Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders

Author: Rob Neyer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416592148
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Book Description
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 be nearly as entertaining. Baseball blunders, however, can be tragic, and they will leave diehard fans asking why...why...why? Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders does its best to answer all those whys, exploring the worst decisions and stupidest moments of managers, general managers, owners, and even commissioners. As he did in his Big Book of Baseball Lineups, Rob Neyer provides readers with a fascinating examination of baseball's rich history, this time through the lens of the game's sometimes hilarious, often depressing, and always perplexing blunders. · Which ill-fated move cost the Chicago White Sox a great hitter and the 1919 World Series? · What was Babe Ruth thinking when he became the first (and still the only) player to end a World Series by getting caught trying to steal? · Did playing one-armed Pete Gray in 1945 cost the Browns a pennant? · How did winning a coin toss lead to the Dodgers losing the National League pennant on Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'round the World"? · How damaging was the Frank Robinson-for-Milt Pappas deal, really? · Which of Red Sox manager Don Zimmer's mistakes in 1978 was the worst? · Which Yankees trade was even worse than swapping Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps? · What non-move cost Buck Showalter a job and gave Joe Torre the opportunity of a lifetime? · Game 7, 2003 ALCS: Pedro winds up to throw his 123rd pitch...what were you thinking? These are just a few of the legendary (and not-so-legendary) blunders that Neyer analyzes, always with an eye on what happened, why it happened, and how it changed the fickle course of history. And in separate chapters, Neyer also reviews some of the game's worst trades and draft picks and closely examines all the teams that fell just short of first place. Another in the series of Neyer's Big Books of baseball history, Baseball Blunders should win a place in every devoted fan's library.

Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Lineups

Author: Rob Neyer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743241746
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 356

Book Description
Presents a series of lineups from each baseball franchise and explores the careers of baseball players both famous and obscure.

Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Legends

Author: Rob Neyer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416564918
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 825

Book Description
The latest and greatest in ESPN.com baseball guru Rob Neyer's Big Book series, Legends is a highly entertaining guide to baseball fables that have been handed down through generations. The well-told baseball story has long been a staple for baseball fans. In Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Legends, Neyer breathes new life into both classic and obscure stories throughout twentieth-century baseball -- stories that, while engaging on their own, also tell us fascinating things about their main characters and about the sport's incredibly rich history. With his signature style, Rob gets to the heart of every anecdote, working through the particulars with careful research drawn from a variety of primary sources. For each story, he asks: Did this really happen? Did it happen, sort of? Or was the story simply the wild invention of someone's imagination? Among the scores of legends Neyer questions and investigates... Did an errant Bob Feller pitch really destroy the career of a National League All-Star? Did Greg Maddux mean to give up a long blast to Jeff Bagwell? Was Fred Lynn the clutch player he thinks he was? Did Tommy Lasorda have a direct line to God? Did Negro Leaguer Gene Benson really knock Indians second baseman Johnny Berardino out of baseball and into General Hospital? Did Billy Martin really outplay Jackie Robinson every time they met? Oh, and what about Babe Ruth's "Called Shot"? Rob checks each story, separates the truths from the myths, and places their fascinating characters into the larger historical context. Filled with insider lore and Neyer's sharp wit and insights, this is an exciting addition to a superb series and an essential read for true fans of our national pastime.

501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read Before They Die

Author: Ron Kaplan
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496209885
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 567

Book Description
Propounding his "small ball theory" of sports literature, George Plimpton proposed that "the smaller the ball, the more formidable the literature." Of course he had the relatively small baseball in mind, because its literature is formidable--vast and varied, instructive, often wildly entertaining, and occasionally brilliant. From this bewildering array of baseball books, Ron Kaplan has chosen 501 of the best, making it easier for fans to find just the books to suit them (or to know what they're missing). From biography, history, fiction, and instruction to books about ballparks, business, and rules, anyone who loves to read about baseball will find in this book a companionable guide, far more fun than a reference work has any right to be.

The Immaculate Inning

Author: Joe Cox
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1493032135
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Book Description
The Immaculate Inning shines a light on the miracle of baseball’s endless possibility—the way that on any given day, someone (maybe a star, or maybe a scrub) could perform the rarest of single-game feats or cap off a seemingly unobtainable chase for a record. Covering a selection of the most unusual, significant, and rare feats in baseball history, both in the context of single-day (and sometimes even single-play) events and those that require a longer streak or a full season’s excellence to reach or complete, the book clearly defines how each task is amassed, provides historical background, and tells riveting stories of the ballplayers that did the unthinkable.

Bring In the Right-Hander!

Author: Jerry Reuss
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 080325508X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 312

Book Description
One of only twenty-nine Major Leaguers to play in four different decades, Jerry Reuss pitched for eight teams, including the Pittsburgh Pirates twice. So when Reuss tells his story, he covers about as much of baseball life as any player can. Bring In the Right-Hander! puts us on the mound for the winning pitch in Game Five of the 1981 World Series, then takes us back to the schoolyards and ball fields of Overland, Missouri, where Reuss first dreamed of that scene. His baseball odyssey, dedicated to the mantra “work hard and play harder,” began in 1969 with his hometown team, the St. Louis Cardinals (who traded him three years later for mustache-related reasons). Reuss carries us through his winning seasons with the Dodgers, taking in a no-hitter and that World Series triumph, and introducing us to some of baseball’s most colorful characters. Along the way, as the grizzled veteran faces injuries, releases, and trips to the Minors, then battling his way back into the Majors to finish his career with the Pirates, we get a glimpse of the real grit behind big league life, on and off the field.

Baseball FAQ

Author: Tom DeMichael
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 161713659X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 342

Book Description
Was Abner Doubleday the architect of baseball? What exactly did it mean to be a “professional” baseball player in the 1870s? What goes on in the front office? What exactly is the Eephus pitch? What are “the tools of ignorance”? Readers will find the answers to these questions – and many others – in the pages of this remarkable baseball reference that's essential reading for fans of the game. Part history book, part instructional guide, and part reference manual, Baseball FAQ covers all the bases – from the rules of the game to the ballparks of yesterday and today, from the minors to the major league, from the stats to the food. This engaging, compulsively readable tome offers baseball fans of all ages a wealth of fun facts and anecdotes on America's favorite pastime, including sections on the All-American Girls Professional Ball League, the Negro Leagues, the basic skills of baseball, baseball in the movies, the scandals, and the Hall of Famers.

Baseball State by State

Author: Chris Jensen
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786491280
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Book Description
Offering a fresh approach to the familiar concept of all-time baseball teams, this exhaustive work ranks more than 2,500 players by state of birth and includes both major league and Negro League athletes. Each chapter covers one state and opens with the all-time team, naming a top selection for each position followed by honorable mentions. Also included are all-time stat leaders in nine categories--games, hits, average, RBI, home runs, stolen bases, pitching wins, strikeouts and saves--a brief overview of the state's baseball history, notable player achievements, historic baseball places to see, potential future stars, a comprehensive list of player nicknames, and the state's all-time best player.

Pudge

Author: Doug Wilson
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1250065437
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 367

Book Description
The first biography of the Hall of Fame catcher, whose famous home run in the 1975 World Series has been called one of the greatest moment in the history of televised sports

Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee

Author: Allen Barra
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393254569
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 644

Book Description
“Allen Barra brings a legendary figure from the true golden age of baseball to life.”—Bob Costas Yogi Berra is one of the most popular former athletes in American history, and the most quoted American since Abraham Lincoln. Part clown, part feisty competitor, Berra is also the winningest player (fourteen pennants, ten World Series, 3 MVPs) in baseball history. In this revelatory biography, Allen Barra presents Yogi’s remarkable life as never seen before with nearly one hundred photos and countless “Yogi-isms,” and offers hilarious insights into many of baseball’s greatest moments. From calling Don Larsen’s perfect game, to managing the 1973 “You Gotta Believe” New York Mets, Yogi’s life and career are a virtual cutaway view of our national pastime in the twentieth century.