The Tao Of The Backup Catcher

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The Tao of the Backup Catcher

Author : Tim Brown
Publisher : Twelve
ISBN 13 : 1538726572
Total Pages : 265 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (387 download)

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Book Synopsis The Tao of the Backup Catcher by : Tim Brown

Download or read book The Tao of the Backup Catcher written by Tim Brown and published by Twelve. This book was released on 2023-07-11 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This isn’t just a story about baseball. It’s about life and the beauty of knowing and accepting who you are.” —Jeff Passan, ESPN baseball columnist This fascinating book chronicles the unsung men of baseball who serve the job, the hardships they face, and their love for a game that would not always love them back―told partly through the experiences of an MLB veteran. In baseball there are superstars and stars and everyday players and then there are the rest. Within the rest are role players and specialists and journeymen and then there are the backup catchers. The Tao of the Backup Catcher is about them, the backup catchers, who exist near the bottom of the roster and the end of the bench and between the numbers in a sport–and a society–increasingly driven by cold, hard analytics. The Tao of the Backup Catcher is a story of grown men who once dreamed of stardom and generational wealth. Instead, they were handed a broom and a deeper understanding of who wins and why, who stands tall and who folds, and who will invest their own lives in catching bullpens and the back ends of doubleheaders. Backup catchers survive in part because every team needs one. They are necessary, once or twice a week. They prosper because the game, like the world around the game, still needs good souls, honest efforts, open eyes and ears, closed mouths, compassion for the sad parts, a laugh for the silly parts, and a heart that knows the difference. Backup catchers are sports’ big brothers, psychologists, priests, witch doctors, player coaches, father figures and drinking buddies, all wrapped in a suit of today’s polycarbonate armor and yesterday’s dirt. They come with a singular goal–to win baseball games. They play for the greater good. After that, they play for themselves. A reverie on loving the grind and the little things baseball can teach us, The Tao of the Backup Catcher profiles Erik Kratz, Josh Paul, AJ Ellis, Bobby Wilson, Drew Butera, Matt Treanor, and John Flaherty to name a few. “This isn’t just a story about baseball. It’s about life and the beauty of knowing and accepting who you are.” ―Jeff Passan

The Tao of the Backup Catcher

Author : Tim Brown
Publisher : Twelve
ISBN 13 : 9781538726556
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (265 download)

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Book Synopsis The Tao of the Backup Catcher by : Tim Brown

Download or read book The Tao of the Backup Catcher written by Tim Brown and published by Twelve. This book was released on 2023-07-11 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Told partly through the experiences of MLB veteran, Erik Kratz, THE TAO OF THE BACKUP CATCHER, chronicles the unsung men of baseball who serve the job, the hardships they face, and their love for a game that would not always love them back. In baseball there are superstars and stars and everyday players and then there are the rest. Within the rest are role players and specialists and journeymen and then there are the backup catchers. THE TAO OF THE BACKUP CATCHER is about them, the backup catchers, who exist near the bottom of the roster and the end of the bench and between the numbers in a sport - and a society - increasingly driven by cold, hard analytics. THE TAO OF THE BACKUP CATCHER is a story of grown men who once dreamed of stardom and generational wealth. Instead, they were handed a broom and a deeper understanding of who wins and why, who stands tall and who folds, and who will invest their own lives in those who might not. Backup catchers survive in part because every team needs one. They are necessary, once or twice a week. They prosper because the game, like the world around the game, still needs good souls, honest efforts, open eyes and ears, closed mouths, compassion for the sad parts, a laugh for the silly parts, and a heart that knows the difference. Backup catchers are sports' big brothers, psychologists, priests, witch doctors, player coaches, father figures and drinking buddies, all wrapped in a suit of today's polycarbonate armor and yesterday's dirt. They come with a singular goal - to win baseball games. They play for the greater good. After that, they play for themselves. A reverie on loving the grind and the little things baseball can teach us, THE TAO OF THE BACKUP CATCHER profiles Erik Kratz, Josh Paul, AJ Ellis, Bobby Wilson, Drew Butera, Matt Treanor, and John Flaherty to name a few.

Imperfect

Author : Jim Abbott
Publisher : Ballantine Books
ISBN 13 : 0345523261
Total Pages : 330 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (455 download)

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Book Synopsis Imperfect by : Jim Abbott

Download or read book Imperfect written by Jim Abbott and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2013-03-26 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Honest, touching, and beautifully rendered . . . Far more than a book about baseball, it is a deeply felt story of triumph and failure, dreams and disappointments. Jim Abbott has hurled another gem.”—Jonathan Eig, New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Man NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Born without a right hand, Jim Abbott dreamed of someday being a great athlete. Raised in Flint, Michigan, by parents who encouraged him to compete, Jim would become an ace pitcher for the University of Michigan. But his journey was only beginning: By twenty-one, he’d won the gold medal game at the 1988 Olympics and—without spending a day in the minor leagues—cracked the starting rotation of the California Angels. In 1991, he would finish third in the voting for the Cy Young Award. Two years later, he would don Yankee pinstripes and pitch one of the most dramatic no-hitters in major-league history. In this honest and insightful book, Jim Abbott reveals the challenges he faced in becoming an elite pitcher, the insecurities he dealt with in a life spent as the different one, and the intense emotion generated by his encounters with disabled children from around the country. With a riveting pitch-by-pitch account of his no-hitter providing the ideal frame for his story, this unique athlete offers readers an extraordinary and unforgettable memoir. “Compelling . . . [a] big-hearted memoir.”—Los Angeles Times “Inspirational.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer Includes an exclusive conversation between Jim Abbott and Tim Brown in the back of the book.

"I Ain't an Athlete, Lady-- "

Author : John Kruk
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780671897949
Total Pages : 268 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (979 download)

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Book Synopsis "I Ain't an Athlete, Lady-- " by : John Kruk

Download or read book "I Ain't an Athlete, Lady-- " written by John Kruk and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "There's a story, a funny story, about me sitting in a restaurant. I'm eating this big meal and maybe having a couple of beers and smoking a cigarette. A woman comes by the table. She recognizes me and she's shocked because it seems like I should be in training or something. She's getting all over me, saying that a professional athlete should take better care of himself." "I lean back and I say to her, "I ain't an athlete, lady. I'm a baseball player."" "That pretty much sums it up." "In an age when athletes are getting bigger and stronger and more imposing every day, John Kruk of the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies is a hero for the rest of us. He likes his food, he likes his beer, he doesn't see much point in combing his hair and he plays the game of baseball too well for anyone to get away with hassling him about any of it. A three-time all-star, Kruk has maintained a .309 average since coming to the Phillies in 1989 and has had more fun doing it than just about anybody in sports today." "You knew the World Series against Toronto was going to be an offensive series, and [the 15-14 game] sort of epitomized that. It sucked. It was a worthless game. I told Paul Molitor - it seemed like the eighth time he was on base that day - "This ain't a World Series. The World Series is supposed to be the two best teams in the world playing. I mean, you could go to Williamsport and get two little League teams to play better than we are tonight."" ""I Ain't an Athlete, Lady..." is John Kruk's loose, funny view of his life, his world, his game, and his teammates - the wildest and flakiest bunch of players since the Gashouse Gang of the 1930s. ("In our clubhouse, if you called somebody a psychopathic idiot, it was a pretty good compliment.") Kruk shares his stories of growing up in a small town in West Virginia ("People in West Virginia do have cars. We have indoor plumbing. We even use knives and forks"), passes along his diet tips ("The best diet is just to go into a restaurant and say, 'Give me the thing on your menu that tastes the worst.' It'll probably be good for you, because that's what everything else I've eaten that's supposed to be good for me tastes like"), takes us on a tour of the Phillies' locker room ("When Jim Eisenreich first came to the Phillies, I said to some of the guys, 'Look at that guy. He looks like a mass murderer, staring like he wants to kill one of us. He looks like Jeffrey Dahmer.' So I started calling him Dahmer, and he liked it"), and tells why he was looking forward to a post-World Series visit to the White House ("He may be President, but he's not pardoned from being ragged on. If I can get on Dale Murphy, I can rag Bill Clinton")." "Kruk's take-nothing-too-seriously-and-take-no-prisoners outlook shines through. "I Ain't an Athlete, Lady..." makes clear why Kruk is rapidly becoming the most popular player in the game today."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Namath: A Biography

Author : Mark Kriegel
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 9780143035350
Total Pages : 548 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (353 download)

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Book Synopsis Namath: A Biography by : Mark Kriegel

Download or read book Namath: A Biography written by Mark Kriegel and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2005-07-26 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In between Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan there was Joe Namath, one of the few sports heroes to transcend the game he played. Novelist and former sports-columnist Mark Kriegel’s bestselling biography of the iconic quarterback details his journey from steel-town pool halls to the upper reaches of American celebrity—and beyond. The first of his kind, Namath enabled a nation to see sports as show biz. For an entire generation he became a spectacle of booze and broads, a guy who made bachelorhood seem an almost sacred calling, but it was his audacious “guarantee” of victory in Super Bowl III that ensured his legend. This unforgettable portrait brings readers from the gridiron to the go-go nightclubs as Kriegel uncovers the truth behind Broadway Joe and why his legend has meant so much to so many.

Infinite Baseball

Author : Alva Noë
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0190928182
Total Pages : 209 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (99 download)

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Book Synopsis Infinite Baseball by : Alva Noë

Download or read book Infinite Baseball written by Alva Noë and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2019 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "...Philosopher and baseball fan Alva Noë explores the many unexpected ways in which baseball is truly a philosophical kind of game. For example, he ponders how observers of baseball are less interested in what happens, than in who is responsible for what happens; every action receives praise or blame. To put it another way, in baseball - as in the law - we decide what happened based on who is responsible for what happened. Noe also explains the curious activity of keeping score: a score card is not merely a record of the game, like a video recording; it is an account of the game. Baseball requires that true fans try to tell the story of the game, in real time, as it unfolds, and thus actively participate in its creation. Some argue that baseball is fundamentally a game about numbers. Noe's wide-ranging, thoughtful observations show that, to the contrary, baseball is not only a window on language, culture, and the nature of human action, but is intertwined with deep and fundamental human truths."--Dust jacket flap.

Pistol

Author : Mark Kriegel
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 0743284984
Total Pages : 439 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (432 download)

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Book Synopsis Pistol by : Mark Kriegel

Download or read book Pistol written by Mark Kriegel and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-02-05 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Basketball.

What Baseball Means to Me

Author : Curt Smith
Publisher : Grand Central Publishing
ISBN 13 : 044655698X
Total Pages : 620 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (465 download)

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Book Synopsis What Baseball Means to Me by : Curt Smith

Download or read book What Baseball Means to Me written by Curt Smith and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2009-02-28 with total page 620 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Funny, moving, and each one a diamond in the rough of the American consciousness, the essays in this book are the ultimate baseball conversation that pays homage to the perfect sport, in this perfect companion for all our personal baseball journeys. For some people baseball means a memory-of a certain dusty ball field on a certain summer day, or the first time they walked into a major league park and saw the perfect emerald playing field. For some, baseball means one heartbreaking or heroic moment. And for others, it means a father, a friend, or an old flame who shared a game for a day or for a lifetime. To create this marvelous book, more than 150 writers, athletes, celebrities, politicians, presidents, and pundits were asked what baseball means to them. The answers came back with richness, wonder, insight, and poetry. A fascinating portrait of baseball's beautiful nuances, What Baseball means to me marks the greatest collection of original essays ever written about the game. Accompanied by more than 200 classic baseball photographs, the voices in this book bring alive the game in all its venues-in the past and present, in wartime and hard times, in Cuba, in Wrigley Field or Yankee Stadium. We meet players in a different light: including Paul Molitor returning a baseball to a trusting boy named Dan Jansen, Derek Jeter as depicted by his dad, the Toledo Mud Hens as seen through the eyes of Christine Brennan, and Pedro Martinez talking about baseball as a way of life in his native Dominican Republic. Most of all, we meet ordinary Americans, like the kids Rudy Giuliani grew up with in Brooklyn, or the man in Philadelphia who transforms himself for every home game from mild-mannered Tom Burgoyne to the Phillie Phanatic.

Miracles on the Hardwood

Author : John Gasaway
Publisher : Twelve
ISBN 13 : 1538717123
Total Pages : 341 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (387 download)

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Book Synopsis Miracles on the Hardwood by : John Gasaway

Download or read book Miracles on the Hardwood written by John Gasaway and published by Twelve. This book was released on 2021-03-16 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the David vs. Goliath rise of Catholic college basketball, from Villanova to Georgetown to Gonzaga, where small schools perennially shoot past the big power conference programs. In MIRACLES ON THE HARDWOOD, author John Gasaway traces the rise of Catholic college basketball—from its early days (Villanova made an appearance in the Final Four in the first NCAA tournament in 1939) to the dominance of the San Francisco Dons in the 1950s and the ascendance of powerhouses Georgetown, Villanova, and Gonzaga—through their decades-long rivalries and championship games. Featuring interviews with notable coaches, players, alums, and fans—including Loyola Chicago's most famous and dedicated fan, 100-year-old Sister Jean—to get at the heart of how these universities have excelled at this sport. Small in number but devout in the game's spirit, these teams have made the miraculous a matter of ritual, and their greatest works may be yet to come.

Hall of Name

Author : Diane Firstman
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781734167405
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (674 download)

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Book Synopsis Hall of Name by : Diane Firstman

Download or read book Hall of Name written by Diane Firstman and published by . This book was released on 2020-03-03 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biographical profiles and fun factoids of 100 of the most memorable names in baseball history. The names I'm profiling here are divided into four groups (admittedly a few of these players could qualify for more than one category):?Baseball Poets/Men of (Few Different) Letters: Players with rhyming names and/or alliterative names.?Dirty Names Done Dirt Cheap: Players with scatological or otherwise naughty names.?Sounds Good to Me: Players with mellifluous/melodious names.?No Focus Group Convened: Players whose names don't fall into one of the prior three categories, or ones that might involve us questioning the intentions of the player's parents.Each player profile within has the following:?general demographic information (name they played under, their full name at birth, date of birth/death, years active in the majors, positions played, etc.)?etymology/definition of each part of their given name?baseball biography (generally, how they made it to the majors, what they did while they were there)?best day (a recap of a great day in their major league career)?the wonder of his name (why his name is memorable to me/us)?not to be confused with (names that sound and/or look like the player's name)?fun anagrams (anagrams of their given names, just because I can)?ephemera (factoids, tidbits, trivia about the player, details regarding their parents, their family and their life after baseball)

The Q Factor

Author : Brian Billick
Publisher : Twelve
ISBN 13 : 1538749912
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (387 download)

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Book Synopsis The Q Factor by : Brian Billick

Download or read book The Q Factor written by Brian Billick and published by Twelve. This book was released on 2020-09-29 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brian Billick, Super Bowl-winning coach and current analyst for the NFL network, takes on the 2018 draft class of quarterbacks and follows them for two years, identifying the tangibles and intangibles of success, in search of the key to better predicting who will make it as a top-ranked NFL franchise QB. There are elite athletes in every sport -- people who possess tangible and intangible qualities that allow them to overcome daunting odds, spot opportunity in the midst of adversity, and turn defeat into victory. No position embodies this dynamic more than football quarterbacks, and nothing is a greater test of performance than the NFL. The tangibles -- metrics, stats, ratings, bowl games, championships -- are critical to evaluation. But they're not enough. Every year, highly rated college quarterbacks are analyzed, critiqued, hyped up and/or doubted, and those who manage to survive the scrutiny are drafted early. Some of those early picks make it to the top, some end up journeymen, and some just wash out. Why? What separates the elites from the pack? In THE Q FACTOR, former NFL coach Brian Billick takes the highly promising 2018 NFL quarterback Draft class -- the most touted class since 2004 (Manning, Roethlisberger, Rivers) and 1983 (Elway, Kelly, Marino) -- and measures the top five quarterback picks to gauge how, why, and if they succeed. They are all first rounders, all with sterling college credentials, all talented athletes, all taken by teams betting their futures. One or maybe two could go on to greatness. But which ones, and why? Could the prediction process be better? Are the "experts" looking at the wrong factors? How do we find the best of the best? That's what THE Q FACTOR explores...and finally explains.

Upon Further Review

Author : Mike Pesca
Publisher : Twelve
ISBN 13 : 145559699X
Total Pages : 362 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (555 download)

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Book Synopsis Upon Further Review by : Mike Pesca

Download or read book Upon Further Review written by Mike Pesca and published by Twelve. This book was released on 2018-05-15 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Mike Pesca, host of the popular Slate podcast The Gist, comes the greatest sports minds imagining how the world would change if a play, trade, injury, or referee's call had just gone the other way. "Intriguing...thought provoking...delightful." --The Washington Post No announcer ever proclaimed: "Up Rises Frazier!" "Havlicek commits the foul, trying to steal the ball!" or "The Giants Lose the Pennant, The Giants Lose The Pennant!" Such moments are indelibly etched upon the mind of every sports fan. Or rather, they would be, had they happened. Sports are notoriously games of inches, and when we conjure the thought of certain athletes - like Bill Buckner or Scott Norwood - we can't help but apply a mental tape measure to the highlight reels of our minds. Players, coaches, and of course fans, obsess on the play when they ask, "What if?" Upon Further Review is the first book to answer that question. Upon Further Review is a book of counterfactual sporting scenarios. In its pages the reader will find expertly reported histories, where one small event is flipped on its head, and the resulting ripples are carefully documented, the likes of... What if the U.S. Boycotted Hitler's Olympics? What if Bobby Riggs beat Billie Jean King? What if Bucky Dent popped out at the foot of the Green Monster? What if Drew Bledsoe never got hurt? Upon Further Review takes classic arguments conducted over pints in a pub and places them in the hands of dozens of writers, athletes, and historians. From turning points that every sports fan rues or celebrates, to the forgotten would-be inflection points that defined sports, Upon Further Review answers age old questions, and settles the score, even if the score bounced off the crossbar.

Dr. Strangeglove

Author : William J. Ryczek
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 1476685533
Total Pages : 255 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (766 download)

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Book Synopsis Dr. Strangeglove by : William J. Ryczek

Download or read book Dr. Strangeglove written by William J. Ryczek and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2021-05-28 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dick Stuart (1932-2002) began as a minor league first baseman, noted for his outsized ego and terrible fielding. His brash personality and 66 home runs for the Lincoln Chiefs of the Western League made him a national figure in 1956. In 1958, he came up to the majors in Pittsburgh and played some fine seasons with the Pirates, and later the Boston Red Sox. In 1961, he was selected for the National League All-Star team, and he led the American League in RBI in 1963. A wise-cracking bon vivant, his career was not what it might have been. If he had worked harder, he might have been a better player. If Bill Mazeroski hadn't ended the 1960 Series with a home run, Stuart, who was on deck, might have been the hero. Yet his great hitting ability, quick wit and love for the limelight made him one of the most interesting players of his era.

Dollar Sign on the Muscle

Author : Kevin Kerrane
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781492765073
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (65 download)

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Book Synopsis Dollar Sign on the Muscle by : Kevin Kerrane

Download or read book Dollar Sign on the Muscle written by Kevin Kerrane and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2013-11-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: MEET THE MEN WHO SHAPE THE GAME OF BASEBALL the men who can make--or break--careers, the men who, more than any others, were responsible for getting Mike Schmidt, Al Kaline, Darryl Strawberry, Mickey Mantle, Roberto Clemente, Sandy Koufax, and Brooks Robinson--to name just a few--into their major league positions. Here is all the inside information--trade secrets, player development, original scouting reports; the history and economics of this pivotal side of baseball, and how the scouting system is changing--from the baseball scouts themselves. This edition includes an all-new chapter updating the original with thoughts on the state of scouting in 2013. DAVID SIMON ON DOLLAR SIGN ON THE MUSCLE "The story of a quest is one of the most basic and essential narratives in human existence. Kevin Kerrane strains the Homeric through the voices of American baseball scouts, those journeymen who search the sandlots for raw athletic potential. Dollar Sign on The Muscle was essential reading when it first arrived nearly three decades ago. And now, as big money has arrived to magnify the entire dynamic, Kerrane has returned to update his classic. "They use 'inside baseball' as a term to suggest esoteric knowledge. That's ridiculous. The inside is where anything worth knowing actually begins to matter." -- David Simon, creator, The Wire and Treme THE CRITICS AGREE, INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE GAME "An entertaining, in-depth look at a fascinating part of baseball invisible to most. I loved this book." -- Tim Kurkjian, ESPN "Dollar Sign on the Muscle is the scouting bible for the baseball executive as well as the baseball enthusiast." -- Kevin Towers, General Manager, Arizona Diamondbacks "Updating a classic is always risky, but given the dramatic changes in baseball since Dollar Sign's original publication, the time had certainly come for a modernized examination of the game... and who better to give it to us than Kevin Kerrane and Baseball Prospectus." -- Dan O'Dowd, General Manager, Colorado Rockies "The last word on a profession even baseball fans may find they knew little about." -- Sports Illustrated "One of baseball literature's most noble and enjoyable works." -- Diamond Classics "A must read for anyone who wants the inside stories on baseball scouts and the happenings on their daily quest for the next MLB all-star." -- Don Welke, Senior Special Assistant to the GM & Scouting, Texas Rangers

Sophomores

Author : Sean Desmond
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 052554268X
Total Pages : 386 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (255 download)

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Book Synopsis Sophomores by : Sean Desmond

Download or read book Sophomores written by Sean Desmond and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-01-26 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "What a vibrant, propulsive, wildly intelligent and big-hearted slice of life Sophomores is, an intricate portrait of a family in crisis rendered with a great deal of humor and compassion. I loved this family, this corner of the world, this novel." -Claire Lombardo, author of The Most Fun We Ever Had The late 1980s come alive in this moving and keenly observed story of one boy's unforgettable sophomore year, and his parents' surprising journey alongside him. It's fall 1987 and life as normal is ending for the Malone family. With their sterile Dallas community a far cry from the Irish-American Bronx of their youth, Pat and Anne Malone have reached a breaking point. Pat, faced with a debilitating MS diagnosis, has fallen into his drinking. Anne, his devoutly Catholic wife, is selected as a juror for a highly publicized attempted murder trial, one that raises questions--about God, and about men in power--she has buried her entire life. Together, they try to raise their only son, Daniel, a bright but unmotivated student who is shocked into actual learning by an enigmatic English teacher. For once, Dan is unable to fly under the radar, and is finally asked to consider what he might want to make of his life. With humor and tenderness, Sophomores brilliantly captures the enduring poignancy of coming of age, teenage epiphanies and heartbreak, and family redemption.

The Onion Book of Known Knowledge

Author : The Onion
Publisher : Little, Brown
ISBN 13 : 031613323X
Total Pages : 259 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (161 download)

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Book Synopsis The Onion Book of Known Knowledge by : The Onion

Download or read book The Onion Book of Known Knowledge written by The Onion and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2012-10-23 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are you a witless cretin with no reason to live? Would you like to know more about every piece of knowledge ever? Do you have cash? Then congratulations, because just in time for the death of the print industry as we know it comes the final book ever published, and the only one you will ever need: The Onion's compendium of all things known. Replete with an astonishing assemblage of facts, illustrations, maps, charts, threats, blood, and additional fees to edify even the most simple-minded book-buyer, The Onion Book of Known Knowledge is packed with valuable information -- such as the life stages of an Aunt; places to kill one's self in Utica, New York; and the dimensions of a female bucket, or "pail." With hundreds of entries for all 27 letters of the alphabet, The Onion Book of Known Knowledge must be purchased immediately to avoid the sting of eternal ignorance.

I'd Like to Play Alone, Please

Author : Tom Segura
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781538704615
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (46 download)

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Book Synopsis I'd Like to Play Alone, Please by : Tom Segura

Download or read book I'd Like to Play Alone, Please written by Tom Segura and published by . This book was released on 2023-04-18 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Tom Segura, the massively successful stand-up comedian and co-host of chart-topping podcasts "2 Bears 1 Cave" and "Your Mom's House," hilarious real-life stories of parenting, celebrity encounters, youthful mistakes, misanthropy, and so much more. Tom Segura is known for his twisted takes and irreverent comedic voice. But after a few years of crazy tours and churning out podcasts weekly, all while parenting two young children, he desperately needs a second to himself. It's not that he hates his friends and family - he's not a monster - he's just beat, which is why his son's (ruthless) first full sentence, "I'd like to play alone, please," has since become his mantra. In this collection of stories, Tom combines his signature curmudgeonly humor with a revealing look at some of the ridiculous situations that shaped him and the ludicrous characters who always seem to seek him out. The stories feature hilarious anecdotes about Tom's time on the road, including some surreal encounters with celebrities at airports; his unfiltered South American family; the trials and tribulations of parenting young children with bizarrely morbid interests; and, perhaps most memorably, experiences with his dad who, like any good Baby Boomer father, loves to talk about his bowel movements and share graphic Vietnam stories at inappropriate moments. All of this is enough to make anyone want some peace and quiet. I'D LIKE TO PLAY ALONE, PLEASE will have readers laughing out loud and nodding in agreement with Segura's message: in a world where everyone is increasingly insane, sometimes you just need to be alone.