"The Summer Game," Roger Angell's first book on the sport, changed baseball writing forever. Thoughtful, funny, appreciative of the elegance of the game and the passions invested by players and fans, it goes beyond the usual sports reporter's beat to examine baseball's complex place in our American psyche.

Between the miseries of the 1962 expansion Mets and a classic 1971 World Series between the Pirates and the Orioles, Angell finds baseball in the 1960s as a game in transition--marked by league expansion, uprooted franchises, the growing hegemony of television, the dominance of pitchers, uneasy relations between players and owners, and mounting competition from other sports for the fans' dollars.

Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Brooks Robinson, Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Carl Yastrzemski, Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, and Casey Stengel are seen here with fresh clarity and pleasure. Here is California baseball in full flower, the once-mighty Yankees in collapse, baseball in French (in Montreal), indoor baseball (at the Astrodome), and sweet spring baseball (in Florida)--as Angell observes, "Always, it seems, there is something more to be discovered about this game."

"Five Seasons" covers the baseball seasons from 1972 through 1976, described as the "most significant half decade in the history of the game." The era was notable for the remarkable individual feats of Hank Aaron, Lou Brock, and Nolan Ryan, among others. It also presented one of the best World Series of all time (1975), including still the greatest World Series game ever played (Game Six).

Along with visiting other games and campaigns, Roger Angell meets a trio of Tigers-obsessed fans, goes to a game with a departing old-style owner, watches high-school ball in Kentucky with a famous scout, and explores the sad and astounding mystery of Steve Blass's vanished control. Angell's "Five Seasons" is a gem and a gift for baseball lovers of all ages.

Widely known as an original and graceful writer, Roger Angell has developed a devoted following through his essays in the New Yorker. Now, in Let Me Finish, a deeply personal, fresh form of autobiography, he takes an unsentimental look at his early days as a boy growing up in Prohibition-era New York with a remarkable father; a mother, Katharine White, who was a founding editor of the New Yorker; and a famous stepfather, the writer E. B. White. Intimate, funny, and moving portraits form the book's centerpiece as Angell remembers his surprising relatives, his early attraction to baseball in the time of Ruth and Gehrig and DiMaggio, and his vivid colleagues during a long career as a New Yorker writer and editor. Infused with pleasure and sadness, Angell's disarming memoir also evokes an attachment to life's better moments.

Written by Roger Angell, America's esteemed poet laureate of baseball, to a roar of overwhelming acclaim, A PITCHER'S STORY is more than the account of a great player. Painted, as Angell always does, with a fine brush that vividly re-creates the world of ball and bat...from the faded pitcher graffiti on the walls of a bullpen...to the smooth ballet of the first unassisted triple play in forty-one years...to the triumphs and dark uncertainties of a complex star, this book is a profoundly moving voyage into the heart and mind of the quintessential pitcher of our time, David Cone—and a lyrical serenade to baseball and the game of life.

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THE OLDEST ROOKIE
by Jim Morris and Joel Engel
Jim Morris's dream of becoming a major-league ballplayer was his anchor and inspiration, and he had the talent to make it come true...until injuries and life got in the way. A decade after Jim walked away, he made a promise to the high-school team he coached: If they could win their local championship, he would try out again for the big leagues. They did—and he did. Now, in this wondrous, heart-tugging book, Jim Morris tells the amazing story of how a shy, lonely boy finally made it to the Big Show at the age of thirty-five.

"A story that's easy to love...vividly details what Morris was up against."
-New York Times Book Review

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Nine Principles to Live
by Orel Hershiser with Robert Wolgemuth
One of the most respected and successful major-league pitchers, Orel Hershiser had an approach to the game that put him in a class by himself. Now the retired Cy Young Award winner and MVP of division- and World Series-winning teams looks back on the people, the events, and the decisions that most affected his life, on the field and off. Revealing his innermost thoughts about the things that matter most, Orel shares his "nine principles to live by" in a book that's both an entertaining read and full of good things to inspire and encourage you.

"Orel Hershiser is one of the smartest players I ever managed....If you want great advice...you've come to the right place."
-from the foreword by Tommy Lasorda

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The Last American Male Takes up Golf
by Bill Geist
Country clubs that don't want you as a member...rules clearly in need of revision…and high-performance socks that promise to take two strokes off your score. Ah, golf! Has there ever been a sport that comes with so much baggage and heartbreak? Never fear—Emmy Award-winning commentator Bill Geist has taken up-and taken on-golf. In this candid and irreverent book, Geist intrepidly shares the misadventures, hilarity, and uproarious learning curve that has marked his own golfing experiences.

"Funny and entertaining...perfect for anyone who has swung-or thrown-a golf club."
-Chicago Tribune

Roger Angell has been writing about baseball for more than forty years . . . and for my money he's the best there is at it," says novelist Richard Ford in his introduction to Game Time. Angell's famous explorations of the summer game are built on acute observation and joyful participation, conveyed in a prose style as admired and envied as Ted Williams's swing. Angell on Fenway Park in September, on Bob Gibson brooding in retirement, on Tom Seaver in mid-windup, on the abysmal early and recent Mets, on a scout at work in backcountry Kentucky, on Pete Rose and Willie Mays and Pedro Martinez, on the astounding Barry Bonds at Pac Bell Park, and more, carry us through the arc of the season with refreshed understanding and pleasure. This collection represents Angell's best writings, from spring training in 1962 to the explosive World Series of 2002.

The most celebrated baseball writer of our time has selected his favorite pieces from the last forty years to create Once More Around the Park, a definitive volume of his most memorable work. Mr. Angell includes writing never previously collected as well as selections from The Summer Game, Five Seasons, Late Innings, and Season Ticket. He brings back the extraordinary games, innings and performances that he has witnessed and written about so astutely and gracefully-"The Interior Stadium," on the complex attractions of baseball; "In the Country," on a friendship that began with a fan letter and took him far from the big stadiums and big money; "The Arm Talks," on contemporary pitching strategy and the arrival of the split-finger delivery; and many others. Mr. Angell's conversations with past and present players and managers, scouts and coaches, rookies and Hall of Famers enhance his own expertise and critical appreciation, which define him as the game's most useful and ardent fan. "Angell resembles a pitcher with pinpoint control. As a chronicler of the game, he's in a class with Ring Lardner and Red Smith."-Newsweek. "Angell's perceptions are fresh, vivid, and uncannily accurate.... Only a fan who cares this much could observe so carefully and write so eloquently."-San Francisco Chronicle. "A triumph of art and grace."-Chicago Tribune Book World.