Download or read book Baseball s Last Great Scout written by Dan Austin and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2018-08-01 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Late in 1937 Hugh Alexander, a kid fresh out of small-town Oklahoma, had just finished his second year playing outfield for the Cleveland Indians when an oil rig accident ripped off his left hand. Within three months he was back with the Indians, but this time as a scout--the youngest ever in Major League history. In the next six decades he signed more players who made it to the Majors than any other scout. His story, Baseball's Last Great Scout, reads like a backroom, bleacher-seat history of twentieth-century baseball--and a primer on what it takes to find a winner. It gives a gritty picture of learning the business on the road, from American Legion field to try-out camp to beer joint, and making the fine distinctions between "performance" and "tools of the trade" when checking out prospects. Over the years Alexander worked for the Indians, the White Sox, the LA Dodgers, the Phillies, and the Cubs--and signed the likes of Allie Reynolds, Don Sutton, and Marty Bystrom. This book, based on extensive interviews and Alexander's journals, is filled with memorable characters, pithy lessons, snapshots of American life, and a big picture of America's pastime from one of its great off-the-field players.
Download or read book Fate s Take Out Slide written by George Genovese and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2017-11-07 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few would dispute the pitching greatness of Sandy Koufax--but was Paul Pettit better? Jim Baxes was once compared to the great Pie Traynor yet few baseball fans have ever heard of him. John Elway was undeniably one of the greatest quarterbacks in pro football history but could he have been an even better baseball player? For most fans greatness is measured in trophies and awards and confirmed by consistency over time. During his 70 years in baseball, renowned scout George Genovese witnessed some of the most talented players ever to play the game--some of them unknown to fans. He recalls the careers of unsung greats like Nestor Chavez, Matt Harrington and Derek Tatsuno, who never gained lasting fame despite unrivaled talent.
Download or read book A Scout s Report written by George Genovese and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-05-01 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many in baseball consider the scout to be the most important figure in any organization: It is the scout's work in the high school and college bleachers that unearths future legends. Few have achieved more--and in such grand style--than George Genovese. In a game that values numbers, Genovese's are staggering. No other scout has been responsible for more players in a single lineup, more home runs by players signed or more All-Star and World Series highlights than Genovese. Genovese's eye for talent is unmatched, his advocacy for the players he discovers is unrivaled, and the investment he makes toward their success is a difference maker. This autobiography is the story of his seven decades in baseball as a player, manager and scout.
Download or read book Eye for Talent written by P.J. Dragseth and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-11-21 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Baseball scouts are often unseen, seldom recognized, and usually underappreciated by fans, but they have contributed enormously to the development and evolution of baseball at all levels, from the players they signed to the changes in the business climate of the game. This book presents original interviews with 19 baseball scouts. In many cases, these veterans are a vanishing breed; among the most respected baseball men in the business, most have a minimum of forty years' experience in scouting. They share their experiences as players, their development as scouts while the business and the game continually evolved, the players they signed and the ones that got away. Along with each interview is a list of the scout's signed players who made it to the major leagues.
Download or read book Scout s Honor written by Bill Shanks and published by Sterling & Ross Publishers, Incorporated. This book was released on 2005 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A look at what it takes to build a major league ball club.
Download or read book Major League Baseball Scouts written by P.J. Dragseth and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2011-05-31 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The life of a major league baseball scout is far from glamorous. Away from his family for weeks on end, he travels to obscure parts of the world in all types of conditions in search of the next break-out star. Essential to a club's talent procurement, and thus to its ultimate success, scouts nevertheless remain relatively anonymous compared to players and owners. This work gives overdue attention to these vital participants in the American national pastime. Substantial biographical profiles of more than 300 veteran scouts--from the earliest who traveled in covered wagons to long-time experts still on the job--chronicle their playing histories, scouting accomplishments, the organizations for which they scouted, and the players they signed who made it to the major leagues. A very extensive bibliography and an index complete the work.
Download or read book Gib Bodet Major League Scout written by Gib Bodet and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-01-03 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gib Bodet's 70-year love affair with baseball dates from his childhood in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, and it has carried him through parts of six decades as a scout with the Red Sox, Tigers, Expos, Angels, Royals, and Dodgers. He played ball in high school and the military, coached youth and legion teams, and finally made the game his profession at age 38. In this memoir, Bodet recalls humorous stories about people he worked for and with--Peter O'Malley, Walter Shannon, Gene Autry, John Schuerholz, Al Campanis and long-time friend Tom Lasorda among them--and describes his role in drafting and signing such players as Mike Piazza, Eric Karros, Todd Hollandsworth, Paul Konerko, Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley.
Download or read book The Art of Scouting written by Art Stewart and published by Ascend Books Llc. This book was released on 2014-07 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The heart and soul of Kansas City's major league baseball franchise is a 5-foot 6 and impeccably dressed man you probably haven't heard of. You don't know the Royals history and successes until you know him. His name is Art Stewart and he helped bring Bo Jackson to the Royals on a hunch. He fell in love with baseball when he snuck into his attic and found his late father's baseball gloves, and his seven decades on the wild ride of major league baseball make him a living, breathing, storytelling personification of America's pastime. From George Brett to Frank White, Bret Saberhagen to Bo Jackson, Carlos Beltran to Eric Hosmer, the Royals' history is Art's history. Art just tells it better than anyone else.
Download or read book Prophet of the Sandlots written by Mark Winegardner and published by New York : Prentice Hall Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an account of the life of the late Tony Lucadello, the legendary scout who signed fifty future Major Leaguers including Mike Schmidt.
Download or read book Character Is Not a Statistic the Legacy and Wisdom of Baseball s Godfather Scout Bill Lajoie written by Bill Lajoie and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2010-01-21 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bill Lajoie just had it. When it came to drafting ballplayers and building a World Series club, few in baseball history can match his extraordinary success. The lessons of Lajoies illustrious career and the brilliance of his philosophy are put to print in Character is Not a Statistic. After a playing career that fell achingly short of the major leagues, Lajoie returned to Detroit to become a teacher in the mid-1960s. But his unyielding passion for baseball and desire to atone for a broken dream pulled him back to the game as a scout. From there, hed go on to build World Series Championships from scratch by finding players who possessed the very character he lacked as a young athlete. Starting as an area scout for the Cincinnati Reds in 1965, Lajoie later moved up the ladder with the Detroit Tigers and was the architect and general manager of their 1984 World Series crowning. Lajoie would then be instrumental as an assistant GM for two more franchises who dominated their decades with championships and titles; the 1990s Atlanta Braves and the 2000s Boston Red Sox. Perhaps no one alive has scouted more baseball over the last 50 years or has better stories to tell about finding the greats. Though the modern era has seen the depersonalization of scouting via statistics and radar gun readings, Lajoie was immensely successful through five decades by emphasizing what a player had inside him. His belief in a players humanity and character persists to this day. This book is not only a biography, but a collection of great baseball stories and a manual for the next generation of fans and scouts alike. Lajoie tackles such controversial issues as the Moneyball movement, the importance of a strong manager, scouting for makeup, making trades, preventing pitching injuries, running a farm system, and ranking both the best general managers and scouting directors of the modern era.
Download or read book Old Baseball Scout and His Players written by Joe E. Palmer and published by . This book was released on 1987-01-01 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Game Must Go On written by John Klima and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2015-05-05 with total page 431 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of American baseball during World War II, both the professional players who left to join the war effort including Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, and Hank Greenberg, and the struggle to keep the game going on the home front by players including Pete Gray, a one-armed outfielder who played with the Browns, overcame the odds and became a shining example of baseball on the home front. Klima shows how baseball helped America win the war, and how baseball was shaped into the game it is today.
Download or read book Five Plus Tools written by Dave Perkin and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-09-02 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Five-Plus Tools” is a scouting term that refers to a rare and elite type of amateur baseball prospect. A player with five-plus tools grades out well above average in all five skill areas, known as tools: hitting, power, running, throwing, and fielding. While most baseball fans critique players who are already on the professional level, a scout needs to find raw talent and figure out if they’re the “future.” In Five-Plus Tools, Dave Perkin, who was a professional scout and is currently the Major League Baseball Draft correspondent for Sports Illustrated, breaks down not only what all scouts are looking for, but also how amateur players are evaluated and recognized. Broken up into three sections, Perkin teaches the inner details of amateur scouting, using field reports on athletes he’s scouted over the years. Once the understanding of what a scout looks for is understood, Perkin delves into the current major leaguers and gives scouting insight on their game, skills, and influence on the sport. Finally, the hot-button issues in baseball are covered, including such points as Sabermetrics, baseball analysis, and an explanation of why few of yesterday’s heroes could succeed in modern baseball. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Download or read book Can He Play A Look at Baseball Scouts and their Profession written by Jim Sandoval and published by SABR, Inc.. This book was released on 2011-11 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They dig through tons of coal to find a single diamond. They spend countless hours traveling miles and miles on lonely back roads and way too much time in hotels. Their front offices expect them to constantly provide player reports and updates. So much of their time is spent away from family and friends, missing birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. Their best friend is Rand McNally. Always asking the question, "CAN HE PLAY?" Such is the life of a professional scout. CAN HE PLAY? collects the contributions of 26 members of the Society for American Baseball Research on the subject of scouts, including biographies and historical essays. The book touches on more than a century of scouts and scouting with a focus on the men (and the occasional woman) who have taken on the task of scouring the world for the best ballplayers available. In CAN HE PLAY? we meet the "King of Weeds," a Ph.D. we call "Baseball's Renaissance Man," a husband-and-wife team, pioneering Latin scouts, and a Japanese-American interned during World War II who became a successful scout--and many, many more. The legendary Tom Greenwade and the development of the New York Yankees scouting system, interviews with former players Johnny Pesky and Fernando Perez about being scouted, and much more.
Download or read book The Grind written by Barry Svrluga and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "What's it like to live through sports' longest season, the 162-game Major League Baseball schedule? THE GRIND captures the frustration, impermanence, and glory felt by the players, the staff, and their families from the start of spring training to the final game of the year; classy baseball writing in the Roger Angell or Tom Boswell tradition"--
Download or read book Super Scout written by Jim Russo and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Russo calls on his experience as a professional scout to give readers insight as to what it takes to get into a successful franchise, from being first spotted to progressing through the minors into the big league
Download or read book The Scout written by Red Murff and published by W Publishing Group. This book was released on 1996 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author, a major league scout for more than thirty years, describes his experiences and shares his views on what to look for in a baseball player
