Baseball Life

The superbly researched, spellbindingly told story of athlete, showman, philosopher, and boundary breaker Leroy “Satchel” Paige. Few reliable records or news reports survive about players in the Negro Leagues. Through dogged detective work, award-winning author and journalist Larry Tye has tracked down the truth about this majestic and enigmatic pitcher, interviewing more than 200 Negro Leaguers and Major Leaguers, talking to family and friends who had never told their stories before, and retracing Paige’s steps across the continent.

Widely regarded as the greatest all-around player in baseball history because of his unparalleled hitting, defense and baserunning, the beloved Willie Mays offers people of all ages his lifetime of experience meeting challenges with positivity, integrity and triumph in 24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid. Presented in 24 chapters to correspond with his universally recognized uniform number, Willie’s memoir provides more than the story of his role in America’s pastime.

When baseball fans voted on the top twenty-five players of the twentieth century in 1999, Stan Musial didn’t make the cut. This glaring omission—later rectified by a panel of experts—raised an important question: How could a first-ballot Hall of Famer, widely considered one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, still rank as the most underrated athlete of all time?

Embracing teamwork, they welcome troubled players Ty and Savannah, hoping to give them a second chance after they were kicked off a former team. Can the Manatees learn to accept the newcomers? Can they teach Ty and Savannah to be good teammates? And can they all work together to beat the best team in the league, the Dragons?

Home run slugger Sylvester Coddmyer the Third has an amazing secret. For three seasons, he's been coached by men who look exactly like baseball legends: Babe Ruth, Eddie Cicotte, and Mickey Mantle. Are these men just impersonating famous ballplayers, as his friend Duane insists? Or are they from the "beyond," as Snooky Malone believes?

Ethan Bryan played and wrote about baseball for years. Then his daughters challenged him to set out on a yearlong experiment: to play catch with someone every day. This experience led him across 10 states and 12,000 miles on a quest both quixotic and inspiring. Taking you from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to the home of the Daytona Tortugas in Florida, Bryan played ball and swapped stories with public school teachers, veterans, journalists, nurses, musicians, entertainers, entrepreneurs, athletes from every level, and members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Low broke Cage’s heart by getting with Marcus in Because of Low. Cage went into a tailspin that ended in a DUI. In order to salvage his baseball scholarship - the one thing he truly valued besides Low - Cage must take a summer job. At a farm. Away from Sea Breeze. With lots of cows, but no hot girls. Maybe that’s what Cage needs to get back on track. But wait - there’s that hostile daughter of the farm boss. She’s pretty and occasionally sweet, and there seems to be a lot of sadness and mystery behind her anger.

Johnny Mize was one of the greatest hitters in baseball’s golden age of great hitters. Born and raised in tiny Demorest, Georgia, in the northeast Georgia mountains, Mize emerged from the heart of Dixie as a Bunyonesque slugger, a quiet but sharp-witted man from a broken home who became a professional player at seventeen, embarking on an extended tour of the expansive St. Louis Cardinals Minor League system.

On a September night in Montreal in 1993, Curtis Pride got his first Major League hit, prompting a long, emotional standing ovation from the crowd of 45,757 fans. Profoundly deaf since birth, Pride couldn’t hear their thunderous applause. But as the cheers grew louder and more insistent, he realized he was feeling those vibrations within his chest—an undeniable acknowledgment of an extraordinary achievement.

In Life Lessons Thru the Lens of Baseball, Mark J. Friedlander shares how America’s favorite pastime has profoundly shaped his life and approach to personal growth. From his earliest days in Little League to his time as a coach, Friedlander draws on baseball’s timeless wisdom to offer valuable insights that extend far beyond the game. Through heartfelt stories and reflections, this book reveals how baseball mirrors life’s most important truths—staying positive under pressure, embracing failure as a stepping stone to success, and the importance of teamwork.

In The Ancient Wisdom of Baseball, author Christian Sheppard interweaves Homer’s epics with glorious stories from the green fields of America’s pastime, celebrating Achilles’ courage and Odysseus’ cunning along with the virtues of Hall of Fame players such as Jackie Robinson and Babe Ruth and of great teams such as the 2004 Red Sox and the 2016 Cubs. Along the way, Sheppard humorously recollects trying to raise his baby daughter true to the teachings of ancient myth and his beloved game.

Babe Ruth was more than baseball's original superstar. For 85 years, he has remained the sport's reigning titan. He has been named Athlete of the Century...more than once. But who was this large, loud, enigmatic man? In The Big Bam, Leigh Montville brings his trademark touch to this groundbreaking, revelatory portrait of the Babe.

Willie Mays is arguably the greatest player in baseball history, still revered for the passion he brought to the game. He began as a teenager in the Negro Leagues, became a cult hero in New York, and was the headliner in Major League Baseball's bold expansion to California. He was a blend of power, speed, and stylistic bravado that enraptured fans for more than two decades. Now, James Hirsch reveals the man behind the player.

From number one New York Times best seller Mike Lupica! Nick Crandall feels like he doesn't belong anywhere. He doesn't fit in with his new foster parents. They don't know the first thing about sports - and he's not exactly the model student they want him to be. It's only a matter of time until they realize he's not the right kid for them. And Nick certainly doesn't belong playing varsity baseball. He's only twelve years old! His teammates want a catcher their own age. But Nick needs to prove that he belongs - to his parents, to his team, and to himself.

When her brother dies from cancer, and then her mother just four months later, Teresa Strasser has no one to mourn with but her irresponsible, cantankerous, trailerpark-dwelling father. He claims not to remember her chaotic childhood, but he’s a devoted grandpa, so as her son embarks on his first season pitching in Little League, Teresa and Nelson form a grief group of two in beach chairs lined up behind the first base line.

Jalen DeLuca's unique ability to predict pitches helped him save the career of Yankees star Second Baseman James “JY” Yager, but with JY sidelined with an injury, Jalen’s focusing on his own on-field efforts. However, the media is still interested in the “Calamari Kid”, and Jalen begins to get a little full of himself. Now, Daniel and Cat are starting to feel left out and kind of angry. Maybe all this baseball genius stuff isn’t as great as it’s cracked up to be.

This book isn't just another compilation of baseball statistics and records. It's a journey through the lives of legends like Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, and many others, showcasing how their trials and triumphs extend far beyond the baseball diamond.

At forty-four years old, Tim Wakefield is the longest-serving member of one of baseball’s most popular franchises. He is close to eclipsing the winning records of two of the greatest pitchers to have played the game, yet few realize the full measure of his success. That his career can be characterized by such words as dependability and consistency defies all odds because he has achieved this with baseball’s most mercurial weapon—the knuckleball.

After nearly a decade in the minors, Dirk Hayhurst defied the odds to climb onto the pitcher's mound for the Toronto Blue Jays. Newly married, with a big league paycheck and a brand new house, Hayhurst was ready for a great season in the Bigs. Then fate delivered a crushing hit. Hayhurst blew out his pitching shoulder in an insane off-season workout program. After surgery, rehab, and more rehab, his major-league dreams seemed more distant than ever.

Alex Rodriguez is the highest-paid player in the history of baseball, a once-in-a-generation talent who was poised to break many of the sport's most hallowed records. But his reputation changed drastically in February 2009 when Selena Roberts broke the news in Sports Illustrated that A-Rod had used performance-enhancing drugs during his 2003 MVP season with the Texas Rangers.