The Baseball 100
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Winner of the CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year "An instant sports classic." --New York Post * "Stellar." --The Wall Street Journal * "A true masterwork...880 pages of sheer baseball bliss." --BookPage (starred review) * "This is a remarkable achievement." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) A magnum opus from acclaimed baseball writer Joe Posnanski, The Baseball 100 is an audacious, singular, and masterly book that took a lifetime to write. The entire story of baseball rings through a countdown of the 100 greatest players in history, with a foreword by George Will. Longer than Moby-Dick and nearly as ambitious, The Baseball 100 is a one-of-a-kind work by award-winning sportswriter and lifelong student of the game Joe Posnanski. In the book's introduction, Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator George F. Will marvels, "Posnanski must already have lived more than two hundred years. How else could he have acquired such a stock of illuminating facts and entertaining stories about the rich history of this endlessly fascinating sport?" Baseball's legends come alive in these pages, which are not merely rankings but vibrant profiles of the game's all-time greats. Posnanski dives into the biographies of iconic Hall of Famers, unfairly forgotten All-Stars, talents of today, and more. He doesn't rely just on records and statistics--he lovingly retraces players' origins, illuminates their characters, and places their accomplishments in the context of baseball's past and present. Just how good a pitcher is Clayton Kershaw in the 21st-century game compared to Greg Maddux dueling with the juiced hitters of the nineties? How do the career and influence of Hank Aaron compare to Babe Ruth's? Which player in the top ten most deserves to be resurrected from history? No compendium of baseball's legendary geniuses could be complete without the players of the segregated Negro Leagues, men whose extraordinary careers were largely overlooked by sportswriters at the time and unjustly lost to history. Posnanski writes about the efforts of former Negro Leaguers to restore sidelined Black athletes to their due honor and draws upon the deep troves of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and extensive interviews with the likes of Buck O'Neil to illuminate the accomplishments of players such as pitchers Satchel Paige and Smokey Joe Williams; outfielders Oscar Charleston, Monte Irvin, and Cool Papa Bell; first baseman Buck Leonard; shortstop Pop Lloyd; catcher Josh Gibson; and many, many more. The Baseball 100 treats readers to the whole rich pageant of baseball history in a single volume. Engrossing, surprising, and heartfelt, it is a magisterial tribute to the game of baseball and the stars who have played it.
Bill Kroen's Golf Tip-A-Day 2026 Day-To-Day Calendar
Football, Power, and Politics in Argentina
This book examines the interplay between football, politics, violence, passion and morality in Argentina. Drawing on original ethnographic research, it considers the role of fans, club officials, politicians and others in the spread and perpetuation of corruption and violence within football and in wider Argentinian society.
The Third Period
** Foreword by Sean Pronger, Author of Journeyman and former NHL player ** "THIS IS REDEMPTION, SURVIVAL, AND PERSEVERANCE. WEST EFFORTLESSLY CREATES A PAGE-TURNING CRESCENDO, RELAYING A GRIPPING STORY OF TRIUMPH - BOTH IN HOCKEY AND IN LIFE."-Aaron Portzline, THE ATHLETIC From award-winning author and former Gannett/USA Today and Fox Sports Ohio journalist Steph West comes her hockey drama The Third Period.In this gritty novel, Mike Olsky is an aging hockey star on the cusp of retirement with one last shot to win the ultimate prize in pro sports. But on a fateful November night, he suffers a knee injury that sends his life into a tailspin. As he battles his way back from injury, his family, teammates, and fans stand helplessly on the sidelines watching the once beloved hero skid out of control. Will he be able to win big in the third period of his life? Or will his demons cost him everything-including his life? West spent five seasons covering the Columbus Blue Jackets and the National Hockey League. She is a lifelong sports fan who played sports, coached sports, and covered sports. She's also bled a few times on the ball fields after her brother's pitches missed her catcher's mitt. She believes there's nothing better than third period comebacks and die-hard fans who believe in miracles.
Baseball in the Roaring Twenties
In the mid-1920s America was in the throes of exuberant excess and clashing social change. It was the era of Prohibition and speakeasies; the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan; popular evangelists, including ex-ballplayer Billy Sunday; a fascination with dangerous stunts like pole-sitting and wing-walking; incredible personal feats and new personalities such as Charles Lindbergh, Gertrude Ederle, and Mae West; and the advancement of innovative forms of entertainment--jazz, motion pictures, the radio. It was the Golden Age of Sports. But it was also a decade of corruption amid the ominous signs of economic collapse. In 1926 baseball stars of an earlier era still played major roles in the game: Veteran pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander was the hero of the 1926 World Series; Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker faced explosive allegations of game-fixing; Babe Ruth's mysterious illness and dismal 1925 season convinced many observers that Ruth was finished--over the hill. Meanwhile, new stars like Tony Lazzeri and Lou Gehrig had arrived on the scene, and the Negro Leagues were at the height of their popularity and success with Rube Foster's Chicago American Giants winning the Colored World Series of 1926. One of America's most ardent fans cheered from the White House--not the taciturn president, Calvin Coolidge, but his vibrant and well-liked wife, Grace. Focusing on the Cardinals and Yankees and their dramatic seven-game battle in the 1926 World Series, Baseball in the Roaring Twenties tells the story of key players such as Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby, the Negro Leagues season, and how baseball and the inextricably linked aspects of American life--Prohibition, the Jazz Age, and the rise of sports gambling--converged that year.
Strength and Conditioning for Football
The game of football is one of the most popular in the world and is followed by millions of spectators on all continents. In recent years, football has undergone technical, tactical and physical evolution, whereby players are subjected to ever higher physical stimuli. To be properly prepared, strength and conditioning coaches must use the most advanced scientific evidence to help inform decision-making regarding conditioning their players.Strength and Conditioning for Football: From Science to Practice summarizes the current scientific evidence in the field for the sport. This evidence serves as a rationale for the decisions practitioners make with their football players to monitor and develop training programs that will help drive improvements in the relevant physical capacities for the game. This new book develops important arguments in football training with chapters examining such questions as (1) game model and training, (2) monitoring and testing, (3) recovery and match preparation and (4) youth and disability in football.This book offers critical information to readers aiming to succeed as strength and conditioning coaches in football, and it will be required reading for students and practitioners alike in the fields of football, strength and conditioning, coaching, physiotherapy and sport science.
Strength and Conditioning for Football
The game of football is one of the most popular in the world and is followed by millions of spectators on all continents. In recent years, football has undergone technical, tactical and physical evolution, whereby players are subjected to ever higher physical stimuli. To be properly prepared, strength and conditioning coaches must use the most advanced scientific evidence to help inform decision-making regarding conditioning their players.Strength and Conditioning for Football: From Science to Practice summarizes the current scientific evidence in the field for the sport. This evidence serves as a rationale for the decisions practitioners make with their football players to monitor and develop training programs that will help drive improvements in the relevant physical capacities for the game. This new book develops important arguments in football training with chapters examining such questions as (1) game model and training, (2) monitoring and testing, (3) recovery and match preparation and (4) youth and disability in football.This book offers critical information to readers aiming to succeed as strength and conditioning coaches in football, and it will be required reading for students and practitioners alike in the fields of football, strength and conditioning, coaching, physiotherapy and sport science.
Lost Lionesses
A captivating and moving account of the injustice faced by the first England women's World Cup team that was banned by the F.A and mocked by the media. Told by the team themselves and written by the celebrity daughter of the main striker. A captivating and moving account of the first England women's football team that took part in the 1971 World Cup - detailing the injustice faced by those who took part and its effect on the women's game as a whole. Told by the team themselves and written by the celebrity daughter of the main striker. "Don't laugh, one day there may be a female Arsenal", one headline read amidst the ridicule following the First Women's World Cup in 1971. The spotlight was on the original lionesses, a diverse group of schoolgirls, bank clerks, and switchboard operators, primarily hailing from Chiltern Valley football club, run by a 60-year-old, multilingual bus driver called Harry. These amateur girls emerged as England's first women's football team at the 1971 World Cup in Mexico, only to face scorn once returned home. They were mocked by the press and their achievements were undermined. Players were banned for three months to two years if they tried to play with another team. The heroes had been punished. But the time has come to tell their truth. Narrated by the daughter of one of the team members, Janice Barton, with unprecedented access to the secrets and insights of the first ever woman's team, this is a multi-generational story celebrating the power of a group of women who refused to accept the status quo - revealing how the events of 1971 shaped mother and daughter's lives both personally and professionally. 50 years later, Gail, her mother, and the rest of the team are ready to tell their story and share the legacy of the lost lionesses.
The Art of Batting
'a wonderful tale' - David 'Bumble' Lloyd 'one of cricket's most distinctive writers' - Andy ZaltzmanColourful cricket history meets expert analysis in this richly researched exploration of the art of batting. Most batters just do their best, yet the top players create art. It is physically impossible to face an 80mph delivery and track it with your eyes, yet the greatest batters do more than just watch the ball, they can see into the future. This book is about the batters who see what mortals don't. Javed Miandad purposefully makes errors to manipulate the field, Sachin Tendulkar dug up a pitch to take on Warne, Shivnarine Chanderpaul practised non-stop on a beach with tennis balls until he mastered technique and Joe Root's great play against spin is known to be a confluence of three random events. Others, such as Smith, Pietersen and Richards, carried on the work of a man 100 years before their time, and Ranji changed cricket with a bucket. Their methods and stories are different, but their currency is the same: runs. Through interviews with cricketing greats such as David 'Bumble' Lloyd, Nasser Hussain, Rahul Dravid and Brian Lara, this book shows you the science, skill and culture that made the 50 greatest batters of all time - and, ultimately, how they conquered leather with willow.