A League Of My Own

Growing up, Pat Brown had two dreams: to play baseball and to attend college. She was told she couldn't play baseball because she was a girl and couldn't attend college because she had no money, but in spite of the obstacles, she achieved both of these dreams, playing for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1950 and 1951 and going on to attend college. She is among the few women professional baseball players to be included into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. "As the only former AAGPBL player to have written about the League," Brown says, "I feel like I have finally pitched my no hit game." This is a memoir of playing baseball on the sandlot, discovering and playing in the AAGPBL, and playing basketball in college. Brown shares her thoughts on the League's history, including what Philip K. Wrigley sought to do by creating the AAGPBL, what happened after Wrigley left to give more attention to the Chicago Cubs, and why the League ended. She also considers the future for women's professional baseball. Interviews with such former AAGPBL players as Helen Hannah Campbell, Patricia "Pat" Courtney, Madeline "Maddy" English, Lenora "Smokey" Mandella, Jacqueline "Jackie" Matson, Jane Moffet, Mary "Sis" Moore, and Janet "Pee Wee" Wiley are included.

Story of the All-American Professional Baseball League (1943-1954), the first professional sports team for women in the United States.

"The best writer in a baseball uniform." —Tyler Kepner, The New York Times 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. From there things got worse, weirder, and funnier. In a crazy world of injured athletes, autograph-seeking nuns, angry wrestlers, and trainers with a taste for torture, Hayhurst learned lessons about the game—and himself—that were not in any rulebook. Honest, soul?searching, insightful, hilarious, and moving, Dirk Hayhurst's latest memoir is an indisputable baseball classic. Praise for The Bullpen Gospels and Out of My League "Dirk Hayhurst writes about baseball in a unique way. Observant, insightful, human, and hilarious." —Bob Costas "A fun read. . .This book shows why baseball is so often used as a metaphor for life." —Keith Olbermann "Entertaining and engaging. . .reminiscent of Jim Bouton's Ball Four." —Booklist "A rare gem of a baseball book." —Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated "A humorous, candid, and insightful memoir of Hayhurst's rookie season in the majors. . .Grade: Home Run." —Cleveland Plain Dealer

THE MOVING SAGA OF RACHEL CAMPBELL AND HER FAMILY CONTINUES... It's October 1954 and life in post-war Britain is slowly starting to return to normal. For Rachel Campbell, however, her family is proving to be a constant challenge. As her children grow older and start families of their own, Rachel must help them learn the often difficult lessons of life. Back from his National Service in Korea, Sam quickly rises through the police force, but soon finds himself in competition with his younger brother Paul. Meanwhile, Carrie realises that the joys of marriage may not create the easy life she had hoped for. And on what feels like the other side of the world, Rachel's eldest daughter Hannah faces the harsh realities of life on a Hebridean island. Through blessings and tragedies, streaks of luck and blows of misfortune, the Campbells will face their most trying days. But when surprising news brings the opportunity for redemption, can the family learn to put the past behind them? Millie Gray once again brilliantly recreates the atmosphere of the era with all the hardships and struggles as well as the fun, warmth and humour of everyday life.

The Chicago Cubs tradition is one built on spectacular losing streaks and even more spectacular collapses. Yet despite all the losses and disappointments, an amazing thing happens every summer at the corner of Addison and Sheffield: millions of fans flock to Wrigley Field and millions more fans across the country regularly tune in to watch Cubs games broadcast on television. Exactly why Cubs fans support their squad with such reckless abandon isn’t entirely clear—these people represent a remarkable aberration of human psychology, epitomizing the spirit and experience of dedication to a desperate cause. And the whole time, they’re oddly happy. The Cubs Fan’s Guide to Happiness reveals what makes Cubs fans tick and what keeps them happy. It explains why it’s not over until you’re mathematically eliminated, why winning really isn’t everything, and why it’s perfectly acceptable to blame all your trouble on a scapegoat—which may or may not be an actual goat. The fully revised edition also provides educational sidebars, practical applications, and true words of wisdom from celebrity Cubs fans as well as surviving the planned renovations to the product on the field and Wrigley Field itself.

The baseball classic that Ernest Hemingway called "beautifully observed and incredibly conceived," now repackaged and including a foreword from Jane Leavy and never-before-seen content from the Plimpton archives. The first of Plimpton's remarkable forays into participatory journalism, OUT OF MY LEAGUE chronicles with wit, charm, and grace what happens when a self-professed amateur has the chance to answer every fan's question: could he strike out a major league star? Plimpton's inspired idea--to get on the mound and pitch a few innings to the All-Stars of the American and National Leagues--begins as a fun-filled stunt and comes to a deeply hellish, nearly humiliating end. This honest and hilarious tale features Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Whitey Ford, Ralph Houk, and other baseball greats and is "a baseball book such as no one else ever wrote, and one of the best ever." --New York Herald Tribune

How champions win and how they can be beaten. A League of Their Own provides readers with a closer look at the FIFA Club World Champions, such as FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester City. Readers will catch a glimpse into the history of these clubs while also learning about the individual philosophies of some of the top coaches. This book discusses different tactical philosophies as well as how these tactical approaches have been adjusted by some of soccer’s greatest coaches, such as Pep Guardiola, José Mourinho, Luis Enrique, and Louis van Gaal. Finally, readers will be taken through case studies of each individual team with a step-by-step analysis of how these tactical setups are successful and how they can be exploited. Each case study will provide a discussion of how each team sets up when in attack, defending, and in transition. Not only addressing how and why these tactical setups are powerful, this book also breaks down and specifies just how lesser teams can exploit the subtle weaknesses by adjusting their attacking, defending, and transition strategies. Winning the tactical battle on the pitch creates endless possibilities, and perhaps evens the playing field to continue intrigue of the game.

A colorful chronicle of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, as recalled by the very women and men who were a part of it. From Philip K. Wrigley, the chewing-gum mogul who had the idea for the league, to "Gabby" Ziegler, captain of the Grand Rapids Chicks, Girls of the Summer is about dreams and about making those dreams come true.