During the more than one hundred years that baseball has been our national pastime, all types of individuals have been managers of teams. They have run the gamut from political appointees to tyrants, schemers, incompetents and geniuses. Legendary baseball stars have been managers such as Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Walter Johnson, Mel Ott, George Sisler, and Honus Wagner. And Mediocre players, including Branch Rickey, Earl Weaver, Walter Alston have become managers. Antics galore have accentuated managerial behavior: the pratfalls of Charley Grimm in the third-base coaching box; the umbrella-carrying Frankie Frisch arguing with the umpires that a game should be called; the cap twisting, body-gyrating movements of Earl Weaver, puffing cigarettes in the dugout and attempting to use body language to will his players to perform better. Idiosyncrasies and special styles have characterized managers through the years. An entire collection of one-liners has developed over the years to characterize the managing profession. For trivia buffs, there's an entire world of statistical records about managers. This books attempts to capture the style and substance of some of the greatest managers of all time. An effort has been made to give representation to the different eras of baseball, the various managing styles, and all the nuances and nostalgia that shape this fascinating subject.

One day in 2005 while searching for food, nine-year-old Ugandan Phiona Mutesi followed her brother to a dusty veranda where she met Robert Katende.
Katende, a war refugee turned missionary, had an improbable dream: to empower kids in the Katwe slum through chess--a game so foreign there is no word for it in their native language. Laying a chess-board in the dirt, Robert began to teach. At first children came for a free bowl of porridge, but many grew to love the game that--like their daily lives--requires persevering against great obstacles. Of these kids, one girl stood out as an immense talent: Phiona.
By the age of eleven Phiona was her country's junior champion, and at fifteen, the national champion. Now a Woman Candidate Master--the first female titled player in her country's history--Phiona dreams of becoming a Grandmaster, the most elite level in chess. But to reach that goal, she must grapple with everyday life in one of the world's most unstable coun-tries. "The Queen of Katwe" is a "remarkable" (NPR) and "riveting" ("New York Post") book that shows how "Phiona's story transcends the limitations of the chessboard" (Robert Hess, US Grandmaster).

Pappy: The Gentle Bear is the story of a coach who won chapionships at Kansas State, Northwestern and Cal, then moved on to the San Francisco 49'ers as personnel guru. He became perhaps the most important catalyst for coooperation between university communities and the fledgiling NFL.

In a world where so many books by and about footballers are little more than bland PR exercises, Full Timebreaks the mould decisively. Stripping away the facade of what we think life must be like for an international football star, Paul Kimmage reveals a different story when it comes to Irish footballer Tony Cascarino. Scarred by his childhood, haunted by indiscretion and troubled by a secret from his past, Cascarino is struggling to find answers as he speeds towards the most terrifying juncture in sport: the end. As Cascarino opens up about his fears, crippling loss of confidence and sexual indiscretion, no wonder The Timesvoted it one of the Top Ten football books of all time and Eamon Dunphy said of it: 'If it were fiction this book could win the Booker Prize.'

Harvey Dorfman rose from a childhood sickbed to his place of world renown in the field of sport psychology. A goalie on a national co-champion college soccer team, the coach of a high school basketball team that won a state championship, and the recipient of four World Series rings (three with Oakland, one with Florida), he here presents his final anecdotal recollections, including those from fourteen years spent in the dugouts of three major league teams. This third and last volume of a trilogy closes in 2010. Cover Photo by Bill Gozansky -- billgozansky.com/contact.asp

Be sure to check out IRON AMBITION: My Life with Cus D'Amato by Mike Tyson "Raw, powerful and disturbing-a head-spinning take on Mr. Tyson's life."-Wall Street Journal Philosopher, Broadway headliner, fighter, felon-Mike Tyson has defied stereotypes, expectations, and a lot of conventional wisdom during his three decades in the public eye. Bullied as a boy in the toughest, poorest neighborhood in Brooklyn, Tyson grew up to become one of the most ferocious boxers of all time-and the youngest heavyweight champion ever. But his brilliance in the ring was often compromised by reckless behavior. Yet-even after hitting rock bottom-the man who once admitted being addicted "to everything" fought his way back, achieving triumphant success as an actor and newfound happiness and stability as a father and husband. Brutal, honest, raw, and often hilarious, Undisputed Truth is the singular journey of an inspiring American original.

On May 30, 1958, thousands of racing fans poured into the infield at dawn to claim the best seats of the Indianapolis 500, unaware that they were going to witness one of the most notorious wrecks in racing history. Seconds after the green flag, a game of chicken spiraled out of control into a fiery 16-car pile-up that claimed the life of 29-year-old Indiana native and rising star Pat O'Connor. The other drivers escaped death, but the tragic 1958 Indy 500 seemed to leave its mark on them: the surviving drivers were hounded by accidents and terrible crashes, and most would die at tracks around the country. But the tragedy also prompted new regulations and safety precautions like roll bars that would ultimately save hundreds of lives. In The Curse of Indy 500: 1958's Tragic Legacy, veteran sportswriter Stan Sutton profiles the ill-fated race and the careers of the drivers involved, highlighting their lives in the dangerous world of auto racing.

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE ICE-SKATING DUO WHO BECAME THE NATION'S FAVOURITES - NOW THE SUBJECT OF A MAJOR ITV BIOPIC. When Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean collapsed to the ice at the climax of their routine to Bolero in the 1984 Winter Olympics, the judges could find no fault, awarding them 12 maximum scores of 6.0, while 24 million viewers watching at home in Britain simply looked on in amazement. Suddenly, we were all experts in figure skating, and we wanted to know more about the couple at the heart of it all. Despite intense interest in them, Torvill & Dean kept their lives private, with many still wondering if the pair were really a couple. They turned professional and would eventually spend eight years working on ITV's Dancing on Ice, but still much of their story remained unknown. Now, in Our Life on Ice, Torvill & Dean finally open up about the challenges they have faced and the pressures of life in the public eye: Jayne speaks candidly about her struggle with husband Phil to have children, while Chris reveals the heartache in his family story. And of course, there is the skating, and the stories about what inspired their famous routines, and what the pair hope to achieve in the future as the approach their fortieth anniversary working together. It is the book their millions of fans have been waiting to read.

A Financial Times Sports book of the Year 2018 pick Who's better: Ronaldo or Messi? Ask any football fan and they'll have an opinion. For the best part of the last decade football has seen a personal rivalry unlike any seen before. Cristiano and Leo. This is their definitive story, from children kicking a ball halfway around the world from each other to their era-defining battle to be number one. One the preening adonis, a precision physical machine who blows teams away with his pace and power. The other a shuffling genius, able to do things with a football that seem other-worldly. Their differences seem to tap into something fundamental about football and indeed life. Between them they have scored over a thousand goals, won the Ballon d'Or nine times and redefined modern football. For the past eight seasons they have shared the accolade of best footballer in the world and arguments rage over which one deserves the title of greatest player of all time. Cristiano and Leo by Spanish and South American football expert and journalist Jimmy Burns is the essential book to understand the defining players of a generation. 'Burns is incapable of writing a boring sentence.' - Irish Times

The author of "The Ultimate Golf Trivia Book" gathers candid memories and insights into "the Hawk" through more than 100 original stories and observations offered by friends, peers, partners, and apprentices.

This is the story of Graham Warner and his plucky London-based dealership/race team, the Chequered Flag, which bested all-comers in most major motorsport disciplines. A former RAF man, Warner competed at international level as a sports car driver, created the Gemini brand of Formula Juniors as a manufacturer, fielded cars on behalf of Lotus, Brabham and McLaren as an entrant, and as a talent spotter, he gave Jim Clark his maiden start in a single-seater, later running drivers such as Jackie Stewart, Jackie Ickx, Piers Courage and many more on motorsport's nursery slope. Having reached the pinnacle of Formula One with a privateer Brabham, Warner changed tack and fielded the fearsome Lancia Stratos with memorable success in rallying, before returning to his first love of aviation. Here for the first time is the full history of one of the unsung heroes of motorsport.

It's a story as old as time, a nightmare as shocking as tomorrow's headlines: A talented young athlete rockets to fame and fortune, becoming the highest paid player in football history. But what he finds when he reaches the pinnacle of success is not the glory he had expected.

This is Deion's story, in his own words, with all the drama, hope, glamour, and surprise of his true-life adventures. For the first time ever, Deion tells the story of his rise to fame, his attempted suicide, and the shocking events that led him to faith in God and a new vision and purposes for his life.

Author Michael O'Brien authoritatively paints the consummate Paterno portrait, the result of more than ten years of work that included 137 interviews and study of 150 previously published works. Paperback includes an epilogue that reviews the 1998 season in which Paterno won his landmark 300th career victory.

Described as ""the Greatest Batsman in the Country"" by sports writers of his era, Dennis ""Big Dan"" Brouthers compiled a .342 batting average, tying with Babe Ruth for ninth place all-time, and slugged 205 triples, eighth all time, in 16 major league seasons. He won five batting and on-base percentage titles, and seven slugging titles, and was the first player to win batting and slugging crowns in successive years. Although he ranked fourth among nineteenth-century home run hitters, many fair balls he hit into the stands or over the fence were counted only as doubles or triples due to local ground rules. Brouthers was extremely difficult to strike out--in 1889, for example, he did so just six times in 565 plate appearances. He was the first player to be walked intentionally on a regular basis. This comprehensive biography of Dan Brouthers examines his life and career from his youth as an apprentice in a print and dye factory to his final years as an attendant at the Polo Grounds. It corrects numerous errors that have crept into earlier accounts of his life, and clarifies his position as one of the greatest hitters ever to play the game.

The tragic death of hockey star Derek Boogaard at twenty-eight was front-page news across the country in 2011 and helped shatter the silence about violence and concussions in professional sports. Now, in a gripping work of narrative nonfiction, acclaimed reporter John Branch tells the shocking story of Boogaard's life and heartbreaking death. Boy on Ice is the richly told story of a mountain of a man who made it to the absolute pinnacle of his sport. Widely regarded as the toughest man in the NHL, Boogaard was a gentle man off the ice but a merciless fighter on it. With great narrative drive, Branch recounts Boogaard's unlikely journey from lumbering kid playing pond-hockey on the prairies of Saskatchewan, so big his skates would routinely break beneath his feet; to his teenaged junior hockey days, when one brutal outburst of violence brought Boogaard to the attention of professional scouts; to his days and nights as a star enforcer with the Minnesota Wild and the storied New York Rangers, capable of delivering career-ending punches and intimidating entire teams. But, as Branch reveals, behind the scenes Boogaard's injuries and concussions were mounting and his mental state was deteriorating, culminating in his early death from an overdose of alcohol and painkillers. Based on months of investigation and hundreds of interviews with Boogaard's family, friends, teammates, and coaches, Boy on Ice is a brilliant work for fans of Michael Lewis's The Blind Side or Buzz Bissinger's Friday Night Lights. This is a book that raises deep and disturbing questions about the systemic brutality of contact sports-from peewees to professionals-and the damage that reaches far beyond the game.

This insightful study offers a fresh perspective on the life and career of champion boxer Joe Louis. The remarkable success and global popularity of the "Brown Bomber" made him a lightning rod for debate over the role and rights of African Americans in the United States. Historian Marcy S. Sacks traces both Louis's career and the criticism and commentary his fame elicited to reveal the power of sports and popular culture in shaping American social attitudes. Supported by key contemporary documents, Joe Louis: Sports and Race in Twentieth-Century America is both a succinct introduction to a larger-than-life figure and an essential case study of the intersection of popular culture and race in the mid-century United States.

Conor McGregor is the biggest star in the fight game. The Dubliner has achieved more in three years with the Ultimate Fighting Championship than anyone in the twenty year history of the organization. From an unknown prospect in 2013 to the first man to hold two world titles simultaneously, McGregor's knockout-filled march through the featherweight and then lightweight rankings sent shockwaves through the world. But as effortless as McGregor's heroics have seemed, his journey was far from smooth and his destiny anything but certain. Just another teenager trading martial arts techniques with his friends in a shed, the seemingly delusional boy packed in his plumbing gig - to the massive anxiety of his parents - to chase a pipe dream with little promise of reward. No one could have guessed he would go on to become the biggest pay-per-view attraction in the world. As a technician and tactician inside the cage, McGregor was something special. Outside of the cage McGregor could draw thousands of screaming fans to press events with his wit and presence. And away from the cameras, McGregor's life was built around a love of treating his friends and a loyalty to his teammates and his hometown. This is not another tale about an athlete who was born exceptional and groomed for success. It is about how one young man, through bloody-minded determination and indomitable spirit, came to change the whole game. Fully updated to put his mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather under the microscope, Notorious: The Life and Fights of Conor McGregor explores not just how the fight game changed Conor McGregor, but how Conor McGregor revolutionized the fight game.

As soon as heavyweight boxer Joe Louis became a public figure in the 1930s, journalists and other social commentators began speculating about the significance of an African American man garnering popularity in a racially segregated society. Both during his lifetime and afterward, Louis noteriety extended beyond the world of sports to American popular culture. Many falsely heralded the boxer 's popularity as a sign that American racism was in sharp decline, Louis heroic status, however, did not fully reflect the complicated racial dynamics either within the sports world or in America, in general.

In Joe Louis: Sports and Race in the Twentieth Century, Marcy Sacks gives an account of the life of a man famous both for his sports career and for his race. With excerpts from newspaper clippings, radio broadcasts, poetry, and interviews, Sacks contextualizes Louis life and the legacy he left behind.

At five out of the last six Olympic Games team GBR has been the top nation in sailing, a result of strong leadership from the Royal Yachting Association and very talented sailors and coaches. But Barry Pickthall, formerly the Yachting Correspondent of The Times observes: "If one man deserves recognition for Britain's remarkable success within the sailing Olympic arena, it is Jim Saltonstall - the coach who has cajoled, encouraged and inspired so many youngsters towards world stardom over the past 3 decades." This is the story of Jim Saltonstall and his contribution to the success of British sailing. It starts in his home county of Yorkshire and the seaside town of Bridlington where he learnt to sail. It goes through his experiences in the Royal Navy, which he joined aged 15, with tours all around the world but, particularly, sailing with the Royal Navy team and becoming the Royal Navy Sailing Coach. This led to his appointment as the first RYA National Yacht Racing Coach, the development of the GBR Race Training Scheme and, in due course, great success at youth, world and Olympic levels. The 24 Olympic medals won by the 14 sailors who give glowing praise to Jim in the Foreword confirms his contribution to this success. Jim retired from his Team GBR role in 2000, after the Sydney Olympics, but it is a testimony to him that two of the gold medallists from Tokyo 2020 (which took place in 2021 - in elite sports a lifetime since Jim retired) credit him in their success, saying he was 'a huge inspiration' and 'couldn't help be motivated' by him. The story is told as modestly as a Yorkshireman can, and is interspaced with tales of cars, car journeys and one or two parties! Jim also takes time out of the story to give his thoughts on all aspects of youth training, competing internationally and coaching. Anyone involved in race training will benefit from the wisdom he provides in these pieces.

In all of baseball, one record shines as perhaps the most coveted: four home runs by one player in a single game. If the pinnacle of pitching is the perfect game, then the highpoint of hitting is four home runs, and only eighteen players in the history of the sport can boast this accomplishment. In The Four Home Runs Club: Sluggers Who Achieved Baseball's Rarest Feat, Steven K. Wagner profiles the select group of men who have accomplished the near impossible. Drawing on interviews with dozens of current and former major-league ballplayers, Wagner chronicles the lives of these few who, in the space of a few hours, left an indelible mark on the game. In doing so, the author draws attention to the unique features that distinguished some of these events: one player homered in three consecutive innings; another did it twice in the same inning; a third hit two inside-the-park home runs; one added a double and a single in the same game; and a fifth player drove in a record-tying twelve runs. Among the men in this elite club are legends Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, and Mike Schmidt, as well as recent "inductees" Shawn Green, Scooter Gennett, and J. D. Martinez. From the sandlots of Coushatta, Louisiana, to the suburbs of New York City, this book examines the special batsmen who parlayed four mighty swings into baseball immortality. A fascinating look into this extraordinary exploit, The Four Home Runs Club will appeal to baseball fans everywhere.

Are there heroes anymore? What role, if any, does faith play in the life of high-paid, famous athletes? Through the words of a wide range of popular athletes, Champions of Faith reveals that heroes still exist and that for many of those who take their role-model status seriously, faith plays a major part in their success and their witness. Over a period of two years, author Tom O'Toole, a devout Catholic and seasoned journalist, interviewed Catholic sports heroes such as Sammy Sosa, Lou Holtz, Mike Ditka, Dave Wannstedt, Suzie McConnell-Serio, Lenny Wilkens, "Rudy" Ruettiger, Alberto Salazar, Bobby Allison, Danny Abramowicz, Tara Lipinski, Ray Meyers, Fr. John Smyth, and Cammi Granto.

Charlie Gehringer was the best second baseman of his era. He is regarded by many as the best two-strike hitter of all time and his seemingly effortless fielding ability earned him the nickname of "The Mechanical Man." Sports writers groused that he was too quiet to be a star. Charlie replied that he didn't hit with his mouth. This work follows Gehringer's career from the day a scout spotted him on the sandlots of Michigan in 1923 to his induction into the Hall of Fame in 1949 and into his life after baseball.