The Way Baseball Works

"The Way Baseball Works will change the way you view America's national pastime. By breaking baseball down into its integral parts, the book explains the importance of each to the whole through minute analysis and highly detailed visuals. Veteran baseball writer Dan Gutman answers the big questions and then opens your eyes to elements you hadn't even imagined. Not just a simple how-to book, The Way Baseball Works covers all the bases, including equipment: how the tools of the game - the bat, ball, glove, mask, and so many more - were born, how they developed, and how they influenced the game; strategy: how the manger makes decisions, what each player is thinking as the pitcher goes into his windup, the psychological warfare that goes on in the confrontation between hitter and pitcher; and playing the game: how the fastball, curver, splitter, slider and knuckler are thrown, and what a batter can do to hit them. The beauty of the double play. The art of the stolen base." "Through photos, charts, and computer-generated graphics, this fascinating and instructive book will deepen every fan's understanding and appreciation of the game. Created in conjunction with the National Baseball Hall of Fame, The Way Baseball Works carries the mark of one of America's most venerable institutions and the world's best source for baseball knowledge."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The New York Times bestseller about what would happen if two statistics-minded outsiders were allowed to run a professional baseball team It’s the ultimate in fantasy baseball: You get to pick the roster, set the lineup, and decide on strategies -- with real players, in a real ballpark, in a real playoff race. That’s what baseball analysts Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller got to do when an independent minor-league team in California, the Sonoma Stompers, offered them the chance to run its baseball operations according to the most advanced statistics. Their story in The Only Rule is it Has to Work is unlike any other baseball tale you've ever read. We tag along as Lindbergh and Miller apply their number-crunching insights to all aspects of assembling and running a team, following one cardinal rule for judging each innovation they try: it has to work. We meet colorful figures like general manager Theo Fightmaster and boundary-breakers like the first openly gay player in professional baseball. Even José Canseco makes a cameo appearance. Will their knowledge of numbers help Lindbergh and Miller bring the Stompers a championship, or will they fall on their faces? Will the team have a competitive advantage or is the sport’s folk wisdom true after all? Will the players attract the attention of big-league scouts, or are they on a fast track to oblivion? It’s a wild ride, by turns provocative and absurd, as Lindbergh and Miller tell a story that will speak to numbers geeks and traditionalists alike. And they prove that you don’t need a bat or a glove to make a genuine contribution to the game.

Major League All-Star Green shares how his baseball career has taught him to live life being fully present in every moment.

An addition to the How Sports Work series presents information on the history of baseball and famous players, along with explanations of rules and techniques. Simultaneous.

No-hitters are rare in baseball. Father-and-son combinations are rarer. Baseball the Wright Way covers all those bases and then some. Two pitchers with vastly contrasting styles, both Clyde Wright and his son Jaret Wright discuss the art and craft of pitching with an authentic, straightforward sincerity that will captivate all baseball fans. In the mid-1960s, Clyde became the country boy from Tennessee who had his feet in LA when he made his debut with the California Angels. With his special brand of small-town, country charm, Clyde invites you to relive his journey from the farm to the major leagues, where he won one hundred games, tossed a no-hitter, made an all-star team, and played alongside and against many superstars and Hall of Famers in the backdrop of sunny Southern California. From there, Clyde spent three years pitching in Japan, forging many lifelong friendships in the Land of the Rising Sun. When his playing days were done, Clyde returned to Anaheim and launched a pitching school where he trained thousands of major-league-hopeful youths for decades. One of those hopefuls was his son Jaret, who later carved out an eleven-year major league pitching career of his own that included starting game 7 of the 1997 World Series as a twenty-one-year-old rookie for the Cleveland Indians. Jaret picks up the story where his dad leaves off and moves candidly and honestly through his time in the major leagues, where he quickly rose to prominence and played with and against many of the game's legends. If you are a baseball fan, this book is right in your wheelhouse. If you are not a baseball fan, then Clyde and Jaret Wright will convert you with fascinating tales of life before, during, and after baseball.

The president of New York University offers a love letter to America’s most beloved sport and a tribute to its underlying spirituality. For more than a decade, John Sexton has taught a wildly popular New York University course about two seemingly very different things: religion and baseball. Yet Sexton argues that one is actually a pathway to the other. Baseball as a Road to God is about touching that something that lies beyond logical understanding. Sexton illuminates the surprisingly large number of mutual concepts shared between baseball and religion: faith, doubt, conversion, miracles, and even sacredness among many others. Structured like a game and filled with riveting accounts of baseball’s most historic moments, Baseball as Road to God will enthrall baseball fans whatever their religious beliefs may be. In thought-provoking, beautifully rendered prose, Sexton elegantly demonstrates that baseball is more than a game, or even a national pastime: It can be a road to enlightenment.

Coaching young players, developing their skills, and cultivating a love for the sport may be the most rewarding experience baseball can offer. Cal and Bill Ripken understand this like few others. From their father, Cal Sr., a legend in the Baltimore Orioles organization for 37 years, they learned to play the game the right way. Those lessons, paired with their combined 33 years of big league experience, helped develop the Ripken Way, a method of teaching the game through simple instruction, solid explanations, encouragement, and a positive atmosphere. In Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way, Cal and Bill share this approach to coaching and development. Whether you're teaching your children at home, managing the local travel team, or working with high school-level players, Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way will help you make a difference both on and off the field, with these features: More than 50 drills covering defense, hitting, pitching, and baserunning Age-specific practice plans for players ranging from 4 to 15+ Strategies for setting goals and reasonable expectations for your players and team Advice on communicating with parents, players, and staff Methods for creating a positive and fun environment in which kids can learn the skills and strategies of the game Bill Ripken was once voted by his peers as one of the big league players most likely to become a manager. Cal Ripken, Jr., known as baseball's Iron Man, is a member of the game's All-Century Team and a future Hall of Famer. Together, they are proof positive that the Ripken Way is the right way to teach the game of baseball.