My First Auburn Baseball Book

My First Auburn Baseball Book: Letters Around the Baseball Diamond is a children's book sports book about Auburn University. Readers can follow along with the alphabet to learn more about Auburn baseball.

C.1 ST. AID. B & T. 01-22-2008. $14.95.

For three decades, Rod Bramblett has lived and breathed Auburn University athletics, and in Touchdown Auburn, he details all of the unforgettable moments he's witnessed from his spot in the broadcasting booth. An Auburn graduate, Bramblett was the play-by-play announcer of Tigers baseball for 11 seasons before taking over as the voice of the football and men's basketball teams in 2003. Fans will relive and get the behind-the-scenes stories behind the "Miracle at Jordan-Hare" and perhaps the most famous play in recent college football history–Chris Davis' 109-yard return to beat Alabama in 2013–which made Bramblett a household name.

More than any other sport, baseball has developed its own niche in America’s culture and psyche. Some researchers spend years on detailed statistical analyses of minute parts of the game, while others wax poetic about its players and plays. Many trace the beginnings of the civil rights movement in part to the Major Leagues’ decision to integrate, and the words and phrases of the game (for example, pinch-hitter and out in left field) have become common in our everyday language. From AARON, HENRY onward, this book covers all of what might be called the cultural aspects of baseball (as opposed to the number-rich statistical information so widely available elsewhere). Biographical sketches of all Hall of Fame players, owners, executives and umpires, as well as many of the sportswriters and broadcasters who have won the Spink and Frick awards, join entries for teams, owners, commissioners and league presidents. Advertising, agents, drafts, illegal substances, minor leagues, oldest players, perfect games, retired uniform numbers, superstitions, tripleheaders, and youngest players are among the thousands of entries herein. Most entries open with a topical quote and conclude with a brief bibliography of sources for further research. The whole work is exhaustively indexed and includes 119 photographs.

Baseball is the only major team sport that doesn’t feature a clock, and there’s a familiar saying among fans that as long as outs remain, the game can, theoretically, go on forever. Every now and again, it nearly does, as author Phil Lowry demonstrates. The product of more than four decades of research, this book catalogs baseball games from around the world and throughout history that lasted 20 or more innings, stretched five or more hours, or ended after 1:00 am. Lowry also examines probability models to predict how often games of unusual length will occur.

Growing up in Kinston, Alabama, Rick Wood had two goals: to play high school basketball for his role model, Creigh Purnell, and to become a high school coach and teacher himself. Though he was never able to make Coach Purnell's varsity, he enjoyed a stellar coaching career. Rick Wood retired with 662 wins -- at the time, the most by any active coach in North Carolina. His players were known for their teamwork, hustle, and sportsmanship. They were also known for being true student-athletes, receiving two awards for having the best team GPAs in the entire state. 40 Seasons chronicles how one small town boy turned his dream into a lifetime of achievements. Through his eyes, we discover universal lessons about winning, losing, teaching, and living.

This volume documents the achievements of great and average athletes who made Walker a name that commands respect across the state of Alabama. Read about the greats of the olden daysmen such as Bruce Jones, Wick Hudson, Al Blanton, Jelly McDanal, and Billy Richardsonas well as feats of modern-day heroes Ronnie Coleman, Glen Clem, Linnie Patrick, Tommy Cole, Peggy Keebler, and Mary Catherine McColluch, along with hundreds of others. Included are mens and womens sports as well as everything from cheerleading to parades and pep rallies.

In a follow-up to his Clearing the Bases Sports Illustratedas book of the year for 2002syndicated columnist Allen Barra turns his eye from Americaas pastime to Americaas passion. In this collection of essays, Barra delves into the gridironas all-time greats, some of the sportas enduring controversies, and suggests new ways to think about the game that holds our attention from August through January, every year. Barra turns his aggressively intelligent writing to the Heisman Trophy and its controversies and demonstrates why the Bowl Championship Series has not and cannot work. He explains how the infamous tie game between Notre Dame and Michigan State in 1966 changed football forever. He compares the careers of Bear Bryant and Vince Lombardi, George Allen and Don Shula, Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas, and Joe Montana and Steve Young, probing beyond the myths that surround each man and creating a new context to understand their achievements. He explains how Notre Dame embraced a destiny in pads, beyond the Gipper mystique and Rockne speeches. No other writer challenges a sportas myths, untrue truisms, and legends the way Barra does in these essays. The achievement of a writer who manages a balance between establishment insider and outspoken iconoclast, Big Play explores issues and controversies that fire up pigskin fans. Blending statistical commentary with insight and biting commentary with genuine fandom, Barra provides readers with another dose of his passionate, opinionated, and unique analysis of football."