Lost two Cy Young winners in two years, signed a forty-seven-year-old to be his starting first baseman, played seventeen rookies in 2005, and still took his team to the playoffs: baseball is John Schuerholz's world, and everyone else is just playing in it. In Built to Win, the legendary general manager takes you behind the scenes of the Braves' front office—the most successful in baseball since 1990—and shows how his unique philosophies and leadership techniques have helped Atlanta achieve something no team in sports has ever come close to accomplishing. He candidly peels back the curtain, taking you to his first World Series with the Kansas City Royals and the other moments that defined his career, including his eventual departure to the league doormat Atlanta Braves. No sooner did Schuerholz arrive than they won their first title in 1991—and the rest is history. You'll be there on the incredible night in 1992 when Schuerholz improbably traded for Barry Bonds-only to have the deal nixed at the eleventh hour. You'll see how through shrewd negotiation he swooped in to sign reigning Cy Young-winner Greg Maddux out from under the free-spending Yankees. You'll hear how he dealt with the horrific comments made by John Rocker, helping the Braves overcome the biggest PR nightmare in team history to win yet another division crown. Through the eyes of one of the game's sharpest executives, you'll see why Moneyball only scrapes the tip of Schuerholz's time-tested theories, as well as how he developed the premier scouting system in the majors and a free agent strategy that led the Braves to the top of the heap-fourteen years running. And in the end, you'll see what the rest of the baseball world has known for the better part of two decades: that through the brilliance of John Schuerholz, the Braves have lived with one motto, and one motto alone: "All We Do Is Win.
John Smoltz was one of the greatest Major League pitchers of the late twentieth / early twenty-first century—one of only two in baseball history ever to achieve twenty wins and fifty saves in single seasons—and now he shares the candid, no-holds-barred story of his life, his career, and the game he loves in Starting and Closing. A Cy Young Award-winner, future Baseball Hall of Famer, and currently a broadcaster for his former team, the Atlanta Braves, Smoltz delivers a powerful memoir with the kind of fascinating insight into game that made Moneyball a runaway bestseller, plus a heartfelt and truly inspiring faith and religious conviction, similar to what illuminates each page of Tim Tebow’s smash hit memoir, Through My Eyes.
The general manager of the Atlanta Braves--the winningest baseball team of the last 15 years--offers a startling look at the wheelings and dealings of Major League Baseball from his long and distinguished career.
Lost two Cy Young winners in two years, signed a forty-seven-year-old to be his starting first baseman, played seventeen rookies in 2005, and still took his team to the playoffs: baseball is John Schuerholz's world, and everyone else is just playing in it. In Built to Win, the legendary general manager takes you behind the scenes of the Braves' front office—the most successful in baseball since 1990—and shows how his unique philosophies and leadership techniques have helped Atlanta achieve something no team in sports has ever come close to accomplishing. He candidly peels back the curtain, taking you to his first World Series with the Kansas City Royals and the other moments that defined his career, including his eventual departure to the league doormat Atlanta Braves. No sooner did Schuerholz arrive than they won their first title in 1991—and the rest is history. You'll be there on the incredible night in 1992 when Schuerholz improbably traded for Barry Bonds-only to have the deal nixed at the eleventh hour. You'll see how through shrewd negotiation he swooped in to sign reigning Cy Young-winner Greg Maddux out from under the free-spending Yankees. You'll hear how he dealt with the horrific comments made by John Rocker, helping the Braves overcome the biggest PR nightmare in team history to win yet another division crown. Through the eyes of one of the game's sharpest executives, you'll see why Moneyball only scrapes the tip of Schuerholz's time-tested theories, as well as how he developed the premier scouting system in the majors and a free agent strategy that led the Braves to the top of the heap-fourteen years running. And in the end, you'll see what the rest of the baseball world has known for the better part of two decades: that through the brilliance of John Schuerholz, the Braves have lived with one motto, and one motto alone: "All We Do Is Win.
Pitchers are the heart of baseball, and John Feinstein tells the story of the game today through one season and two great pitchers working in the crucible of the New York media market. Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina have seen it all in the Major Leagues and both entered 2007 in search of individual milestones and one more shot at The World Series-Glavine with the Mets, Mussina five miles away with the Yankees. The two veterans experience very different seasons -- one on a team dealing with the pressure to get to a World Series for the first time in seven years, the other with a team expected to be there every year. Taking the reader through contract negotiations, spring training, the ups of wins and losses, and the people in their lives-family, managers, pitching coaches, agents, catchers, other pitchers -- John Feinstein provides a true insider's look at the pressure cooker of sports at the highest level.
Unlike any book before it, Play Ball takes on a national pasttime—and baseball will never be the same again. Baseball is the greatest of all American games. No other sport has the tradition, the mythology, the heroes, and the heroics. Yet baseball is also in the midst of an upheaval unprecedented in its glorious history. Many of its traditions have been discarded, much of its mythology has been disproved, and too many of its heroes have entered drug clinics or let greed triumph over team spirit. What makes baseball what it is—the good as well as the bad? Who are the game's heroes, and who its villains? What roles do managers play, and umpires and announcers and mascots and the media? What is the game's future? These are the questions that John Feinstein—bestselling author and sports journalist extraordinaire—examines in Play Ball: The Life and Troubled Times of Major League Baseball. As he did in his classic books on professional tennis (Hard Courts) and college basketball (A Season Inside), Feinstein spent one entire season examining the game from the inside. He had access to general managers, who gave him never-before-revealed information on trades and the maneuverings behind these trades. He looks at managers Tony LaRussa and Jim Leyland to examine strategy and the psychology of success; he puts Tommy Lasorda under the microscope, showing the frustrating decline of a once-great franchise and the pain resulting from the tragic death of Lasorda's son. Feinstein answers questions about escalating salaries, reveals the identities of the real controlling forces in the game, explains why the owners so totally despised commissioner Fay Vincent, and graphically illustrates the financial state of the game as well as the pressures, the politics, and the joys that come with playing, managing, negotiating, and simply surviving a 162-game season. Above all are still the players, and this is what makes Feinstein's book so special. He gives us intimate portraits of such longtime superstars as Cal Ripken, Jr. and George Brett, as well as revealing glimpses—some flattering, some not so flattering—of such newer stars as Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonds, and Ken Griffye, Jr. Beyond the obsession with money and salaries, Feinstein knows it's the players who make and break the game. In Play Ball, we hear stories of how they were shaped; see how stardom—or lack of stardom—further shapes them; we finally understand what it means to be a major league baseball player, in every possible sense.
The ultimate chronicle of the games behind the game."—The New York Times Book Review Baseball has always inspired rhapsodic elegies on the glory of man and golden memories of wonderful times. But what you see on the field is only half the game. In this fascinating, colorful chronicle—based on hundreds of interviews and years of research and digging—John Helyar brings to vivid life the extraordinary people and dramatic events that shaped America's favorite pastime, from the dead-ball days at the turn of the century through the great strike of 1994. Witness zealous Judge Landis banish eight players, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, after the infamous "Black Sox" scandal; the flamboyant A's owner Charlie Finley wheel and deal his star players, Vida Blue and Rollie Fingers, like a deck of cards; the hysterical bidding war of coveted free agent Catfish Hunter; the chain-smoking romantic, A. Bartlett Giamatti, locking horns with Pete Rose during his gambling days of summer; and much more. Praise for The Lords of the Realm "A must-read for baseball fans . . . reads like a suspense novel."—Kirkus Reviews "Refreshingly hard-headed . . . the only book you'll need to read on the subject."—Newsday "Lots of stories . . . well told, amusing . . . edifying."—The Washington 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.
The essential book for any sports fan, from one of the reigning kings ofsports talk radio, Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo Sports fans Which was the greater achievement, Ted Williams’s .406 season or Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak? Who would dominate the ultimate Pebble Beach showdown? Ben Hogan or Tiger Woods? Who was really the most important athlete of the twentieth century?If you love sports, there’s only one thing better than a good game—and that’s a good argument. Who’s the best ever? The worst ever? Underrated? Overpaid? Now, in his long-awaited and completely original book—updated for the 2003 sports season—Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo sets up and breaks down the hundred greatest sports arguments of all time. In classic Mad Dog style, each chapter tackles a classic sports debate and takes sides with the lively and authoritative opinions that have made him one of the top radio personalities in the country. Whether you agree with The Dog—or agree to disagree with the book’s often controversial conclusions—The Mad Dog 100 is the perfect companion for any sports fan.
Al Goldis has spent more than forty years as a major league scout, having worked in the front offices of the Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Anaheim Angels, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, and New York Mets. In those forty years he has seen and signed some of the game?s greatest talents. As the Scouting Director of the Chicago White Sox in the late 1980s, Goldis spearheaded the amateur drafts that brought future All-Stars Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, and Jack McDowell into the Sox organization. After so many years scouting young players, Goldis has a pretty good idea what to look for in a player beyond the commonly accepted standard of the?five tools? (hitting for average, hitting for power, a strong throwing arm, excellent defensive skills, and speed on the basepaths). And in How to Make Pro Scouts Notice You, he and former pro ballplayer John Wolff have set out to create a blueprint for young ballplayers with big league aspirations to follow. The purpose of the book is twofold: one, to give young ballplayers an inside look at what scouts are really looking for in their search for professional-caliber ballplayers; and two, to help them market and sell themselves so that those scouts will know they exist and see them put their best skills on display. How to Make Pro Scouts Notice You is written with the intent of helping young ballplayers keep their dreams of playing pro ball alive and flourishing.
On a handshake, I've trusted Donald Dell with my life." -Arthur Ashe, U.S. Open champion Good negotiators know the rules. Great negotiators know when to break those rules. And then there are the true master dealmakers, like the pioneering sports lawyer Donald Dell. Over the last four decades, he has fought for some of the biggest stars in the world-Michael Jordan, Jimmy Connors, Patrick Ewing, Andy Roddick, Stan Smith, and dozens of others. Dell is tough enough to look the general manager of the L.A. Lakers in the eye and say, "We can talk about the weather or the movies or your sex life, whatever you want, but we're not going any further until you make an opening offer." On the other hand, he's shrewd enough to know when the managing partner of the Chicago Bulls was about to lowball Michael Jordan by $40 million-unless Dell could grab the advantage by naming his number first. Now Dell reveals the advanced strategies and tactics that he has developed over a lifetime of high-stakes deals. Whether you're making endorsement deals for superstars, negotiating your next salary, or just trying to sell your old car, Dell's wisdom will help you get every possible advantage.
This book offers a timely, clear-headed, and uniquely important contribution to conservation, one that should be read by all bureaucrats, scientists, and others involved with development projects that supposedly benefit wildlife and wilderness."--George B. Schaller, author of Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe
INTRODUCTION – Last Time Out Finding the right ending is a problem equally shared by writers, filmmakers, poets, songwriters and, thanks to Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, maybe even baseball players. Unleashing that flawless swing one last time on a dark, nasty fall afternoon in Boston, Williams’ perfect parting shot, launching a majestic home run into the Fenway Park bullpen in his final appearance at the plate, set a standard for baseball farewells that has rarely been equaled. It was as if Williams himself was saying to the game – take that! Gracefully walking away from the game that had been such a crucial part of any major leaguer’s life is a trick managed by only a few. The great Babe Ruth, stuffed into an unfamiliar Boston Braves’ uniform, walked off the field for the last time with no fanfare. Ty Cobb left before his final season was even over, his final bid for a World Series title gone after a Yankees’ sweep of Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s. And so it goes; Bob Gibson cursing out a mediocre player who’d just reached him for a grand slam on his final pitch, the extraordinary Willie Mays stumbling in the outfield in a World Series, Nolan Ryan unable to get out of the first inning of his final start and on and on. Considering that all these men had been so triumphant in the game – just making it to the major leagues is an extraordinary achievement – even for one game - choosing where to go out was intriguing. And of course, the mystique of Williams’ final HR started with the work of an author, the great John Updike, who came to Boston anticipating a romantic liaison. Instead, Updike turned his disappointment into a trip to Fenway Park and brilliantly captured the final moments of a historic career. His legendary New Yorker piece “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu,” made a nation reconsider Williams’ career and made me, eventually, come up with the idea for this. True enough, that was where “Last Time Out” started. Working for the local newspaper, I’d had a chance to meet and chat with Updike after his appearance at a Florida State workshop in 2000 and we chatted about his oft-discussed essay. “Looking back,” he said, “I’m still surprised that it was his last game and there was nobody there.” He was right. Fenway Park had just 10,453 fans – and Updike - that September afternoon. On the way home, I wondered about how other great players had left the game. I remembered Babe Ruth had hit three homers in a game, was it his finale? And, teary-eyed, I remembered Carl Yastrzemski’s last game in Boston, his trot around the field, slapping hands with watery-eyed Fenway Faithful. What about Hank Aaron, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson…I’d have to look. And did. Times have changed, of course, since Williams’ finale in 1960. The final games of these recent stars, like so many other events in professional sports, have become important. Sometimes they become a scripted, carefully planned, media circus like departures of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, David Ortiz and a few others. Sometimes, they just leave. Take a spin through YouTube, for example, and you can find video documentation of all sorts of farewells to the game. But in most cases, you might see video but not the stories. In this, the sequel to my original book, I’ve looked back at the departures of some of the most memorable players in my lifetime, all of whom I watched play, some of whom I even got to interview in my 25-year career as a sportswriter. There are even a few personal moments sprinkled in. And, as my connection to the game has deepened in a way I couldn’t have anticipated, only dreamed about, I had another renewed interest in our National Pastime. My son, the kid you see leaning on my shoulder on the back jacket of my original book, is now 28. After a long, sometimes bumpy stint in the minor leagues, is a major-league baseball player in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization. John made his big-league debut in Chicago a week before my birthday in 2020. I share the story of his big-league debut in the concluding chapter. I’m hoping that his final at-bat is a few years away. As a writer and fan, what has been truly fascinating in the intervening 16 years since the first publication of “Last Time Out” is suddenly how accessible everything is. Writing and researching that original book pre-Internet, I remember spending hour after hour in Florida State’s Strozier Library, eyes blurry from the trusty microfilm machine, sifting through ancient box scores, game stories and newspaper columns. For this edition, almost all the material was found online or in books I had in my own library. Enjoy!
This much-awaited final volume of The Birds of British Columbia completes what some have called one of the most important regional ornithological works in North America. It is the culmination of more than 25 years of effort by the authors who, with the assistance of thousands of dedicated volunteers throughout the province, have created the basic reference work on the avifauna of British Columbia. Volume 4 covers the last half of the passerines and describes 102 species, including the warblers, sparrows, grosbeaks, blackbirds, and finches. The text builds upon the authoritative format of the previous volumes and is supported by hundreds of full-colour illustrations, including detailed distribution maps, unique habitat shots, and beautiful photographs of the birds, their nests, eggs, and young. In addition, a species update lists and describes 27 species of birds new to the province since the first three volumes were published. The book concludes with Synopsis: The Birds of British Columbia into the 21st Century, which synthesizes data and information from all four volumes and looks at the conservation challenges facing birds in the new millennium. The four volumes in The Birds of British Columbia provide unprecedented coverage of the region's birds, presenting a wealth of information on the ornithological history, regional environment, habitat, breeding habits, migratory movements, seasonality and distribution patterns of 472 species of birds. It is the complete reference work for birdwatchers, ornithologists and naturalists.
British Columbia has one of the richest assemblages of bird species in the world. The four volumes of The Birds of British Columbia provide unprecedented coverage of this region's birds, presenting a wealth of information on the ornithological history, habitat, breeding habits, migratory movements, seasonality, and distribution patterns of each of the 472 species of birds. This third volume, covering the first half of the passerines, builds on the authoritative format of the previous bestselling volumes. It contains 89 species, including common ones such as swallows, jays, crows, wrens, thrushes, and starlings. The text is supported by hundreds of full-colour pictures, including unique habitat photographs, detailed distribution maps, and beautiful illustrations of the birds, their nests, eggs, and young. The Birds of British Columbia is a complete reference work for bird-watchers, ornithologists, and naturalists who want in-depth information on the province's regularly occurring and rare birds.
In-depth qualitative analysis and state-of-the-art computer graphics provide the most thorough evaluation of more than 700 major league players and top minor league prospects, featuring each player's strengths, weaknesses, playing styles, experience, potential, stats for 1993 performances, career records, and more. Illustrations.
Baseball: 1862 to 2003 is a weekly review of the 2003 baseball season, written as the events of 2003 were happening, and looking at them through the lens of baseball history to show how events from baseballas past resonate today. Indeed, the national pastimeas rich history a stretching from the 19th century to the 21st century a provides a variety of examples that illuminate the events of 2003. Baseball: 1862 to 2003 looks at timely historical events and ties them to a story from 2003as headlines, sometimes comparing the past and the present, sometimes contrasting the two, sometimes using a past event as a jumping-off point to look at what happened in 2003. Stories like: Pete Rose, the Hall of Fame elections, the awful Detroit Tigers, Sammy Sosaas corked bat, Roger Clemensa 300th win, acurses, a 20-game losers, playoff failures, and the World Series. Itas baseball, from injuries to uniforms to interleague play to team nicknames.
The newest edition of "The Scouting Notebook" contains charts where players hit the ball, information of how often and when pitchers throw strikes, strengths and weaknesses of each hitter, every pitcher's repertoire, plus more.
STATS Diamond Chronicles" presents essays, debates, and discussion from the 1997 baseball season, as authored by some of the most popular baseball minds in the business. Focusing on hot topics from this past season, the guide also presents information and insight from the 1997-98 off-season, getting baseball fans totally prepared for Major League Baseball 1998.
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