Instead, "Baseball Prospectus 2016" contains significant improvements along with the usual key stat categories, player predictions and insider-level commentary that readers expect from Baseball Prospectus annual guide."Baseball Prospectus 2016" once again provides fantasy players and insiders alike with prescient PECOTA projections, which "Sports Illustrated" has called perhaps the game s most accurate projection model. Still, stats are just numbers if you don t see the larger context, and Baseball Prospectus brings together an elite team of analysts to provide the definitive look at all thirty teams their players, their prospects and their managers to explain away flukes, hot streaks, injury-tainted numbers and park effects.Nearly every major-league team has sought the advice of current or former Prospectus analysts, and readers of "Baseball Prospectus" 2016 will understand what all those insiders have been raving about.In a book that sports personality Ken Tremendous calls The tip of the nerd spear, the team at Baseball Prospectus is proud to bring the following improvements to the 2016 Annual:Two full years of projections PECOTA lines for 2016 and 2017Historical Peak MPH added for major-league pitchersDeserved Run Average (DRA) added for major-league pitcherscFIP added for major-league and minor-league pitchersPitcher WARP redesigned, utilizing DRA and cFIP for all pitchersRevised cFIP-driven PECOTA pitching projectionsCatcher-specific defensive stats for all catchers Double-A and aboveOutfield assists and catcher defense integrated in FRAA and WARPBallpark schematic and wall height study for every stadiumHit List, finance, and farm system ranking graphs for each teamEvery organization s key front office personnel and Baseball Prospectus alumni identified"

    Falk s encyclopedic knowledge of Wolverines football traditions and history make him a vital component of the staff that transforms talented college football players into true Michigan Men. And in his nearly four decades on the job, Falk has become one of the most beloved figures in team history. In If These Walls Could Talk, Falk shares his stories, memories, and friendships established in the locker room, on the sideline, and on the road with one of college football s most storied institutions. From legendary tales of Bo Schembechler s epic gridiron chess matches with Ohio State s Woody Hayes to the memorable day Falk introduced freshman phenom Anthony Carter to two-time All-American Ron Kramer, Falk s recollections connect the past and present to underscore the importance of building the relationships that drive the Wolverines to success. Win or lose, a game only lasts 3-1/2 hours, Falk said. Friends last a lifetime. He s an extra arm to the coaching staff. He s a shoulder to lean on for the players.... All players eventually have to leave the University of Michigan. But no one ever leaves Big Jon. Tom Brady, former Michigan quarterback, from his foreword [Falk] can tell stories going all the way back to Bo. That s a good feeling for a former player. That s what Michigan is all about. When you play football for Michigan, you never really leave. It will always be part of your home. Mike Hart, former Michigan running back Nobody knows more about Michigan tradition than Jon. Paul Jokisch, former Michigan wide receiver

    The Coach is Patrick Mouratoglou's hugely motivational and inspirational story. As a child, he was full of suffering, enduring anxiety attacks at night. In his own words "puny and very timid, paralysed by the shame of not being able to do better". Now, as one of the world's leading tennis coaches he is responsible for transforming the career of Serena Williams and helping her become the greatest of all times. His story is a great example of trial over adversity.

    Far beyond simply being a sports league, the NBA has become an entertainment and pop culture juggernaut. From all kinds of team logo merchandise to officially branded video games and players crossing over into reality television, film, fashion lines, and more, there is an inseparable line between sports and entertainment. But only four decades ago, this would have been unthinkable. Featuring writing that leaps off the page with energy and wit, journalist and basketball fan Pete Croatto takes us behind the scenes to the meetings that lead to the monumental American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, revolutionizing the NBA’s image. He pays homage to legendary talents including Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan and reveals how two polar-opposite rookies, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, led game attendance to skyrocket and racial lines to dissolve. Croatto also dives into CBS’s personality-driven coverage of key players, as well as other cable television efforts, which launched NBA players into unprecedented celebrity status. Essential reading whether you’re a casual or longtime fan, From Hang Time to Prime Time is an enthralling and entertaining celebration of basketball history.

    The story of Jordan's departure from and return to the Chicago Bulls describes his anguish over his father's death and his attempts to succeed in major league baseball.

    Here was Arnold Palmer, the workingman's hero, "sweating, chain-smoking, shirt-tail flying"; Ben Hogan, the greatest player of the fifties, a perfectionist battling twin demons of age and nerves; and, making his big-time debut, a crew-cut college kid who seemed to have the makings of a champion: twenty-year-old Jack Nicklaus.        And of course, the rest: Ken Venturi, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Doug Sanders, Gary Player, and the many other colorful characters who chased around a little white ball--and a dream.        Would Palmer win the mythical Grand Slam of golf? Could Hogan win one more major tournament? Was Nicklaus the real thing? Even more than an intimate portrait of these men and their exciting times, The Eternal Summer is also an entertaining, perceptive, and hypnotically readable exploration of professional golf in America.

    Even though the past two years have witnessed the Red Sox' finally putting an end to the Curse of the Bambino and the White Sox' bringing a championship to the South Side of Chicago for the first time in eighty-seven years, the sad truth is that the 2005 and 2006 seasons may be remembered as much for the league's scandals and blockbuster free-agent signings as they are for historic accomplishments on the field. Something has gone horribly wrong with the game, and according to Schmidt, it's time to do something about it.Clearing the Bases is a much-needed call to arms by one of baseball's most respected players. Drawing on his experiences as a third baseman, a manager, and, most recently, a fan, Schmidt takes on everything from skyrocketing payrolls, callous owners, and unapproachable players to inflated statistics, and, of course, ersatz home run kings. With bold and spirited counsel, Schmidt offers his own prescription for restoring integrity to the game and bringing baseball back, once and for all, to its rightful place.More than just an old-timer's screed against the modern game, however, Clearing the Bases goes beyond the BALCO investigation and never-ending free-agent bonanzas that dominate the back pages. It also examines all that's right -- and what still needs work -- with our national pastime, including interleague play, expansion, and, most surprisingly, better all-around hitters.Riveting, wise, and illuminating, Clearing the Bases is a Hall of Famer's look at how Major League Baseball has lost its way and how it can head back home.

    His first book, Zim-A Baseball Life, was a New York Times bestseller and one of the best baseball memoirs ever published. Now, in The Zen of Zim, one of baseball's most beloved figures offers readers an insightful look into the baseball of yesterday and today. Baseball fans will love hearing Zim's positions on such things as pitching inside, managing, bosses, and more.With more than fifty-six years in baseball, Don Zimmer had seen it all, or so he thought before he ran into George Steinbrenner. Here Zimmer provides a revealing account of his eight years as Joe Torre's right-hand man-and the jealousy, vindictiveness, and pettiness that ultimately destroyed a twenty-five-year friendship with Steinbrenner.Zim will also discuss the circumstances that led to his charging onto the field at Fenway Park and throwing a haymaker at Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez. He'll share with readers what it was like to work for other baseball owners; shed new light on general managers like Branch Rickey and Dan Duquette; and critique the managing styles of some of the most famous and notorious skippers of the twentieth century, from Casey Stengel and Earl Weaver to Gene Mauch and Billy Martin.In a chapter called "What Have They Done to My Game?," Zim will offer a crash course in baseball anthropology, describing how the game and its players have changed over the past fifty years and showing how big money and free agency have destroyed clubhouse camaraderie and turned a team sport into a transient game. In contrast, he celebrates his close-knit teammates on the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers team and the lifelong friendships that were made.Zim has seen it all, and here readers learn even more of his life and dreams and of baseball through a half century of experience. It is a story jam-packed with laughs and anecdotes, with excitement and comedy. And it is superbly told.

    Here, where shopping for groceries is a forty-five-minute round-trip drive and there is no stoplight on Main Street, he followed the hapless Penelope Wolverines in their quest to win their second game in four years since reviving their football program after a thirty-seven-year hiatus. But even as the team struggled, the entire town still came out to show its support every Friday night. Why? Because as one Texas writer recently said, "Texas high school football is a six-point favorite over Sunday-go-to-meetin' in most small towns." A wide-open game in which teams sprint up and down the field and where the combined score can typically exceed one hundred points, six-man football was invented in Nebraska in 1934. At its peak in 1953, 30,000 teams across the country and in Canada competed in the sport. Though there are fewer teams now, it is still played in states as far flung as Texas, New Mexico, Montana, Colorado, and Kansas, among others. A poignant story of a small town, and its unwavering support-through thick and a lot of thin-of the winless Wolverines, Where Dreams Die Hard is a warm and revealing slice of life in the American heartland and of a culture fast disappearing.

    In The Big Field, the baseball league championship is on the line, but just how far is reluctant second-baseman Hutch willing to bend to be a good teammate?

    He watched day by day, crisis by crisis, as McCloskey, coach Chuck Daly, and a handful of immensely talented and ambitious basketball players--the Bad Boys of Detroit--won the NBA championship. Illustrated.

    

    

    In Slap Shot Original, Dave Hanson gives readers not only a behind the scenes look at what life was like on the set during the filming of the classic movie, but also treats them to stories from the actors and players themselves.

    One cool new sneaker. For a company like Nike, the combination can equal millions of dollars in profits. That's why the shoe companies are engaged in a frantic full-court press to find and sign the next generation of hoop stars -- before the competition does. The result: America's playgrounds, high schools, and junior high schools have become corporate battlegrounds for the hearts, minds, and feet of young athletes. This shocking expose shows how money is driving the amateur basketball world, even attempting to control coaches, teams, and whole universities -- and how young men and women with a little talent and a dream are being tempted to sacrifice their future for glittering promises and a new pair of shoes.