Frank Slade could consider himself successful. At age thirty-seven, he is married to his high school sweetheart, the father of three children, and a dutiful employee at the Stag Brewery in his hometown of Ashville, Illinois. He served his country with honor in World War II. Even so, he does not feel satisfied. Success has failed to fill the emptiness within him. In high school, he was a baseball star known as one of the best players ever in Ashville. He carries that label into adulthood th...

For Randy Wilson, a junior at St. John's College in northern Indiana, life's challenges include dealing with his parents' tragic deaths. Meanwhile, as the school's star center fielder, his home-run hitting and defensive ability attract the interest of baseball scout Charlie Becker. Recommended by Becker for employment in a sporting goods store and a place on a men's team in southern Illinois, Randy has an opportunity to hone his athletic skills and mature as a person. In Ashville, he not o...

The 50th Anniversary edition of "the book that changed baseball" (NPR), chosen by Time magazine as one of the "100 Greatest Non-Fiction" books.When Ball Four was published in 1970, it created a firestorm. Bouton was called a Judas, a Benedict Arnold, and a "social leper" for having violated the "sanctity of the clubhouse." Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force Bouton to sign a statement saying the book wasn't true. Ballplayers, most of w...

"One of the best baseball books ever written. It is probably one of the best American diaries as well." — New York TimesA timeless classic from baseball's golden era, legendary pitcher Jim Brosnan's witty and candid chronicle of the 1959 Major League Baseball season, which set the standard for all sports memoirs to follow.The Long Season was a revelation when it was first published in 1960. Here is an insider's perspective...

The Denver Broncos coach and Super Bowl champion recalls his life and lessons learned from his father, NFL coach Bum Phillips, in this football memoir.Decorated National Football League coach Wade Phillips demonstrates in loving detail how much of his success, on and off the field, he owes to his father. A beloved character in NFL history, Bum taught Wade how to have perspective on the game during tough times—and that "coaching isn't bitching." Wade has since passed...

The players of the Original Six era reminisce about the moments and games that made them heroes to generations of Red Wings fans.Richard Kincaide brings to life what was at once the most glorious and the most tumultuous time in Detroit hockey history, the Original Six era. Red Wings stars interviewed for Legends of the Detroit Red Wings won thirty-five Stanley Cups between them. These are stories told by the biggest names in hockey both in Detroit and acro...

Funny, moving, and each one a diamond in the rough of the American consciousness, the essays in this book are the ultimate baseball conversation that pays homage to the perfect sport, in this perfect companion for all our personal baseball journeys.For some people baseball means a memory-of a certain dusty ball field on a certain summer day, or the first time they walked into a major league park and saw the perfect emerald playing field. For some, baseball means on...

A hard-hitting look at the Chicago Bears' legendary player and coach, composed of carefully curated archival Chicago Tribune columns and features.Mike Ditka was drafted by the Bears as a tight end in 1961 and went on to earn Rookie of the Year honors, multiple Pro Bowl selections, and a 1963 championship ring with Chicago during his playing career.Ditka retired in 1972 after stints with Philadelphia and Dallas (where he won Super Bowl VI), but he ret...

A behind-the-scenes tour of the ups and downs of an NFL season focuses on the Baltimore Ravens and reveals the lesser-known aspects of the professional league, from the dangerous conditions under which athletes are expected to train to the unrelenting pressures faced by coaches and players.In the NFL there is only one certainty: that every day, someone will have to be the Next Man Up. Football is an unrelentingly punishing sport, played and practiced at undiminishe...

I Love You a Thousand Ways is the story of one of the most loved, respected, and imitated singer/songwriters in the history of country music, a man whose songs touched the lives of millions of people. Lefty Frizzell’s relaxed style of singing proved to be a huge influence on a wide variety of country and pop music stars such as Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, George Jones, John Fogerty, George Strait, and Tim McGraw.In addition to his incredible vocal talents, L...

A heartfelt addition to McFarlane’s epic canon of hockey writingFrom its moving introductory homage to the late Jean Béliveau, to its subtle, remarkable considerations of how the sport was shaped by legends like Newsy Lalonde, Gordie Howe, Dick Irvin Sr., Ted Kennedy, and Hobey Baker, to its poignant lament for the untimely death of American hockey hero “Badger” Bob Johnson, Golden Oldies is the product of a lifetime love of hockey and a career in the game...

The Cubs have called Wrigley their home since 1916 and have treated their loyal followers with memories that have lasted for generations. From the legend of Babe Ruth's called shot to Kerry Wood's dominant twenty-strikeout performance, great games, notable names and a multitude of memorable moments have played out at Clark and Addison to create baseball's most recognizable relationship: the Cubs and Wrigley Field. The authors of Wrigley Field: 100 Stories for 100 Years return to celebrate ...