Showing titles in Baseball & Softball

From 1991 through 2005, the Atlanta Braves did something no pro sports team can match, finishing in first place for 14 consecutive seasons. During that stretch, the Braves parlayed powerful pitching with potent hitting that produced under pressure. Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox won with veteran teams, young teams, slugging teams, and several times with teams that emphasized speed and defense. His teams captured 100 wins in six different seasons.

John Miley has compiled the most comprehensive audio account of baseball history in existence—a vast and wildly entertaining assemblage of game tapes from throughout the sport's history. His archive contains classic moments, like Bill Mazeroski's homer and the Shot Heard 'Round the World, and amazing feats, like Carl Hubbell striking out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin—in order—in the 1934 All-Star Game.

Bobby Richardson played alongside Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Whitey Ford, Moose Skowron, and Yogi Berra during one of the greatest dynasties in baseball history, and he remains to this day the only player from a losing team ever to be named World Series MVP. Impact Player chronicles Bobby’s life story - from his early days playing American Legion ball in South Carolina through his storied career with the Yankee’s and his decision to walk away from the game in his prime.

Troy Soos' sparkling Mickey Rawlings Baseball mysteries pack early 1900's baseball lore and colorful period details into baffling whodunits. Hunting a Detroit Tiger vividly brings to life the turbulent post-World War I days when the nation partied with bootleg liquor and labor unrest swept the nation with violence.

Honus Wagner, whose career in baseball (most of it with the Pittsburgh Pirates) stretched from 1895 to 1917, was the first American sports superstar of the twentieth century. One of the first five players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in its first year (1939), he was probably the best shortstop in baseball's history.

Stories from the National Public Radio archives honor America's national pastime. Stories so compelling you'll stay in your car to hear them through - even if you're sitting in your own driveway. Peabody-winning Talk of the Nation host Neal Conan presents tales about the big leagues and the little, the fans in the stands, the players, the history, and the lore.

Satchel Paige was 42 years old when he became the first Black pitcher in the American League in 1948. Although the oldest rookie around, he was already a legend. For 22 years, beginning in 1926, Paige dazzled throngs with his performance in the Negro Baseball Leagues. Then he outlasted everyone by playing professional baseball, in and out of the majors, until 1965.

This is a book about baseball, our national pastime. The centerpiece is a team that hasn't won the championship for more than eighty years. The Boston Red Sox, however, are only part of the story.

They Bled Blue is the rollicking yarn of the Los Angeles Dodgers' crazy 1981 season, a watershed campaign that cemented the team's place and reputation as fitting thoroughly within the surrounding LA culture. That it culminated in an unlikely World Series win - during a split season demarcated by a strike, no less - is not even the most interesting thing about this team.

With a legendary career and world-record achievements - some of which are still standing today - Babe Ruth is regarded as one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture. From an unassuming childhood and teen years full of delinquency, nobody could have expected that Babe Ruth would rise to become one of the most famous baseball players of all time. Delving into his professional career, his most pivotal moments, and the plays which defined his legacy, this biography offers an enlightening look at the life and career of this legendary sportsman.

Crack of the Bat takes listeners from the 1920s to the present, examining the role of baseball in the development of the radio industry and the complex coevolution of their relationship. Despite cable television’s ubiquity, live video streaming, and social media, radio remains an important medium through which fans engage with their teams.

Eddie Robinson's career lasted 65 years and spanned the era before and during World War II, integration, the organization of the players union, expansion, use of artificial turf, free agency, labor stoppages, and even the steroid era. He was a Minor League player, a Major League player, a coach, a farm director, a general manager, a scout, and a consultant.

In The Old Ball Game, Frank Deford, NPR sports commentator and Sports Illustrated journalist retells the story of an unusual friendship between two towering figures in baseball history.

In the best-selling tradition of The Boys of Summer and Wait ‘Til Next Year, The Last Good Season is the poignant and dramatic story of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ last pennant and the forces that led to their heartbreaking departure to Los Angeles. The 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers were one of baseball’s most storied teams, featuring such immortals as Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, and Roy Campanella. The love between team and borough was equally storied, an iron bond of loyalty forged through years of adversity and sometimes legendary ineptitude.

> The Glass Castle meets Ball Four as Mets knuckleballer R. A. Dickey weaves searing honesty and baseball insight in this memoir about his unlikely journey to the big leagues. An English Lit major at the University of Tennessee, Dickey is as articulate and thoughtful as any professional athlete in any sport - and proves it page after page, as he provides fresh and honest insight into baseball and a career unlike any other.

Buck O'Neil once described him as "Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Tris Speaker rolled into one". Among experts, he is regarded as the best player in Negro Leagues history. During his prime, he became a legend in Cuba and one of Black America's most popular figures. Yet even among serious sports fans, Oscar Charleston is virtually unknown today.

In One Tough Out: Fighting Off Life's Curveballs, Carew reflects on the highlights, anecdotes, and friendships from his outstanding career, describing the abuse, poverty, and racism he overcame to even reach the majors. In conversational, confessional prose, he takes listeners through the challenges he's conquered in the second half of his life, from burying his youngest daughter to surviving several near-fatal bouts with heart disease.

Encompassing a selection of some one hundred columns and featured stories written over fifty-plus years, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ira Berkow share stories on some of the greatest baseball players to ever grace the diamond. But rather than snippets and information known to anyone following the game, Berkow shares insights on these men: men dealing with tragedy, struggle, highs and lows—showing that while they we at the top of the game, at the end of the day they are mere mortals.

Listen to insightful interviews with 13 legendary baseball players as master interviewer Ann Liguori, an award-winning luminary in sports broadcasting, discusses achievement and life with baseball heroes. Ann asks baseball heroes about their careers, explores historic stats, finds out what motivates them, digs into the juicy controversies, their screw-ups and a host of other insightful issues that surround each of these record-setting baseball players.

Brian Wright and Paul Stewart (former Pro baseball players and current travel ball coaches) talk baseball, sports, and life.