Sports Softball

After surviving both Hodgkin’s lymphoma and melanoma, sports enthusiast Katie Russell Newland knows the struggles of overcoming challenges both on and off the field. This book offers listeners an intimate, true story about the bond shared between a mother and daughter, a road trip to all 30 Major League Baseball (MLB) parks, and the importance of relishing every joy and struggle along the way. Join Katie as she travels more than 30,000 miles to all 30 MLB parks in a single season, a rare feat covered by ESPN.

It's 1948, and the National League certified since 1903 Boston Braves haven't won a pennant in 20 years. But from out of nowhere, newcomer Jason Stiller looks to change all that. All Jason wants is to go out and hit the ball a mile, but with the Braves' star pitcher as a rival, the steely-eyed manager watching him like a hawk, and the beautiful owner's daughter about to cause The Kid to go head over heels...what's a rookie to do? And then with the World Series in sight, when Braves owner Robert P. Germane decides to really throw The Kid a curveball.

Havana Heat transports readers to 1911 America, where real-life pitcher Luther "Dummy" Taylor is trying to work his arm back into fighting shape. Though deaf, Taylor helped lead John McGraw's New York Giants to the pennant, winning 115 games between 1900 and 1908. But an injury relegates him to the minors, and he dreams of one last shot at the big barnstorming trip to Cuba.

In "one of the funniest and most heartfelt baseball stories in recent memory" (Publishers Weekly), Howard Frank Mosher returns to Kingdom Common, Vermont, to spin a touching coming-of-age tale in an America that has almost disappeared. From this remote village, noted for its fervent devotion to the Red Sox, comes Ethan “E. A.” Allen, a young man with a chance to change baseball history. Homeschooled, fatherless, and living on the wrong side of the tracks, E. A. is haunted by a dark mystery in his family’s past until a drifter named Teddy arrives in his life, determined to teach E. A. everything he knows about baseball.

Roger Kahn is one of America's foremost sportswriters. After successful seasons as a newspaperman and magazine writer, he burst onto the national scene in 1972 with his memorable bestseller, The Boys of Summer, a work that went beyond sports and captured the minds and hearts of millions across the country. Now in his eighth decade, Kahn has again written a book for the hearts and minds of his readers.

The seventh game of the World Series is about to be played, and more than the world championship is at stake. A man’s destiny is on the line. Johnny Longboat, one of baseball’s greatest pitchers, is taking the mound for the New York Mohawks in what may be his final game. With millions of eyes upon him, only he is aware of the conflicts tormenting him. At 41, Johnny is a man trying to make sense of his past while fearing what the future could bring when his playing career ends.

From the Super Bowl to the Thanksgiving game, millions of families gather throughout the week to watch their favorite teams duke it out. Kids and grandparents alike share the thrill of watching their team get that perfect tackle or last-minute save. Now you have the opportunity to share the history of the sport with your kids with one engaging guide. 210.2 million people follow the NBA league across its various social media platforms, making it the most popular sports league in the world. So why is it that no one really understands its history?

From 1991 through 2005, the Atlanta Braves did something no pro sports team can match, finishing in first place for 14 consecutive seasons. During that stretch, the Braves parlayed powerful pitching with potent hitting that produced under pressure. Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox won with veteran teams, young teams, slugging teams, and several times with teams that emphasized speed and defense. His teams captured 100 wins in six different seasons.

Leo Durocher (1906-1991) was baseball's all-time leading cocky, flamboyant, and galvanizing character, casting a shadow across several eras, from the time of Babe Ruth to the Space Age Astrodome, from Prohibition through the Vietnam War. For more than 40 years, he was at the forefront of the game, with a Zelig-like ability to be present as a player or manager for some of the greatest teams and defining baseball moments of the 20th century.

In Inventing Baseball Heroes, Amber Roessner examines "herocrafting" in sports journalism through an incisive analysis of the work surrounding two of baseball's most enduring personalities - Detroit Tigers outfielder Ty Cobb and New York Giants pitcher Christy Mathewson.

The fascinating story of baseball's most legendary "Iron Men", Cal Ripken Jr. and Lou Gehrig, who each achieved the coveted and sometimes confounding record of most consecutive games played.

What’s it really like to wear the pinstripes? This riveting account from New York Post writer Michael Morrissey takes listeners inside the clubhouse of the 2006 New York Yankees and reveals what really goes on behind the hype, the media glare, and the roar of the fans surrounding the most fabled organization in the world of professional sports. The New York Yankees began the 2006 season with baseball’s highest payroll and sky-high expectations - and more challenges than other any Yankee team in history.

Critically acclaimed writer Tom Adelman is hailed as a renegade by the Village Voice Literary Supplement for his aggressive, no-holds-barred style. The Long Ball is his dynamic re-telling of baseball's thrilling 1975 season.

In 2010 the New York Mets were in trouble. One of baseball's most valuable franchises, they had recently suffered an embarrassing September collapse and two bitter losing seasons. Their GM had made costly mistakes. And their principle owners were embroiled in the largest financial scam in American history. To whom did they turn? Sandy Alderson, a former marine who served in Vietnam and graduated from Harvard Law.

Few men in sports history have accomplished more than Yogi Berra: three MVP Awards, 21 World Series appearances as a player, coach, and manager, and a plaque in Cooperstown honoring him as arguably the greatest catcher to ever play the position. Off the field, the man often derided for his appearance has become one of the most beloved and enduring sports figures of all time, as well as a successful pitchman and the source of some of the most-repeated expressions in the English language.

Don Zimmer had his first taste of baseball glory in 1948 as a member of a national champion American Legion team. He was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers, only to have his career—and life—threatened when he was beaned in a minor league game in 1953.

Change Up is every fan’s box-seat ticket to a remarkable baseball event: a round-table conversation among the participants themselves about pivotal developments that changed the game, from the 1960s to today. Here, through the eyes and words of star players like Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and Ichiro Suzuki, baseball legends like Cal Ripken, Earl Weaver, and Jim Bouton, and award-winning writers like David Marainiss, Bob Lipsyte, and Robert Whiting who reported the stories, are vivid and very personal accounts of some of the most important happenings in the history of the sport.

From the first pitch of April until the final out in October, the 1962 Dodgers and Giants staged a furious pennant fight that was every bit the equal of the fractious feuds waged during the rivalry's New York heyday of bench-clearing brawls.

Humorous case histories and profiles of great baseball scouts accompany a discussion of the trade secrets of baseball scouts, the economics of scouting, player development, and the history of the profession. In a new epilogue Kevin Kerrane explores the world of baseball scouting in the late 1990s.

Before the "Bronx Zoo" of George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin, there were the Oakland Athletics of the early 1970s, one of the most successful, most colorful - and most chaotic - baseball teams of all time. They were all of those things because of Charlie Finley. Not only the A's owner, he was also the general manager, personally assembling his team, deciding his players' salaries, and making player moves during theseason - a level of involvement no other owner, not even Steinbrenner, engaged in.