Best Selling Baseball Books

The top 50 most popular and best selling baseball ebooks at the Apple Books. Chart of the baseball iBook best sellers updated several times daily.

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Sports Ebook Best Sellers

Top Baseball Ebook Best Sellers

1

The Tao of the Backup Catcher - Tim Brown & Erik Kratz Cover Art

The Tao of the Backup Catcher

The Tao of the Backup Catcher Playing Baseball for the Love of the Game by Tim Brown & Erik Kratz

This fascinating book chronicles the unsung men of baseball who serve the job, the hardships they face, and their love for a game that would not always love them back-told partly through the experiences of an MLB veteran. "Reminds us of the beauty of baseball." —Jim Abott, former major league pitcher In baseball there are superstars, stars, and everyday players—and then there are the rest. The Tao of the Backup Catcher is about them, the backup catchers, who exist near the bottom of the roster and the end of the bench and between the numbers in a sport—and a society—increasingly driven by cold, hard analytics. The Tao of the Backup Catcher i s a story of grown men who once dreamed of stardom and generational wealth. Instead, they were handed a broom and a deeper understanding of who wins and why, who stands tall and who folds, and who will invest their own lives in catching bullpens and the back ends of doubleheaders. Backup catchers survive in part because every team needs one. They are necessary, once or twice a week. They are sports’ big brothers, psychologists, priests, witch doctors, player coaches, father figures and drinking buddies, all wrapped in a suit of today’s polycarbonate armor and yesterday’s dirt. They come with a singular goal: to win baseball games. They play for the greater good. After that, they play for themselves. A reverie on loving the grind and the little things baseball can teach us, The Tao of the Backup Catcher profiles Erik Kratz, Josh Paul, AJ Ellis, Bobby Wilson, Drew Butera, Matt Treanor, and John Flaherty to name a few. “This isn’t just a story about baseball. It’s about life and the beauty of knowing and accepting who you are.” -Jeff Passan, ESPN sports writer

2

Seasons in Hell - Mike Shropshire Cover Art

Seasons in Hell

Seasons in Hell With Billy Martin, Whitey Herzog and, "the Worst Baseball Team in History"—The 1973–1975 Texas Rangers by Mike Shropshire

"A funny, revealing,  Ball Four –like romp through mid-seventies baseball" from the longtime sports columnist and author of  The Last Real Season  ( Booklist ).   You think your team is bad?  In this "disastrously hilarious" work on one of the most tortured franchises in baseball, one reporter discovers that nine innings can feel like an eternity ( USA Today ). In early 1973, gonzo sportswriter Mike Shropshire agreed to cover the Texas Rangers for the  Fort Worth Star-Telegram , not realizing that the Rangers were arguably the worst team in baseball history.  Seasons in Hell  is a riotous, candid, irreverent behind-the-scenes account in the tradition of  The Bronx Zoo  and  Ball Four , following the Texas Rangers from Whitey Herzog's reign in 1973 through Billy Martin's tumultuous tenure. Offering wonderful perspectives on dozens of unique (and likely never-to-be-seen-again) baseball personalities,  Seasons in Hell  recounts some of the most extreme characters ever to play the game and brings to life the no-holds-barred culture of major league baseball in the mid-seventies.    "The single funniest sports book I have ever read."—Don Imus  "The locker-room shenanigans of a lousy team of the 1970s."— Publishers Weekly

3

Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way - Cal Ripken, Jr. Cover Art

Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way

Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way by Cal Ripken, Jr.

Coaching young players, developing their skills, and cultivating a love for the sport may be the most rewarding experience baseball can offer. Cal and Bill Ripken understand this like few others. From their father, Cal Sr., a legend in the Baltimore Orioles organization for 37 years, they learned to play the game the right way. Those lessons, paired with their combined 33 years of big league experience, helped develop the Ripken Way, a method of teaching the game through simple instruction, solid explanations, encouragement, and a positive atmosphere. In Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way , Cal and Bill share this approach to coaching and development. Whether you're teaching your children at home, managing the local travel team, or working with high school-level players, Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way will help you make a difference both on and off the field, with these features: • More than 50 drills covering defense, hitting, pitching, and baserunning • Age-specific practice plans for players ranging from 4 to 15+ • Strategies for setting goals and reasonable expectations for your players and team • Advice on communicating with parents, players, and staff • Methods for creating a positive and fun environment in which kids can learn the skills and strategies of the game Bill Ripken was once voted by his peers as one of the big league players most likely to become a manager. Cal Ripken, Jr., known as baseball's Iron Man, is a member of the game's All-Century Team and a future Hall of Famer. Together, they are proof positive that the Ripken Way is the right way to teach the game of baseball.

4

Fathers Playing Catch with Sons - Donald Hall Cover Art

Fathers Playing Catch with Sons

Fathers Playing Catch with Sons Essays on Sport (Mostly Baseball) by Donald Hall

The essays in Fathers Playing Catch with Son s are a wonderful mixture of reminiscence and observation, of baseball and of fathers and sons, of how a game binds people together and bridges generations. In the pantheon of great sports literature, not a few poets have tried their hand at paying tribute to their love affair with the game--Walt Whitman, Marianne Moore, and William Carlos Williams among them. This elegant volume collects Donald Hall's prose about sports, concentrating on baseball but extending to basketball, football and Ping-Pong.

5

Ball Four - Jim Bouton Cover Art

Ball Four

Ball Four by Jim Bouton

The 50th Anniversary edition of "the book that changed baseball" (NPR), chosen by Time magazine as one of the "100 Greatest Non-Fiction" books.   When Ball Four was published in 1970, it created a firestorm. Bouton was called a Judas, a Benedict Arnold, and a "social leper" for having violated the "sanctity of the clubhouse." Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force Bouton to sign a statement saying the book wasn't true. Ballplayers, most of whom hadn't read it, denounced the book. It was even banned by a few libraries.   Almost everyone else, however, loved Ball Four . Fans liked discovering that athletes were real people—often wildly funny people. David Halberstam, who won a Pulitzer for his reporting on Vietnam, wrote a piece in Harper's that said of Bouton: "He has written . . . a book deep in the American vein, so deep in fact that it is by no means a sports book."   Today Ball Four has taken on another role—as a time capsule of life in the sixties. "It is not just a diary of Bouton's 1969 season with the Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros," says sportswriter Jim Caple. "It's a vibrant, funny, telling history of an era that seems even further away than four decades. To call it simply a 'tell all book' is like describing The Grapes of Wrath as a book about harvesting peaches in California."   Includes a new foreword by Jim Bouton's wife, Paula Kurman   "An irreverent, best-selling book that angered baseball's hierarchy and changed the way journalists and fans viewed the sports world." — The Washington Post

6

Loose Balls - Terry Pluto Cover Art

Loose Balls

Loose Balls by Terry Pluto

What do Julius Erving, Larry Brown, Moses Malone, Bob Costas, the Indiana Pacers, the San Antonio Spurs and the Slam Dunk Contest have in common? They all got their professional starts in the American Basketball Association. What do Julius Erving, Larry Brown, Moses Malone, Bob Costas, the Indiana Pacers, the San Antonio Spurs and the Slam Dunk Contest have in common? They all got their professional starts in the American Basketball Association. The NBA may have won the financial battle, but the ABA won the artistic war. With its stress on wide-open individual play, the adoption of the 3-point shot and pressing defense, and the encouragement of flashy moves and flying dunks, today's NBA is still—decades later —just the ABA without the red, white and blue ball. Loose Balls is, after all these years, the definitive and most widely respected history of the ABA. It's a wild ride through some of the wackiest, funniest, strangest times ever to hit pro sports—told entirely through the (often incredible) words of those who played, wrote and connived their way through the league's nine seasons.

7

Tales from the Atlanta Braves Dugout - Cory McCartney Cover Art

Tales from the Atlanta Braves Dugout

Tales from the Atlanta Braves Dugout A Collection of the Greatest Braves Stories Ever Told by Cory McCartney

The newest addition to the Tales from the Team series, Tales from the Atlanta Braves Dugout includes stories on the greatest players and coaches to don the Braves uniform. Author Cory McCartney includes stories about Hank Aaron, Dale Murphy, Phil Niekro, Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Bobby Cox, and so many others. Recall the harrowing experience of Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium catching fire on July 21, 1993, overshadowing the debut of Fred McGriff, and read all about Sid Bream's slide and the worst-to-first season of 1991. From the run of 14 consecutive division titles and the 1995 World Series title, to Kent Mercker's 1994 no-hitter; from the arrival of the Baby Braves in Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur, and others, to the 2014 Hall of Fame–induction of Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, and Bobby Cox, the on and off-the-field stories are all here. This is the perfect addition to a Braves fan’s shelf! 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.

8

The Glory of Their Times - Lawrence S. Ritter Cover Art

The Glory of Their Times

The Glory of Their Times The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It by Lawrence S. Ritter

“Easily the best baseball book ever produced by anyone.”  —Cleveland Plain Dealer “This was the best baseball book published in 1966, it is the best baseball book of its kind now, and, if it is reissued in 10 years, it will be the best baseball book.” —  People From Lawrence Ritter, co-author of The Image of Their Greatness and The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time , comes one of the bestselling, most acclaimed sports books of all time—a landmark oral history of the game. Baseball was different in the dead-ball era—tougher, more raw, more intimate—when giants like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb ran the bases. In the monumental classic  The Glory of Their Times , the golden era of our national pastime comes alive through the vibrant words of those who played and lived the game. It is a book every baseball fan should read! Go inside the dugout during baseball’s golden age to hear the firsthand accounts of: Baseball History Comes Alive: Go beyond the stats and feel what the game was like when it was tougher, more raw, and more intimate, told by the men who were there. First-Person Accounts: Listen to the vibrant, unforgettable voices of legends and journeymen alike as they share their personal stories of victory and defeat from baseball’s golden era. Stories of the Greats: Sit down with icons like Rube Marquard, Tommy Leach, and Sam Crawford, who share candid memories of playing with and against titans like Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. A Timeless Sports Classic: Discover for yourself why this meticulously researched book is considered by many to be the single best book on baseball ever written.

9

The Baseball 100 - Joe Posnanski Cover Art

The Baseball 100

The Baseball 100 by Joe Posnanski

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Winner of the CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year “An instant sports classic.” — New York Post * “Stellar.” — The Wall Street Journal * “A true masterwork…880 pages of sheer baseball bliss.” — BookPage (starred review) * “This is a remarkable achievement.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) A magnum opus from acclaimed baseball writer Joe Posnanski, The Baseball 100 is an audacious, singular, and masterly book that took a lifetime to write. The entire story of baseball rings through a countdown of the 100 greatest players in history, with a foreword by George Will. Longer than Moby-Dick and nearly as ambitious, The Baseball 100 is a one-of-a-kind work by award-winning sportswriter and lifelong student of the game Joe Posnanski. In the book’s introduction, Pulitzer Prize–winning commentator George F. Will marvels, “Posnanski must already have lived more than two hundred years. How else could he have acquired such a stock of illuminating facts and entertaining stories about the rich history of this endlessly fascinating sport?” Baseball’s legends come alive in these pages, which are not merely rankings but vibrant profiles of the game’s all-time greats. Posnanski dives into the biographies of iconic Hall of Famers, unfairly forgotten All-Stars, talents of today, and more. He doesn’t rely just on records and statistics—he lovingly retraces players’ origins, illuminates their characters, and places their accomplishments in the context of baseball’s past and present. Just how good a pitcher is Clayton Kershaw in the 21st-century game compared to Greg Maddux dueling with the juiced hitters of the nineties? How do the career and influence of Hank Aaron compare to Babe Ruth’s? Which player in the top ten most deserves to be resurrected from history? No compendium of baseball’s legendary geniuses could be complete without the players of the segregated Negro Leagues, men whose extraordinary careers were largely overlooked by sportswriters at the time and unjustly lost to history. Posnanski writes about the efforts of former Negro Leaguers to restore sidelined Black athletes to their due honor and draws upon the deep troves of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and extensive interviews with the likes of Buck O’Neil to illuminate the accomplishments of players such as pitchers Satchel Paige and Smokey Joe Williams; outfielders Oscar Charleston, Monte Irvin, and Cool Papa Bell; first baseman Buck Leonard; shortstop Pop Lloyd; catcher Josh Gibson; and many, many more. The Baseball 100 treats readers to the whole rich pageant of baseball history in a single volume. Engrossing, surprising, and heartfelt, it is a magisterial tribute to the game of baseball and the stars who have played it.

10

Downright Filthy Pitching Book 1 - The Science of Effective Velocity - Perry Husband Cover Art

Downright Filthy Pitching Book 1 - The Science of Effective Velocity

Downright Filthy Pitching Book 1 - The Science of Effective Velocity by Perry Husband

Downright Filthy Pitching - The Science of Effective Velocity - This is a study of baseball and softball pitching speeds and how location dramatically changes the reaction time of pitches to the hitter. This is the first in a series of three books covering this fascinating new science that has already changed the game at every level. This series is about answering some questions that have been a mystery since the very first at bat in organized baseball. Major League pitchers, hitters, pitching coaches and managers have embraced Effective Velocity to help them enhance their approach to the game sine 2004. Collegiate coaches in both baseball and softball have revamped both their hitting and pitching philosophies based on this exciting new concept. NCAA championships - MLB Division Championships and countless other milestones have been accomplished using the laws that govern the confrontation between pitcher and hitter; Effective Velocity. Discover the reason why pitchers can execute a pitch in what is thought of as a perfect location and it ends up a homerun. Find out why hitters swing and miss belt high fastballs right down the middle of the plate one day and hit out of the park the next. Are taller pitchers really more Filthy? Is outside fastball really the best pitch in baseball? Is movement the most crucial factor in a pitcher's success? These and many other answers await you in this series describing this brand new paradigm for baseball and softball.

11

The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball - Tom M. Tango, Mitchel G. Lichtman & Andrew E. Dolphin Cover Art

The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball

The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball by Tom M. Tango, Mitchel G. Lichtman & Andrew E. Dolphin

Written by three esteemed baseball statisticians, The Book continues where the legendary Bill James’s Baseball Abstracts  and Palmer and Thorn’s  The Hidden Game of Baseball  left off more than twenty years ago. Continuing in the grand tradition of sabermetrics, the authors provide a revolutionary way to think about baseball with principles that can be applied at every level, from high school to the major leagues. Tom Tango, Mitchel Lichtman, and Andrew Dolphin cover topics such as batting and pitching matchups; platooning, the benefits and risks of intentional walks and sacrifices; the legitimacy of alleged “clutch” hitters; and many of baseball’s other theories on hitting, fielding, pitching, and even baserunning. They analyze when a strategy is a good idea and when it’s a bad idea, and how to more closely watch the “inside” game of baseball. Whenever you hear an announcer talk about an “unwritten rule” or say that so-and-so is going “by the book” in bringing in a situational substitute,  The Book  reviews the facts and determines what the real case is. If you want to know what the folks in baseball should be doing, find out in  The Book.

12

The Last Manager - John W. Miller Cover Art

The Last Manager

The Last Manager How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball by John W. Miller

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2025 WINNER OF THE CASEY AWARD FOR BEST BASEBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR “Baseball books don’t get any better than this...Earl Weaver has at last been given his due.” —George F. Will “Vivid...Most sports books are pop flies to the infield. Miller’s is a screaming triple into the left field corner.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times The first major biography of legendary Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver—who has been described as “the Copernicus of baseball” and “the grandfather of the modern game”— The Last Manager is a wild, thrilling, and hilarious ride with baseball’s most underappreciated genius, and one of its greatest characters. Long before the Moneyball Era, the Earl of Baltimore reigned over baseball. History’s feistiest and most colorful manager, Earl Weaver transformed the sport by collecting and analyzing data in visionary ways, ultimately winning more games than anybody else during his time running the Orioles from 1968 to 1982. When Weaver was hired by the Orioles, managers were still seen as coaches and inspirational leaders, more teachers of the game than strategists. Weaver invented new ways of building baseball teams, prioritizing on-base average, elite defense, and strike throwing. Weaver was the first manager to use a modern radar gun, and he pioneered the use of analytical data. By moving six-foot four-inch Cal Ripken Jr. to shortstop, Weaver paved the way for a generation of plus-sized superstar shortstops, such as Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. He foreshadowed almost everything that Bill James, Billy Beane, Theo Epstein, and hundreds of other big-brain baseball types would later present as innovations. Beyond being a great baseball mind, Weaver was a rare baseball character . Major League Baseball is show business, and Weaver understood how much of his job was entertainment. Weaver’s legendary outbursts offered players cathartic relief from their own frustration, signaled his concern for the team, and fired up fans. In his frequent arguments with umpires, he hammed it up for the crowds, faked heart attacks, ripped bases out of the ground, and pretended to toss umpires out of the game. Weaver also fought with his players, especially Jim Palmer, but that creative tension contributed to stunning success and a hilarious clubhouse. During his tenure as major-league manager, the Orioles won the American League pennant in 1969, 1970, 1971, and 1979, each time winning more than 100 games. The Last Manager uncovers the story of Weaver’s St. Louis childhood with a mobster uncle, his years of minor-league heartbreak, and his unlikely road to becoming a big-league manager, while tracing the evolution of the game from the old-time baseball of cross-country trains and “desk contracts” to the modern era of free agency, video analysis, and powerful player agents. Weaver’s career is a critical juncture in baseball history. He was the only manager to hold a job during the five years leading up to and the five years after free agency upended the sport in 1976. Weaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. “No manager belongs there more,” wrote Tom Boswell. “Weaver encapsulates the fire, the humor, the brains, the childishness, the wisdom and the goofy fun of baseball.” The Last Manager tells the story of one man—belligerent, genius, infamous—who left his mark on the game for generations.

13

The New York Yankees Fans' Bucket List - Mark Feinsand Cover Art

The New York Yankees Fans' Bucket List

The New York Yankees Fans' Bucket List by Mark Feinsand

Every New York Yankees fan has a bucket list of activities to take part in at some point in their lives. But even the most die-hard fans haven't done everything there is to experience in and around the Bronx. From visiting Stan's Sports Bar to sitting in the bleachers for the roll call, author Mark Feinsand provides ideas, recommendations, and insider tips for must-see places and can't-miss activities near Yankee Stadium. But not every experience requires a trip to New York; long-distance Yankees fans can cross some items off their list from the comfort of their own homes. Whether you're attending every home game or supporting the Yanks from afar, there's something for every fan to do in The New York Yankees Fans' Bucket List.

14

Jack Buck - Jack Buck, Rob Rains & Bob Broeg Cover Art

Jack Buck

Jack Buck ?That?s a Winner!? by Jack Buck, Rob Rains & Bob Broeg

In his forthright and honest autobiography, former St. Louis Cardinal, World Series, and Super Bowl broadcaster Jack Buck entertains all of his fans once more in a different setting. Jack Buck: "That's a Winner!" does more than entertain, however. It provides readers with an inside look at a man they listened to so often, they considered him part of the family. From the days of growing up working at the drive-in, to his time in the army, to his first stint on TV, and so much more, the reader learns about how he became the legendary broadcaster who fans came to adore. Buck also covers his time working with Harry Caray, the St. Louis Cardinals’ August A. Busch Jr. and Whitey Herzog eras, and all the way through the 1990s. A perfect gift for any fan of the legendary play-by-play announcer! 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.

15

The Magical Game - Addy Baird Cover Art

The Magical Game

The Magical Game The Spirit and History of Baseball's Superstitions, Rituals, and Curses by Addy Baird

This is the story of baseball’s rich magical history and the centuries-old culture of superstition in the sport. It is a love letter to the jinxes, curses, rituals and myths of baseball’s past and present — and to the innate mysticism of the game. For more than 150 years, a magical culture has been central to the game of baseball: At the turn of the 20th century, a battle between two lucky mascots defined early World Series matchups. Soon after, two generational curses spawned decades of heartbreaking losses for the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox. Today, players like Bryce Harper perform at-bat rituals, fans refuse to wash the jerseys of their favorite players, and baseball people everywhere refuse to utter the words “no-hitter” before there’s been a hit. In The Magical Game , journalist and converted baseball fan Addy Baird turns her reporter’s eye to her favorite sport, investigating the roots of these magical practices and telling the story of baseball’s long history of superstition, rituals, curses, jinxes, hoodoos, and hexes. Spanning three centuries of baseball history and three dozen more of magical history, Baird takes readers through fascinating, forgotten tidbits in the sport, untangles the game’s legends, and considers baseball’s uncertain future. In the face of recent MLB rule changes and the rise of advanced statistics, Baird looks at the many decades of concern about baseball’s declining popularity and the evolution of the sport, as well as why and how a culture of magic has remained strong at the core of the game for so many years. Funny, poetic, and deeply researched, The Magical Game will make readers fall in love with baseball all over again.

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A Fan's Guide to Baseball Analytics - Anthony Castrovince Cover Art

A Fan's Guide to Baseball Analytics

A Fan's Guide to Baseball Analytics Why WAR, WHIP, wOBA, and Other Advanced Sabermetrics Are Essential to Understanding Modern Baseball by Anthony Castrovince

Broken up into sections (pitching, fielding, hitting), this authoritative yet fun and easy guide will help readers young and old fully understand and comprehend the statistics that are the present and future of our national pastime.   We all know what a .300 hitter looks like. The same with a 20-game winner. Those numbers are ingrained in our brains. But do they mean as much as we think? Do we feel the same way when we hear a batter has a .390 wOBA? How about a pitcher with a 1.2 WHIP? These statistics are the future of modern baseball, and no fan should be in the dark about how these metrics apply to the game. In the last twenty years, an avalanche of analytics has taken over the way the game is played, managed, and assessed, but the statistics that drive the sport (metrics like wRC+, FIP, and WAR, just to name a few) read like alphabet soup to a large number of fans who still think batting average, RBIs, and wins are the best barometers for baseball players. In A Fan’s Guide to Baseball Analytics , MLB.com reporter and columnist Anthony Castrovince has taken on the role as explainer to help such fans understand why the old stats don’t always add up. Readers will also learn where these modern stats came from, what they convey, and how to use them to evaluate players of the present, past, and future.  For instance, what if we told you that when Joe DiMaggio had his famous 56-game hitting streak in 1941, helping him win the AL MVP, that there was, perhaps, someone more deserving? In fact, the great Ted Williams actually had a higher fWAR, bWAR, wRC+, OPS, OPS+, ISO, RC . . . well, you get the picture. So, streak or no streak, Williams should have been league MVP. An introductory course on sabermetrics, A Fan’s Guide to Baseball Analytics is an easily digestible resource that readers can keep turning back to when they see a modern metric referenced in today’s baseball coverage.

17

Tales from the 1962 New York Mets Dugout - Janet Paskin & Greg W. Prince Cover Art

Tales from the 1962 New York Mets Dugout

Tales from the 1962 New York Mets Dugout A Collection of the Greatest Stories from the Mets Inaugural Season by Janet Paskin & Greg W. Prince

Tales from the 1962 New York Mets Dugout chronicles the adventures, mishaps, and unforgettable stories as the New York Mets burst onto the baseball scene. From the team’s first win, in its 10th game of the season, to its last loss, which ended with the Mets grounding into a triple play, Tales from the 1962 New York Mets Dugout recaptures that spectacle of a season, with stories from those who lost and lived to tell the tale. A must-have for any baseball fan!

18

The Wax Pack - Brad Balukjian Cover Art

The Wax Pack

The Wax Pack On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife by Brad Balukjian

A Los Angeles Times Best Seller A 2020 NPR Best Book of the Year Is there life after baseball? Starting from this simple question, The Wax Pack ends up with something much bigger and unexpected—a meditation on the loss of innocence and the gift of impermanence, for both Brad Balukjian and the former ballplayers he tracked down. To get a truly random sample of players, Balukjian followed this wildly absurd but fun-as-hell premise: he took a single pack of baseball cards from 1986 (the first year he collected cards), opened it, chewed the nearly thirty-year-old gum inside, gagged, and then embarked on a quest to find all the players in the pack. On Balukjian’s trip in the summer of 2015, he spanned 11,341 miles through thirty states in forty-eight days. Actively engaging with his subjects, he took a hitting lesson from Rance Mulliniks, watched kung fu movies with Garry Templeton, and went to the zoo with Don Carman. In the process of finding all the players but one, he discovered an astonishing range of experiences and untold stories in their post-baseball lives. While crisscrossing the country, Balukjian retraced his own past, reconnecting with lost loves and coming to terms with his lifelong battle with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Alternately elegiac and uplifting, The Wax Pack is part baseball nostalgia, part road trip travelogue, and all heart, a reminder that greatness is not found in the stats on the backs of baseball cards but in the personal stories of the men on the front of them.

19

Touching All the Bases - Dave Winfield & Alan Maimon Cover Art

Touching All the Bases

Touching All the Bases A Story of Power, Purpose, and Surviving the Bronx by Dave Winfield & Alan Maimon

A fearless and insightful portrait of power, race, and resilience from one of baseball’s most unique and dynamic Hall of Fame legends, offering an unflinching look at the battles fought both on and off the field. Few athletes have lived a story as riveting—and as revealing—as Dave Winfield. In Touching All the Bases , the Hall of Famer pulls back the curtain on his life in the game, giving an unvarnished account of his childhood in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the bright lights of Yankee Stadium, where his decade-long clash with owner George Steinbrenner became one of the most infamous feuds in sports history. With honesty and conviction, Winfield recounts the triumphs, controversies, and showdowns that shaped not only his career but also the culture and path of baseball itself. This is not just another baseball memoir—it’s a reckoning with power, loyalty, commitment, and the costs of standing tall when others expect you to bow. Alongside the unforgettable stories of contracts, confrontations, distractions, and championships are moments of generosity, grit, and forgiveness that reveal a nuanced portrait of the man behind the No. 31 jersey. Reflecting on battles won and lost, Winfield shares the wisdom and perspective that only come from a lifetime at the center of the game and American sports: • The behind-the-scenes truth of Winfield’s battles with Steinbrenner, and how those fights mirror larger struggles in American life • Lessons in leadership drawn from the pressures of playing under the brightest lights in sports • The resilience it takes to turn public criticism and personal setbacks into lasting legacy • What it takes to achieve the status of one of the world’s best athletes Touching All the Bases is a story of courage, defiance, achievement, and ultimate redemption—an unforgettable account of what it means to fight for your name, your principles, and your place in history.

20

Uppity - Bill White & Willie Mays Cover Art

Uppity

Uppity My Untold Story About The Games People Play by Bill White & Willie Mays

There are very few major personalities in the world of sports who have so much to say about our National Pastime. And even fewer who are as well respected as Bill White. Bill White, who's now in his mid 70s, was an All-Star first baseman for many years with the New York Giants, St.Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies before launching a stellar broadcasting career with the New York Yankees for 18 years. He left the broadcast booth to become the President of the National League for five years. A true pioneer as an African-American athlete, sportscaster, and top baseball executive, White has written his long-awaited autobiography in which he will be candid, open, and as always, most forthcoming about his life in baseball. Along the way, White shares never-before-told stories about his long working relationship with Phil Rizzutto, insights on George Steinbrenner, Barry Bonds, Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Bob Gibson, Bart Giamatti, Fay Vincent, and scores of other top baseball names and Hall of Famers. Best of all, White built his career on being outspoken, and the years fortunately have not mellowed him. Uppity is a baseball memoir that baseball fans everywhere will be buzzing about.

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American Icon - Teri Thompson, Nathaniel Vinton, Michael O'Keeffe & Christian Red Cover Art

American Icon

American Icon by Teri Thompson, Nathaniel Vinton, Michael O'Keeffe & Christian Red

It was an epic downfall. 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.

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The Mental ABCs of Pitching - H.A. Dorfman & Rick Wolff Cover Art

The Mental ABCs of Pitching

The Mental ABCs of Pitching A Handbook for Performance Enhancement by H.A. Dorfman & Rick Wolff

Author H.A. Dorfman brings his years of expertise as instructor/counselor with the A's, Marlins, and Devil Rays to provide an easy-to-use, A-to-Z handbook which will give insight and instruction on how to pitch to peak performance at every level of the game. Perfect for pitchers who need that extra edge or hitters who want to better understand the mental moves on the mound. With a new foreword by Rick Wolff!

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Amazing Tales from the New York Yankees Dugout - Ken McMillan, Ed Randall & Bruce Markusen Cover Art

Amazing Tales from the New York Yankees Dugout

Amazing Tales from the New York Yankees Dugout A Collection of the Greatest Yankees Stories Ever Told by Ken McMillan, Ed Randall & Bruce Markusen

When it comes to baseball glory, no other team comes close to the New York Yankees, winners of forty American League pennants and twenty-seven World Series championships. Amazing Tales from the Yankee Dugout is a compilation of the funniest, strangest, and most unique stories, anecdotes, and tall tales that have been attributed to baseball’s legendary New York Yankees through the years. Fans will gain new insights about the famed Bronx Bombers that they’ve never read before.

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The Sweet Science - A. J. Liebling Cover Art

The Sweet Science

The Sweet Science by A. J. Liebling

A.J. Liebling's classic New Yorker pieces on the "sweet science of bruising" bring vividly to life the boxing world as it once was. The Sweet Science depicts the great events of boxing's American heyday: Sugar Ray Robinson's dramatic comeback, Rocky Marciano's rise to prominence, Joe Louis's unfortunate decline. Liebling never fails to find the human story behind the fight, and he evokes the atmosphere in the arena as distinctly as he does the goings-on in the ring--a combination that prompted Sports Illustrated to name The Sweet Science the best American sports book of all time.

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Big Loosh - Jim Leeke Cover Art

Big Loosh

Big Loosh The Unruly Life of Umpire Ron Luciano by Jim Leeke

Finalist for the 2025 CASEY Award Ron Luciano was a college football star, baseball umpire, TV broadcaster, and best-selling author. He barged through the world with an outsized personality, entertaining many, offending a few, and hiding behind a cheerful and outrageous persona until life somehow proved unbearable. Everyone knew him, but nobody really did. Once an All-American tackle at Syracuse University, Luciano turned to umpiring after an injury derailed his professional football career, and he quickly moved up the Minor League ladder to reach the Majors in 1969. As a big, likable loser—Oliver Hardy in blue—he became a fan favorite in the American League, “shooting” runners with his forefinger, conducting a legendary feud with Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver, and entertaining writers with outlandish baseball stories—some of which were even true. Even as he added years to his umpiring career and was considered among the game’s best, some players and managers thought his showmanship detracted from his abilities. He later became a baseball color analyst on national TV before coauthoring a series of rollicking best-selling sports books. Away from the game, he loved Shakespeare and birdwatching. But his upbeat public face was at odds with his private struggle with depression. His suicide at age fifty-seven shocked and puzzled friends, fans, and readers alike. In Big Loosh Jim Leeke recounts Luciano’s unlikely career, detailing his life as athlete, arbiter, sportscaster, writer, and mythmaker while separating fact from fiction amid the fanciful stories he loved to spin. As a friend said of Luciano, “If you didn’t like this man, you didn’t like people.”

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Tales from the Angels Dugout - Steve Bisheff Cover Art

Tales from the Angels Dugout

Tales from the Angels Dugout A Collection of the Greatest Angels Stories Ever Told by Steve Bisheff

Tales from the Angels Dugout is a humorous and fascinating look at the lighter side of forty-one years of frustration followed by the excitement of 2002. Award-winning sportswriter Steve Bisheff reminds us of those colorful days with The Cowboy, Gene Autry and the struggles under the ownership of the Walt Disney Company, as well as the curses, hexes and tragedies that haunted the Angels for so long. Bisheff contrasts zany personalities such as Bo Belinsky, Dean Chance, Albie Pearson, and Reggie Jackson with the remarkable, but non-superstar bunch managed by Mike Scioscia that finally won the World Series, including Troy Glaus, David Eckstein, Tim Salmon, and Troy Percival. In this newly-revised edition of Tales from the Angels Dugout , Bisheff updates what has happened in the years since that great championship season, including the arrival of such notables as owner Arte Moreno, Vladimir Guerrero, Albert Pujols and of course, phenom Mike Trout.

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Tales from the Angels Dugout - Steve Bisheff Cover Art

Tales from the Angels Dugout

Tales from the Angels Dugout A Collection of the Greatest Angels Stories Ever Told by Steve Bisheff

Tales from the Angels Dugout is a humorous and fascinating look at the lighter side of forty-one years of frustration, followed by the excitement of 2002. Author Steve Bisheff reminds us of those colorful days with original owner Gene Autry and the struggles under the ownership of Walt Disney Co., as well as the curses, hexes, and tragedies that haunted the Angels for so long. Tales from the Angels Dugout is just what Angels fans have been waiting for!

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The First All-Star Game - Randall Sullivan Cover Art

The First All-Star Game

The First All-Star Game Babe Ruth, FDR and America at the Crossroads by Randall Sullivan

Acclaimed journalist Randall Sullivan tells the story of baseball in America, from its rough-and-tumble origins through the first decades of the twentieth century and into the pivotal summer of 1933—when national crisis and a sport’s fight for survival converged in baseball’s first All-Star Game 1933. America was still reeling from the crash. Breadlines stretched around city blocks, and shantytowns sprawled in the shadows of skyscrapers. American optimism was fading—and baseball was in trouble, too. Owners slashed budgets, fans stayed home, and even the mighty Babe Ruth seemed to have lost some of his magic. The election of Franklin D. Roosevelt offered hope, but just days before his inauguration, five shots rang out—missing the president-elect, killing the mayor of Chicago, and setting in motion a chain of events that would eventually bring together the world’s best ballplayers for the first All-Star Game. It was a newspaperman’s idea: The Game of the Century . Put the world’s best players on one field and let the public decide who belonged there. At a moment when some feared the national pastime would not survive the decade, Chicago would host the ballgame as the highlight of the 1933 World’s Fair. The city hoped to shed its reputation as a haven for gamblers and gangsters and help restore America’s standing on the world stage. But abroad, dark clouds were gathering. Hitler was Germany’s new chancellor, and Mussolini had consolidated his power. As visitors strolled the fairgrounds, Italian warplanes flew overhead, and a zeppelin sent by the German delegation circled the city emblazoned with a swastika. The First All-Star Game is the story of a nation and a sport at a crossroads, and a sweeping look back at baseball’s early history and the America that shaped it. Deeply researched and filled with remarkable characters—legendary players like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Lefty Grove rubbing shoulders with Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone, and Charles Lindbergh—Randall Sullivan explores the history of an American obsession and captures the moment when both the sport and the nation found renewal in a single spectacle of hope.

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108 Stitches - Ron Darling & Daniel Paisner Cover Art

108 Stitches

108 Stitches Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns, and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game by Ron Darling & Daniel Paisner

The New York Times –bestselling author and Emmy-nominated broadcaster shares 108 baseball anecdotes, connecting America's game to the men who played it. In 108 Stitches , New York Times –bestselling author and Emmy Award–winning broadcaster Ron Darling offers his own take on the "six degrees of separation" game and knits together wild, wise, and wistful stories reflecting the full arc of a life in and around our national pastime. Darling has played with or reported on just about everybody who has put on a uniform since 1983, and they in turn have played with or reported on just about everybody who put on a uniform in a previous generation. Through relationships with baseball legends on and off the field, like Yale coach Smoky Joe Wood, Willie Mays, Bart Giamatti, Tom Seaver and Mickey Mantle, Darling's reminiscences reach all the way back to Babe Ruth and other early twentieth-century greats. Like the 108 stitches on a baseball, Darling's experiences are interwoven with every athlete who has ever played, every coach or manager who ever sat in a dugout, and every fan who ever played hooky from work or school to sit in the bleachers for a day game. Darling's anecdotes come together to tell the story of his time in the game, and the story of the game itself. "A real page turner . . . memorable for the whimsical, breezy tidbits that add texture to some well-known characters he has known in a long, honorable career in baseball." —Tyler Kepner, The New York Times

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The Boys of Summer - Roger Kahn Cover Art

The Boys of Summer

The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn

"A moving elegy . . . [to] the best team the majors ever saw . . . the Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1950s."  —  New York Times The classic narrative of growing up within shouting distance of Ebbets Field, covering the Jackie Robinson Dodgers, and what’s happened to everybody since. This is a book about young men who learned to play baseball during the 1930s and 1940s, and then went on to play for one of the most exciting major-league ball clubs ever fielded, the beloved Brooklyn Dodgers, the team that broke the color barrier with Jackie Robinson. Part sports memoir, part biography, it is a book by and about a sportswriter who grew up near Ebbets Field, and who had the good fortune in the 1950s to cover the Dodgers for The Herald Tribune . This is a book about what happened to Jackie, Carl Erskine, Pee Wee Reese, and the others when their glory days were behind them. In short, it is a book about America, about fathers and sons, prejudice and courage, triumph and disaster, and told with warmth, humor, wit, candor, and love. How does a team become a legend, and what becomes of legendary men when the cheering stops? Baseball History Come to Life: Go inside the clubhouse of the 1950s Dodgers, the team that broke the color barrier with the courageous Jackie Robinson. Legendary Sports Journalism: Experience the golden age of baseball through the eyes of Roger Kahn, the reporter who grew up in the shadow of Ebbets Field and was destined to tell this team’s story. The Integration of Baseball: Witness the immense pressure and prejudice faced by Jackie Robinson and the profound impact his presence had on his teammates, the game, and America itself. Fathers, Sons, and Heroes: Discover what happened to icons like Pee Wee Reese, Carl Erskine, and Duke Snider after the cheering stopped, in a moving exploration of life, loss, and the passage of time.

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Cheated - Andy Martino Cover Art

Cheated

Cheated The Inside Story of the Astros Scandal and a Colorful History of Sign Stealing by Andy Martino

“A baseball book that reads like a spy novel—a story about cheaters and the cheated that has the power to forever change how we feel about the game.” —Brian Williams, MSNBC anchor and host of The 11th Hour   The definitive insider story of one of the biggest cheating scandals to ever rock Major League Baseball, bringing down high-profile coaches and players, and exposing a long-rumored "sign-stealing" dark side of baseball The ensuing scandal rivaled that of the 1919 "Black Sox" and the more recent steroid era, and became one of the most significant that the game had ever seen. The fallout ensnared many other teams, either as victims, alleged cheaters or both. The Los Angeles Dodgers felt robbed of a World Series title, and fended off accusations about their organization. Same for the New York Yankees. The Boston Red Sox were soon under investigation themselves. The New York Mets lost a promising manager before he ever managed a game. Andy Martino, an award-winning journalist who has covered Major League Baseball for more than a decade, has broken numerous stories about the Astros and sign-stealing in baseball. In Cheated , Martino takes readers behind the scenes and into the heart of the events that shocked the baseball world. With inside access to the people directly involved, Martino breaks down not only exactly what happened and when, but reveals the fascinating explanations of why it all came about. The nuance and detail of the scandal reads like a true sports whodunnit. How did otherwise good people like Astros' manager A.J. Hinch, bench coach Alex Cora and veteran leader Carlos Beltran find themselves on the wrong side of clear ethical lines? And did they even know when those lines had been crossed? Cheated is an explosive, electrifying read.

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The Catcher's Handbook - Conor Kelley Cover Art

The Catcher's Handbook

The Catcher's Handbook by Conor Kelley

The position of catcher in baseball requires a broad set of physical and mental skills. This handbook, by a former catcher, offers precise advice on everything one needs to succeed behind the plate at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. Drawing on real-life scenarios, it addresses nearly every situation a catcher could ever encounter.    In addition to the mechanics of catching, blocking, picking, throwing, and catching pop-ups, topics include choosing the right gear; developing a relationship with the umpire; how to call a great game; when to call a pick-off; how to get runners out or keep them from advancing; making the tag at the plate; how to carry yourself like a team leader; injury prevention and other issues.    With tips and drills designed to improve specific skills, this guide is indispensable for any catcher looking to up his game.

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The Best American Sports Writing 2018 - Glenn Stout & Jeff Pearlman Cover Art

The Best American Sports Writing 2018

The Best American Sports Writing 2018 by Glenn Stout & Jeff Pearlman

For more than twenty-five years, The Best American Sports Writing has built a solid reputation by showcasing the greatest sports journalism of the previous year, culled from hundreds of national, regional, and specialty print and digital publications. Each year, the series editor and guest editor curate a truly exceptional collection. The only shared traits among all these diverse styles, voices, and stories are the extraordinarily high caliber of writing, and the pure passion they tap into that can only come from sports. This year’s unmissable anthology, guest edited by Jeff Pearlman, brings together the year’s best sports journalism: Literary Nonfiction: Go beyond the box score with powerful, unforgettable essays hand-picked for their literary merit and emotional impact. Legendary Athletes: Explore the final days of Muhammad Ali in “The Greatest, at Rest,” and delve into the legacy of Serena and Venus Williams. The Concussion Crisis: Confront the human cost of football in a stunning investigation into one high school player’s secret struggle with CTE. Iconic Coaches and Players: Get inside the minds of giants like Pat Riley and Peyton Manning as they face career-defining moments.

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Once More Around the Park - Roger Angell Cover Art

Once More Around the Park

Once More Around the Park by Roger Angell

This essay collection covers more than forty years of history, fandom, and insider analysis from "the best baseball writer of our time—maybe ever" ( Newsweek ) The celebrated baseball chronicler has selected his favorite pieces from the last forty years to create Once More Around the Park , a definitive volume of his most memorable work. Here are the extraordinary games Roger Angell has witnessed and written about, as well as compelling insights that deepen our love and understanding of the sport. This book includes such timeless essays as "The Interior Stadium," on the complex attractions of baseball; "In the Country," on a friendship that began with a fan letter and took Angell far from the big stadiums and big money; "The Arms Talks," on contemporary pitching strategy and the arrival of the split-finger delivery; and many others. Angell's conversations with past and present players and managers, scouts and coaches, rookies and Hall of Famers enhance his expertise and critical appreciation, defining him as "baseball's most eloquent analyst" ( The New York Times Book Review ).

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The Bosses of the Bronx - Mike Vaccaro Cover Art

The Bosses of the Bronx

The Bosses of the Bronx The Endless Drama of the Yankees Under the House of Steinbrenner by Mike Vaccaro

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The crazy but true story of how owner George Steinbrenner, followed by his son Hal, have controlled the most famous team in American sports. Since taking over the New York Yankees franchise in 1973, the Steinbrenners have transformed the fabled team from a struggling franchise into a baseball dynasty. George purchased the team for $8.8 million and quickly became known as “The Boss”—a hands-on owner whose relentless pursuit of victory defined an era. Under his leadership, the Yankees captured seven World Series championships, became a global sports brand, and consistently dominated the sports pages. Yet as veteran New York Post columnist Mike Vaccaro reveals, the story of the Steinbrenners and their team is much bigger and more complex—a drama of Shakespearian proportions, combining tragedy and great comedy. In this charming book written with all the candor and verve of the best press box reporting, he goes beyond the headlines to chronicle the complete saga—from the times King George went mad and was eventually banned to how Prince Hal, living in the long shadow of his father, has struggled to put his own unique stamp on the Pinstripe realm. He chronicles the infamous headline-making disputes between the team’s managers and its mercurial owner, a man whose autocratic disposition would eventually get him banned from the game and earn him a place in pop culture lore with the hit sitcom Seinfeld. A fun and wild remembrance of innings past for every Yankee fan and a must-read grudge list for every Yankee hater, The Bosses of the Bronx is a larger-than-life true tale of success, suffering, sacrifice, and downright silliness that captures this great franchise and the game of baseball itself.

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Moneyball - Michael Lewis Cover Art

Moneyball

Moneyball The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis

Michael Lewis’s instant classic may be "the most influential book on sports ever written" (People), but "you need know absolutely nothing about baseball to appreciate the wit, snap, economy and incisiveness of [Lewis’s] thoughts about it" (Janet Maslin, New York Times). One of GQ's 50 Best Books of Literary Journalism of the 21st Century • A Kirkus Review Best Book of the 21st Century (So Far) Just before the 2002 season opens, the Oakland Athletics must relinquish its three most prominent (and expensive) players and is written off by just about everyone—but then comes roaring back to challenge the American League record for consecutive wins. How did one of the poorest teams in baseball win so many games? In a quest to discover the answer, Michael Lewis delivers not only “the single most influential baseball book ever” (Rob Neyer, Slate) but also what “may be the best book ever written on business” (Weekly Standard). Lewis first looks to all the logical places—the front offices of major league teams, the coaches, the minds of brilliant players—but discovers the real jackpot is a cache of numbers collected over the years by a strange brotherhood of amateur baseball enthusiasts: software engineers, statisticians, Wall Street analysts, lawyers, and physics professors. What these numbers prove is that the traditional yardsticks of success for players and teams are fatally flawed. Even the box score misleads us by ignoring the crucial importance of the humble base-on-balls. This information had been around for years, and nobody inside Major League Baseball paid it any mind. And then came Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics. He paid attention to those numbers?with the second-lowest payroll in baseball at his disposal he had to?to conduct an astonishing experiment in finding and fielding a team that nobody else wanted. In a narrative full of fabulous characters and brilliant excursions into the unexpected, Michael Lewis shows us how and why the new baseball knowledge works. He also sets up a sly and hilarious morality tale: Big Money, like Goliath, is always supposed to win…how can we not cheer for David?

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Where Nobody Knows Your Name - John Feinstein Cover Art

Where Nobody Knows Your Name

Where Nobody Knows Your Name Life In the Minor Leagues of Baseball by John Feinstein

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed bestselling author comes a riveting journey through the world of minor-league baseball “Terrific…Reading this book will make you fall in love with baseball all over again.”— The Denver Post Minor league baseball is quintessentially American: small towns, small stadiums, $5 tickets, $2 hot dogs, the never-ending possibility of making it big. But looming above it all is always the real deal: Major League Baseball. John Feinstein takes the reader behind the curtain into the guarded world of the minor leagues, like no other writer can. Where Nobody Knows Your Name explores the trials and travails of the inhabitants of Triple-A, focusing on nine men, including players, managers and umpires, among many colorful characters, living on the cusp of the dream. The book tells the stories of former World Series hero Scott Podsednik, giving it one more shot; Durham Bulls manager Charlie Montoya, shepherding generations across the line; and designated hitter Jon Lindsey, a lifelong minor leaguer, waiting for his day to come. From Raleigh to Pawtucket, from Lehigh Valley to Indianapolis and beyond, this is an intimate and exciting look at life in the minor leagues, where you’re either waiting for the call or just passing through.

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The Bad Guys Won - Jeff Pearlman Cover Art

The Bad Guys Won

The Bad Guys Won A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform--and Maybe the Best by Jeff Pearlman

"Jeff Pearlman has captured the swagger of the '86 Mets. You don't have to be a Mets fan to enjoy this book—it's a great read for all baseball enthusiasts." —Philadelphia Daily News Award-winning Sports Illustrated baseball writer Jeff Pearlman returns to an innocent time in 80s baseball when a city worshipped a man named Mookie and the Yankees were the second-best team in New York. It was 1986, and the New York Mets won 108 regular-season games and the World Series, capturing the hearts (and other assorted body parts) of fans everywhere. But in this revealing work of sports nonfiction, their greatness on the field was nearly eclipsed by how bad they were off it. Led by the indomitable Keith Hernandez and the young dynamic duo of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, along with the gallant Scum Bunch, the Amazin’s left a wide trail of wreckage in their wake—hotel rooms, charter planes, a bar in Houston, and most famously Bill Buckner and the hated Boston Red Sox. With an unforgettable cast of characters—including Doc, Straw, the Kid, Nails, Mex, and manager Davey Johnson—this "affectionate but critical look at this exciting season" ( Publishers Weekly ) is a tell-all baseball history that celebrates the last of baseball’s arrogant, insane, rock-and-roll-and-party-all-night teams, exploring what could have been, what should have been, and what never was. Pearlman’s intensive, no-holds-barred reporting uncovers the full story of their championship baseball season: The Rowdiest Team in Baseball: Go behind the scenes with the infamous ‘Scum Bunch,’ whose trail of wrecked hotel rooms, trashed charter planes, and bar brawls became the stuff of legend. A Dynasty That Wasn’t: Uncover the explosive and self-destructive behavior, from brawls to booze, that defined superstars like Darryl Strawberry and Dwight ‘Doc’ Gooden and sabotaged what should have been a dynasty. Unforgettable Characters: Meet the full cast, from the cerebral leadership of Keith Hernandez to the antics of Mookie, Nails, and the Kid, who made the 1986 Mets a team like no other. Championship Baseball: Relive every crucial moment on the diamond, from their 108-win season to the unbelievable World Series comeback against Bill Buckner and the Boston Red Sox.

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The Extra 2% - Jonah Keri Cover Art

The Extra 2%

The Extra 2% How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to FirstFirst by Jonah Keri

What happens when three financial industry whiz kids and certified baseball nuts take over an ailing major league franchise and implement the same strategies that fueled their success on Wall Street? In the case of the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, an American League championship happens—the culmination of one of the greatest turnarounds in baseball history. In The Extra 2% , financial journalist and sportswriter Jonah Keri chronicles the remarkable story of one team’s Cinderella journey from divisional doormat to World Series contender. When former Goldman Sachs colleagues Stuart Sternberg and Matthew Silverman assumed control of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005, it looked as if they were buying the baseball equivalent of a penny stock. But the incoming regime came armed with a master plan: to leverage their skill at trading, valuation, and management to build a model twenty-first-century franchise that could compete with their bigger, stronger, richer rivals—and prevail. Together with “boy genius” general manager Andrew Friedman, the new Rays owners jettisoned the old ways of doing things, substituting their own innovative ideas about employee development, marketing and public relations, and personnel management. They exorcized the “devil” from the team’s nickname, developed metrics that let them take advantage of undervalued aspects of the game, like defense, and hired a forward-thinking field manager as dedicated to unconventional strategy as they were. By quantifying the game’s intangibles—that extra 2% that separates a winning organization from a losing one—they were able to deliver to Tampa Bay something that Billy Beane’s “Moneyball” had never brought to Oakland: an American League pennant. A book about what happens when you apply your business skills to your life’s passion, The Extra 2% is an informative and entertaining case study for any organization that wants to go from worst to first.

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The Cubs Way - Tom Verducci Cover Art

The Cubs Way

The Cubs Way The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse by Tom Verducci

The New York Times  Bestseller With inside access and reporting, Sports Illustrated senior baseball writer and FOX Sports analyst Tom Verducci reveals how Theo Epstein and Joe Maddon built, led, and inspired the Chicago Cubs team that broke the longest championship drought in sports, chronicling their epic journey to become World Series champions. It took 108 years, but it really happened. The Chicago Cubs are once again World Series champions.  How did a team composed of unknown, young players and supposedly washed-up veterans come together to break the Curse of the Billy Goat? Tom Verducci, twice named National Sportswriter of the Year and co-writer of The Yankee Years with Joe Torre, will have full access to team president Theo Epstein, manager Joe Maddon, and the players to tell the story of the Cubs' transformation from perennial underachievers to the best team in baseball.  Beginning with Epstein's first year with the team in 2011, Verducci will show how Epstein went beyond "Moneyball" thinking to turn around the franchise. Leading the organization with a manual called "The Cubs Way," he focused on the mental side of the game as much as the physical, emphasizing chemistry as well as statistics.  To accomplish his goal, Epstein needed manager Joe Maddon, an eccentric innovator, as his counterweight on the Cubs' bench.  A man who encourages themed road trips and late-arrival game days to loosen up his team, Maddon mixed New Age thinking with Old School leadership to help his players find their edge.   The Cubs Way takes readers behind the scenes, chronicling how key players like Rizzo, Russell, Lester, and Arrieta were deftly brought into the organization by Epstein and coached by Maddon to outperform expectations. Together, Epstein and Maddon proved that clubhouse culture is as important as on-base-percentage, and that intangible components like personality, vibe, and positive energy are necessary for a team to perform to their fullest potential.  Verducci chronicles the playoff run that culminated in an instant classic Game Seven. He takes a broader look at the history of baseball in Chicago and the almost supernatural element to the team's repeated loses that kept fans suffering, but also served to strengthen their loyalty.   The Cubs Way is a celebration of an iconic team and its journey to a World Championship that fans and readers will cherish for years to come.

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Astroball - Ben Reiter Cover Art

Astroball

Astroball The New Way to Win It All by Ben Reiter

NEW YORK TIMES  BESTSELLER • The inside story of the Houston Astros, whose relentless innovation took them from the worst team in baseball to the World Series in 2017 and 2019   “Reiter’s superb narrative of how the team got there provides powerful insights into how organizations—not just baseball clubs—work best.”— The Wall Street Journal Astroball  picks up where Michael Lewis’s acclaimed  Moneyball  leaves off, telling the thrilling story of a championship team that pushed both the sport and business of baseball to the next level. In 2014, the Astros were the worst baseball team in half a century, but just three years later they defied critics to win a stunning World Series. In this book, Ben Reiter shows how the Astros built a system that avoided the stats-versus-scouts divide by giving the human factor a key role in their decision-making. Sitting at the nexus of sports, business, and innovation,  Astroball  is the story of the next wave of thinking in baseball and beyond, at once a remarkable underdog tale and a fascinating look at the cutting edge of evaluating and optimizing human potential.

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The Best Team Money Can Buy - Molly Knight Cover Art

The Best Team Money Can Buy

The Best Team Money Can Buy The Los Angeles Dodgers' Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse by Molly Knight

With a new Afterword covering the 2015 season. The bestselling, inside-the-clubhouse story of two tumultuous years when the Los Angeles Dodgers were re-made from top to bottom, becoming the most talked-about and most colorful team in baseball. “It’s as if Molly Knight ushers you behind the closed clubhouse doors.” (Buster Olney, ESPN) In 2012 the Los Angeles Dodgers were bought out of bankruptcy in the most expensive sale in sports history. Los Angeles icon Magic Johnson and his partners hoped to put together a team worthy of Hollywood: consistently entertaining. By most accounts they have succeeded, if not always in the way they might have imagined. In The Best Team Money Can Buy , Molly Knight tells the story of the Dodgers’ 2013 and 2014 seasons with detailed, previously unreported revelations. She shares a behind-the-scenes account of the astonishing sale of the Dodgers, as well as what the Dodgers actually knew in advance about rookie phenom and Cuban defector Yasiel Puig. We learn how close manager Don Mattingly was to losing his job during the 2013 season—and how the team turned around the season in the most remarkable fifty-game stretch of any team since World War II. Knight also provides a rare glimpse into the in-fighting and mistrust that derailed the team in 2014 and paints an intimate portrait of star pitcher Clayton Kershaw, including details about the record contract offer he turned down before accepting the richest contract any pitcher ever signed. Exciting, surprising, and filled with juicy details, “a must-read for fans of the Dodgers and all Los Angeles sports teams….Knight’s undercover work is like none other” ( Library Journal ). The Best Team Money Can Buy is filled with “fascinating perspectives” ( Los Angeles Times ) and “interesting anecdotes about some of baseball’s most compelling figures” ( The Sacramento Bee ).

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Ballplayer - Chipper Jones & Carroll Rogers Walton Cover Art

Ballplayer

Ballplayer by Chipper Jones & Carroll Rogers Walton

Atlanta Braves third baseman and National Hall of Famer Chipper Jones—one of the greatest switch-hitters in baseball history—shares his remarkable story, while capturing the magic nostalgia that sets baseball apart from every other sport.   Before Chipper Jones became an eight-time All-Star who amassed Hall of Fame–worthy statistics during a nineteen-year career with the Atlanta Braves, he was just a country kid from small town Pierson, Florida. A kid who grew up playing baseball in the backyard with his dad dreaming that one day he’d be a major league ballplayer.     With his trademark candor and astonishing recall, Chipper Jones tells the story of his rise to the MLB ranks and what it took to stay with one organization his entire career in an era of booming free agency. His journey begins with learning the art of switch-hitting and takes off after the Braves make him the number one overall pick in the 1990 draft, setting him on course to become the linchpin of their lineup at the height of their fourteen-straight division-title run.   Ballplayer takes readers into the clubhouse of the Braves’ extraordinary dynasty, from the climax of the World Series championship in 1995 to the last-gasp division win by the 2005 “Baby Braves”; all the while sharing pitch-by-pitch dissections of clashes at the plate with some of the all-time great starters, such as Clemens and Johnson, as well as closers such as Wagner and Papelbon. He delves into his relationships with Bobby Cox and his famous Braves brothers — Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz, among them—and opponents from Cal Ripken Jr. to Barry Bonds. The National League MVP also opens up about his overnight rise to superstardom and the personal pitfalls that came with fame; his spirited rivalry with the New York Mets; his reflections on baseball in the modern era—outrageous money, steroids, and all — and his special last season in 2012.   Ballplayer immerses us in the best of baseball, as if we’re sitting next to Chipper in the dugout on an endless spring day.

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Summer of '49 - David Halberstam Cover Art

Summer of '49

Summer of '49 by David Halberstam

This #1 bestselling baseball classic of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is "dazzling . . . heart-stopping . . . A celebration of a vanished heroic age" ( The New York Times Book Review ). The summer of 1949: It was baseball's Golden Age and the year Joe DiMaggio's New York Yankees were locked in a soon-to-be classic battle with Ted Williams's Boston Red Sox for the American League pennant. As postwar America looked for a unifying moment, the greatest players in baseball history brought their rivalry to the field, captivating the American public through the heart-pounding final moments of the season. This expansive story captures an era, incorporating profiles of the players and their families, fans, broadcasters, baseball executives, and sportswriters. Riveting in its blend of powerful detail and exhilarating narrative, The Summer of '49 is Pulitzer Prize winner David Halberstam's engrossing look at not only a sports rivalry, but a time when America's very identity was wrapped up in its beloved national game.   This ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

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Smart Baseball - Keith Law Cover Art

Smart Baseball

Smart Baseball The Story Behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball by Keith Law

Predictably Irrational meets Moneyball in ESPN veteran writer and statistical analyst Keith Law’s iconoclastic look at the numbers game of baseball, proving why some of the most trusted stats are surprisingly wrong, explaining what numbers actually work, and exploring what the rise of Big Data means for the future of the sport. For decades, statistics such as batting average, saves recorded, and pitching won-lost records have been used to measure individual players’ and teams’ potential and success. But in the past fifteen years, a revolutionary new standard of measurement—sabermetrics—has been embraced by front offices in Major League Baseball and among fantasy baseball enthusiasts. But while sabermetrics is recognized as being smarter and more accurate, traditionalists, including journalists, fans, and managers, stubbornly believe that the "old" way—a combination of outdated numbers and "gut" instinct—is still the best way. Baseball, they argue, should be run by people, not by numbers.? In this informative and provocative book, teh renowned ESPN analyst and senior baseball writer demolishes a century’s worth of accepted wisdom, making the definitive case against the long-established view. Armed with concrete examples from different eras of baseball history, logic, a little math, and lively commentary, he shows how the allegiance to these numbers—dating back to the beginning of the professional game—is firmly rooted not in accuracy or success, but in baseball’s irrational adherence to tradition. While Law gores sacred cows, from clutch performers to RBIs to the infamous save rule, he also demystifies sabermetrics, explaining what these "new" numbers really are and why they’re vital. He also considers the game’s future, examining how teams are using Data—from PhDs to sophisticated statistical databases—to build future rosters; changes that will transform baseball and all of professional sports. Why have fans and managers clung to outdated baseball statistics for so long—and what should we be using instead? Deconstructing Baseball Mythology: Join Keith Law as he demolishes a century of accepted wisdom, proving why trusted stats like batting average, pitcher wins, and RBIs are surprisingly wrong. The Sabermetric Toolkit: Get an accessible, jargon-free guide to the advanced statistics that matter, from On-Base Percentage (OBP) and wOBA to the all-encompassing WAR (Wins Above Replacement). From Moneyball to Statcast: Explore the evolution of baseball's data revolution, from the early days of sabermetrics to the high-tech future of MLB Statcast and Big Data. Scouting and the Numbers Game: Understand how front offices are blending traditional scouting with cutting-edge sports analytics to build championship rosters and find undervalued players.

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Trading Bases - Joe Peta Cover Art

Trading Bases

Trading Bases How a Wall Street Trader Made a Fortune Betting on Baseball by Joe Peta

An ex–Wall Street trader improved on Moneyball ’s famed sabermetrics and beat the Vegas odds with his own betting methods. Here is the story of how Joe Peta turned fantasy baseball into a dream come true.   Joe Peta turned his back on his Wall Street trading career to pursue an ingenious—and incredibly risky—dream. He would apply his risk-analysis skills to Major League Baseball, and treat the sport like the S&P 500.   In Trading Bases , Peta takes us on his journey from the ballpark in San Francisco to the trading floors and baseball bars of New York and the sportsbooks of Las Vegas, telling the story of how he created a baseball “hedge fund” with an astounding 41 percent return in his first year. And he explains the unique methods he developed.   Along the way, Peta provides insight into the Wall Street crisis he managed to escape: the fragility of the midnineties investment model; the disgraced former CEO of Lehman Brothers, who recruited Peta; and the high-adrenaline atmosphere where million-dollar sports-betting pools were common.

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Imperfect - Jim Abbott & Tim Brown Cover Art

Imperfect

Imperfect An Improbable Life by Jim Abbott & Tim Brown

“Honest, touching, and beautifully rendered . . . Far more than a book about baseball, it is a deeply felt story of triumph and failure, dreams and disappointments. Jim Abbott has hurled another gem.”—Jonathan Eig, New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Man   NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER   Born without a right hand, Jim Abbott dreamed of someday being a great athlete. Raised in Flint, Michigan, by parents who encouraged him to compete, Jim would become an ace pitcher for the University of Michigan. But his journey was only beginning: By twenty-one, he’d won the gold medal game at the 1988 Olympics and—without spending a day in the minor leagues—cracked the starting rotation of the California Angels. In 1991, he would finish third in the voting for the Cy Young Award. Two years later, he would don Yankee pinstripes and pitch one of the most dramatic no-hitters in major-league history.   In this honest and insightful book, Jim Abbott reveals the challenges he faced in becoming an elite pitcher, the insecurities he dealt with in a life spent as the different one, and the intense emotion generated by his encounters with disabled children from around the country. With a riveting pitch-by-pitch account of his no-hitter providing the ideal frame for his story, this unique athlete offers readers an extraordinary and unforgettable memoir.   “Compelling . . . [a] big-hearted memoir.”— Los Angeles Times   “Inspirational.”— The Philadelphia Inquirer   Includes an exclusive conversation between Jim Abbott and Tim Brown in the back of the book.

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42: A Biography of Jack "Jackie" Robinson - Frank Foster Cover Art

42: A Biography of Jack "Jackie" Robinson

42: A Biography of Jack "Jackie" Robinson by Frank Foster

Jackie Robinson was one of the greatest baseball players of all time--MLB Rookie of the Year, World Series Champion, six-time all-star, MVP, and a lifetime batting average of .311. But he is most remembered for breaking racial barriers by becoming the first African American to play in the major leagues since the 1880s. This book traces Robinsons life, both on the field and his personal life--from his childhood and career in the miltary to his days in the Negro leagues and with the Brooklyn Dodgers; it also covers briefly his life after baseball. LifeCaps is an imprint of BookCaps™ Study Guides. With each book, a lesser known or sometimes forgotten life is recapped. We publish a wide array of topics (from baseball and music to literature and philosophy), so check our growing catalogue regularly to see our newest books.

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The Baseball Codes - Jason Turbow & Michael Duca Cover Art

The Baseball Codes

The Baseball Codes Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime by Jason Turbow & Michael Duca

An insider’s look at baseball’s unwritten rules, explained with examples from the game’s most fascinating characters and wildest historical moments.   Everyone knows that baseball is a game of intricate regulations, but it turns out to be even more complicated than we realize. All aspects of baseball—hitting, pitching, and baserunning—are affected by the Code, a set of unwritten rules that governs the Major League game. Some of these rules are openly discussed (don’t steal a base with a big lead late in the game), while others are known only to a minority of players (don’t cross between the catcher and the pitcher on the way to the batter’s box). In The Baseball Codes , old-timers and all-time greats share their insights into the game’s most hallowed—and least known—traditions. For the learned and the casual baseball fan alike, the result is illuminating and thoroughly entertaining.   At the heart of this book are incredible and often hilarious stories involving national heroes (like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays) and notorious headhunters (like Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale) in a century-long series of confrontations over respect, honor, and the soul of the game. With The Baseball Codes , we see for the first time the game as it’s actually played, through the eyes of the players on the field.   With rollicking stories from the past and new perspectives on baseball’s informal rulebook, The Baseball Codes is a must for every fan.

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Million Dollar Arm - J. B. Bernstein Cover Art

Million Dollar Arm

Million Dollar Arm Sometimes to Win, You Have to Change the Game by J. B. Bernstein

From the farmlands of India to the fields of major league baseball, this fascinating memoir tells the story of a man who forever changed the lives of two talented young men through a pitching contest in India. The official tie-in book to Disney’s major motion picture, starring Jon Hamm. A TRUE STORY OF FINDING THE AMERICAN DREAM . . . ABROAD India is a country with more than one billion people, a fanatical national cricket obsession, and exactly zero talent scouts. There, superstar sports agent J. B. Bernstein knew that he could find the Yao Ming of baseball— someone with a strong arm and enough raw talent to pitch in the major leagues. Almost no one in India is familiar with the game, but Bernstein had heard enough coaches swear that if you gave them a guy who throws a hundred miles an hour, they could teach him how to pitch. So in 2007, Bernstein flew to Mumbai with a radar gun and a plan to find his diamond in the rough. His idea was The Million Dollar Arm , a reality television competition with a huge cash prize and a chance to become the first native of India to sign a contract with an American major-league team. The result is a humorous and inspiring story about three guys transformed: Bernstein, the consummate bachelor and shrewd businessman, and Dinesh and Rinku, the two young men from small farming villages whom he brought home to California. Million Dollar Arm is a timeless reflection on baseball and the American dream, as well as a tale of victory over incredible odds. But, above all, it’s about the limitless possibilities inside every one of us.

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