Albuquerque, New Mexico, is more than a refueling place for motorists on I-40. Professional baseball has been played here for more than 70 years, and fans have had the opportunity to see future Dodgers stars like Don Sutton, Ron Cey, Steve Garvey, Orel Hershiser, Eric Karros, and Mike Piazza hone their skills. Hall of Fame members Tom Lasorda and Duke Snider managed here; Darryl Strawberry, Eddie Murray, and Manny Ramirez have spent short stints �rehabbing� here; and big-league preseason g...

Rio Rancho's first residents arrived in the mid-1960s seeking what was advertised as 360 sunny days a year and affordable housing. Incorporated in 1981, Rio Rancho is the third-largest city in New Mexico and its fastest growing. It often pops up on those "Best Places to Live" stories and for good reason. The top-notch schools, safe neighborhoods, great climate, and being noted as an inexpensive place to start a family have turned Rio Rancho into a desirable place to live.

The Detroit Tigers, an umpire, a pitcher, and a mistake—one of the "classic, human, baseball stories" (Ken Burns, creator of the PBS mini-series Baseball).The perfect game is one of the rarest accomplishments in sports. In nearly four hundred thousand contests in over 130 years, it has happened only twenty times. On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga threw baseball's twenty-first. Except that's not how it entered the record books. That's because Jim Joyce, vo...

Examines the personal life and football career of the quarterback for the Denver Broncos.

Essential for armchair umpires and scorekeepers, this guide challenges aficionados on every significant part of the Official Baseball Rules.Few sports lovers are as obsessed with rules and statistics as baseball fans. In So You Think You Know Baseball?, lifelong baseball enthusiast Peter E. Meltzer catalogues every noteworthy baseball rule from the Major League rulebook and illustrates its application with actual plays, from the historical to the contemporary.You c...

Tracing the careers of four instrumental players who turned around the Yankees ball club, this book shares behind-the-scenes stories from their early days together in the minors through the 2013 season, and follows them on their majestic ride to the top of the baseball world. At a time when the New York Yankees were in free fall, having failed to win a World Series in 17 years and had not played in one in 14 years—the Bronx Bombers' longest drought since before the days of Babe Ruth—along ...

These are the tales of one-season wonders. The history of baseball is filled with forgotten names—players who are good enough to reach the top of the sport but who, for any number of reasons, land at the edges of the game. Some spend a week or two in the major leagues and then disappear back into the minors. Many leave the sport for good. Still, for an afternoon, a week, or a couple of months, these men stood on the field alongside the best players in The Show. Here are gripping stories of...

In modern baseball history, only one team not named the New York Yankees has ever won three consecutive World Series. That team was the Oakland Athletics, who captured major league baseball's crown each year from 1972 through 1974.Led by such superstars as future Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers, in the final years before free agency and the movement of players from one team to another forever changed the game, the Athletics were a largely homegrown ...

In depth analysis of all 30 teams with sections dedicated to: management, starting pitching, bullpens, lineups, bench, prospects and predictions of what will happen this upcoming season.Which managers might be fired and who might replace them?What players will be available via trade?Whose contract is expiring?Who will and won't make the playoffs?Who will win the World Series?And who will win the coveted post-season awards?Everything y...

From their origins as the Brooklyn Atlantics in 1884, through their departure from their beloved borough in 1957, to their record-breaking popularity in sunny Los Angeles, the Dodgers baseball team has been an unstoppable force in professional baseball for well over a century. The franchise has captured a record 21 National League titles, won six World Series championships, and produced dozens of Hall-of-Famers. The Dodgers revolutionized the sports landscape with the signing of Jackie Rob...

Open this book and explore the life and times of one of the most storied franchises in all of professional sports, the Chicago Cubs. Pairing historical black-and-white images with contemporary photographs of the modern game, Chicago Cubs Yesterday & Today celebrates more than a century 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 that have defined Cubs base...

The Philadelphia Phillies franchise has been providing thrills and chills for its faithful fanatics for more than 125 years---with the 2008 World Series victory providing the ultimate high for the team and its city. The Phillies have boasted great legends of the game, including sluggers like Chuck Klein, Richie Ashburn, Mike Schmidt, and Ryan Howard; beloved characters like Tug McGraw, Lenny Dykstra, and John Kruk; and stellar hurlers from Pete Alexander to Robin Roberts to Steve Carlton t...