What do Hall of Fame baseball managers like Connie Mack and John McGraw have in common with today's business leaders? Why are baseball managers like Joe Torre and Dusty Baker better role models for business, government, and non–profit management than respected corporate giants like Jack Welch and Bill Gates? And just what does Peter Drucker have to do with Oriole ex–manager Earl Weaver?Management consultant, baseball writer, and columnist for InformationWeek, Computerworld, and Inf...

The last lecture on leadership by the NFL's greatest coach will inspire, inform, and enlighten leaders in all professions.Bill Walsh was a towering figure in the history of the NFL. His advanced leadership transformed the San Francisco 49ers from the worst franchise in sports to a legendary dynasty. In the process, he changed the way football is played.Walsh taught that the requirements of successful leadership are the same whether you run an NFL franchise,...

This straight-from-the-hip handbook by bestselling author and self-made millionaire Harvey Mackay spells out the path to success for readers everywhere. They will learn how to:Outsell by getting appointments with people who absolutely, positively do not want to see you, and then making them glad they said "yes!"Outmanage by arming yourself with information on prospects, customers, and competitors that the CIA would envy - using a system called the "Mackay 66."...

Predictably Irrational meets Moneyball in ESPN veteran writer and statistical analyst Keith Law’s iconoclastic look at the numbers game of baseball, proving why some of the most trusted stats are surprisingly wrong, explaining what numbers actually work, and exploring what the rise of Big Data means for the future of the sport.For decades, statistics such as batting average, saves recorded, and pitching won-lost records have been used to measure individual players’ and teams’ poten...

No matter what the vocation or endeavor, it is the people who go beyond what is expected of them who ultimately achieve the loftiest goals.The standards for excellence sit on a much higher plane than the benchmarks for competency, and everyone makes a choice, either consciously or by default, the path they will travel. Now if you decide you are willing to pay the price for greatness, no matter what the field, it will require a vigilant effort to make sure your daily deeds align with your s...

In 1996, a brassy young team of fansproduced a guide to baseball statistics.Printed on a photocopier, its distribution,which was in the low hundreds, was limited tofriends, family, and die-hard stat heads. Sixteenyears later, the Baseball Prospectus annualregularly hits best-seller lists and has becomean indispensable guide for the serious fan.In Extra Innings, the team at Baseball Prospectusintegrates statistics, interviews, and analysis todeliver twenty arguments about t...

Richard Peddie has learned many leadership lessons over a long and successful business career as president of Hostess Foods, Pillsbury Canada, SkyDome, NetStar Communications, the Toronto Raptors, and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE). Here, he shares the twenty-one most important lessons he learned—and sometimes relearned—along the way. 21 Leadership Lessons contains a lifetime of business wisdom, serving as a mentor-in-a-book for the next generation of b...

Lost two Cy Young winners in two years, signed a forty-seven-year-old to be his starting first baseman, played seventeen rookies in 2005, and still took his team to the playoffs: baseball is John Schuerholz's world, and everyone else is just playing in it.In Built to Win, the legendary general manager takes you behind the scenes of the Braves' front office—the most successful in baseball since 1990—and shows how his unique philosophies and leadership techn...

Game Plan is the ultimate book for the thinking football fan.The book tackles the issue of decision making and strategy in the NFL from the viewpoint of a true contrarian. No NFL tradition is sacred in this look at why so many NFL teams have such a difficult time making good decisions. More importantly, Game Plan offers a radical solution that can make almost any team better.Along the way Game Plan makes a number of compelling comparisons between football and other domains....

This is Your Brain on Sports is the book for sports fans searching for a deeper understanding of the games they watch and the people who play them. Sports Illustrated executive editor and bestselling author L. Jon Wertheim teams up with Tufts psychologist Sam Sommers to take readers on a wild ride into the inner world of sports. Through the prism of behavioral economics, neuroscience, and psychology, they reveal the hidden influences and surprising cues that insp...

Larry McKenzie, the only coach to win four back-to-back state titles in the 100 year history of the Minnesota State Boys Basketball tournament is sharing his success strategies for winning on the court and in life. Much More than just a Game is a must read for young athletes and their parents navigating the game. Incorporating 10 life lessons, Coach McKenzie shows why BASKETBALL is merely a metaphor and a tool that can be used to transform lives.

The first book to chronicle the life and ideas of “the serious baseball fan’s high priest” (New York Times), the impact of his brilliant and entertaining writings, and how someone who never pitched a ball, held a bat, or managed a team fundamentally changed the way baseball is interpreted, analyzed, and even played.Bill James has been called “baseball’s shrewdest analyst” (Slate) and “part of baseball legend” (The New Yorker), and his Baseball Abstrac...