Whether you're a major league couch potato, life-long season ticket-holder, or teaching game to a beginner, "Watching Baseball Smarter "leaves no territory uncovered. In this smart and funny fan's guide Hample explains the ins and outs of pitching, hitting, running, and fielding, while offering insider trivia and anecdotes that will surprise even the most informed viewers of our national pastime.
What is the difference between a slider and a curveball?
At which stadium did "The Wave" first make an appearance?
How do some hitters use iPods to improve their skills?
Which positions are never" "played by lefties?
Why do some players urinate on their hands?
Combining the narrative voice and attitude of Michael Lewis with the compulsive brilliance of "Schott's Miscellany," "Watching Baseball Smarter "will increase your understanding and enjoyment of the sport-no matter what your level of expertise.
Zack Hample is an obsessed fan and a regular writer for minorleaguebaseball.com. He's collected nearly 3,000 baseballs from major league games and has appeared on dozens of TV and radio shows. His first book, "How to Snag Major League Baseballs, " was published in 1999.

A driving ambition linked Oakland and Kansas City in the 1960s. Each city sought the national attention and civic glory that came with being home to professional sports teams. Their successful campaigns to lure pro franchises ignited mutual rivalries in football and baseball that thrilled hometown fans. But even Super Bowl victories and World Series triumphs proved to be no defense against urban problems in the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s. Matthew C. Ehrlich tells the fascinating history of these iconic sports towns. From early American Football League battles to Oakland's deft poaching of baseball's Kansas City Athletics, the cities emerged as fierce opponents from Day One. Ehrlich weaves a saga of athletic stars and folk heroes like Len Dawson, Al Davis, George Brett, and Reggie Jackson with a chronicle of two cities forced to confront the wrenching racial turmoil, labor conflict, and economic crises that arise when soaring aspirations collide with harsh realities.Colorful and thought-provoking, Kansas City vs. Oakland breaks down who won and who lost when big-time sports came to town.

For OVER fifty years, Lou Piniella has been a fixture in Major League Baseball, making a name for himself first as a player on the legendary New York Yankees of the 1970s and later as a manager for five different teams: the Yankees, the Reds, the Mariners, the Rays, and the Cubs.Now, in this raucous and entertaining memoir, Piniella opens up about his lifetime in the game, telling never-before-heard stories about electrifying wins, painful losses, and why sometimes your only option is to get in an umpire's face. Tracing his baseball life from its journeyman beginnings in the minors, he discusses how he came of age as a player during the wild years of the Bronx Zoo, when personalities like Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Catfish Hunter, and Billy Martin made the Yankee locker room the most controversial and colorful place in baseball. With surprising candor, he details his close yet often contentious reltionship with George Steinbrenner, offering a unique portrait of one of the game's most provocative figures, a man who mentored and supported Lou as a player and a manager while ultimately making life with the Yankees unsustainable for him. Stormy as his time in New York was, it was only the start of Lou's fiery career. From managing the Cincinnati Reds and their divisive owner, Marge Schott, to a World Series win, to transforming the perennially cellar-dwelling Seattle Mariners into one of the league's best teams, he recalls his experiences-both hilarious and heartbreaking-with some of the brightest stars from the last twenty-five years, including Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, and Ichiro Suzuki. For the first time, Lou also describes his important but little-known friendship with Alex Rodriguez, sharing how they formed a connection early in Alex's time with Seattle that spanned decades, teams, and scandals, as Lou helped Alex through his most tumultuous episodes.Whether facing the difficulties of managing his home team in Tampa Bay or helping the Cubs win back-to-back division championships, Lou brings an unforgettable and feisty voice to his rollercoaster ride of a career, going inside the fights, pranks, and seemingly impossible comebacks that defined every Lou Piniella team. Featuring a huge cast of Hall of Fame characters and uproarious stories from three generations of baseball, Lou offers a bridge to a rapidly disappearing era, a time when baseball was a bit more fun, when passion was a virtue, and when kicking a bit of dirt on an umpire was good for everyone.

There are many complexities in pitching, but the complexities are the last ten percent, not the first ninety. The first 90% - the things every good pitcher does - are simple. Pitching. Isn't. Complicated. is a concise explanation of the pitching maxims that every pitcher must exhibit. Covered are mechanics, mindset, mental training, situational pitching, holding runners, and more. The author has combined his playing experience with innovative training techniques to become one of the most successful young pitching coaches in the country. The methods in this book are not sensational and there are no fads, no superfluous exercises and no gimmicks. Rather, the goal is to provide only the best drills, teaching methods and concepts that comprise the optimal dose of training. Pitching. Isn't. Complicated. is a concise, layman and actionable book written to give coaches, parents and pitchers a holistic understanding of elite pitching. With a mountain of conflicting information available on the Internet, the development of pitchers has become more confusing than ever; this book will change that.

So You Call Yourself A Cincinnati Reds fan offers 100 trivia questions from throughout the Cincinnati Reds' rich history

These were the heroes who owned the summers of the 1960s. Bob Purkey and Frank Robinson. Johnny Edwards and Jim Maloney. Joey Jay and Vada Pinson. Pete Rose and Tony Perez. During the summers of the 1960s, the heroes of Cincinnati wore Reds uniforms. On their best days (which were, admittedly, too few after 1961), they were entertaining and inspiring. They smote hated rivals and sent their best to the All-Star game, in the decade when that mid-summer classic moved under the lights ... and into prime time. On their worst days, these Reds heroes broke our hearts, squandering late-inning leads and pre-season hopes ... but they never lost our devotion. They were the heroes of our youth. Now their stories are collected in Reds Heroes: Remembering the Cincinnati Reds Who Helped Make the 1960s Baseball's Real Golden Age. The book profiles the best (and a few of the worst) of the Cincinnati Reds of the 1960s. In all, there are 74 profiles of the infielders, outfielders, catchers and pitchers who played for the Reds in the 1960s. Do you remember ... The right-handed fireballer who pitched a pair of no-hitters plus a 10-inning hitless game that he lost 1-0 in the eleventh? (page 96) The All-Star center fielder who led the major leagues in triples twice? (page 43) The knuckle-baller who won 23 games in 1963? (page 116) The 150-pound, four-time All-Star shortstop who batted in 81 runs in 1966? (page 9) The pitcher who notched the Reds' only victory in the 1961 World Series? (page 91) The switch-hitter who won a pair of National League batting titles in the 1960s? (page 24) The relief pitcher who was also a best-selling author? (page 77) The All-Star catcher who won a Gold Glove his rookie season? (page 66) The slugging first baseman who, according to Pete Rose, was the hardest hitter in baseball? (page 15) The Hall of Fame slugger who hit 316 home runs during the 1960s ... 190 with the Reds? (page 49) Their stories are here. Enjoy the memories.

Chicago Cubs 1969 Almanac offers a day by day account of one of the most famous teams in Chicago Cubs' history. It features a daily account of every game of the 1969 season. It also provides player statistics and other related items.

Named a top 50 baseball book of all time by the Huffington Post Named 2013 Best Book on Journalism and Mass Communication History by the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Named a top book for 2012 by Choice The campaign to desegregate baseball was one of the most important civil rights stories of the 1930s and 1940s. But most of white America knew nothing about this story because mainstream newspapers said little about the color line and still less about the efforts to end it. Even today, as far as most Americans know, the integration of baseball revolved around Branch Rickey's signing of Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers' organization in 1945. This book shows how Rickey's move, critical as it may have been, came after more than a decade of work by Black and left-leaning journalists to desegregate the game. Drawing on hundreds of newspaper articles and interviews with journalists, Chris Lamb reveals how differently Black and white newspapers, and Black and white America, viewed racial equality. Between 1933 and 1945, Black newspapers and the communist Daily Worker published hundreds of articles and editorials calling for an end to baseball's color line, while white mainstream sportswriters perpetuated the color line by participating in what their Black counterparts called a "conspiracy of silence." The alternative presses' efforts to end baseball's color line, chronicled for the first time in Conspiracy of Silence, constitute one of the great untold stories of baseball-and the civil rights movement.

Bobby Thomson's home run in the ninth to beat Brooklyn and give the Giants the 1951 National League pennant. Bill Mazeroski's ninth-inning homer for Pittsburgh to beat the Yankees in the 1960 World Series. The Mets' amazing 1969 stretch drive. It's the winners we remember in baseball's most dramatic episodes. But baseball being a game of inches, it's often a fine line between victory and defeat. Losing is unexpected, unpredictable, frequently a consequence of fickle fate. The game is designed to break your heart, Bart Giamatti said. In Heartbreakers, veteran baseball writer John Kuenster recalls fifteen of the game's most painful "disasters" of the last half-century and looks at them from the losers' point of view. With a reporter's skill and a fan's enthusiasm, he sets the scene for these memorable matchups, surveys the players who led each team to the big moment, and tells the story of the game and the emotions that can't be erased. He has interviewed key players who suffered the defeats, providing personal insights and sometimes surprising perspectives on the game action that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Heartbreakers offers a box seat for-and a fresh slant on-the replay of baseball's most thrilling games. With 50 black-and-white photographs.

On August 25th, 2012, author Justin Toole got the opportunity to play all nine positions in one nine inning Minor League baseball game. This book tells the story of that game and each chapter talks about a different position he played that night. Within each chapter, you will find a different life lesson that he has learned while playing baseball. Nine positions in one nine inning game - nine life lessons he's learned through playing the game of baseball.

HUMOR AMONG THE MINORS is a collection of baseball stories and anecdotes about the colorful personalities of the game in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as told by Edward Ashenbach, who spent 21 seasons in the minor leagues as a player, manager, and team owner from 1890 to 1911. This BrayBree Vintage Edition contains the original 1911 book as well as a new index and biographical sketch of the author.

These were the heroes who owned the summers of the 1960s. Rusty Staub and Dick Farrell. Hal Woodeshick and Jimmy Wynn. Denis Menke and Larry Dierker. John Bateman and Bob Bruce. During the summers of the 1960s, the heroes of Houston wore Astros uniforms (after they outgrew their Colts uniforms). On their best days (which were, admittedly, too few), they were entertaining and inspiring. They smote hated rivals and sent their best to the All-Star game, in the decade when that mid-summer classic moved under the lights ... and into prime time. On their worst days, these Astros heroes broke our hearts, squandering late-inning leads and pre-season hopes ... but they never lost our devotion. They were the heroes of our youth. Now their stories are collected in Astros Heroes: Remembering the Houston Astros Who Helped Make the 1960s Baseball's Real Golden Age. The book profiles the best (and a few of the worst) of the Houston Astros of the 1960s. In all, there are 72 profiles of the infielders, outfielders, catchers and pitchers who played for the Houston Colt .45s and Houston Astros in the 1960s. Do you remember ... The hard-throwing right-hander who managed to win 15 games in 1964 for a team that lost 96? (page 75) The slugging third baseman who was a 9-time All-Star and won 2 National League home run crowns? (page 26) The second baseman who was a 10-time All-Star and was twice the National League's MVP? (page 30) The 6-time All-Star outfielder who led the National League in doubles in 1967? (page 56) The Astros' workhorse right-hander who lost 20 games in 1962 despite posting a 3.02 ERA? (page 84) The left-handed pitcher who was the Astros' only Gold Glove winner during the 1960s? (page 60) The burly reliever who led the National League in saves in 1964? (page 109) The hard-hitting center fielder who hit 145 home runs for the Astros in the 1960s ... and set franchise records for RBIs, walks and strikeouts? (page 59) The left-hander who went from a 20-game loser in 1962 to a 22-game winner in 1963? (page 94) The ace reliever who transformed his career when he perfected the palm ball? (page 87) Their stories are here. Enjoy the memories.

Former Yankee batboy, Bill "Hondo" Hongach, who had his first book published while still in high school at age 18, takes the reader on a journey of what goes on behind the scenes of America's National Pastime. The book opens with the author being beaten so badly by Pete Rose's right-hand man, ironically, with a Pete Rose bat, that he ends up in a coma for four days. Jack Lang, who was in charge of the Baseball Writers Assoc. and wrote dozens of baseball books himself before being put into the Hall of Fame, wrote that this was the best baseball book he ever read He simply put it ..".I could not put it down until I had finished reading the entire book." For one to see and know the "The Dark Sides of Baseball" is, in essence, to have the perspective that very few baseball fans get to experience. To become close on a personal basis with some of the greats of the game is rare and unique. "The Dark Sides of Baseball" is a glimpse that the public is not privy to or ever get to encounter. The book tells a tale of how a teenage boy chased his love of baseball, from interviewing sports greats, becoming a Yankee batboy the last two years at the original Yankee Stadium in 1972 & 1973, at the age of 18 having his first baseball book published while still a batboy and leading to the end of the Topps' Baseball Card monopoly, while still going to school. His close relationship with Mickey Mantle and Pete Rose would show him the troubled and positive sides of the game, that the public were never shown. The stories are endless as to what goes on in a clubhouse and what it is like to have these great athletes together for a baseball card show. Every baseball fan can watch a game and look up the stats. "The Dark Sides of Baseball" lets you see what goes on in the dugout, the clubhouse and off the field.

An inside baseball memoir from the game's first superstar, with a foreword by Chad HarbachChristy Mathewson was one of the most dominant pitchers ever to play baseball. Posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of the -Five Immortals, - he was an unstoppable force on the mound, winning at least twenty-two games for twelve straight seasons and pitching three complete-game shutouts in the 1905 World Series. Pitching in a Pinch, his witty and digestible book of baseball insights, stories, and wisdom, was first published over a hundred years ago and presents readers with Mathewson's plainspoken perspective on the diamond of yore--on the players, the chances they took, the jinxes they believed in, and, most of all, their love of the game. Baseball fans will love to read first-hand accounts of the infamous Merkle's Boner incident, Giants manager John McGraw, and the unstoppable Johnny Evers and to learn how much--and just how little--has really changed in a hundred years. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Experience a unique fan's-eye view of a night that many have called the most exciting night in the history of Major League Baseball. Going beyond a standard retelling of the balls and strikes and homers and webgems, the book hears from 20 fans in their own words. Loyal fans of the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, and Tampa Bay Rays provide exciting and deeply personal eyewitness accounts -- either from the stadiums or their living rooms. This critically acclaimed book is for casual and serious fans alike. "This is a magical book about a magical night. This beautifully told story captures baseball at its very best." - Doris Kearns Goodwin

These were the heroes who owned the summers of the 1960s. Brooks Robinson and Dave McNally. Boog Powell and Hoyt Wilhelm. Milt Pappas and Frank Robinson. Luis Aparicio and Steve Barber. During the summers of the 1960s, the heroes of Baltimore wore Orioles uniforms. On their best days (which, except for 1966, were admittedly too few), they were entertaining and inspiring. They smote hated rivals and sent their best to the All-Star game, in the decade when that mid-summer classic moved under the lights ... and into prime time. On their worst days, these Orioles heroes broke our hearts, squandering late-inning leads and pre-season hopes ... but they never lost our devotion. They were the heroes of our youth. Now their stories are collected in Orioles Heroes: Remembering the Baltimore Orioles Who Helped Make the 1960s Baseball's Real Golden Age. The book profiles the best (and a few of the worst) of the Baltimore Orioles of the 1960s. In all, there are 66 profiles of the infielders, outfielders, catchers and pitchers who played for the Baltimore Orioles in the 1960s. Do you remember ... The hard-throwing right-hander who led the American League in wins in 1960? (page 78) The Gold Glove third baseman who was a 15-time All-Star and 1964 Most Valuable Player? (page 21) The shortstop who led the league in stolen bases 9 times and earned 9 Gold Gloves (2 in Baltimore)? (page 10) The All-Star outfielder who led the American League in RBIs (and a couple other categories) in 1966? (page 44) The hard-luck right-hander who had his only winning season (1960) with the Orioles ... despite a 4.06 career ERA? (page 96) The slugging first baseman who hit 4 home runs in one game in 1962? (page 12) The bullpen ace who won 17 games in 3 seasons as a reliever for the Orioles, and won 26 games in 2 seasons as a starter ... including a no-hitter? (page 113) The hard-hitting first baseman who was a 4-time All-Star and hit 303 home runs for the Orioles? (page 19) The right-hander who won 110 games for the Orioles and then was traded for a future Triple Crown winner? (page 102) The veteran pitcher who set a record striking out 6 consecutive batters in relief during the 1966 World Series? (page 78) Their stories are here. Enjoy the memories.