The Pinch Runner

This novel offers a contemporary and explosive picture of the nuclear family, which pivots on the bizarre odyssey of a Japanese father and son.

Just how long did Sandra and her angel friend Bob think they could stay out of trouble? A man from the church softball team has been found dead in the woods behind the church. But all Bob's past sleuthing has gotten him into trouble, so he can't get involved. Should Sandra stay out of this one and let the police handle it? Nah. She tries to lie low, but then the police arrest the wrong man--and she's got a pretty good idea who the real killer is. She's just got to get her supernatural partner back into action. (funny cozy mystery series, supernatural mystery series, cozy mystery with angel, complete cozy mystery series, complete cosy mystery series, sports mysteries, Maine mysteries, Christian cozy mysteries, Mom mystery, cozy mystery authors)

This novel offers a contemporary and explosive picture of the nuclear family, which pivots on the bizarre odyssey of a Japanese father and son.

How to Play Smart Baseball By: Leighton L. Smith How to Play Smart Baseball is a user-friendly guide to playing baseball that anyone can use. It gives practical suggestions on how to play baseball better, including ideas and tactics for managers, coaches and players of all positions. Using real-life examples from throughout the history of the sport, How to Play Smart Baseball advocates a smarter, more engaging way to play the game while memorizing some of the best players and plays of all time. Amateur of professional, all readers can use this book as a companion to enhance their experience in watching, discussing, or playing the game.

"The scope of A Game of Inches is encyclopedic, with nearly a thousand entries that illuminate the origins of items ranging from catchers' masks to hook slides to intentional walks to cork-center baseballs. But this is much more than just a reference guide. Along the way, award-winning author Peter Morris has a sharp eye for the telling quote and the entertaining anecdote. He explains the context that led each new feature of the game to emerge when it did, and chronicles the often surprising responses to these innovations."--BOOK JACKET.

For everyone who has ever wondered about spitballs, pine tar, the size of the diamond—all of the fascinating stories behind the rules of America's pastime—this book provides all of the answers. The authors take readers on a unique trip around the bases, explaining the development of the existing rules and drawing on a vast amount of fascinating history, lore, and trivia. Anecdotes feature legendary figures and events such as Yogi Berra, who threw himself out at first while playing in the minors in order to win a bet for a steak dinner; Fred “Bonehead” Merkle, who famously cost the New York Giants the pennant when he failed to tag a base; Albert Belle and the corked bat controversy; and Mets manager Bobby Valentine, who appeared in disguise after having been ejected by umpires. Every rule is dissected in this appealing look at baseball history that supplements its stories with archival photographs from the Hall of Fame as well as photos of current heroes.

Christy Mathewson (1880?1925) was the greatest baseball pitcher of his day, a hero with appeal reaching beyond sports. A college-educated player from Pennsylvania farm country, he restored respectability to a game tarnished by the rowdies who had dominated baseball in the 1890s. Pitchingøin a Pinch, originally published in 1912, is an insider?s account blending anecdote, biography, instruction, and social history. It celebrates baseball as it was played in the first decade of the twentieth century by famous contemporaries like Honus Wagner and Rube Marquand, managers like John McGraw and Connie Mack, and many others. Always sensitive to psychology as well as technique, Mathewson describes the ?dangerous batters? he faced, the ?peculiarities? of big-league pitchers, the ?good and bad? of coaching, umpiring, sign-stealing, base-running, spring training, and the importance of superstition to athletes. Matty, as he was called, makes the reader feel that tense moment when a player in a pinch must use his head.

For years, Deidre Silva and Jackie Koney figured that men simply knew more about baseball than they did. They tried to reconcile their love of baseball with their second-class fan status, but they finally realized that not getting in a tizzy over the 1952 World Series didn't mean that they weren't "real" fans. As loyal—but not insane or stat-obsessed—spectators, they simply had a different perspective. In It Takes More Than Balls they share their brand of baseball passion with lifelong fans and the "baseball curious" of either gender. Offering anecdotes and gossip from the ballpark, the book also explains the nuances of today's game that will help readers enjoy their next (or first) baseball outing.