B. Berkowitz, who is assigned to cover the men of the Washington Senators -- the worst team in major league baseball. Life in the locker room shows her not just the players'…um…assets but also their all-too-human frailties. Love for the game and love for the newspaper business are the stars in this hilarious and heartbreaking novel that "will have you singing a rousing chorus of 'Take Me Out to the Locker Room'"(People).

    Louis Cardinals have experienced the kind of success that is rare in baseball. Regarded by many as the premier organization in Major League Baseball, they not only win, but do so with an apparently bottomless pool of talent, one that is mostly homegrown.Despite years of phenomenal achievements, including going to the World Series in 2004 and again in 2006, the Cardinals reinvented themselves using the "Cardinal Way," a term that has come to represent many things to fans, media, and other organizations, from an ironclad code of conduct to the team's cutting-edge use of statistic and analytics, and a farm system that has transformed baseball.Baseball journalist Howard Megdal takes fans behind the scenes and off the field, interviewing dozens of key players within the Cardinals organization, including owner Bill DeWitt and the general manager John Mozeliak. Megdal reveals how the players are assessed and groomed using an unrivaled player development system that has created a franchise that is the envy of the baseball world.In the spirit of Moneyball, The Cardinals Way tells an in-depth, fascinating story about a consistently good franchise, the business of sports in the twenty-first century and a team that has learned how to level the playing field, turning in season after successful season.

    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.

    As told by Dr. Rock Positano, DiMaggio’s closest confidante in New York during the final years of his life, Dinner with DiMaggio is an intimate portrait of one of America’s most enduring heroes.This memoir of a decade-long friendship reveals the very private DiMaggio as he really was—sometimes demanding, sometimes big-hearted, always impeccable, loyal, and a true stand-up guy—while serving up illuminating stories and rare insights about the people in his life, including his teammates, Muhammad Ali, Sandy Koufax, Woody Allen, and more. In 1990, Dr. Rock Positano, the thirty-two-year-old foot and ankle specialist, was introduced to DiMaggio, the pair brought together by a career-ending heel spur injury. Though Dr. Positano was forty years younger, an unlikely friendship developed after the doctor successfully treated the baseball champ’s heel. At the start, Joe mentored Rock but came to rely on his young friend to show him a good time in New York, the town that made him a legend. In time, the famously reserved DiMaggio opened up to Dr. Positano and talked about his joys, his disappointments, and his sorrows as he reflected on his extraordinary life. The stories and experiences shared with Dr. Positano comprise an intimate portrait of one of the great stars of baseball and icon of the twentieth century.

    

    On the cusp of turning thirty, overweight, and saddled with a 14 handicap, Coyne embarked on a yearlong quest to do everything he could to lift his game—and find out if he could make it through the PGA Tour Qualifying School. Paper Tiger takes you on a rollicking ride into the beer-gutted underbelly of semipro golf, into a world of crash diets, punishing workout regimens, high-flying sports shrinks, cutting-edge club technology, and obscure tournaments. With his girlfriend as caddy, Coyne traverses from Miami to Chicago to Toronto to see how he stacks up against the competition. Ultimately he takes his game to a new level—or at least a new continent—on the links of Australian Q-School, where amidst forty-mile-an-hour winds he must choose between the love of a fickle game and the love of the long-suffering woman who has stood by him throughout all the shanks, hooks, yips, and chili dips. Brimming with humor and insight about the world’s most beautiful and maddening game, Paper Tiger will delight golfers and the sane people who love them.

    He was about to surpass the legendary Bobby Knight to become the all-time NCAA wins leader in men’s basketball. Then, on a two-lane road in South Dakota, everything changed in an instant.In How Lucky You Can Be, acclaimed sports journalist Buster Olney tells the remarkable story of the successive tragedies that befell Coach Meyer but could not defeat him. Laid low by a horrific car accident that led to the amputation of his left leg below the knee, Coach Meyer had barely emerged from surgery when his doctors informed him that he also had terminal cancer. In the blink of an eye, this prototypical 24/7 workaholic coach—who arrived at the gym most mornings before 6 a.m.—found himself forced to reexamine his priorities at the age of sixty-three. A model of reserve, Coach Meyer had sacrificed much of his emotional life to his program. His wife, Carmen, felt disconnected because of his habitual reticence, while his three children—all now well into adulthood—had long had to compete with basketball for his attention.With sensitivity and skill, Olney shows how Coach Meyer mined his physical ordeal for the spiritual strength to transform his life. In the months that followed his accident and diagnosis, he reached out to family, friends, and former players in a way he had never been able to do before, making the most of this one last opportunity to tell those close to him how he felt about them—and in turn he received an outpouring of affirmation that confirmed how deeply he had affected others. Sustained throughout an often painful recovery by his love of basketball, he would return to the court once more—with a newfound appreciation for the game’s place in his life. The inspirational story of a life renewed by unimaginable hardship, How Lucky You Can Be proves that it’s never too late to start making changes—and reminds us that fortune can smile upon us even in our most trying hours.

    

    This e-book from The Wall Street Journal collects dispatches from our coverage of the sights, sounds and culture of the world's favorite sport as seen in Brazil, its spiritual home. We’ve collected highlights from The Journal's coverage of the tournament, added an introductory essay from WSJ Sports Columnist Jason Gay and more to bring you the most interesting, unexpected and insightful reporting from the Journal's correspondents in Brazil and around the world. It looks at everything from the sport itself to the people, places and culture that make the World Cup one of the most engaging sporting events on the planet.

    From the boys at the back of the bus to one of the most imitated sports talk radio stations on the air today, get the full story as told by the guys you tune in to hear on 1310 AM every day.On the occasion of The Ticket’s 15th anniversary, Ticketheads finally have a book revealing all the history and behind-the-scenes hijinks of the Marconi-winning radio station. The ultimate bathroom book for every good, strong P1, this is the true, unvarnished Ticket story of how Mike Rhyner and the gang evolved from press-box yuk monkeys to forming the core of one of the nation’s most popular radio stations.

    When an old scrapbook stirs memories, Billy Bryan looks back to the year 1947 when he was playing winter ball in Cuba, enjoying Havana's decadent nightlife, and dreaming of a major-league career.

    Introduction by Charles C. Alexander.

    In The DiMaggios, acclaimed sportswriter Tom Clavin reveals the untold Great American Story of three brothers, Joltin’ Joe, Dom, and Vince DiMaggio, and the Great American Game—baseball—that would consume their lives.A vivid portrait of a family and the ways in which their shifting fortunes and status shaped their relationships, The DiMaggios is a exploration of an era and a culture.This comprehensive biography that recalls the work of Jane Leavy offers a trove of insight into one of the game’s greatest players and his family, sure to be treasured by Yankees fans, Red Sox Fans, and baseball aficionados around the world.

    This is the first time this novel has been available as an ebook and the first time it has been available outside the UK. Vernon Coleman is also the author of the bestseller Too Many Clubs and Not Enough Balls and the hugely successful bestselling Bilbury series. `As captain of my golf club I thought your book was a hoot.' - H.D. `An excellent and amusing story and I'm not even a golfer.' J.H. `Light hearted entertainment - very readable.' - Golf World `Thank you for providing me with hours of happy reading.' E.M. `Hugely enjoyable, in the best tradition of British comic writing.' Evening Chronicle `The scenario is tailor made or Vernon Coleman's light and amusing anecdotes about country life and pursuits. His fans will lap it up.' Sunday Independent Vernon Coleman has written over 100 books (many of which are now available as Kindle books on Amazon). His books have sold over two million copies in the UK in hardback and paperback and have been translated into 25 languages. His novel Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War was turned into an award winning movie. What the readers say about Vernon Coleman and his books: Coleman is a very funny writer - This England Laugh out loud funny - Golf World He writes lucidly and wittily - Good Housekeeping Superstar - Independent on Sunday Vernon Coleman writes brilliant books - The Good Book Guide Compulsive reading - The Guardian etc etc For a list of books by Vernon Coleman please visit his author page on Amazon. For more information please visit www.vernoncoleman.com

    He never had good intentions with my heart from the beginning. Novah, Billie and Normani navigate through life with their heads held high despite their tumultuous relationships with the men they fathered kids with. Novah fell into love quickly with Carter. They were young. He was a rising NFL star and she was a popular video vixen. Years skate by and Novah realizes he isn’t the man she thought he was. After ending their love affair, she learns of their twin sons. Novah does the best she can to keep the peace. While the media makes her out to be the bitter, gold digging baby momma she takes it to the chin. For her sons, she will eat up any negative accusation the world has to say about her. Her only aspiration in life is to give her sons a good one. When Novah begins to stand up to Carter and his demanding ways things go left. He shows her a side of him that she’s never seen before and Novah is left with two choices. Turn another blind eye to his foul ways or finally expose him for the hateful person that he really is. Billie was born to model. It flowed through her being effortlessly. Billie only wanted two things in life. That was to model and be with Dreux. Dreux, however. wanted out of Detroit. He watched his brother fall victim to the streets and vowed to be different. Despite Billie’s love for him he left Detroit and attended college out of state. While being apart from Dreux, Billie found comfort with his cousin Malachi. Malachi was Billie’s yes man. Whatever she needed he was there to make it happen. Billie wasn’t attracted to him but was grateful for his presence. One lonely night Billie found herself in bed with Malachi. From that encounter, a child was created. Billie immediately regretted her decision to be with him and because she wanted nothing else from him Malachi turned bitter. Billie allowed for her broken heart over Dreux to lead her down a dangerous path. She partied more and ended up losing her son to Malachi. It was a mistake that he refused to let her live down. Now that Billie is better than ever and ready to get her son back Malachi is fighting her at every turn. Billie wants peace in her life but with Malachi constantly bringing her chaos she’s fearful that the old Billie might resurface and that’s the last thing she needs. Normani is young and full of life. While in her first year of college she met the popular DJ to the stars Tru. Tru was like a dream come true for her. The unattainable man that somehow wanted her and immediately she became engrossed by him. Without having to think about it she gave up school and allowed for her life to revolve around Tru. She became his biggest fan and after being together for a few years their daughter was born. Suddenly Normani began to see things in Tru that she hadn’t seen before. He was controlling, distant and selfish. Normani had only known two parents. She had an amazing childhood and wanted her daughter to have the same but Tru was making it hard for her to do so. When Normani’s childhood friend Azariah comes home for good and starts to garner her attention Tru takes notice. He makes big strides to show Normani that he is a changed man but for Normani it may be too late. This is a two-part series.