous that to identify him people didn’t even bother to say his last name or even all of his first. He was known, simply, as The Mick. Mickey Mantle is the first-ever illustrated biography published with the support of the Mantle family. Covering his entire life from his impoverished youth to his glorious career to his poignant sunset years, it features rare photos and never-before-seen memorabilia, with 10 pull-out, removable facsimiles. It also includes intimate stories collected over the years by his sons and his friend, writer Mickey Herskowitz— stories that will be new even to the most avid Mantle enthusiasts. This book is an absolute must for Mantle fans of every stripe, Yankees fans, and baseball fans in general.

    Three teams, the Giants, the Cubs, and the Pirates, battled from start to finish, concluding the season with just one game separating them in the standings. The story of this race is like a Hall of Fame sprung to life, including John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance, Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, and Honus Wagner. Yet the one name that truly stands out belongs to a young Giant rookie, Fred Merkle. His base-running blunder in a key game between the Giants and the Cubs cost the New Yorkers the pennant through an entirely unforeseeable set of circumstances that set off a near-riot in New York.More than mere history, The Unforgettable Season uses a judicious selection of newspaper stories to recreate the unforgettable season through the eyes and florid language of sportswriters of the day. With no film, TV, or radio accounts of the game to cloud readers' minds with facts, the newspaper writers had free reign to invent and embellish the larger-than-life figures and events of 1908. It is their efforts that make this book often unintentionally hilarious and unforgettable.

    The Caliph of Clout. The Wizard of Whack. The Bambino. And simply, to his teammates, the Big Bam. From the award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller Ted Williams comes the thoroughly original, definitively ambitious, and exhilaratingly colorful biography of the largest legend ever to loom in baseball—and in the history of organized sports.“[Montville is] one of America’s best sportswriters.” —Chicago TribuneBabe Ruth was more than baseball’s original superstar. For eighty-five years, he has remained the sport’s reigning titan. He has been named Athlete of the Century . . . more than once. But who was this large, loud, enigmatic man? Why is so little known about his childhood, his private life, and his inner thoughts? In The Big Bam, Leigh Montville, whose recent New York Times bestselling biography of Ted Williams garnered glowing reviews and offered an exceptionally intimate look at Williams’s life, brings his trademark touch to this groundbreaking, revelatory portrait of the Babe. Based on newly discovered documents and interviews—including pages from Ruth’s personal scrapbooks —The Big Bam traces Ruth’s life from his bleak childhood in Baltimore to his brash entrance into professional baseball, from Boston to New York and into the record books as the world’s most explosive slugger and cultural luminary. Montville explores every aspect of the man, paying particular attention to the myths that have always surrounded him. Did he really hit the “called shot” homer in the 1932 World Series? Were his home runs really “the farthest balls ever hit” in countless ballparks around the country? Was he really part black—making him the first African American professional baseball superstar? And was Ruth the high-octane, womanizing, heavy-drinking “fatso” of legend . . . or just a boyish, rudderless quasi-orphan who did, in fact, take his training and personal conditioning quite seriously?At a time when modern baseball is grappling with hyper-inflated salaries, free agency, and assorted controversies, The Big Bam brings back the pure glory days of the game. Leigh Montville operates at the peak of his abilities, exploring Babe Ruth in a way that intimately, and poignantly, illuminates a most remarkable figure.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    Return to the period when inside baseball meant a game of bunting, stealing, and using a sodden, tobacco-stained ball few players could hit out of the oddly configured urban ballparks of another age. Where the initial volume introduced readers to one of the most colorful and important periods in baseball history, this volume explores the lives and performances of the stars, regulars, and major figures in the upstart junior circuit.Guided by expert contributors from SABR, fans will learn about the eight teams that banded together to challenge the National League and become the second major league. Readers will learn about the great team that Connie Mack built in Philadelphia and about the famed outfield duo of Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford in Detroit. They will also read the stories of the players who won the World Series in Chicago in 1917 before they became infamous as the Black Sox in the 1919 Series. Lavishly illustrated, "Deadball Stars of the American League" features more than 200 photographs and the autographs of all of the players profiled. It is a unique resource for a defining era of baseball history.

    The book relies heavily on quotations from contemporary sources.

    The initial volume, The Game on the Field, was called by Library Journal "charming, densely packed, yet entirely accessible.... This is heaven for fans of the game and a required addition to all baseball collections." Endlessly fascinating, impeccably researched, and engagingly written, this treasure trove will surprise, delight, and educate even the most knowledgeable fan by dispelling cherished myths and revealing the source of many of baseball's features that we now take for granted. Together, both volumes of A Game of Inches contain nearly a thousand entries that illuminate the origins of items ranging from catchers' masks to hook slides to intentional walks to cork-center baseballs to the reserve clause of baseball's Basic Agreement. The volume on The Game Behind the Scenes concentrates on ballparks, fans, marketing, statistics, the building of teams, and other related aspects of the game--but this is much more than just a reference guide. Award-winning author Peter Morris explains the context that led each new item to emerge when it did, and chronicles the often surprising responses to these innovations. Of few books can it genuinely be said that once you start reading, it's hard to put it down, but A Game of Inches is one of them. It belongs in the pantheon of great baseball books, and will give any reader a deeper appreciation of why baseball matters so much to Americans. Praise for Peter Morris's Volume One: The Game on the Field

    An account of what it was like to grow up a White Sox fan in a Cubs nation, this title covers the history of the organisation, from the heartbreak of 1967 and the South-Side Hit Men to the disco demolition and the magical 2005 season when they became world champions.

    Organizing by teams gives the wide view—how do the Murderer’s Row Yankees compare to the Big Red Machine? The long view—what team has given the Red Sox the most trouble over the last 100 years? And the hidden view—name the team that went through all the 1990s without a Gold Glove winner. It’s how the game is played, and now, finally, it’s presented in the way the game is best understood. Created by baseball historian Dennis Purdy, a true buff’s buff, THE TEAM-BY-TEAM ENCYCLOPEDIA offers the history of every existing major league baseball franchise told through narrative, bios, anecdotes, photographs, and the most comprehensive team statistics ever assembled in a single book. Every year’s record, standing, attendance, and primary starting lineup for each of baseball’s 30 franchises. Top-10 leader lists for every major category (and some minor ones), plus all-time won-loss records versus all opponents. All the awards—MVP, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, Gold Glove. Manager records. Post-season records. Even retired uniform numbers. But the stats are just the beginning—each chapter contains entertaining thumbnail biographies of every franchise’s key players, recalling, for example, how the game’s greatest shortstop, Honus Wagner, was ecruited when spotted throwing rocks across a river. And sprinkled throughout are spicy team facts, bizarre anecdotes, statistical anomalies, and little-known gems—like what Babe Ruth said to Lou Gehrig after hitting his “called shot” homerun in the 1932 World Series.

    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 has been no definitive source for the settlement of disputes. Peter Morris's endlessly fascinating A Game of Inches has now arrived to fill the void. Impeccably researched and engagingly written, this treasure trove will surprise, delight, and educate even the most knowledgeable fan by dispelling cherished myths and revealing the source of many of baseball's features that we now take for granted. The scope of A Game of Inches is encyclopedic, with nearly a thousand entries that illuminate the origins of items ranging from catchers' masks to hook slides to intentional walks to cork-center baseballs. But this is much more than just a reference guide. Award-winning author Peter Morris explains the context that led each new item to emerge when it did, and chronicles the often surprising responses to these innovations. Of few books can it genuinely be said that once you start reading, it's hard to put it down--but A Game of Inches is one of them. It belongs in the pantheon of great baseball books, and will give any reader a deeper appreciation of why baseball matters so much to Americans. (A companion volume, A Game of Inches: The Game Behind the Scenes, was published in the fall of 2006.)

    Based on fact, two interrelated stories center on Babe Ruth and the 1927 New York Yankees, Willie Mays and the 1951 New York Giants, and a stickball team from the Bronx.

    The book is illustrated with more than 80 photographs, many of them rarely seen. Readers can relive Willie Mays's great World Series catch; Roger Maris's 61st home run; Bob Feller's Opening Day no-hitter; Reggie Jackson's three homers on three swings in the 1977 World Series; Kirk Gibson's gimpy-leg, game-winning home run in the 1988 Series--and many, many more. They're all related by the best baseball writers the game has known: Red Smith, Heywood Broun, Arthur Daley, John P. Carmichael, Roger Kahn, James T. Farrell, Jimmy Cannon, Leonard Koppett, Tom Meany, Jim Murray, Ira Berkow, George Vass, Milt Richman, Murray Chass, Melvin Durslag, Tom Boswell, Bob Verdi, Mike Royko, Bob Broeg, John Steadman, Furman Bisher, and many others. For a baseball treat that will please any fan and can keep the Hot Stove League stoked throughout the winter, The Best of Baseball Digest is the sure ticket.

    The Prospect Handbook profiles in-depth analysis and statistics of 900 players, provides a detailed amateur draft report card, a list of the top one hundred prospects, and a ranking of the Major League Baseball player development programs. The Prospect Handbook is the resource for information regarding the leading minor leaguers throughout baseball and is a valuable tool for fans, fantasy leaguers, and anyone who wants to know more about the player development process.

    The White Sox general manager wasn't referring to the score of that day's game against the Cubs, but rather to the last year in which the White Sox had won the World Series. Heck, this was an organization that had thrown one since it last won one, making its stamp on baseball history with the 1919 Black Sox gambling scandal. The White Sox had been back to the World Series only once since then, with the Go-Go Sox losing in 1959. This was the history that Williams and his manager, Ozzie Guillen, a fan favorite from his playing days, were trying to change. They rebuilt their roster--looking for more pitching, speed, and better fielding after years of trying to bully the opposition--and caught fire, building a 15-game lead on August 1. They would watch all but 1 1/2 games of the lead leak away, but rediscover themselves in time to construct the greatest run through October in history. The White Sox got breaks and took advantage of every one of them. They won 16 of their last 17 games, including 11 of 12 in the playoffs, and outscored the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, and Houston Astros by 33 runs, the biggest run differential in playoff history. This is the story of 25 players and a cynical city that couldn't believe its eyes while watching them.

    After successful seasons as a newspaperman and magazine writer, he burst onto the national scene in 1972 with his memorable bestseller, The Boys of Summer, a work that went beyond sports and captured the minds and hearts of millions across the country. Now in his eighth decade, Kahn has again written a book for the hearts and minds of his readers. Chronicling his own life, Into My Own is Kahn's reflection on the eight people who shaped him as a man, a father, and a writer. In this poignant self-portrait, Kahn begins with his childhood in Brooklyn, reared on the verses of Homer, Shakespeare, Housman, and Millay---a curriculum set by his mother, and one that would influence his career with words. He combined his intellectual upbringing with his inherent passion for baseball, and began his sportswriting career under the legendary Stanley Woodward at the New York Herald Tribune. This lent Kahn the opportunity to interview and develop friendships with Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson--men he knew and admired for reasons far beyond their baseball abilities. Kahn's writing is by no means limited to his sports coverage, and on the political front he devotes chapters to Eugene McCarthy and Barry Goldwater, whom he interviewed for the Saturday Evening Post---two diverse men in a turbulent era who championed their distinct versions of idealism. The Post had earlier sent Kahn to interview poet Robert Frost at his home in Vermont, a rare opportunity for any journalist, and one that resulted in the development of a marked friendship between two men of words. Perhaps most touching is his account, straightforward but abrim with love, of the life and death---at twenty-three---of his scholar-athlete son, Roger Laurence Kahn.  Into My Own is the touching memoir of an unassuming man, whose great love of baseball and literature led him into extraordinary experiences, opportunities, and friendships. Even amidst great family tragedy and personal difficulty, Kahn has prevailed---amongst poets, writers, politicians, and most of all, ballplayers. Praise for Roger Kahn: "As a kid, I loved sports first and writing second, and loved everything Roger Kahn wrote. As an adult, I love writing first and sports second, and love Roger Kahn even more." ---Pulitzer Prize winner, David Maraniss  "He can epitomize a player with a single swing of the pen."---Time magazine  "Roger Kahn is the best baseball writer in the business."---Stephen Jay Gould, New York Review of Books "A work of high moral purpose and great poetic accomplishment. The finest American book on sports."---James Michener on The Boys of Summer  "Kahn has the almost unfair gift of easy, graceful writing."---Boston Herald

    "Fighting Words" frames the story of the Red Sox's long-awaited World Championship season around the historical examination of the Sox and the media, providing blanket coverage of the team.

    

    This ambitious encyclopedia provides information on women players, managers, teams, leagues, and issues since the mid - 19th century. Players are listed by maiden name with married name, when known, in parentheses. Information provided includes birth date, death date, team, dates of play, career statistics and brief biographical notes when available. Related entries are noted for easy cross-reference. Appendices include the rosters of the World War II era All American Girls Professional Baseball League teams; the standings and championships from the AAGPBL; and all women's baseball teams and players identified to date.

    Baseball historian David Nemec presents complete team rosters and detailed player, manager, and umpire information, with a wealth of statistics to warm a fan’s heart. Sidebars cover a variety of topics, from oddities—the team that had the best record but finished second—to analyses of why Cleveland didn’t win any pennants in the 1890s. Additional benefits include dozens of rare illustrations and narrative accounts of each year’s pennant race. Nemec also carefully charts the rule changes from year to year as the game developed by fits and starts to formulate the modern rules. The result is an essential work of reference and at the same time a treasury of baseball history. This new edition adds much material unearthed since the first edition, fills gaps, and corrects errors, while presenting a number of new stories and fascinating details. David Nemec began the lifetime labor that helped produced this work in 1954 and admits it may never end, as there always will be some obscure player whose birth date has not yet been found. Until perfection is achieved, this work offers state-of-the-art accuracy and detail beyond that supplied by even modern baseball encyclopedias. As Casey Stengel, who was born during this era, was wont to say, “you could look it up.”  Now you can.

    The cast of character has changed, with the likes of Pudge, Magglio, and a new cantankerous manager leading the way, but Jim Leyland's Tigers have all but erased 20-plus years of mediocrity with this incredible 2006 season. The once downtrodden franchise has taken the league by storm, setting its sights on a division title and perhaps even eyeing Motown's first baseball championship since the decade of big hair. Out of Nowhere chronicles the magical season that's been 2006. From spring traing to opening day, the Tigers' amazing climb to the top of the AL Central standings and their late-season pennant push, this lavishly illustrated commemorative book has everything a Detroit baseball fan could want. Written by longtime Detroit sports columnist George Cantor, Out of Nowhere details through words and photographs the best baseball season this city has experienced in more than two decades.

    Sayonara Home Run! introduces curious fans to Japan's national pastime through the lens of the country's playfully beautiful baseball cards. A fascinating text traces the roots and cross-cultural history of the Japanese game, while hundreds of illustrations showcase gorgeous vintage cards. Woven throughout are profiles of key Japanese players, features on important U.S. team tours of Japan (with Japanese cards of players such as Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio), and insights into the social history of the cards. Including primers on Japanese player nicknames and baseball terms, and the fine points of the Japanese game, Sayonara Home Run! is a must-have for anyone interested in baseball, Japan, or this unique chapter in popular design.

    Louis Post-Dispatch will document each Cardinals home stand and all the history made throughout the inaugural 2006 season at the new Busch Stadium. Whether you had a front-row seat or cheered the Redbirds on from home, you'll want to savor each moment of this historic season with the in-depth coverage and amazing photography in this 224-page, full color book published by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The book pairs with the last season's Busch Stadium Moments book to capture the end of one era and the start of another.

    In the late nineteenth century, as both the American Jewish population and baseball's popularity grew rapidly, baseball became an avenue by which Jewish immigrants could assimilate into American culture. Beyond the men (and, later, women) on the field, in the dugout, and at the front office, the Jewish community produced a huge base of fans and students of the game. This important book examines the interrelated histories of baseball and American Jews to 1948--the year Israel was established, the first full season that both major leagues were integrated, and the summer that Hank Greenberg retired. Covered are the many players, from Pike to Greenberg, as well as the managers, owners, executives, writers, statisticians, manufacturers and others who helped forge a bond between baseball and an emerging Jewish culture in America. Key reasons for baseball's early appeal to Jews are examined, including cultural assimilation, rebellion against perceived Old World sensibilities, and intellectual and philosophical ties to existing Jewish traditions. The authors also clearly demonstrate how both Jews and baseball have benefited from their relationship.

    Though never as popular as the beloved football clubs, or even greyhound races, baseball teams like the West Ham Hammers developed intense local followings, and played some excellent baseball--in 1936, the Hammers defeated the U.S. Olympic team. The outbreak of World War II ended the rising popularity of baseball among Britons, but speculation remains that, under different circumstances, British baseball could have flourished. This book traces the history of baseball as a popular British sport, concentrating on one particularly successful and notable team, the West Ham Hammers. It places the West Ham club within the historical context of 1930s Great Britain, and covers team management, major players (e.g., Roland Gladu, the Canadian Babe Ruth), and the fans, many of whom still cling fondly to faded memories of the club and West Ham Stadium. Eight appendices include team rosters, British baseball rules, and year-by-year records from 1890 to 2005.

    The Cardinals have won the World Series more than any other National League team in history. The Cubs have the ivy-covered walls of Wrigley Field, where fans watch games from apartment rooftops across the street. The Cardinals have "The Birds on the Bat," one of the most distinctive logos in all of sports. The Cubs all-time roster features Hall of Famers Billy Williams, Ryne Sandberg, and the incredible Ernie Banks. The Cardinals counter with Dizzy Dean, Bob Gibson, and the great Stan "the Man" Musial. In 1998, the Cubs' Sammy Sosa broke Roger Maris's single-season home run record with 66 dingers. But, in the same year, the Cardinals' Mark McGwire also broke the record, surpassing Sosa's mark as well, with an astounding 70 home runs. Now, with "101 Reasons to Love(tm) the Cubs" and "101 Reasons to Love(tm) the Cardinals," fans can have at their fingertips the countless moments of exhilarating baseball these two teams have provided. Filled with stunning historical and contemporary photographs, fascinating trivia, and amazing statistics, these books are indispensable for Cub fans, Cardinal fans, and baseball fans in general.

    The spirit of the day is nostalgically captured in Pepe's priceless interviews and through scores of archival photographs. This book proves to be as enjoyable as the era it so thoroughly depicts.

    In Now Batting, Number...baseball historian Jack Looney delves into every aspect of baseball uniform numbers. Here are topics including "Boyhood Idols" (players who chose numbers to honor heroes, fathers, grandfathers, and friends), "Birthday Babes" (players who have worn the same number as their day, month, or year of birth), "Caretakers" (inside stories on how numbers are distributed and the bartering of numbers among players), and "Early Innings" (the history of numbering in Major League baseball). At the center of Now Batting, Number...is a substantial section listing the complete rosters of all thirty Major League teams including each player's number and position. Other lists include every retired number listed by league and team, every retired number listed by position, and famous players' numbers and every other player who ever honored them by wearing that number (listed by number). In a controversial chapter called "Dream Teams," player from various eras, who wore the same number durin their careers, are selected to play together on the same Dream Team. Statistics for fifty teams are included. Also included are dozens of some of the toughest, number-related trivia questions that will have even the most knowledgeable fan scratching his or her head.

    Properly understood, they can tell us how the teams we root for could employ better strategies, put more effective players on the field, and win more games. The revolution in baseball statistics that began in the 1970s is a controversial subject that professionals and fans alike argue over without end. Despite this fundamental change in the way we watch and understand the sport, no one has written the book that reveals, across every area of strategy and management, how the best practitioners of statistical analysis in baseball-people like Bill James, Billy Beane, and Theo Epstein-think about numbers and the game. Baseball Between the Numbers is that book. In separate chapters covering every aspect of the game, from hitting, pitching, and fielding to roster construction and the scouting and drafting of players, the experts at Baseball Prospectus examine the subtle, hidden aspects of the game, bring them out into the open, and show us how our favorite teams could win more games. This is a book that every fan, every follower of sports radio, every fantasy player, every coach, and every player, at every level, can learn from and enjoy.

    Using the team's rich history and memorabilia, he creates an engaging story that transforms readers into instant experts. Content consultant James L. Gates, Jr. offers his historical expertise, enhancing a fun story about a great baseball team.Read The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and learn these interesting facts and more about the team: The Angels had a pitcher who threw two no-hitters in the same season, The Angels were started by a famous "singing cowboy." The Angels have baseball's most famous monkey. The Angels had the world's greatest "fungo" hitter.

    In the 1920s, the Hoosier capital supposedly lacked a cosmopolitan character, and the Ku Klux Klan gloried in the slogan "100% American." However, the size of a community does not indicate its significance in municipal life. Rather, immigrants and their descendants make a difference because of their talents and available local opportunities. Residents of Italian origin have contributed mightily to Indianapolis's economy, culture, and professional and religious life. The first to arrive were the Sicilians who developed the city's fruit and vegetable trade and the Friulani who engaged in terrazzo-mosaic tile work. Early immigrants became grocers, shoemakers, tailors, and barbers. Later, primarily after World War II, many American-born of Italian descent moved into Indianapolis, excelling in business and professional fields, including law, medicine, and education. The community has continued to grow, adding to its numbers the Italian-born but married to American military or engaged in skilled labor in carpentry, tailoring, salesmanship, and food preparation.

    It offers: â�¢ In-depth, insightful essays on all 30 Major League Baseball clubs, with no-holds-barred evaluations of at least 50 players per organization â�¢ Baseball Prospectusâ��s exclusive (and deadly accurate) PECOTA projection system, forecasting the chances that a player will break out, improve, or collapse â�¢ In-depth features on the true costs of injuries, adventures in win expectancy, the limitations of statistical analysisâ��plus all our stats explained! The Baseball Prospectus team of cutting-edge analysts includes Mark Armour, Andrew Baharlias, Jim Baker, James Click, Clifford J. Corcoran, Clay Davenport, John Erhardt, Gary Gillette, Steven Goldman, Thomas Gorman, Gary Huckabay, Jay Jaffe, Rany Jazayerli, Christina Kahrl, Jonah Keri, Mark McClusky, Dave Pease, Dayn Perry, Nate Silver, and Keith Woolner. Check out www.baseballprospectus.com for year-round baseball coverage.

    Game Six. Pat McCarvill is Boston's popular mayor, presiding over a boomtown riding the wave of the "Massachusetts Miracle." Despite his success, he's forever haunted by a youthful decision to abandon a once-promising professional baseball career. McCarvill was born on the anniversary of the tragedy to which he has always felt strangely connected: the death of Ray Chapman, killed by a pitch thrown by a one-time Red Sox star, Carl Mays. Hours before Game Six is to begin, that cosmic connection will unfold. McCarvill is injured while playing in a pre-game charity event, but the paramedics dispatched to his aid mysteriously travel back to 1920, rescuing Chapman instead. The historical timeline has been tampered with, and back in 1986 things have changed-for McCarvill, for the Red Sox, for all of Boston. Now, a legendary fable will be debunked, a life's regret will be redeemed, and a city's dream will be fulfilled . but at what cost?

    A journey through 100 yaers of baseball cards.

    The story of legendary Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play major league baseball, is recounted in this title.

    But what people forget is how much each guy loved the game. Each gave everything he had to baseball. Each helped make Yankee history and tradition." --From the Introduction by Yogi Berra Sultans of Swat tells in dramatic words and vintage black and white photographs the stories of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle: the four legendary New York Yankee Hall of Famers. The Babe's 700th home run, Gehrig's farewell "Luckiest Man" speech, DiMaggio's fifty-six-game hitting streak, Mantle's triple crown--all are here, in a book all baseball fans will treasure. Featuring:* The original New York Times coverage of the greatest events in the careers of four of baseball's greatest sluggers* Classic photographs throughout * Stats, obituaries, and more* Coverage from some of the best sportswriters of the Times.Whether Yankee fans--or any baseball fan--find themselves drawn to the amazing careers of the "Mick," the "Yankee Clipper," the "Iron Horse," or the "Sultan of Swat" himself, there's no end of material to pore over and delight in.

    Sometimes referred to as the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball—though many of the Globetrotters’ routines were borrowed directly from the Clowns—they captured the affection of Americans of all ethnicities and classes.Alan Pollock’s father, Syd, owned the Clowns, as well as a series of black barnstorming teams that crisscrossed the country from the late 1920s until the mid-1960s. They played every venue imaginable, from little league fields to Yankee Stadium, and toured the South, the Northeast, the Midwest, the Canadian Rockies, the Dakotas, the Southwest, the Far West—anywhere there was a crowd willing to shell out a few dollars for an unforgettable evening.Alan grew up around the team and describes in vivid detail the comedy routines of Richard “King Tut” King, “Spec Bebob” Bell, Reece “Goose” Tatum; the “warpaint” and outlandish costumes worn by players in the early days; and the crowd-pleasing displays of amazing skill known as pepperball and shadowball. These men were entertainers, but they were also among the most gifted athletes of their day, making a living in sports the only way a black man could. They played to win.More than just a baseball story, these recollections tell the story of great societal changes in America from the roaring twenties, through the years of the Great Depression and World War II, and into the Civil Rights era.