Under the attentive guidance of a volunteer manager passionate about baseball, a group of boys assembled as the "B" team to play travel baseball for their town team. In "Shortstop ... or Bust ," author Linda Padilla-Diaz shares a compilation of stories covering the journey through the five years her two sons played competitive traveling youth baseball-from her perspective as both a mother and the manager's wife.

"Shortstop ... or Bust " describes Padilla-Diaz's love of the game and delves into parents' fixation for their children's extracurricular activities, seeking the glorified shortstop position. The humorous, touching chronicle of lefty Derek and manager Harry provides firsthand insight into the growing revolution and competitiveness of youth travel baseball. The story begins with the modest commencement of the team with overzealous coaches and dads and describes their winning transformation through several seasons. Padilla-Diaz offers an entertaining play-by-play account of events and provides an up-close view of the games the team played.

Offering a personal account into the harried nature of youth baseball, "Shortstop ... or Bust " presents an informative, amusing, and bittersweet story about the five-year journey of a group of boys who worked hard and played hard to win.

F1 is now the fastest growing sport in the world; the full story of its unbelievable rise is a riveting saga only hinted at by the likes of Drive to Survive. In this book - the first, definitive account of how F1 came to achieve total global fandom - Wall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg take us inside a world full of racing obsessives, glamorous settings, petrolheads, engineering geniuses, dashing racers and bitter rivalries.

The story of F1's world dominance is one of near-constant transformation and experimentation. This is a sport where the only way to win championships is to land a series of technical moon shots - and then do it all over again. With fast cars, big money, beautiful people, and glamorous locations from Monaco to Melbourne, The Formula tells the full, epic story of the sport. Starting in 1950s Britain, where six years of wartime engineering laid the foundations for a new type of motorcar racing; to the first global star partnership of Senna and Ecclestone; Spygate; Crashgate and its transition into an entertainment juggernaut. Bringing unique insight and access to F1's most storied teams and personalities - from Ferrari to Lewis Hamilton to Christian Horner and Daniel Ricciardo -The Formula offers a riveting portrait of the drivers, corporations, cars, rivalries, and audacious gambles that have shaped the sport for half a century.

The end result is a high-octane history of how modern F1 racing came to be - the first book to tell the story of the outrageous successes and spectacular crashes that led F1 to this extraordinary yet precarious moment. More than just a sports story, it is the tale of a commercial empire, one built in the 20th century, rendered almost obsolete in the early 21st, and re-emerged world-dominant today; a disrupter that claimed its place in the crowded sports marketplace through cash, personality, and a new understanding of what a sport needs to be in the age of wall-to-wall entertainment.

Dynamite and Davey: The Explosive Lives of The British Bulldogs is the triumphant but ultimately tragic story of Tom Billington and Davey Boy Smith. Cousins born just a couple of years apart in a small mining town near Wigan, Tom and Davey discovered the art of wrestling as schoolboys. Tom went on to become 'The Dynamite Kid', arguably the greatest and most pioneering wrestler in history, but his short temper and determination to reach the top of a sport dominated by naturally bigger men would be his undoing. The more reserved Davey became a global superstar, but followed his cousin not just into exceptionalism, but into heavy substance abuse as well. Ultimately, the extraordinarily dysfunctional world of pro wrestling would prove too much for the cousins from Golborne - one proud, one naive. Together they became the best and most influential tag team of their generation. But they could not escape their demons, and their triumphs eventually submitted to their tragedy. Dynamite and Davey is a gripping cautionary tale.

""When I'm focused, there is not one single thing, person, anything that can stand in the way of my doing something. There is not. If I want something bad enough, I feel I'm gonna get there.""

Michael Phelps is one of the greatest competitors the world has ever seen. From teen sensation in Sydney to bona fide phenom in Athens, he is now -- after the Beijing Games -- a living Olympic legend. With an unprecedented eight gold medals and world-record times in seven events, his performance at the 2008 Games set a new standard for success. He ranks among the most elite athletes in the world, and is both an inspiration and a role model to millions. The incredible focus he exhibits in practice and during competition propels him forward to his unrivaled excellence. In "No Limits," Michael Phelps reveals the secrets to his remarkable success, from his training regimen to his mental preparation and, finally, to his performance in the pool.

Behind Phelps's tally of Olympic gold medals lies a consistent approach to competition, a determination to win, and a straightforward passion for his sport. Like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, he has learned to filter out distractions and deliver stellar performance under pressure. The road has not always been easy; from the very beginning, Phelps had to overcome physical setbacks and emotional trials. When he was younger, he was diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder; other kids bullied him; even a teacher said he would never be successful. Later, he had to work through injuries that jeopardized his career. In this book, Phelps talks for the first time about how he has overcome these and other challenges - about how to develop the mental attitude needed to persevere, not just in athletic competition but in life.

His success is imbued with the perspective of overcoming the obstacles that come your way and believing in yourself no matter the odds.

"No Limits" explores the hard work, commitment, and sacrifice that go into reaching any goal. Whether it is on the starting block during an Olympic swim meet or in the weight room on a typical day, Phelps's dedication has led him to unparalleled excellence. Filled with anecdotes from family members, friends, teammates, and his coach, "No Limits" gives a behind-the-scenes look at the makings of a real champion. One of Phelps's mottos is "Performance Is Reality," and it typifies his attitude toward achieving his goals. It's easy to get bogged down by doubt or to lose focus when a challenge seems out of reach, but Phelps believes that you can accomplish anything if you fully commit yourself to it. Using the eight final swims of the Beijing Olympics as a model, "No Limits" is a step-by-step guide to realizing one's dream.

Eddie Plank won 326 games and has the most complete games and shutouts by a left-handed pitcher in Major League history. But how much do we know about the hurler best known as "Gettysburg Eddie" in his playing days? And what of him that we do know is factual? This biography of Plank sorts out the truth and the myths--and everything in between--as he made his way from a college team in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, all the way to the Hall of Fame, 20 years after his death. Along the way, readers will discover what made Plank so great, the secrets behind his famous crossfire delivery, and more.

Amos Alonzo Stagg (1862-1965) grew up one of eight children in a poor New Jersey family, graduated high school at 21 and worked his way through Yale. His goal was to become a Presbyterian minister, but he dropped out of Yale Divinity School because he felt he could have more influence on young men through coaching. He was hired as the first football coach at University of Chicago after its founding in 1892. Under Stagg's leadership, Chicago emerged as one of the nation's most formidable football teams during the early 20th century, winning seven Big Ten championships and two national championships. After Chicago forced him to retire at 70, Stagg found another coaching position at College of the Pacific, where he was forced to retire at 84. He found another job and never fully retired from coaching until he was 98. His marriage to his wife to Stella -his de facto assistant coach-lasted almost 70 years. Sports Illustrated wrote of him, "If any single individual can be said to have created today's game, Stagg is the man. He either invented outright or pioneered every aspect of the modern game from...the huddle, shift and tackling dummy to such refinements as the T-formation strategy." This biography tells the story of his life and many innovations, which made him one of the great pioneers of college football.

Always Believe is the gripping autobiography of Chelsea, Arsenal and France star Olivier Giroud. Join him on a remarkable journey, from playing for a small club in southern France to achieving top-flight glory there and in England, before lifting the World Cup with the French national team. Giroud shot to prominence in 2011/12 as the top scorer in France's Ligue 1, netting 21 goals to help Montpellier to their first-ever top-flight title. After signing for Arsenal in 2012, he rewarded the Gunners with 73 goals in 180 games and helped them to three FA Cup wins. He is also the French national team's second-highest scorer. Now at Chelsea, Giroud is still hungry for success. But what about the sacrifices he's made along the way? The pressures of being under the spotlight and having to cope with a constant stream of criticism and questions around his selection for the national side? Usually a private person, Giroud holds nothing back as he shares all the highs and lows of a stellar career at the game's top level in this tell-all book.

1966 legend Sir Geoff Hurst is the only footballer in history to score a World Cup final hat-trick. To mark his 80th birthday, he has named the 80 sportsmen who most inspired and motivated him throughout his life. Sir Geoff, who scored 24 goals in 49 England games, also had a talent for cricket, and has an in-depth knowledge of all the major sports. His A to Z of sporting heroes covers multiple sports and decades, from Muhammad Ali to Zinedine Zidane. The book is filled with surprising facts, and Sir Geoff challenges you to count how many times you exclaim, 'I didn't know that!' when reading his entertaining and enlightening breakdown on his sporting idols. Writing in collaboration with renowned sports historian Norman Giller, who reported Sir Geoff's West Ham debut in 1960, Hurst personalises each profile with anecdotes that offer a unique insight into the individual. Pitch Publishing are planning a similar book on the greatest post-war sportswomen, but for now enjoy Sir Geoff Hurst discussing his 80 greatest sportsmen.

In his day, perhaps no one in baseball was better known than Irish-born Timothy Paul "Ted" Sullivan. For 50 years, America's sportswriters sang his praises, genuflected to his genius and bought his blarney by the barrel. Damon Runyon dubbed him "The Celebrated Carpetbagger of Baseball." Cunning, fast-talking, witty and sober, Sullivan was the game's first player agent, a groundbreaking scout who pulled future Hall of Famers from the bushes, an author, a playwright and a baseball evangelist who promoted the game across five continents. He coined the term "fan" and was among the first to suggest the designated hitter-because pitchers were "a lot of whippoorwill swingers." But he was also a convert to the Jim Crow attitudes of his day-black ballplayers were unimaginable to him. Unearthing thousands of contemporaneous newspaper accounts, this first exhaustive biography of "Hustlin'" Ted Sullivan recounts the life and career of one of the greatest hucksters in the history of the game.

When barefoot running guru Christopher McDougall takes in a neglected donkey, his aim is to get Sherman back to reasonable health. But Sherman is ill-tempered, obstinate and uncooperative - and it's clear his poor treatment has made him deeply fearful of humans. Christopher knows that donkeys need a purpose - they are working, pack animals - and so when he learns of the sport of Burro Racing or running with donkeys, he sets out to give Sherman something worth living for. With the aid of Christopher's menagerie on his farm in rural Pennsylvania, his wife Mika and their friends and neighbours including the local Amish population, Sherman begins to build trust in Christopher. To give him a purpose, they start to run together. But what Sherman gains in confidence and meaning is something we all need: a connection with nature, the outdoors, with movement. And as Christopher learns, the side benefits of exercise and animal contact are surprising, helping with mental and physical health in unexpected ways.

The New York Times bestselling story of the friendship and rivalry between golf legends Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus, whose sparring matches defined the sport for more than a decade. The first time they met, at an exhibition match in 1967, Tom Watson was a seventeen-year-old high school student and Jack Nicklaus, at twenty-seven, was already the greatest golfer in the world. Though they shared some similarities, they differed in many ways. Nicklaus played a game of consummate control and precision. Watson hit the ball all over the place. Nicklaus lacked charm and theatrics, and he was thoroughly despised by most golf fans because he had displaced Arnold Palmer as king of the golf world. Watson was one of those Arnold Palmer fans. Yet over the next twenty years their seemingly divergent paths collided as they battled against each other again and again for a place at the top of the sport and drove each other to ever-soaring heights of accomplishment. Spanning from that first match through the "Duel in the Sun" at Turnberry in 1977 to Watson's miraculous near-victory at Turnberry as he approached sixty, and informed by interviews with both players over many years, The Secret of Golf is Joe Posnanski's intimate account of the most remarkable rivalry and (eventual) friendship in modern golf.

Peter Sagal, the host of NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! and a popular columnist for Runner's World, shares "commentary and reflection about running with a deeply felt personal story, this book is winning, smart, honest, and affecting. Whether you are a runner or not, it will move you" (Susan Orlean). On the verge of turning forty, Peter Sagal-brainiac Harvard grad, short bald Jew with a disposition towards heft, and a sedentary star of public radio-started running seriously. And much to his own surprise, he kept going, faster and further, running fourteen marathons and logging tens of thousands of miles on roads, sidewalks, paths, and trails all over the United States and the world, including the 2013 Boston Marathon, where he crossed the finish line moments before the bombings. In The Incomplete Book of Running, Sagal reflects on the trails, tracks, and routes he's traveled, from the humorous absurdity of running charity races in his underwear-in St. Louis, in February-or attempting to "quiet his colon" on runs around his neighborhood-to the experience of running as a guide to visually impaired runners, and the triumphant post-bombing running of the Boston Marathon in 2014. With humor and humanity, Sagal also writes about the emotional experience of running, body image, the similarities between endurance sports and sadomasochism, the legacy of running as passed down from parent to child, and the odd but extraordinary bonds created between strangers and friends. The result is "a brilliant book about running...What Peter runs toward is strength, understanding, endurance, acceptance, faith, hope, and charity" (P.J. O'Rourke).

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.

Beginning in the late 1970s, "Gentleman" Gerry Cooney's professional boxing career was marked by exhilarating fights, exciting wins, and a powerful left hook. In 1982, Cooney landed a lucrative match against world heavyweight champion Larry Holmes on one of the biggest stages in championship boxing. Yet Cooney's bouts in the ring were nothing compared to the inner turmoil that he dealt with and eventually overcame. Gentleman Gerry: A Contender in the Ring, a Champion in Recovery chronicles the career of a boxing legend, the challenges and triumphs of a trauma survivor, and an alcoholic's journey to sustained recovery. Gerry Cooney and John Grady provide a detailed account of how the former contender went from an abused childhood to becoming a two-time Golden Gloves champion. More than just a biography, this book explores the challenges of surviving difficult moments and overcoming obstacles such as alcohol addiction. The authors also provide historical perspectives of the era and behind-the-scenes insight into the world of professional boxing. Complete with photographs from esteemed sports photographer Joe DiMaggio and stories directly from Cooney himself, this book offers an unprecedented look into Cooney's life and the lessons he learned. Fans of boxing, as well as sports enthusiasts and others recovering from addiction, will find Gentleman Gerry a must-read.

Born Luigi d'Ambrosio, Lou Ambers grew up in Herkimer, New York, during the Great Depression. He and his nine siblings watched their father lose his business. Then they lost their father. Taking to the ring as a "bootleg" boxer to support his family, "The Herkimer Hurricane" soon became an undefeated contender, losing only one of more than fifty fights in his first three years as a professional. A keen judge of distance with prodigious hand speed, he worked just within punching range, busily slipping and feinting, then slashing in with hooks and uppercuts. In 1936, he faced his idol and mentor, Tony Canzoneri, and defeated him to capture the world lightweight championship. Ambers held the title for twenty-three months, losing it in a historic fight with the formidable Henry Armstrong (1938) but regaining it in a rematch the following year. As the 1930s ended, so did Amber's impressive career. This book chronicles the life of one of the great 20th century lightweights, who retired with a Hall of Fame record of 90-8-6 with 30 KOs.

In 1976, young Charlton Athletic goalkeeper Graham Tutt had the world at his feet. Then in an instant his dreams were shattered by a career-ending collision seen by millions on TV. What happened next has never been told before. Persistent double vision scuppered a comeback attempt, leading to hurt, depression and bitterness. Moving to South Africa, Tutt witnessed the horrors of apartheid while playing in the country's first mixed league. After surviving some hair-raising experiences, he settled in America and played professional soccer, ran soccer camps for thousands of young people and was inducted into the Georgia Soccer Hall of Fame. He also found love and contentment along with forgiveness after tracking down a figure from his distant past. Never Give Up: The Graham 'Buster' Tutt Story is both laugh-out-loud funny and heart-achingly sad. It speaks not just to athletes but to anyone who has suffered a major setback in their life.

The exciting no-holds-barred autobiography of former WCW president and current WWE Raw General Manager, Eric Bishoff--the only person who was able to beat Vince McMahon and the WWE at their own game. Eric Bischoff has been called pro wrestling's most hated man. Booed, reviled, and burned in effigy, he's been struck by everything from beer bottles to fists. Though industry critics have scorned his spectacular rise and fall at World Championship Wrestling, Bischoff's influence still resonates. For years, Bischoff kept quiet while industry pundits distorted the truth about the infamous Monday Night Wars, basing their accounts on rumors and innuendo. Finally, Bischoff tells what really happened. Beginning with his days as a salesman for the American Wrestling Association, Bischoff exposes the industry's inner workings, from the real numbers behind WCW's red ink to the devastating impact of the corporate mergers. Among his revelations: How WCW became a national brand and revolutionized the industry. How Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura, and Steve Austin shaped WCW, and how corporate politics killed it. And how he found his inner heel and learned to love being the guy everyone loves to despise. Reflecting on his childhood, his family, and the pressures of notoriety, Bischoff tells how he found contentment after being unceremoniously sent home. Love him or hate him, readers will never look at pro wrestling the same way again after reading Eric Bischoff's story in Controversy Creates Cash.