Most Valuable Players

In the fourth book of the Rip and Red series, the two boys have one last basketball thrill ride before the end of fifth grade. It’s fifth-grade graduation time for Rip and Red, and this year’s festivities are going to be extra special because Reese Jones Elementary is also celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary. As part of the gala, Hoops Machine, the exhibition basketball team, is paying a visit, and Rip may be playing a surprise role. But he and his friends need to finish their schoolwork first, which includes taking a newly required standardized test. However, when the students of Room 208 begin to question the need to take the test, a mini opt-out movement gains momentum. When the administration gets wind of this rebellion in Mr. Acevedo’s class, Hoops Machine, middle-school basketball tryouts, and walking at the graduation ceremony are in jeopardy. So is Mr. A’s job. But luckily for Rip, Red, their classmates, and their teacher, when you stand up for what you believe in, the people you’ve touched along the way rally to your corner. Most Valuable Players is the fourth book in the Rip & Red series, written by Phil Bildner with illustrations by Tim Probert.

Three books. Three sports. Three swoony book boyfriends! Includes: The Assist, Sweet Spot, and Secret Puck. The Assist Wes Reynolds. Basketball player, arrogant, always sleeping through class. And my new tutor. Sweet Spot Lincoln Reeves, golf pro and swing coach, might be the one person who can take my game to the next level. If I don’t throw my club at his handsome face first. Secret Puck Secretly hooking up with my brother’s teammate was a bad idea. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.

 From its colorful beginnings more than a century ago, baseball’s annual Most Valuable Player Award has become the most prestigious (and contentious) individual honor in the sport. No accolade means more to players, fans or the media. No other award can claim a voting history so rich in alleged snubs, grudges, conspiracies and incompetence. Examining the most controversial ballots, this book attempts to settle some arguments and answer some compelling questions: Which of the so-called “worst MVPs” holds up to modern statistical analysis? Who cast the single worst vote in MVP history? Does racial bias influence the vote? Who really deserved the award in a given year?

Freakonomics meets Moneyball in this provocative exposé of baseball’s most fiercely debated controversies and some of its oldest, most dearly held myths. Providing far more than a mere collection of numbers, economics professor and popular blogger J.C. Bradbury shines the light of his economic thinking on baseball, exposing the power of tradeoffs, competition, and incentives. Utilizing his own “sabernomic” approach, Bradbury dissects baseball topics such as: • Did steroids have nothing to do with the recent homerun records? Incredibly, Bradbury’s research reveals steroids probably had little impact. • Which players are ridiculously overvalued? Bradbury lists all players by team with their revenue value to the team listed in dollars—including a dishonor role of those players with negative values—updated in paperback to include the 2007 season. • Does it help to lobby for balls and strikes? Statistics alone aren’t enough anymore. This is a refreshing, lucid, and powerful read for fans, fantasy buffs, and players—as well as coaches at all levels—who want to know what is really happening on the field.

A must-have book for any Cleveland Browns fan, this updated edition of Cleveland Browns A to Z is compiled alphabetically for easy accessibility. The book offers a complete history of the tradition-filled franchise and includes more than five hundred different items of interest. Imagine yourself in chilly Cleveland, where the frigid winds freeze fans in the stands and frustrate such legendary kickers as Lou Groza and Don Cockroft. Discover the origin behind the country’s most rabid followers, who sit in the east end zone’s Dawg Pound and bark their support for the team. Revel in a ream of statistics, from Hall of Famers like Jim Brown and Otto Graham to passing yards leaders to the win-loss record for when the team plays in domes. Cleveland Browns A to Z is a handy reference guide of notable information that makes up Browns history, especially regarding statistics. Cleveland Browns A to Z brings you the history of the Browns and will delight those with a penchant for sports trivia with its array of facts and heightened attention to detail. From Abe Abraham to Eric Zeiler, this book has all the information Browns Backers would ever want to know about their team. 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.

Batter up! Baseball action and exciting whodunits star in this chapter book series! Next up is Colorado! Mike and Kate arrive in Colorado to a ballpark covered in snow! Luckily, the stadium has a heater that can melt the fluffy flakes in time for next day's game. But when the ballpark engineers get a mysterious note saying that someone may tamper with the scoreboard, the snow becomes the least of the cousins' problems. It's time for Mike and Kate to switch into sleuth mode and solve a mystery that will take them underground, a mile above sea level, and even face to face with a dinosaur! Ballpark Mysteries are the all-star matchup of fun sleuthing and baseball action, perfect for readers of Ron Roy's A to Z Mysteries and Matt Christopher's sports books, and younger siblings of Mike Lupica fans. Each Ballpark Mystery also features Dugout Notes with more amazing baseball facts.