The 1936 Yankees, the 1963 Dodgers, the 1975 Reds, the 2010 Giants—why do some baseball teams win while others don’t?General managers and fans alike have pondered this most important of baseball questions. The Moneyball strategy is not the first example of how new ideas and innovative management have transformed the way teams are assembled. In Pursuit of Pennants examines and analyzes a number of compelling, winning baseball teams over the past hundred-plus years,...

In late 1913 the newly formed Federal League declared itself a major league in competition with the established National and American Leagues. Backed by some of America’s wealthiest merchants and industrialists, the new organization posed a real challenge to baseball’s prevailing structure. For the next two years the well-established leagues fought back furiously in the press, in the courts, and on the field. The story of this fascinating and complex historical battle centers on the machin...

An essential experience of being a baseball fan is the hopeful anticipation of seeing the hometown nine make a run at winning the World Series. In Paths to Glory, Mark L. Armour and Daniel R. Levitt review how teams build themselves up into winners. What makes a winning team like the 1900 Brooklyn Superbas or the 1917 White Sox or the 1997 Florida Marlins? And how are these teams different? What makes each championship team a unique product of its time? Armour and Levitt provide the hi...

In the spirit of Moneyball, the voice of the Toronto Blue Jays offers cutting insights on baseballBuck Martinez has been in and around professional baseball for nearly fifty years as a player, manager and broadcaster. Currently the play-by-play announcer for the Toronto Blue Jays, Martinez has witnessed enormous change in the game he loves, as it has morphed from a grassroots pastime to big business. Not all of the change has been for the better, and today...

The Rivals marks the first joint project from the top sports writers of New York Times and the Boston Globe--and what better subject than the two baseball teams whose crossed fortunes obsess and define each city.**A Struggle for the Ages. . .BOSTON GLOBE JANUARY 6, 1920RED SOX SELL RUTH FOR $100,000 CASH--------Demon Slugger of American League, Who Made 29 Home Runs Last Season, Goes to New York Yankees--------...

BLOOPER: BALL SQUIRTS THROUGH BILLY BUCKNER'S LEGS.BLUNDER: BILLY BUCKNER'S MANAGER LEFT HIM IN THE GAME.Baseball bloopers are fun; they're funny, even. A pitcher slips on the mound and his pitch sails over the backstop. An infielder camps under a pop-up...and the ball lands ten feet away. An outfielder tosses a souvenir to a fan...but that was just the second out, and runners are circling the bases (and laughing). Without these moments, the highlight reels wouldn't...

“A delight for baseball lovers” (Kirkus Reviews) and “one of the most significant baseball books of the year” (Bob Costas) Ahead of the Curve uses stories from baseball’s present and past to examine why we sometimes choose ignorance over information, and how tradition can trump logic.Forget batting average. Kill the “Win.” Say goodbye to starting pitchers. And please, please stop bunting. MLB Network anchor and commentator Brian Kenny provides “an...

Arguing about the merits of players is the baseball fan's second favorite pastime and every year the Hall of Fame elections spark heated controversy. In a book that's sure to thrill--and infuriate--countless fans, Bill James takes a hard look at the Hall, probing its history, its politics and, most of all, its decisions.

The fascinating sports history of defunct teams in baseball, hockey, basketball and more!THEY’RE GOING, GOING, GONE. . . .Their names roll off the tongue, a litany of the damned: the Providence Steam Roller, the Wilmington Quicksteps, the Cincinnati Porkers. They are the lost squads of professional sports history—teams forsaken by fans, fleeced by owners, or forgotten by time. Until now.Kiss ’Em Goodbye unearths the real stories of ...

On the field, legends like Don Hutson, Ray Nitschke, and Brett Favre made the Green Bay Packers into a professional football powerhouse. But the history of the NFL’s only small-town franchise is as much a story of business creativity as gridiron supremacy. Behind every Packer who became a legend on the field, there was an Andrew Turnbull, Dominic Olejniczak, or Bob Harlan, leaders whose dedication and creativity in preserving the franchise were unwavering.Green Bay Packers: Tri...

The Chicago Cubs are NOT cursed! A barnyard animal has nothing to do with the team’s continued futility. There are rational and logical reasons why the Cubs have the longest championship drought of any professional sports franchise. Beyond Bartman, Curses, & Goats will take you through 104 of them…to match the 104 years it has been since the last Cubs’ World Series title in 1908. For example: • Many Cubs’ near misses such as the entire decade of the 1930s, 1945, 1969, 1984, and yes…2003. (...

Explore the life and times of one of the most storied franchises in baseball—it's the next best thing to a seat at Wrigley Field on a summer afternoon.Pairing historical black-and-white images with contemporary photos of the modern game, Chicago Cubs Yesterday & Today celebrates more than 130 years of ups and downs in the history of the team and its legions of rabid fans. The book examines the ballparks, the teams, the players, and the colorful characters t...