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“Laugh-out-loud fun…A winner in every way.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Funny and good-hearted.” —Publishers Weekly A boy who loves baseball must get past his hard-working immigrant parents—and the rhino in the outfield—to become a batboy in this laugh-out-loud middle grade novel in the tradition of The Sandlot. Nick wants to change his life. For twelve years, he’s done what his hard-working, immigrant parents want him to do. Now he’s looking for his own American dream and he thinks he’s found it. The local baseball team is having a batboy contest, and Nick wants to win. But the contest is on a Saturday—the day Nick has to work in his father’s shop. There’s one other tiny—well, not so tiny—problem. A 2,000-pound rhinoceros named Tank. Nick and his friends play ball in the city zoo—and Tank lives just beyond the right field fence. Nick’s experience getting the ball out of Tank’s pen has left him frozen with fear whenever a fly ball comes his way. How’s a lousy fielder going to win the contest? Nick practices every day with his best friend, Ace, and a new girl who has an impressive throwing arm! But that’s not enough—to get to the contest, Nick has to lie to his parents and blackmail his uncle. All while dodging the school bully, who’s determined to win even by playing dirty. Nick will need to keep his eye on the ball in this fast, funny story about a game that can throw you some curveballs—just like life!
Roger Kahn?s first major league hit was a grand slam: The Boys of Summer, his runaway bestseller that immortalized the 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers. Now Kahn does the same for players whose moment in the sun has not yet arrived. Good Enough to Dream is the story of his year as owner of the Class A, very minor leagueøUtica Blue Sox. Most of the Blue Sox will never make it to the majors, but they all share the dream that links the small child in the sandlot with the bonus baby who has just smacked one out of the stadium. It?s a dream Kahn learned from his father and, in the course of a season, passes on to his daughter?hours of practice for a moment of poetry; a hard living but a touch of legend. Good Enough to Dream presents baseball unadorned, a game still sweet enough to lure grown men to leagues where first-class transportation is an old school bus and the infield is likely to be the consistency of thick soup. It is a funny and poignant story of one season and one special team that will make us hesitate before we ever call anything ?bush league? again.
Over the course of his long career of covering major league baseball, numerous players, managers, umpires, and games, as well as unexpected and humorous events on and off the field, have made lasting impressions on John Kuenster. This is a selection of essays Kuenster wrote for "Warm Up Tosses," the Baseball Digest column he has written every month since he became editor of the Digest in 1969. He shares his opinions and insights on managers in columns like "Casey Stengel Was One of a Kind" and "George Anderson Still 'Sparky' When Talking Baseball"; history in "President Kennedy, No Stranger to Baseball" and "Baseball's Brightest and Darkest Moments of 1900s"; pitchers in "Here's a Vote for Whitey Ford" and "Complete-Game Pitchers, A Disappearing Breed in the Majors"; umpires in "Umps, Love 'em or Not, They're Vital to the Game"; infielders in "Derek Jeter, Cornerstone of Recent Yankee Championships" and "Third Basemen, Crucial to Winning but Often Overlooked"; outfielders in "Please, No 'Soft Pitches' for Hank Aaron" and "Barry Bonds Had a Season for the Ages"; and catchers in "Many Catchers Struggling through Learning Process". Also included are some of Kuenster's columns about scouts and coaches, team executives, hitting, baseball in general, teams, ball parks, the World Series, humor, and Hall of Famers.
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.
Author and sports historian David Finoli's inside look at the 50 greatest male and female athletes in Pittsburgh history. Greatness in sport is both undefinable and immediately recognizable. Though it is rare, Western Pennsylvania has been graced with a long history of athletes who embody the essence of greatness. They have proudly represented the region in sports such as boxing, golf and track; carried their collegiate teams to victory; and worn the black and gold of the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins. Pittsburghers still recall how Mario Lemieux glided effortlessly through an opposing defense before befuddling the goalie or Arnold Palmer's unique swing that made the everyday duffer feel like he was one of them. Fans debate whether Terry Bradshaw or Ben Roethlisberger is the better quarterback and what the legacy of Barry Bonds is, while keeping Roberto Clemente among their most cherished icons. Take a deep dive into all of that and more and re-discover the best of the best in Pittsburgh sports history.
Enshrinement in the Hall of Fame is the ultimate honor for major leaguers. This rousing oral history recounts stories of 17 players who came up just short: Virgil Trucks, Gene Woodling, Carl Erskine, and others.
