No hits, no walks, no men reaching base. In nearly four hundred thousand contests in more than 130 years of Major League Baseball, it has only happened twenty times. On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga threw baseball’s twenty-first perfect game. Except that’s not how it entered the record books.That’s because Jim Joyce, a veteran umpire with more than twenty years of big league experience, the man voted the best umpire in the game in 2010 by baseball’s players, missed the call on the final out at first base. “No, I did not get the call correct,” Joyce said after seeing a replay. But rather than throw a tantrum, Galarraga simply turned and smiled, went back to the mound and took care of business. “Nobody’s perfect,” he said later in the locker room.In Nobody’s Perfect, Galarraga and Joyce come together to tell the personal story of a remarkable game that will live forever in baseball lore, and to trace their fascinating lives in sports up until this pivotal moment. It is an absorbing insider’s look at two lives in baseball, a tremendous achievement, and an enduring moment of sportsmanship.

    The family is considering a move back to Phoenix, where Chase's father lives and there are better opportunities both for parents and children. Chase, however, loves the high country and doesn't want to leave. In particular, he loves geocaching, a sort of a treasure-hunting game involving a GPS. While on a geocaching expedition, he encounters two young brothers, camping in the wilderness with their father. Something's not right, that much he can tell. He's curious enough to return repeatedly, hoping to figure out what is going on and how he can help. Eventually, he learns the brothers were kidnapped by their father from their mother, who has legal custody. Just as Chase's family is trying to decide what to do with their future, he has to decide what role he's going to play in the life of his new friends, Jack and Sam.Book Details: Format: Hardcover Publication Date: 8/1/2010 Pages: 240 Reading Level: Age 9 and Up

    In small town, post-World War Oregon, twenty-one 6th grade girls recount the story of an annual softball game, during which one girl's bigotry comes to the surface.

    Her new home is Brooklyn, New York. America is indeed a land full of wonders, but Shirley doesn't know any English, so it's hard to make friends. Then a miracle-baseball-happens. It is 1947, and Jackie Robinson, star of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is everyone's hero. Jackie Robinson is proving that a black man, the grandson of a slave, can make a difference in America and for Shirley as well, on the ball field and off, America becomes the land of opportunity.

    Yet, following New York’s comeback victory in scintillating Game 7, both the Red Sox and Yankees entered the off-season without a world title--and with renewed conviction to finish the job in 2004.In A Tale of Two Cities, respected baseball writers John Harper (New York Daily News) and Tony Massarotti (Boston Herald) chronicle the Yankees and Red Sox in parallel story lines through the summer of 2004. The authors take you behind the scenes with the teams, cities, and media during one of the most intense baseball seasons in history.

    . . and make them laugh out loud at the same time.From Angela Johnson's funny story about a klutzy girl who thinks that square dancing will save her from the evil trampoline in gym, to Jim Proimos's zany comic book story about always missing the bus, to Avi's imaginative story about an atrocious speller who manages to survive a robbery attempt and earn an A in English at the same time . . . each of these fictional stories humorously reflects those magical and not-so-magical school moments that we've all experienced.Photos and reminiscences of the authors from their own school days add a personal touch to the collection, letting kids know that they aren't the only ones who've had to suffer the indignity of pop quizzes and sloppy joes!Original stories by: Avi Angela Johnson David Lubar James Proimos David Rice Susan Shreve Terry Trueman Rachel Vail Lee Wardlaw Sarah Weeks

    He loves watching basketball. He loves talking about basketball. The only problem is he can't play basketball. But coach has a plan for Kirby and the supremely untalented seventh-grade team. It involves the guys playing nearly naked -- only in their briefs. Maybe the so-called Stealth Sportswear (think: The Emperor's New Clothes) will really inspire the team. Maybe. And maybe, just maybe, Kirby will find out who his real father is.

      Tracing the evolution of pitching and the pitcher’s art of deception, Terry McDermott tells the fascinating story of baseball’s 150-year hunt for the perfect pitch. Using the framework of a single game (nine chapters, nine innings, nine pitches),  he explores the history of every type of pitch, combining the folk wisdom of the players with the enormous wealth of new data brought to the sport by the growing legion of statisticians who are transforming many of the sport’s once sacred beliefs. As a lifelong baseball fan, McDermott approaches his subject with the love every fan brings to the park plus the expertise of a probing journalist, exploring with irrepressible enthusiasm and curiosity both the science and the romance of the game.

    nobody would have names.We would just have batting averages.When star rookies Fred Lynn and Jim Rice, the Gold Dust Twins, join the Red Sox in 1975, Richard dreams of following in their footsteps.Napoleon Charlie Ellis arrives in Boston from the island of Dominica with a firm handshake, a love of cricket and classical music, and no one to call a friend. He needs help. Richard plans to help Napoleon and make him his partner. The two of them will go on to baseball greatness together, the next Gold Dust Twins.Except what if Napoleon has dreams of his own?2001 Notable Children's Books (ALA), 2001 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA), Children's Books 2000-NY Public Lib., and Bulletin Blue Ribbon Best of 2000 Award

    I never planned to return. Not to the regrets. The bitter memories. The guilt.My baseball career gave me both the excuse and the money I needed to start over. Then my mom called, and I found myself headed back to the one place I swore I wouldn’t step foot again.Meeting Delilah wasn’t part of the plan. Falling in love with her adorable son was even less so. And yet, what’s brewing between us is too intense to be denied. The unexpected passion is almost enough to distract us from the crumbling of both our worlds.But even as the sparks fly, someone is waiting in the shadows to burn it all down.

    The last two teachers of this class quit in frustration. The students--a bunch of energetic young men--are bored with all the regular games and activities. Naismith needs something new, exciting, and fast to keep the class happy...or someone's going to get hurt. His only resources are a gymnasium, a couple peach baskets, some soccer balls, and his imagination. Saving this class is going to take a genius. Discover the true story of how Naismith invented basketball in 1891 at a school in Springfield, Massachusetts.

    To get some help, he cops a poetry book from his dad's den - and before Kevin knows it, he's writing in verse about stuff like, Will his jock friends give up on him? What's the deal with girlfriends? Surprisingly enough, after his health improves, he keeps on writing, about the smart-talking Latina girl who thinks poets are cool, and even about his mother, whose death is a still-tender loss. Written in free verse with examples of several poetic forms slipped into the mix, including a sonnet, haiku, pastoral, and even a pantoum, this funny, poignant story by a master of dialogue is an English teacher's dream - sure to hook poetry lovers, baseball fanatics, mono recoverers, and everyone in between.

    What could be a better time for Papa-Angelo's grandson to be born? Christened after the legendary ballplayer, young Joseph Paul learns much at his Italian grandfather's knee -- about holding your breath in front of the radio during a 3-2 count with the bases loaded and having the audacity to dream big dreams.

    A 1995 Coretta Scott King Honor Book now in a striking Polaris edition.

    . . and mayhem!Trot, a Vietnamese American surfer girl, and Cap'n Bill, her cranky one-eyed cat, catch too big a wave and wipe out, sucked down into a magical underwater kingdom where an ancient deep-sea battle rages. The beautiful Sea Siren mermaids are under attack from the Serpent King and his slithery minions--and Trot and her feline become dangerously entangled in this war of tails and fins.This graphic novel was inspired by The Sea Fairies, L. Frank Baum's "underwater Wizard of Oz." It weaves Vietnamese mythology, fantastical ocean creatures, and a deep-sea setting.