Mr. Angell includes writing never previously collected as well as selections from The Summer Game, Five Seasons, Late Innings, and Season Ticket. He brings back the extraordinary games, innings and performances that he has witnessed and written about so astutely and gracefully--"The Interior Stadium," on the complex attractions of baseball; "In the Country," on a friendship that began with a fan letter and took him far from the big stadiums and big money; "The Arm Talks," on contemporary pitching strategy and the arrival of the split-finger delivery; and many others. Mr. Angell's conversations with past and present players and managers, scouts and coaches, rookies and Hall of Famers enhance his own expertise and critical appreciation, which define him as the game's most useful and ardent fan. "Angell resembles a pitcher with pinpoint control. As a chronicler of the game, he's in a class with Ring Lardner and Red Smith."--Newsweek. "Angell's perceptions are fresh, vivid, and uncannily accurate.... Only a fan who cares this much could observe so carefully and write so eloquently."--San Francisco Chronicle. "A triumph of art and grace."--Chicago Tribune Book World.

    Book by Meltzer, Dave

    His new career as a BBC pundit keeps him in the public eye. 16pp colour plates. Full description

    An adventurer and rogue who has made his money through gambling, Dennis O'Kelly is also companion to the madam of a notorious London brothel.While O'Kelly is destined to remain an outcast to the racing establishment, his horse will go on to become the undisputed, undefeated champion of his sport. Eclipse's male-line descendants include Secretariat, Barbaro, and all but three of the Kentucky Derby winners of the past fifty years.

    Based on the hugely popular The Player columns in FourFourTwo magazine, the book gives a warts-and-all insight into the daily life of professional footballers. Month by month, it chronicles the oscillating rhythms of the season, from the trudge of pre-season to the "squeaky-bum time" of promotion and relegation. The player himself has played at all levels of English football, from Premier League to a season of non-League, and represented England (alongside David Backham) at U21 level.

    My grandfather, my father, Maria Eugenia, my sister, were all considered mad and I was as well. The reason was that we took a different path to everybody else.'Rafael Bielsa, Marcelo's brother, Foreign Secretary of Argentina, 2003-05. Marcelo Bielsa is one of football's greatest eccentrics and greatest enigmas. He is described by Pep Guardiola as: 'the greatest football manager in the world'. To the Tottenham manager, Mauricio Pochettino, he is 'my footballing father, the reason I became a player, the reason I became a manager.' This will be the first English biography of one of football's most contradictory characters. This is a definitive and comprehensive biography from growing up in Argentina under a military dictatorship to reviving the stricken power of Leeds United.

    He has won -- and lost -- in tournaments and cash games around the globe, all the while studying the game and learning from every hand dealt. As the resident expert and cohost of Celebrity Poker Showdown, Phil has quickly become one of the most sought-after teachers of No Limit Texas Hold'em. It's a tough game. But anyone can become a winning player with the right amount of courage, patience, aggression, observation, and, perhaps most important, dedication to becoming a better player. After fifteen years of keeping notes on the things he's learned, the greats he's played with, and the celebrities he's taught, Phil Gordon has poured every single thing he knows about No Limit Texas Hold'em into this little green book. Taking a page from Harvey Penick's bestselling book of golf wisdom, Phil plays the role of both teacher and student, offering up insightful tips on how to think about poker and how to develop a singular style of play. Through philosophy, psychology, strategy, math, and the knowledge gleaned from playing poker with everyone from T. J. Cloutier and Phil Ivey to Hank Azaria and Ben Affleck, Phil breaks down the game into enlightening instructional tidbits and illustrative anecdotes that inspire the kind of persistence and motivation necessary to improve your game. A book to rank with Doyle Brunson's Super System and David Sklansky's The Theory of Poker, Phil Gordon's Little Green Book deserves a spot on the shelf of every serious student of the game.

    Re-introduced to the Tour in 1976, Alpe d’Huez has risen to mythical status, thanks initially to a string of victories by riders from Holland, whose exploits attracted tens of thousands of their compatriots to the climb, which has become known as ‘Dutch mountain’. A snaking 13.8-kilometre ascent rising up through 21 numbered hairpins at an average gradient of 7.8%, Alpe d’Huez is the climb on which every great rider wants to win. Many of the sport’s most famous and now even infamous names have won on the Alpe, including Bernard Hinault, Joop Zoetemelk, Lucho Herrera, Marco Pantani and Lance Armstrong. As well as days of brilliance, there have controversies such as the high-speed and drug-fuelled duels of the EPO years in the 1990s and into the new millennium.  In Alpe d’Huez, veteran cycling journalist Peter Cossins reveals the triumphs, passion and despair behind the great exploits on the Alpe and discloses the untold details that have led to the mountain becoming as important to the Tour as the race is to resort at its summit. It is a tale of man and machine battling against breath-taking terrain for the ultimate prize.

    In the nerve-racking final seconds of the women’s team sprint freestyle race, Jessie Diggins dug deep. Blowing past two of the best sprinters in the world, she stretched her ski boot across the finish line and lunged straight into Olympic immortality: the first ever cross-country skiing gold medal for the United States at the Winter Games. The 26-year-old Diggins, a four-time World Championship medalist, was literally a world away from the small town of Afton, Minnesota, where she first strapped on skis. Yet, for all her history-making achievements, she had never strayed far from the scrappy 12-year-old who had insisted on portaging her own canoe through the wilderness, yelling happily under the unwieldy weight on her shoulders: “Look! I’m doing it!”           In Brave Enough, Jessie Diggins reveals the true story of her journey from the American Midwest into sports history. With candid charm and characteristic grit, she connects the dots from her free-spirited upbringing in the woods of Minnesota to racing in the bright spotlights of the Olympics. Going far beyond stories of races and ribbons, she describes the challenges and frustrations of becoming a serious athlete; learning how to push through and beyond physical and psychological limits; and the intense pressure of competing at the highest levels. She openly shares her harrowing struggle with bulimia, recounting both the adversity and how she healed from it in order to bring hope and understanding to others experiencing eating disorders. Between thrilling accounts of moments of triumph, Diggins shows the determination it takes to get there—the struggles and disappointments, the fun and the hard work, and the importance of listening to that small, fierce voice: I can do it. I am brave enough.

    Bird provides views on the game and those involved in it, with behind the scenes accounts and humorous anecdotes.

    Chubby is cute was her motto and cake with pints of cider her diet. Then came 'the' fateful night that saw her staring awkwardly at a ‘fat bird’ with her top on. When that 'fat bird' turned out to be her very own reflection Hannah ran (quite quickly) to the toilets to wail in self-pity and humiliation. Hannah knew she had to make a decision, so she decided to lace up a pair of trainers she happened to have in the cupboard and head for the hills…or at least to the nearest park…if she could ever make it. Chased by geese, the police and Jack Russel’s, No Run Intended is a small story about a big journey that follows Hannah’s running progress through good times, bad times and can’t be bothered times. Deeply honest, insightful and a little bit funny, it’s definitely not a how to but a what if kind of book that celebrates running in all its beautiful, ugly glory.

    His autobiography details his journey from his childhood protégé, to the highs and lows of an extraordinary international cricket career, to retirement. Test captain of Australia in 2004 until handing the job to Michael Clarke in 2011, he is the highest Australian run-scorer of all time in Tests and one-day international cricket, second only India's Sachin Tendulkar among batsmen from all countries. Ricky's awards in cricket include ICC Player of the Year (twice), Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World, Cricinfo Player of the Decade and Allan Border Medallist (four times). This autobiography of a very private man and one of Australia's most public figures will resonate with lovers of cricket as well as anyone who strives to reach the top of their chosen field. Off the field, Ricky and his wife Rianna have raised in excess of $10 million since 2002 to help young Australians and their families beat cancer. In 2008 Ricky and Rianna established the Ponting Foundation to provide focus to their fundraising efforts.

    As the beloved, longtime PR director for the New York Mets, he has witnessed and quietly shaped some of the most memorable moments in team history, becoming a trusted friend and mentor to generations of players, from Darryl Strawberry to Jacob deGrom. In this fascinating memoir, Horwitz tells the unlikely story of a childhood dream come true, offering an unparalleled insider's perspective on four dynamic and unpredictable decades of Mets baseball. Featuring reflections and anecdotes only Horwitz can tell, on subjects ranging from clubhouse hijinks to the chaotic New York media scene to navigating moments of greatness and defeat, Mr. Met is a remarkable behind-the-scenes ride that fans will not want to miss.

    This title tells the sensational inside story on how professional punter Patrick Veitch overcame adversity to take the bookmakers for over 10 million in an eight year period.

    By the grace of God, Bryan went from being a fist-fighting, drug-using, presuicidal kid in Hawaii to world champion in the toughest Olympic sport. His secret? A dramatically rediscovered faith and his mother's relentless prayers.Redemption goes beyond standard sports memoirs giving a clear storyline of an athlete's misspent youth, his desperate Christian conversion at a time of utter personal defeat, and his mother's fervent prayers that helped transform him into a top athlete, family man, and loving father. Bryan's story will inspire mothers, fathers, and young readers alike as they experience the rise of a champion from obscurity and failure to the pinnacle of athletic achievement.The world will be watching Bryan, at the age of 32, defend his gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012.