Though they attended a small high school with no baseball field, turned down a professional offer so they could attend college together, and faced more than one missed pitch and injuries, they kept dreaming, praying together on the field, and believing in God’s provision for their lives.David and Jason’s journey, from Little League to college to professional baseball and beyond, reminds us that even when we don’t know what God is up to, He’s putting together the pieces of our life’s puzzle and executing the plans He has for each of us.Miracle in Shreveport tells the story of a family’s love, the power of prayer, and a game that is truly all-American. It is also the story of brotherhood staying strong, despite the threat of comparison in a profession committed to competition. Most of all, it is the story of being faithful in small steps, honoring God in the process, and trusting His hand in our lives. In this book, the Benhams call us to remember that when we follow God’s dream for us, we find it is better than we could have ever dreamed for ourselves.

    It's all here--the lawsuits, the crazy confluence of sports and ego and civic destiny, and of course, superstars Ichiro, A-Rod, Randy Johnson, and Ken Griffey. Seattle sportswriter Art Thiel recounts the painful birth, awkward adolescence, and hard-won maturity of one of the most beloved teams in sports history.

    

    But for some, the experience can be less sensory. Some, such as Ryan Spaeder and Kevin Reavy, live for baseball statistics. Stats give the game historical context and measurables for past, present, and predictive analysis.Incredible Baseball Stats helps tell unique baseball stories, showcasing extraordinary stats and facts in baseball history, through the 2015 season. For example, in 2015, the Nationals’ Bryce Harper broke out in a major way. He batted .330/.460/.649 with 42 home runs en route to his first MVP Award. It was his fourth MLB season, but he was still younger than NL Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant. He became the youngest player to lead the league in both on-base percentage and homers in the same season since Ty Cobb in 1909. Through 2015, he has a career .902 OPS (143 OPS+), the same OPS and adjusted OPS that Henry Aaron had through his first four seasons—and Hammerin’ Hank was nearly a year older!The authors have scoured the records for untold tales and looked at familiar ones with new statistical insights, to create Incredible Baseball Stats, a perfect book for baseball fans from coast to coast.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

    Still, though I followed their season closely, I never fully understood their impact."—Allen Barra, The New York SunIn 1947, major league baseball experienced its first measure of integration when the Brooklyn Dodgers brought Jackie Robinson to the National League. While Robinson's breakthrough opened the gates of opportunity for African Americans and other minority players, the process of integration proved slow and uneven. It was not until the 1960s that a handful of major league teams began to boast more than a few Black and Latino players. But the 1971 World Championship team enjoyed a full and complete level of integration, with half of its twenty-five-man roster comprised of players of African American and Latino descent. That team was the Pittsburgh Pirates, managed by an old-time Irishman.In The Team That Changed Baseball: Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates, veteran baseball writer Bruce Markusen tells the story of one of the most likable and significant teams in the history of professional sports. In addition to the fact that they fielded the first all-minority lineup in major league history, the 1971 Pirates are noteworthy for the team's inspiring individual performances, including those of future Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, and Bill Mazeroski, and their remarkable World Series victory over the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles. But perhaps their greatest legacy is the team's influence on the future of baseball, inspiring later championship teams such as the New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics to open their doors fully to all talented players, regardless of race, particularly in the new era of free agency.

    Out and Back recounts Allen's fight to rehabilitate her body, rebuild her belief in herself, and return to the life and sport she loves.

    Formed in the early Eighties, it took its name from its followers love of soul music and brought together disparate mobs from the Welsh capital city and from the surrounding valleys and industrial towns. And it has left mayhem in its wake. David Jones and Tony Rivers are former members of the Soul Crew and give a riveting insider's account of clashes with the violent crews from as far afield as London, Middlesborough, Plymouth and Glasgow. They describe the intense rivalry with the 'Jacks' of Swansea City, reveal how internal tensions have prevented the gang from having a clear leadership, tell of their obsession with the 'casual' fashion scene and explain how they have forged friendships with fellow terrace obsessives from all over Britain.Told with black humor and unflinching honesty, 'Soul Crew' is an explosive account of how the hooligan culture has prevailed despite the best efforts of police, politicians and the football authorities to stamp it out.

    Baseball's hottest playboy.He's cocky. Rude. Arrogant.And too damn sexy.From the moment he strutted into my diner, he's had his baby blues set on me.He doesn't take no for an answer... But everything about him just rubs me the wrong way.He's too good looking, and too damn charming.And he thinks he can spit a good game.But I'm not one of his adoring fan girls, and I'm not that easy.I know his kind, and I've been burned before.I've promised myself I won't make that mistake twice...Or will I?

    This is not a book of swing techniques. There are plenty of other resources that teach you how to swing, chip and putt. What this book does provide is a true framework for breaking 80 based on sound principles that will work for any golfer of any level. Provided you faithfully follow and apply these principles, you will begin to improve surely and steadily, to the point where you will eventually gain the ability to break 80, not just as a one-time fluke, but over and over again as a reflection of your true new-found ability. Whether you're struggling to break 100, 90, 80 or even a complete beginner, the Little Book of Breaking 80 will help take your game to the next level!

    In twenty-four seasons pitcher Roger Clemens put together one of the greatest careers baseball has ever seen. Seven Cy Young Awards, two World Series championships, and 354 victories made him a lock for the Hall of Fame. But on December 13, 2007, the Mitchell Report laid waste to all that. Accusations that Clemens relied on steroids and human growth hormone provided and administered by his former trainer, Brian McNamee, have put Clemens in the crosshairs of a Justice Department investigation.Why did this happen? How did it happen? Who made the decisions that altered some lives and ruined others? How did a devastating culture of drugs, lies, sex, and cheating fester and grow throughout Major League Baseball's clubhouses? The answers are in these extraordinary pages.American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime is about much more than the downfall of a superstar. While the fascinating portrait of Clemens is certainly at the center of the action, the book takes us outside the white lines and inside the lives and dealings of sports executives, trainers, congressmen, lawyers, drug dealers, groupies, a porn star, and even a murderer—all of whom have ties to this saga. Four superb investigative journalists have spent years uncovering the truth, and at the heart of their investigation is a behind-the-scenes portrait of the maneuvering and strategies in the legal war between Clemens and his accuser, McNamee.This compelling story is the strongest examination yet of the rise of illegal drugs in America’s favorite sport, the gym-rat culture in Texas that has played such an important role in spreading those drugs, and the way Congress has dealt with the entire issue. Andy Pettitte, Jose Canseco, Alex Rodriguez, and Chuck Knoblauch are just a few of the other players whose moving and sometimes disturbing stories are illuminated here as well. The New York Daily News Sports Investigative Team has written the definitive book on corruption and the steroids era in Major League Baseball. In doing so, they have managed to dig beneath the disillusion and disappointment to give us a stirring look at heroes who all too often live unheroic shadow lives.

    The Shire are lucky if all eleven players make it to a game, they have an average home attendance at their dilapidated Firs Park ground of 200 and they ended the 2004/05 season bottom of the Scottish Third Division - for the third consecutive year. Granted access to all areas, Jeff Connor gets into the dressing room, the board room and the dug-out. But, above all, he gets into the spirit of the club. He began the season a scoffing cynic and finished it lost in admiration for one of the dottiest sporting institutions in Britain as the Shire attempted to reach the promised land - SECOND bottom of the Scottish Third Division. At times funny, sad, heart-warming and embarrassing, as events on and off the pitch unfold, Pointless is an unmissable insight into a unique football team

    When it did, there stood the central figure in one of the biggest scandals in sports history: Kirk Radomski. Radomski was a regular New York kid who, from the age of fifteen had the amazing fortune of working in the Mets clubhouse. The focus of his job was to give the players whatever they wanted or needed—he got their uniforms ready, packed up their homes at the end of the season, cashed their checks, and helped them beat the drug tests that would have led to suspension. And at the end of the 1986 season he even led the World Champions down Broadway during their victory parade. Eventually, he graduated to helping in other ways: providing them with steroids and human growth hormones. By the time the Feds knocked on his door, he was the main clubhouse supplier of performance-enhancing drugs to almost three hundred baseball players. Under threat of a long prison sentence—and after being identified by players he’d helped—he cooperated with Senator George Mitchell to produce the Mitchell Report, providing names and dates. Now he’s ready to tell the whole story to the world. Radomski made little money from these transactions, and in this stunning book he will recount what baseball knew about the problem, his life since the report came out, and who took what. This is the tale of a young man seeing his heroes turn into clay, and the degradation of a once great sport into the drug-addicted spectacle it has become.

    To make matters worse, Joey finds himself caught in the middle of a career threatening scandal. Can Charlotte help Joey get out of this disaster before it's too late?Find out in part four of Craving Her Curves!

    You needn't be most golfers.A Golf Swing You Can Trust is an original work by John Hoskison, a deep-thinking PGA tour player and teacher. Inside, John reveals how, after years of slicing, he went from the worst player on the European Tour to the National PGA Professional Champion by using these simple techniques.From the grip to the finish position, John coaches using humor, photos and unique analogies to explain how the golf swing works and how to build a swing you can trust.  Whether a golfer wants to improve their driving off the tee, iron shots to the green or their chipping and pitching, the tips and drills in this book will make it easier to hit the shots consistently.  If any golfer wants to build a swing that works, this is a must read. *Don't miss John's new biography about his days on the European Tour called - No Hiding in The Open.*  Excerpt from A Golf Swing You Can Trust:The correct stance is vital if you want to build a simple swing that repeats. But most golfers switch off and skip these chapters of a golf instruction book. I understand that. The grip and aim are not as alluring as advice on the theoretical advantages of pronation or supination through impact. And hey! You've been told you have a nice practice swing--you can't be that far off. Aiming correctly is for beginners!So just to dispel any reservations you may have that this book is not for you, here's one last piece of motivational talk before we move on to check your stance. It's very often a golfer makes a great practice swing but when they come to hit the ball the swing's completely different. That's because the hands and body don't communicate on a practice swing--they let you get on with it on your own. They only bother to 'talk' to each other when you're about to hit a shot at a specific target.When the crunch comes and you're ready to swing back, if the aim of the club doesn't match up to your intended swing path, they hit the panic button, take control and stick the swing on autopilot. They program in what they have to do and you can't override it. You might try to take the club back in one piece but it you're not aiming correctly--they quickly take over. And if you think you can kid them you'd have done it by now.If you are aiming at a target 250 yards away and your club face is only 3 degrees to the right, it will be pointing 13 yards right of target. If you try to replicate your nice square practice swing, but your hands pick up where the club is aiming the two angles are so conflicting your orthodox swing becomes impossible.The only time you can override your natural alarm system is when you're standing in front of a pro and he's watching you like a hawk. Then the alarm system becomes dormant--it trusts the pro to watch over you. Soon as you walk out the teaching bay, it switches back on.REVIEWS:"John taught himself great technique and knows as much about the golf swing as anyone I've met.  His explanation of the swing is fantastic." ~Nick Mitchell, Former European TourPGA Player"I went to John for the usual stuff; head in hands, not knowing what shot was coming next. John kept it simple... got me back enjoying my golf again.

    The Pounding Hearts Series is full of badass MMA fighters who will beat the crap out of anyone who tries to mess with their girls. Four full-length, standalone books, each features a dominant alpha hero and a young heroine trying to make her way in the world. Book One - Banging Reaper Two men. Only one can be the best in the ring. Only one can make her completely his. Yeah, they call me Reaper, because I make anyone who fights me wish he was dead. I'm large and in charge with a big house, two cars, and enough money to party for the rest of my days. Life is great—but meeting Avery changes everything. She's nothing like the ring girls I usually hook up with. There’s just something about her that brings out the protective beast inside me. She needs to be mine, but that cheating asshole Ethan is in the way. I'll do whatever it takes to claim her ... even if that means destroying her best friend. Book Two – Slamming Demon Second chances don't come easy. Sometimes, you have to fight like hell for what you want. I'm a demon in the ring ... but Mandy still owns my heart. That doesn't mean I'm ready to pick up where we left off, though. I don't know if I forgive her, but I'm not letting anyone else near her. She's mine to protect whether she knows it or not... Book Three – Bucking Bear Sometimes, the biggest fights of your life are the ones outside the ring. I’ve never known a woman like Grace before. As soon as I met her, I wanted to claim her, make her mine, and protect her from everything. And her little girl already feels like my own daughter. So if her jerk of an ex tries to mess with Grace -- or Hope -- he’s going to find out a grizzly would be easier to fight than me. No one hurts my girls. Book Four – Breaking Beast He’s determined to protect her, even if it breaks him. Life’s been pretty damn good to me. As the reigning middleweight champion, I’ve got money, power, and fame. Not to mention a surplus of women willing to jump into my bed. All in all, I’ve got few complaints. I’m just living the dream… then Christy falls into my lap. She’s young, vulnerable, and innocent. And she has enough on her that plate that she doesn’t need any grief from an old bastard like me. But she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. I can’t stop myself from wanting her, even though there’s more than a decade between us. I’m trying hard to keep my hands to myself, but she’s proving to be a temptation too great to resist…