The Little Red Book Of Baseball Wisdom

Novelist W. P. Kinsella wrote that baseball is “a game where little gems of wisdom or whimsy can be created in the dugout, the bullpen, or the press box during long, hot afternoons and evenings of baseball.” The Little Red Book of Baseball Wisdom unearths a treasury of quotes reflecting more than a century’s worth of history from our national pastime. Featuring contributions from Hank Aaron to Walt Whitman, Yogi Berra to John Updike.

Politics. It’s a word that carries a great deal of weight, and there have been many words spoken about it ever since human beings decided it might be a good idea to come down from the trees and form some kind of government. The Little Black Book of Political Wisdom is an engaging collection of the wisest, funniest, and most insightful words ever said about the world of politics. Gathered here are hundreds of quotations from statesmen and stateswomen, philosophers, foreign leaders, journalists, and other politically astute observers from ancient times to present day. Here are some examples: “Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds.” —Henry Adams “I have learned that one of the most important rules of politics is poise—which means looking like an owl after behaving like a jackass.” —Ronald Reagan “Politics are almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war you can be killed once, but in politics many times.” —Sir Winston Churchill “We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.” —Aesop “Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” —P. J. O’Rourke

Every football fan has heard Vince Lombardi’s famous adage: “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” The same is true of Knute Rockne’s exhortation to “Win one for the Gipper.” Quotes like these have become part of football’s lore. Less well known is Alex Karras’s advice on the best way to stop All-Pro running back Jim Brown: “Give each guy on the line an ax.” Or Randy Cross’s opinion of his fellow players’ intelligence: “The NFL, like life, is full of idiots.” And then there’s this glimpse into Bill Parcells’s game plan: “If my quarterback runs, I’ll shoot him.” The Little Red Book of Football Wisdom is a collection of witty and hilariously irreverent quotes about America’s most popular sport. Players, coaches, celebrities, and literary giants weigh in on the best—and worst—football teams, athletes, games, fans, and more. These are just some of the folks whose words appear in these pages: Joe Namath David Halberstam Joe Montana Paul Hornung Deion Sanders Mean Joe Greene Richard Nixon Jerry Seinfeld Barack Obama Bruce Springsteen Hunter S. Thompson Faith Hill Ernest Hemingway And dozens of others! With a rich history dating back nearly 150 years, football is America’s game. Through the words of people who’ve played, coached, and cheered the games, The Little Red Book of Football Wisdom brings football’s vibrant tradition to life.

Whether you love its pace or are mystified by its immensity, New York City has a seemingly limitless capacity to spark both refreshingly blunt observations and eloquent descriptions of its daily life and motion. It has inspired countless artists, musicians, and even politicians, all of whom embody the essence of the city: profound, prophetic, quirky, amusing, tough, and amazingly varied. Inside you’ll find words of wisdom from a plethora of noteworthy New Yorkers, including: Joe Namath Donald Trump Edie Falco Woody Allen Marilyn Monroe Joan Rivers Rudy Giuliani Bette Midler Spike Lee And many, many more! New York boasts a cast of colorful characters like nowhere else, and in The Little Red Book of New York Wisdom they’ll tell you all about their beloved home, as only real New Yorkers could.

From Casablanca to The Hustler, from Moby Dick to How I Made $1,000,000 Playing Poker, these widely varied musings address the entire range of human emotion—the highs of excitement of the “juice” down to the depths of despair of losing. Covered here are gaming’s universality and history, superstition and luck, players and places, and also every game, from the lowliest back-alley crap shoot to the highest-stakes poker contest and everything in between. You’ll find quotable phrases from luminaries like Plato and Tom Wolfe, along with the hard-scrabble advice of Minnesota Fats and Nick the Greek, and humor and pith from the likes of Woody Allen, Charles Bukowski, David Mamet, Groucho Marx, Hunter S. Thompson, and many, many more!

In baseball, one record shines as the most coveted for batters: four home runs in a single game. Only eighteen players have accomplished this feat, making it rarer than the perfect game. This book profiles these batsmen, detailing their lives, the game that launched them into the four-home-run club, and their careers after that triumphant moment.

For first-timers, veterans, or those hoping to join the ranks real’ soon, here is a collection of more than 250 memorable quotations that capture the ups and downs and all points in between of what it means to be a grandmother and the inherent wisdom, power, and grandchildren-spoiling privileges that come with it. Heartwarming musings, advice, opinions, and observations are drawn from famous grandmothers around the world and those who know them all too well. Illustrated with full-color photos throughout, The Little Red Book of Grandmother’s Wisdom is the perfect gift for the beloved bubbe, nonna, or “queen mum” in your life. “You have to stay in shape. My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She’s ninety-seven today and we don’t know where the hell she is.” —Ellen DeGeneres “Just like his grandmother, [Barack] just keeps getting up and moving forward . . . with patience and wisdom, and courage and grace.” —Michelle Obama “I would say my grandmother would be like my personal god.” —Jamie Foxx

Do you think you have what it takes to be a Major League umpire? Well, now you can test your knowledge of the game with Wayne Stewart’s You’re the Umpire. Divided into three sections, this unusual handbook, now in its second edition, offers "Routine Calls," which deal with scenarios and rules that typically come up in games and deal with clear cut rules—fair and foul, strike zone questions, and the like. The next section, "Basic Situations," deals with umpiring matters and rules that are just a bit more unusual or, for the casual fan, obscure. Interference and obstruction calls, for example, don’t come up too often, but they remain standard stuff involving rules that umps and many fans know quite well. In the final section, "Obscure Rules and Situations," you will be presented with what many baseball people call “knotty” problems. Here, you will be asked questions involving the complex infield fly rule and other arcane matters. This section, then, is the ultimate test of your umpiring skills and knowledge. Most of the situations in You’re the Umpire come from real games, but some scenarios are made up to illustrate specific points or rules. Test yourself against your friends or against the famously iconic baseball rulebook. It’s a challenge and it’s fun. 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.