But for Cubs fans, "never say die" is a way of life. And Kevin Kaduk is no exception-so much so that in a fit of loyalty to his "Lovable Losers," he quit his job as a sportswriter in Kansas City and moved back to the Windy City on a quest to find the heart and soul of what has come to be known as "Wrigleyville"-the idiosyncratic neighborhood that has sprung up around Wrigley Field." This is a rollicking adventure of baseball, blind faith, and America's pastime as it's played in America's heartland.

    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.

    Covering the latest championships and trades, Boers was a Windy City constant until his retirement in 2017. In his highly-anticipated memoir, Boers delivers a trove of lively anecdotes and personal reflections from journey through sports media—from raucous banter with Mike Ditka during The Score's early days to the Cubs' World Series celebration in 2016. A must-read for any of the thousands who made Boers part of their daily routine, The Score of a Lifetime is a freewheeling, frank portrait of a man, a career, a station no one thought would survive, and a city that loves its sports.

    Cub, to Sammy Sosa, today's record-setting sensation, Cubs Nation traces the history of a team that often had everything going for it and yet was so hampered by losses that it came to define the term lovable losers.

    Two teams from the same city squared off against each other in an intracity World Series, pitting the heavily favored Cubs of the National League against the hardscrabble American League champion White Sox. Now, for its centennial anniversary, noted historian Bernard A. Weisberger tells the tale of a unique time in baseball, a unique time in America, and a time when Chicago was at the center of it all.At the turn of the century, American baseball and America itself were, to a modern observer, both completely alien and yet timelessly similar to what we know today. In 1906 the sport of baseball was still mired in the "dead ball" era, when defense won championships, and players didn't need bodybuilder physiques in order to be competitive. The league was racially segregated. A six-day workweek was threatened by early game times, as the first night game wouldn't be played for another three decades. There was no radio to broadcast the contest. Only one ball was used throughout the game. And yet it was still ninety feet between bases. The home team still batted in the bottom of the ninth inning. And the final score could still capture the attention of a nation.It was a time when the accomplishments on the field mirrored those beyond the diamond. America was the land of the self-made man, the land where hard work and determination could make a person's fortune. A. G. Spalding proved instrumental in making baseball what it is today -- a thriving business and a national pastime. Charles Comiskey worked his way from scoring runs as a player to becoming one of the most influential owners in baseball history. Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown overcame a horribly disfiguring injury to become a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cubs. And Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance proved that you could use teamwork to stand out as stars.A city that had rebuilt itself from the ashes of the Great Fire thirty-five years earlier was now the focal point of an entire baseball-loving country. The contest that could be called the Great Streetcar Series would electrify the city of Chicago, and prove to be one of the most unique and exciting World Series ever to be played.

    It would require a complete team tear-down and turnover, a new farm system foundation of young talent which Epstein and Cubs GM Jed Hoyer gradually added to with gutsy trades and timely signings. After years of rebuilding, Epstein's crystalline vision has been unquestionably realized in the form of one of the most exciting and talented teams in baseball, led by heavyweights like Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant as well as visionaries like manager Joe Maddon. In The Plan, David Kaplan of CSN Chicago and ESPN Radio goes behind the scenes with the Cubs and their front office, walking the steps of their captivating rise to becoming 2016 World Series champions. Featuring exclusive interviews with Epstein, owner Tom Ricketts, and other team insiders, this is the definitive account of a new era on the North Side.

    Never before told, behind the scenes stories mixed with humor and fascinating facts, plus a whopping 24 pages of great photos make this book a must read for Cubs fans. The remembrances are all here, told by an all-star team of people. It is like sitting around Wrigley Field listening to Ron's friends reminiscing about the man we all loved. Ron Santo Jr., contributed the Foreword.

    As he did with classics of sports literature, Bums (a history of the Brooklyn Dodgers) and Dynasty (a history of the New York Yankees), Golenbock turns to a team that has won and broken the hearts of generations of fans; the Chicago Cubs. Utilizing dozens of personal interviews with players, coaches, fans, sportswriters, and clubhouse personnel, as well as out-of-print memiors by nineteeth-century players, Peter Golenbock has created a perfect gift for every baseball fan: a book that entertains, warms the heart, and touches the soul. This updated edition includes material from the team's past five years, such as Harry Caray's death, the magical seasons of Sammy Sosa and Kerry Wood, and the Cubs' 1998 playoff dive.

    Whether he's bringing clowns and live bear cubs to spring training or leading the Chicago Cubs to their first World Series victory in 108 years, Maddon is always one to watch.  In Try Not to Suck, ESPN's Jesse Rogers and MLB.com's Bill Chastain fully explore Maddon's life and career, delving behind the scenes and dissecting that mystique which makes Maddon so popular with players and analysts alike. Packed with insight, anecdotes, and little-known facts, this is the definitive account of the curse-breaker and trailblazer at the helm of the Cubs' new era.

    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.

    Now Bill James is doing it again with The Bill James Gold Mine a groundbreaking collection of original essays, statistical profiles, and hidden nuggets of information worth their weight in gold. Always known for his piercing wit and cutting analysis, Bill James wrote 17 new essays for The Bill James Gold Mine, including: Clutching Hitter of the Year, Measuring Consistency, Closer Fatigue, Hall of Famers Among Us. Of course, it wouldn't be from Bill James if it didn't come with innovative and intriguing profiles and nuggets of statistical information on players from all 30 teams, including: Impacting by Position in Inning, Pitching Type Analysis, Pitcher's Record of Opposing Batters, Games Played by Opening Day Starters.

    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.

    Baseball Prospectus 2013 brings together an elite group of analysts to provide the definitive look at the upcoming season in critical essays and commentary on the thirty teams, their managers, and more than sixty players and prospects from each team.Contains critical essays on each of the thirty teams and player comments for some sixty players for each of those teamsProjects each player's stats for the coming season using the groundbreaking PECOTA projection system, which has been called "perhaps the game's most accurate projection model" (Sports Illustrated)From Baseball Prospectus, America's leading provider of statistical analysis for baseballNow in its eighteenth edition, this New York Times bestselling insider's guide remains hands down the most authoritative and entertaining book of its kind.

    Frommer paints Shoeless Joe as a baseball natural ("Joe Jackson hit the ball harder than any man ever to play baseball"-Ty Cobb), an illiterate hick (his table untemsils consisted of knife and fingers), and an innocent man snared by the greatest scandal in baseball history.

    Photos.