Burleigh Grimes--forever remembered as the ill-tempered spitballer with the perpetual five o'clock shadow. For nearly two decades, he brought his surly disposition to the pitcher's mound. His life-or-death mentality resulted in a reputation as one of the game's great competitors and a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Along the way he suited up for eight different ball clubs and played alongside a record 36 Hall of Famers. In all, Grimes spent over half a century in professional baseball as a player, manager, coach and scout. This biography covers all aspects of his life. From his early childhood in Clear Lake, Wisconsin, to his twilight years in that same town. In between are World Series highs and lows, brawls, five marriages, a near-death experience and 270 major league victories.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Globe-trotting golfer Tom Coyne has finally come home. And he's ready to play all of it. After playing hundreds of courses overseas in the birthplace of golf, Coyne, the bestselling author of A Course Called Ireland and A Course Called Scotland, returns to his own birthplace and delivers a "heartfelt, rollicking ode to golf...[as he] describes playing golf in every state of the union, including Alaska: 295 courses, 5,182 holes, 1.7 million total yards" (The Wall Street Journal). In the span of one unforgettable year, Coyne crisscrosses the country in search of its greatest golf experience, playing every course to ever host a US Open, along with more than two hundred hidden gems and heavyweights, visiting all fifty states to find a better understanding of his home country and countrymen. Coyne's journey begins where the US Open and US Amateur got their start, historic Newport Country Club in Rhode Island. As he travels from the oldest and most elite of links to the newest and most democratic, Coyne finagles his way onto coveted first tees (Shinnecock, Oakmont, Chicago GC) between rounds at off-the-map revelations, like ranch golf in Eastern Oregon and homemade golf in the Navajo Nation. He marvels at the golf miracle hidden in the sand hills of Nebraska and plays an unforgettable midnight game under bright sunshine on the summer solstice in Fairbanks, Alaska. More than just a tour of the best golf the United States has to offer, Coyne's quest connects him with hundreds of American golfers, each from a different background but all with one thing in common: pride in welcoming Coyne to their course. Trading stories and swing tips with caddies, pros, and golf buddies for the day, Coyne adopts the wisdom of one of his hosts in Minnesota: the best courses are the ones you play with the best people. But, in the end, only one stop on Coyne's journey can be ranked the Great American Golf Course. Throughout his travels, he invites golfers to debate and help shape his criteria for judging the quintessential American course. Should it be charmingly traditional or daringly experimental? An architectural showpiece or a natural wonder? Countless conversations and gut instinct lead him to seek out a course that feels bold and idealistic, welcoming yet imperfect, with a little revolutionary spirit and a damn good hot dog at the turn. He discovers his long-awaited answer in the most unlikely of places. Packed with fascinating tales from American golf history, comic road misadventures, illuminating insights into course design, and many a memorable round with local golfers and celebrity guests alike, A Course Called America is "a delightful, entertaining book even nongolfers can enjoy" (Kirkus Reviews).

‘I swim for every chance to get wasted ― after every meet, every weekend, every travel trip. This is what I look forward to and what I tell no one: the burn of it down my throat, to my soul curled up in my lungs, the sharpest pain all over it ― it seizes and stretches, becoming alive again, and is the only thing that makes sense.’

At fifteen, Casey Legler is already one of the fastest swimmers in the world. She is also an alcoholic, isolated from her family, and incapable of forming lasting connections with those around her.

Driven to compete at the highest levels, sent far away from home to train with the best coaches and teams, she finds herself increasingly alone and alienated, living a life of cheap hotels and chlorine-worn skin, anonymous sexual encounters and escalating drug use. Even at what should be a moment of triumph ― competing at age nineteen in the 1996 Olympics ― she is an outsider looking in, procuring drugs for Olympians she hardly knows, and losing her race after setting a new world record in the qualifying heats.

After submitting to years of numbing training in France and the United States, Casey can see no way out of the sinister loneliness that has swelled and festered inside her. Yet wondrously, when it is almost too late, she discovers a small light within herself, and senses a point of calm within the whirlwind of her life.

In searing, evocative, visceral prose, Casey gives language to loneliness in this startling story of survival, defiance, and of the embers that still burn when everything else in us goes dark.

Billy Southworth was the most successful major league baseball manager of the 1940s including the three straight years in which his St. Louis Cardinal teams won more than 100 games. He won three National League pennants with the Cardinals and one with the Boston Braves, and his .597 winning percentage is the fifth highest in baseball history. But Southworth was dogged by demons off the field, including the deaths of three children. On the field, his achievements were minimised by many because they occurred during the war years when the baseball talent level was below par. When he finally got top recognition, being elected to the Hall of Fame in 2007, the honour occurred 38 years after his death.

This is the paperback re-print of the bestselling 2009 edition. It is a true 'rags to riches' football story of a miner's son who fulfilled his dream to play for his country. It is a book with a message - rewards are earned from hard work and determination. It includes foreword written by Jimmy Greaves and contributions from Sir Bobby Charlton. "The Gerry Hitchens Story" follows the life of a young miner who was plucked from the mineshaft to find himself playing football in the Italian League a few years later. It is surely something that dreams were made of, a real 'rags-to-riches' story; however, this is exactly what happened to one such talented, working-class lad from a small Shropshire mining village in the late 1950s. Gerry Hitchens was an uncomplicated footballer with obvious natural ability and virtues. It is fair to say there have been more skillful players than Hitchens, but footballers do not always require skill and flair to succeed at the very top - sometimes hard work and determination are equally important qualities, along with the will to learn and improve. Gerry had a bit extra to offer - the instinct to sniff out half chances and to score goals in abundance at any level. Containing a foreword by Jimmy Greaves and contributions from Sir Bobby Charton, Jimmy Armfield OBE, Gigi Riva, Louis Suarez and world-renowned football writer and journalist Brian Glanville, "The Gerry Hitchens Story" is a fitting tribute to a great footballer who was 'born to play'.

The book follows the colorful career of Frank Lane, who as baseball's busiest general manager during the 1950s made the deals that turned the Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Indians from losers into pennant contenders almost overnight. He also worked--or tried to--as general manager of the Kansas City A's (Lane lasted eight months in 1961 under first-year owner Charlie Finley) and for the Milwaukee Brewers, where his boss was Bud Selig. He is best known for having traded 1959 American League home run champion Rocky Colavito to Detroit for the AL's 1959 batting champ, Harvey Kuenn, and for trading Indians manager Joe Gordon to Detroit for Tigers manager Jimmy Dykes. During his brief absence from baseball (1962-1964), he signed on as general manager of the National Basketball Association's second-year expansion team, the Chicago Zephyrs. He became a ""superscout"" for the Baltimore Orioles for several years and, after leaving Milwaukee, had the same job with the Texas Rangers and, finally, the California Angels. He completed well over 500 major- and minor-league transactions in his career. Joe Garagiola put it best: ""They used to say that the toughest job on any club Frank Lane was running belonged to the team photographer.

Joe Louis held the heavyweight boxing championship longer than any other fighter and defended it a record 25 times. During the 1930s and 1940s, the owner of the heavyweight title belt was the most prominent sports competitor not aligned with a team sport. In addition, Louis helped make breakthroughs for African American athletes and bridge the gap of understanding between whites and blacks. During World War II he not only raised money for Army and Navy relief, entertained millions of troops as a morale officer, but became a symbol of American hope and strength. In a famous speech Louis pronounced that the United States would win the war ""Because we're on God's side."" The simple phrase helped energise the populace and some said that Louis ""named the war."" The biography of Louis outlines his rise from poverty in Alabama to becoming the best-known African American of his times and describes how an uneducated man, simple at his core, became so articulate and always ended up on the side of right in the battles he fought, with fist or voice.

This is the first full-length biography of Kid Nichols (1869-1953), who won 30 or more games a record seven times and was the youngest pitcher to reach 300 career victories. Much new light is shed on Nichols' early life in Madison, Wisconsin, along with important influences and experiences as a teenager living in Kansas City. His professional career is documented by drawing heavily from publications of the era and Nichols' own words. The high regard in which he was held by fans, teammates and even opponents is contrasted with his contentious relationship with team owners. Nichols' period of restlessness, ambition, and risk-taking following his long stint with Boston's National League team is detailed, as is the campaign to get him into the Hall of Fame. The book includes previously unpublished photos from his descendants' archives, many more than a century old.

‘You don’t get to be six-time British Superbike Champion without having talent and desire’ – Wayne Rainey, three-time 500cc World Champion

Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne knows what it is like to live on the edge. The most successful rider in British Superbike history, he is the only person to have won the championship six times. Shakey is a living motorbike legend, with legions of fans across the country.

For the first time Shakey tells his life story, from being abandoned as a newborn baby in a London hospital, to multiple brushes with the law and working night shifts on the London Underground to fund his early racing career. Whether it was on his BMX or joyriding through Kent, the only thing Shakey ever wanted to do was race motorbikes.

Once he had got his break, Shakey quickly developed a reputation as one of the most exciting riders of his generation, and the thrill of every victory, every chicane and every overtake, as well as the hospital visits and painstaking recovery, is relived in heart-pumping detail.

Unshakeable is an incredible story of winning and risk-taking, of horrendous crashes in which he nearly lost his life, of Ducatis and monster motorhomes, and of hard-fought glory in one of the most exciting and dangerous sports on the planet. Told with breathless exhilaration, Shakey’s story is one of inspiration, break-neck speed and a life lived truly on, and over, the limit.

One of early baseball's most popular celebrities, Arlie Latham played for the St. Louis Browns in the 1880s. A brainy hitter and base-runner, he was also the sport's brashest, funniest player, his ""fresh"" personality bringing him as much trouble as reward. He played with the 19th century's greatest names, and was friends with everyone from King Kelly to King George V. He parlayed his stardom into a vaudeville career and the first official major league coaching job. In his fifties he carried the game he loved into world war to cheer Allied troops and in his seventies went to work for the Yankees. Arlie Latham's baseball odyssey is made more compelling by the parade of players, gamblers, boxers, actors, women and mascots that passes through it, providing a unique glimpse into America's game and the people who loved it.

'If you were expecting to read Razor's views on politics then you're going to be disappointed. Anybody who wants to read that needs help! This is yours truly talking about some of the experiences that have helped to create the absolute legend that is moi. Some of the tales involve a bit of mischief and most involve a drink or two. Most importantly, though, they're all a bit of a laugh so I'd settle down and have yourself a nice little read' The two things Razor Ruddock can't resist in life are a pint and a dare. That and seventeen years as a professional footballer under his belt means he's got a story or two to tell. Chickening out of a fight with Eric Cantona, robbing Alan Shearer's minibar, cinema trips with Gazza, becoming mates with Ian Wright - Razor has seen and done it all. Packed full of hilarious anecdotes, Razor gives us his take on the beautiful game, sharing his tactics (good banter is a defender's duty), red mist (and red cards) on the pitch, run-ins with the FA and his theory as to why Ingerland never do as well as we'd like, as well as his best ever goal and the greatest night of his sporting life. Razor also lifts the lid on his bad reputation and reveals his regrets, his heroes, his greatest fears (notably upsetting the missus) and what it takes to make Britain's hardest footballer cry. Poignantly, he shares his views on the importance of family and his concerns over footballers' mental health. And the biggest surprise of all: that he was a shy and retiring young lad (and that his love of swearing comes from his mum). Cameo appearances include: Bobby Robson, Diego Maradona, Eric Cantona, Dennis Bergkamp, Harry Redknapp, David Beckham, Alan Shearer, Gazza, Jimmy Case, Phil 'The Power' Taylor, Robbie Williams and Nelson Mandela ('Nelse'). With his trademark sense of humour and foot-in-mouth disease, The World According to Razor is like having a pint down the pub with Razor himself.

Buck Ewing (1859-1906) was regarded by contemporaries as the greatest catcher and all-around player of his era, though he is virtually forgotten today. A lifetime .300-hitter, he played every position on the diamond and led the league in fielding at two different positions. The first hitter to reach double digits in home runs, Ewing once stole six bases in a game, pioneered the snap forearm throw to catch runners napping, averaged 35 steals a season, and is the only catcher to lead his team in stolen bases (53 in 1888). Off the field, Ewing's personality proved as multifaceted as his playing skills. Considered both affable and modest, he still received criticism from fellow players for negotiating contracts directly with the National League and was accused of faking injuries. This revealing biography provides a detailed exploration of Ewing's life and career, shedding new light on one of baseball's most talented and versatile players.

'EXTREMELY ENTERTAINING...REMARKABLY FRANK' DAILY TELEGRAPH 50 GREATEST SPORTS BOOKS OF ALL TIME After finishing as runner-up three times in the drivers' world championship, in 1992 Nigel Mansell finally secured the title. It was the crowning achievement of a hugely successful career, in which he won 31 Grand Prix, a record for a British driver that stood until Lewis Hamilton overhauled him in 2014. Always an aggressive driver, his exciting style meant he was hailed as a hero by his millions of fans in the UK and around the world. Out of the car, he was outspoken and charismatic, which merely served to enhance his reputation. Now, 20 years after he retired from F1, Mansell looks back on a stellar career in which he battled against many legends of the sport, from Niki Lauda through the Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost years and on to Michael Schumacher. He provides vivid insights into what it was like to race against those greats in an era when the risks to drivers were enormous. He explains what motivated him to get to the top, and takes the reader behind the scenes to give an unrivalled insight into the sport and the key moments of his career. Still closely involved in Formula One, Mansell assesses how F1 has changed, and gives his authoritative verdict on the sport, the cars and the drivers. It is an unmissable account from one of Britain's greatest sporting heroes. THE MASSIVE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER.

Queens of Pain tells the remarkable and largely unknown tale of women's cycle racing from the 1890's to the early 1990's. From the fin-de-siecle velodromes of North America to the glamour and chaos of the first women's Tour de France, Queens of Pain offers a sweeping panorama of female racing history. Told through the lives of the great champions, its heroines include stuntwomen and speed skaters, young mothers and teenage tearaways, shop assistants and coal-delivery girls. When prejudice and officialdom denied them one stage they found another: from six-day track racing to epic place to place records, from 12-hour time trials to unofficial road races. The greatly expanded women's racing scene of today is the direct legacy of these pioneering riders whose stories form an unbroken thread since the invention of the bicycle.

When African American first baseman George "Boomer" Scott made his debut in the major leagues in 1966, he took the field for the Boston Red Sox--the last major league team to field a black ballplayer, only seven years before. An eight-time Gold Glove Award winner, a three-time All-Star, and an important member of the Red Sox 1967 Impossible Dream American League Champions, Scott stroked 271 "taters"--a term he coined for home runs that has been memorialized in baseball lexicon. Yet throughout his career, the outspoken player faced an ongoing struggle to gain racial acceptance. This detailed biography chronicles Scott's youth in violently racist Mississippi, his impressive 14-year professional career, and the challenges he faced off the field. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with the former slugger, this work celebrates one of Boston's legends and reveals the barriers that still existed for black ball players years after Jackie Robinson paved the way.

Roger Conner, the Babe Ruth of the 1880s and inventor of the pop-up slide, ranks number one for 19th century players in home runs and was an expert bunter. Called "The Gentleman of the Diamond," and played well into his fifties. This biography covers Conner's entire baseball career as well as his early life.

It's hard to believe MONTY PANESAR only arrived on the international cricketing scene in March 2006. His electric performances against India and in the Ashes series saw him catapulted to hero status in a matter of months, and widely rated as England's best spin bowler for 30 years. In MONTY'S TURN, Panesar takes a look at his extraordinary rise to stardom. Taught spin bowling by a friend of his father, Hitu Naik, his first experience of league cricket was with the Luton Town and Indians CC. His raw talent and utter dedication to his craft as a bowler soon saw him signed to Northamptonshire before he had completed his degree at Loughborough. Since his call-up to the England senior squad, Panesar's life has been a whirlwind of headlines and hero worship. The national outcry that met his exclusion from the first two Ashes Tests placed the weight of a despondent England's expectations on his comparatively inexperienced shoulders, but Panesar responded to the pressure with a scorching performance. Famously the first Sikh to represent a nation other than India in Test cricket, Monty credits his religion for his discipline in the nets - and it is this dedication along with his scintillating talent and unique celebration style that have made him a national treasure. He has declared his ambition to be the best, and it would seem that now it truly is time for MONTY'S TURN.

'Even the most casual reader among you will by now have worked out that the whole thing is little more than a delightful ruse for having a very good time.' Experienced climber Charles Sherwood is on a quest to find the best climb on each continent. He eschews the traditional Seven Summits, where height alone is the determining factor, and instead considers mountaineering challenge, natural beauty and historical context, aiming to capture the diverse character of each continent and the sheer variety of climbing in all its forms. The author's ambitious odyssey takes him to the Alps, the Himalaya, Yosemite, the Andes, Kenya, New Zealand and South Georgia. His goal is neither to seek glory nor to complete a box-ticking exercise, but simply to enjoy himself in the company of his fellow climbers, including Mark Seaton, Andy Kirkpatrick and Stephen Venables, and to appreciate the splendour of his surroundings. On classic routes like the North Face of the Eiger and the Nose on El Capitan, it is hard not to be swept away by Sherwood's unfaltering enthusiasm. Also featuring fascinating historical detail about each route, Seven Climbs is a compelling account of Sherwood's efforts to answer a much-debated question: which are the world's greatest climbs?

Great news for baseball fans--here is Lawrence Ritter's remarkable and universally hailed classic, now available in trade paperback. This is the enlarged edition, with 120 fantastic and rare photographs, of the 1966 original. In the words of 26 players, it describes what it was like to play major league baseball at the turn of the century and in the decades shortly thereafter.

Hey Teammate, We all face obstacles-physical, emotional, between the ears. The good news is that everything we have fought back against can empower us, IF WE KNOW HOW TO USE IT. My obstacles happen to be anxiety and depression. I call it living in the gray, and I've been mired in it my whole life. To be honest, it sucks. But I have also recently recognized that this same gray that has held me down has also empowered me to make my wildest dreams come true. You have probably overcome many of your own obstacles, but you;ve been too close to the conflict to clearly see what you've accomplished. We are all UNBREAKABLE, no matter what we do, who we are, or what traumas we may have experienced. We just need to admit that we can't walk this walk alone. --Jay Glazer After years of rejection but with constant hustle, Jay Glazer has built a career has one of the most iconic sports insiders, earning himself a spot on the Emmy award-winning Fox NFL Sunday, a role as the confidant of coaches and players across the league, and a role as himself alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson on HBO series Ballers. His gym, Unbreakable Performance Center, attracts some of the biggest names in Hollywood, and is the headquarters to the powerful charity MVP (Merging Vets and Players) that Jay founded in 2015. MVP began as a weekly physical and mental health huddle with combat veterans and retired athletes has expanded to seven locations, helping soldiers and players transition to a new team. In Unbreakable, Jay Glazer talks directly to you, his teammates, and shares his truth. All of his success from his screeching-and-swerving joy ride through professional football, the media, the fighting world, Hollywood, the military-warrior community, comes with a side of relentless depression and anxiety. Living in the gray, as Jay calls it, is just a constant for him. And, in order to work through the gray and succeed, Jay has to maintain an Unbreakable Mindset. With this book, you can too. * Be of Service-help others and help yourself in the process * Build Your Team-give support, get support * Never Underestimate the Power of Laughter-never take yourself too seriously * Be Proud of Your Scars-our trauma makes us who we are Throughout Unbreakable, Jay will use his stories-featuring some of the biggest, baddest, and most fascinating characters in the public eye today-to show how he walks this walk, has learned that while the gray is very real, it doesn't have to define him. And it doesn't have to define you either.

LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE 'Excellent and compellingly honest' Alyson Rudd, The Times In I Love This Game, the long-awaited autobiography of Patrice Evra, the former Manchester United and France star looks back on a remarkable life and career. Having played alongside some of the club's greatest legends, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes, in one of United's most successful eras, Evra has now found a new role as an in-demand pundit and social media star. But, as he reveals in this frank, often shocking, but always compelling memoir, beneath the surface things were not so simple, and he had to fight all the way to get to the top. Initially, it was football that saved him from being sucked into the gang culture of his tough neighbourhood of Les Ulis in the suburbs of Paris. Then, once he achieved his dream of becoming a professional, he had to deal with racism and a notorious dispute with Luis Suarez; he also became a central figure in the infamous 'strike' by the France national team in the 2010 World Cup; and there was the moment he launched an attack against a Marseille fan while warming up. 'I Love This Game' has become Evra's catchphrase. Throughout this wonderful book, his passion for his sport shines through and there are revealing and entertaining behind-the-scenes insights about the players and managers he's worked with, from Sir Alex Ferguson to Paul Pogba, who knows him as Uncle Pat. With infectious enthusiasm and sharp observation, Evra takes the reader where few football autobiographies dare to tread.

*NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* From the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Tiger Woods comes the definitive inside story of the New England Patriots--the greatest sports dynasty of the 21st century. It's easy to forget that the New England Patriots were once the laughingstock of the NFL, a nearly bankrupt team that had never won a championship and was on the brink of moving to St. Louis. Everything changed in 1994, when Robert Kraft acquired the franchise and soon brought on board head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. Since then, the Patriots have become a juggernaut, making ten trips to the Super Bowl, winning six of them, and emerging as one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world. How was the Patriots dynasty built? And how did it last for two decades? In The Dynasty, acclaimed journalist Jeff Benedict provides richly reported answers in a sweeping account based on exclusive interviews with more than two hundred insiders--including team executives, coaches, players, players' wives, team doctors, lawyers, and more--as well as never-before-seen recordings, documents, and electronic communications. Through his exhaustive research, Benedict uncovers surprising new details about the inner workings of a team notorious for its secrecy. He puts us in the room as Robert Kraft outmaneuvers a legion of lawyers and investors to buy the team. We listen in on the phone call when the greatest trade ever made--Bill Belichick for a first-round draft choice--is negotiated. And we look over the shoulder of forty-year-old Tom Brady as a surgeon operates on his throwing hand on the eve of the AFC Championship Game in 2018. But the portrait that emerges in The Dynasty is more rewarding than new details alone. By tracing the team's epic run through the perspectives of Kraft, Belichick, and Brady--each of whom was interviewed for the book--the author provides a wealth of new insight into the complex human beings most responsible for the Patriots' success. The result is an intimate portrait that captures the human drama of the dynasty's three key characters while also revealing the secrets behind their success. "The Dynasty is...[a] masterpiece...It's a relationship book, it's a football book, it's a business book...you'll just eat up these stories" (Colin Cowherd).

With an introduction by Salman Rushdie and an afterword by the author. It was the night of February 25, 1964. A cloud of cigar smoke drifted through the ring lights. Cassius Clay threw punches into the gray floating haze and waited for the bell. When Cassius Clay burst onto the sports scene in the 1950s, he broke the mould. He changed the world of sports and went on to change the world itself: from his early fights as Cassius Clay, the young, wiry man from Louisville, unwilling to play the noble and grateful warrior in a white world, to becoming Muhammad Ali, the voice of black America and the most recognized face on the planet. King of the World is the story of an incredible rise to power, a book of battles fought inside the ring and out. With grace and power, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer David Remnick tells of a transcendent athlete and entertainer, a rapper before rap was born. Ali was a mirror of his era, a dynamic figure in the racial and cultural clashes of his time and King of the World is a classic piece of non-fiction and a book worthy of America's most dynamic modern hero.