Tim Hudson was determined to demonstrate his recovery from a recurring injury. Barry Zito had to show the world that after a ho-hum 2003, his 2002 Cy Young Award was not a fluke. Mark Mulder missed the 203 playoffs entirely with a stress fracture, but the way he saw it, he simply needed to be himself-the natural-born pitcher.Given unprecedented access to the Big Three , Mychael Urban recreates their tumultuous season through their eyes. he explores the nuts and bolts of major league pitching, examining each player's unique approach to this craft while revealing how three very different personalities cope with the demands, rewards, and challenges of sports stardom.Now with a new afterword on the 2005 seasonUrban traces the fortunes of the Big Three after Hudson was sent to Atlanta and Mulder to St. Louis, trades which held the dramatic promise of them being reunited again-as opponents-in the playoffs."Written with great color, style, humor, and grace, Aces takes readers on a captivating ride." - Mike Silver, Sports Illustrated"Mychael Urban's book is a fabulous read... This is hardly just a baseball book. It's about life, and he tremendous burden each pitcher carried while trying to lead the Oakland A's to the playoffs. I absolutely loved it." - Bob Nightengale, Senor Writer/Columnist, USA Today Sports Weekly"From the southern fried heat of Tim Hudson to Mark Mulder's cool aloofness to Barry Zito's cerebral wanderings, Urban captures the engine of Oakland's Little Engine That Could of a team with grace and aplomb." - Scott Miller, National Baseball Columnist, CBS.SportsLine.com

    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.

     By Your Side- Jake Miller likes his life. It’s simple and quiet. Solitary. He’s taking the last thing his mother truly cared about before she died, the properties she owned, and making them his purpose. His time in the Army hadn’t allowed him to be there for her before, but this is something he can do now. Just him and his dog. Exactly how he wants it. Until her, his first tenant. With her innate openness and blinding smiles, the opposite of everything he thought he could possibly want. Casey Steadman has less to show for her twenty-nine years than she’d hoped. No white picket fence. No 2.5 kids. And definitely no loving husband. Just a few lukewarm relationships, an exceedingly crappy apartment, and a fabulous shoe collection (and the credit card debt to prove it). Moving into her new place is one big, high heeled step towards a new life. The stable, make-boring-mature-decisions kind of life that she needs to be able to prove to her family that she can live. What she wasn’t planning on was her hotter-than-Hades new landlord. Sparks are a-flying, and they’re the kind that can only come from a stiletto-loving, dog-hating, budget-repelling, relentlessly optimistic, youngest of five becoming the tenant and next door neighbor to a stoically silent, slightly pessimistic, ‘my only friend is my dog’, only child and former Army Ranger. Casey and Jake are total opposites. But when they come together, it just might be true love. Light Me Up- For Rachel Hennessy, it’s been an interesting six months. Boyfriend? Cheated on her. Job? She totally just got fired. Starting her own wedding planning business sounds exciting … in theory. In reality, it’s completely terrifying. And on top of all that, the freaking cherry right on top? She just had an ill-timed, alcohol-instigated one-night stand with her bff Casey’s brother, Tate. Yeah, that Tate. The one that she’s had a teensy, inconvenient crush on for years. But nothing about it is ill-timed or inconvenient for Tate Steadman. Because he finally feels free. Free of the oppressive relationship he’d been in for the past six years. Free to pursue Rachel, because one alcohol-fueled night was not even close to enough for him. He just wished she saw it that way. Because she makes him want more than he ever knew he was capable of. When their one night has unexpected consequences, Rachel has no clue how to trust that he’s not just trying to be ‘the good guy’ who wants to do ‘the right thing’. And even though the chemistry between them practically burns down an entire city block when they’re together, she doesn’t know how to let down the concrete wall she’s built up around herself. The ‘mistake’ of one evening can change the trajectory of two lives, but maybe a mistake is all they really need to push them right into true love. Tell Them Lies- Liz Peters hasn’t exactly gotten the happily-ever-after she’s read about in her Jane Austen books. ‘Always a bridesmaid’ is more fitting to the way life has been passing this good girl by. About to go postal from loneliness, she meets a man who doesn’t seem to fit any of her requirements for a book-worthy hero. Kieran Carter would do just about anything to put a smile on his terminally ill mother’s face. When he meets a woman in the ice cream aisle at the grocery store, Kieran finally has opportunity to do just that. If he needs to lie in order to give his mom a little hope? Not a freakin problem.

    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?

    

    

    The Blake Brothers are three brothers that know what they want and will do anything to get it! Each story is steamy, sweet, and short. Be ready! I'm sure you're going to find your next book boyfriend in either Jason, Jack, or Jared. If I Say YesAn Alpha Tattooed Man and Curvy Woman Romance ChelseyHe made me fall in love with him. I couldn't stop it.He's a professional baseball player, with women falling all over him... but he chose me, the plus-size woman in the stands.But the day of the wedding, his true colors come out and with my heart broke in two, I escape and leave him standing at the altar.JasonI knew the first time I saw her that she would be the woman I'd marry.In a whirlwind, we set the date.But with a case of misunderstandings and mistaken identity, she leaves for our honeymoon... single.I do what any man in love would do... I follow her - and make her mine. Love Like OursAn Alpha Older Man and Curvy Younger Woman Romance EmilyI met him for the first time and it felt like I've known him forever.When we're thrown together on vacation because of a misunderstanding, well, it just gives me more time to fall in love.Guarding my heart should be my number one priority... because he's leaving in a week.JackI never dreamed that I would want to settle down.But from the first moment I laid eyes on her, I knew she was special.It may take some convincing, and a change in my ways, But I'm going to make her mine. Never Been Kissed KrissyFour years ago, he was the nerd in high school. I was the captain of the cheerleading squad. I liked him then, but nothing ever came of it.When I see him again, all those old feelings come up and I know that I won't let him go again.JaredI've followed her for four years... from afar.I've taken care of her, even though she doesn't know it.When I need her help, I try to prove to her exactly how I feel about her.But when she finds out how hard I worked to make this happen, will she forgive me?

    Waited for a team that could end the longest title drought on any city in America that fields teams in all four major professional sports. Waited for that one magical postseason run that could unleash a quarter-century of pent-up frustration. And then these '08 Phillies hopped on that magic carpet and made it happen. Unlike so many Phillies teams that were haunted by the past, this team was inspired by it, by the chance to place its own inimitable stamp on the franchise. And as the 2 million people who attended their championship parade can attest, it was Worth the Wait.

    Granted unprecedented access to the team's top management and financial data, Pluto delivers an up-close account of how decisions were made to radically reshape the franchise. Indians fans grew accustomed to winning in the mid-1990s. They had an owner with deep pockets, a brand-new ballpark, and a team of high-priced all stars who delivered a division championship nearly every year. But that glorious ride ended with a jolt of reality after savvy owner Richard Jacobs sold the franchise at the top of the market in 2000. New owners Larry and Paul Dolan and new general manager Mark Shapiro faced a challenge: an aging team, a mounting payroll, and a shrinking budget. First they made mistakes. Then they made bold changes. Stars such as Manny Ramirez, Roberto Alomar, and Jim Thome were gone, replaced with roster of unproven youngsters and veteran rehab projects. Fans were alarmed and dismayed. Then, in 2002, Shapiro boldly predicted that the Indians would return to contend for the playoffs after just three years of rebuilding. Critics scoffed. Yet at the end of the 2005 season, the Indians were indeed back in contention, one tantalizing game away from a return to the playoffs. The core of an exciting young team was beginning to take shape, and Shapiro was voted American League Executive of the Year as his team won an impressive 93 games despite a payroll ranked in baseball's bottom five. How was it done? In his familiar clear writing style, Pluto carefully explains the manyrisky moves made by management and tells which ones have paid off, which ones haven?t, and why. This rare behind-the-scenes look at a modern front office will intrigue fantasy leaguers and fans fascinated by baseball dealmaking. It will be an eye-opener for Indians fans who may still be wondering, What happened to my team?

    Baseball Prospectus 2007 continues that tradition, bringing together the top young baseball writers and analysts in the business to provide a definitive look at the season to come. Featuring humorous and incisive essays on all thirty teams and an in-depth look at every major league player and all the top prospects, Baseball Prospectus 2007 offers the cutting-edge analysis that has inspired nearly every major league team to seek the advice of current or former Prospectus writers. Also included are projections of player stats for next year, as determined by the groundbreaking PECOTA system, which Sports Illustrated has called “perhaps the game’s most accurate projection model.” The most authoritative and entertaining book of its kind, Baseball Prospectus 2007 is as essential to the baseball- watching experience as hot dogs and cold beer.

    Every game played with your child has the potential to become a lifelong memory.The Rookie is a flash fiction piece (just over 500 words) based on a childhood memory.

    Now, Erik Sherman, the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Mookie, profiles key players from that infamous Mets team, revealing never-before-exposed details about their lives after that championship year…as well as a look back at the magical season itself.      Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden, Keith Hernandez, Lenny Dykstra, Mookie Wilson, Howard Johnson, Doug Sisk, Rafael Santana, Bobby Ojeda, Wally Backman, Kevin Mitchell, Ed Hearn, Danny Heep, and the late Gary Carter were all known for their heroics on the field. For some of them—known as the “Scum Bunch”—their debauchery off the field was even more awe-inspiring. But when that golden season ended, so did their aura of invincibility. Some faced battles with addiction, some were traded, and others struggled just to keep their lives together.    Through interviews with these legendary players, Erik Sherman offers fans a new perspective on a team that will forever be remembered in sports history.INCLUDES PHOTOSFrom the Hardcover edition.

    Illustrated with 16 pages of photographs.

    She’s a recent college grad stuck working the checkout lane of her hometown grocery store. For all she knows, love will never find her … until she gets a friend request from the hot football player who bullied her in high school. Someone she swore she’d never talk to ever again. Travis is a pro football star and enjoys the advantages of that life: money, women, fame. But deep down, he’s missing something – the nerdy hot girl he had been mean to in high school. When he sees her picture on social media, he only hopes she’ll forgive him and give him a chance to show her how much he’d always wanted her - how much he needs her now. PUBLISHER'S NOTE: FUMBLE BABY is a standalone happily-ever-after romance story with no cliffhangers

    That name rang bells through just about every part of South Florida. Rodney is a senior in high school, and just about every university wants him to pick their school for college due to his phenomenal skills on the football field. The thing about Rodney is that football is his first true love. Growing up in a foster home and being transferred to group homes his entire life, Rodney never really knew what love was. He had his baby mama, Troy Washington, who he loved and he thought she felt the same until he finds out that Troy’s intentions with him weren’t genuine. Something happens to Rodney that put his football career in jeopardy. The people who he thought cared about him exited his life as soon as it was clear that his future may not be as bright as they'd hoped. Years later, things have changed, and Rodney is stuck raising a child on his own. Feeling hopeless and defeated, he meats Eva Vasquez. Eva is the woman that men salivate over and hope to one day have a woman even half as beautiful. She works as a chief executive for a very successful magazine company and could pretty much have any man she wants, but what is it about Rodney that has her willing to look past his flaws and see the man she knows he has the potential to be?