Download or read book Winning Fixes Everything written by Evan Drellich and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2023-02-14 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The reporter who broke the Houston Astros' cheating scandal reveals how a baseball team could so dramatically descend into corruption, with never-before-told details of a broken management culture, the once-revered leaders who enabled it and the scandal itself. Baseball, that old romantic game, has been defaced and consumed by corporate America. As Moneyball-thinking and Ivy League graduates grabbed hold of the sport, the Astros set out to build a cost-efficient winning machine on the principles of the outside business world, squeezing every dollar out of every transaction, player and employee. In less than a decade, ex-Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow helped revolutionize the game. He created an environment that led to one of the worst cheating scandals in baseball history, a Shakespearean tragedy of innovation and failed change management. Through years of extensive interviews, former Houston Chronicle beat writer Evan Drellich, now a national writer for The Athletic, delivers the definitive account of baseball’s most controversial franchise and how a modern baseball team truly works—without the usual myth-spinning. Drellich reveals the rise and fall of the Astros to be a collision of subcultures. The team’s top boss was a former McKinsey consultant who lived on the bleeding edge with no guardrails. He hired outsider after outsider to change the organization as quickly and cheaply as possible. The wins piled up, and so did the cash for the billionaire owner with a checkered business past. But not even a World Series title could cover up the rot. All of it came at a cost to fans, employees, and the sport on a whole. But as Winning Fixes Everything makes clear, “The Astros Way” isn’t going anywhere. Drellich uses the saga of the Astros’ scandal to detail the evolution of baseball itself.
Download or read book Houston Astros written by Bill Brown and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Houston Astros: Deep in the Heart shares the stories of the plays and the players who have kept Houston returning to the diamond"from the sandlot days, through the birth of indoor baseball, to the state-of-the art experience at Minute Maid Park. By the time the Astros made it to the World Series, they had captured the heart of Houston. This richly illustrated volume chronicles every aspect of the long road they took to face the White Sox in 2005 and provides insights on the legends"Bob Aspromonte, Jose Cruz, Larry Dierker, Nolan Ryan, Joe Niekro, the Killer Bees, and many more. Packed with pictures never released to the public, each chapter increases fans' appreciation of this determined team. Memories and memorabilia from the team's playoff appearances from 1997 to 2001, their close call in 2004, and their triumphant march from tombstones to champagne in 2005 bring back the heyday, reminding readers how important it is to stay in the game.
Download or read book The Story of the Houston Astros written by Adele Richardson and published by The Creative Company. This book was released on 2007-07 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the history, players, and future of the Houston Astros baseball team.
Download or read book Cheated written by Andy Martino and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2022-03-29 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A baseball book that reads like a spy novel—a story about cheaters and the cheated that has the power to forever change how we feel about the game.” —Brian Williams, MSNBC anchor and host of The 11th Hour The definitive insider story of one of the biggest cheating scandals to ever rock Major League Baseball, bringing down high-profile coaches and players, and exposing a long-rumored "sign-stealing" dark side of baseball By the fall of 2019, most teams in Major League Baseball suspected that the Houston Astros, winners of the 2017 World Series, had been stealing signs for several years. Deconstructing exactly what happened in this explosive story, award-winning sports reporter and analyst Andy Martino reveals how otherwise good people like Astros manager A. J. Hinch, bench coach Alex Cora, and veteran leader Carlos Beltrán found themselves on the wrong side of clear ethical lines. Along the way, Martino explores the colorful history of cheating in baseball, from notorious episodes like the 1919 “Black Sox” fiasco all the way to the modern steroid era. But as Martino deftly shows, the Astros scandal became one of the most significant that the game has ever seen—its fallout ensnaring many other teams, as victims, alleged cheaters, or both. Like a riveting true sports whodunit, Cheated is an electrifying, behind-the-scenes look into the heart of a scandal that shocked the baseball world.
Download or read book Astroball written by Ben Reiter and published by Crown. This book was released on 2019-03-26 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The inside story of the Houston Astros, whose relentless innovation took them from the worst team in baseball to the World Series in 2017 and 2019 “Reiter’s superb narrative of how the team got there provides powerful insights into how organizations—not just baseball clubs—work best.”—The Wall Street Journal Astroball picks up where Michael Lewis’s acclaimed Moneyball leaves off, telling the thrilling story of a championship team that pushed both the sport and business of baseball to the next level. In 2014, the Astros were the worst baseball team in half a century, but just three years later they defied critics to win a stunning World Series. In this book, Ben Reiter shows how the Astros built a system that avoided the stats-versus-scouts divide by giving the human factor a key role in their decision-making. Sitting at the nexus of sports, business, and innovation, Astroball is the story of the next wave of thinking in baseball and beyond, at once a remarkable underdog tale and a fascinating look at the cutting edge of evaluating and optimizing human potential.
Download or read book History Earned written by KCI Sports Publishing and published by Kci Sports Publishing. This book was released on 2017-11 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History Earned! chronicles the Houston Astros incredible run to their first ever World Series championship. This dazzling hardcover keepsake includes highlights from the Astros 101-win regular season, special playerfeatures, game-by-game recaps of all the playoff games, and extended coverage of the World Series triumph over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Over 100 full-color photos included. The perfect holiday gift for Astros fans.
Download or read book Hurricane Season written by Joe Holley and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2018-05-01 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An inside look at the 2017 Houston Astros championship season, focusing on the epic seven-game World Series, the front office decisions that built a winning team, and the resilience of the city in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. On November 1, 2017, the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in an epic seven game battle to become 2017 World Series champs. For the Astros, the combination of a magnificently played series, a 101-victory season, and the devastation Hurricane Harvey brought to their city was so incredible it might give Hollywood screenwriters pause. The nation's fourth-largest city, still reeling in the wake of disaster, was smiling again. The Astros' first-ever World Series victory is a great baseball story, but it's also the story of a major American city -- a city (and a state) that the rest of the nation doesn't always love or understand--becoming a sentimental favorite because of its grace and good will in response to the largest natural disaster in American history. The Astros' miracle season is also the fascinating tale of a thoroughly modern team. Constructed by NASA-inspired analytics, the team's data-driven system took the game to a more sophisticated level than the so-called Moneyball approach. The team's new owner, Jim Crane, bought into the system and was willing to endure humiliating seasons in the baseball wilderness with the hope, shared by few initially, that success comes to those who wait. And he was right. But no data-crunching could take credit for a team of likeable, refreshingly good-natured young men who wore "Houston Strong" patches on their jerseys and meant it--guys like shortstop Carlos Correa, who kept a photo in his locker of a Houston woman trudging through fetid water up to her knees. The Astros foundation included George Springer, a powerful slugger and rangy outfielder; third-baseman Alex Bregman, whose defensive play and clutch hitting were crucial in the series; and, of course, the stubby and tenacious second baseman Jose Altuve, the heart and soul of the team. Hurricane Season is Houston Chronicle columnist Joe Holley's moving account of this extraordinary team--and the extraordinary circumstances of their championship.
Download or read book The MVP Machine written by Ben Lindbergh and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2019-06-04 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Move over, Moneyball -- this New York Times bestseller examines major league baseball's next cutting-edge revolution: the high-tech quest to build better players. As bestselling authors Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik reveal in The MVP Machine, the Moneyball era is over. Fifteen years after Michael Lewis brought the Oakland Athletics' groundbreaking team-building strategies to light, every front office takes a data-driven approach to evaluating players, and the league's smarter teams no longer have a huge advantage in valuing past performance. Lindbergh and Sawchik's behind-the-scenes reporting reveals: How undersized afterthoughts José Altuve and Mookie Betts became big sluggers and MVPs How polarizing pitcher Trevor Bauer made himself a Cy Young contender How new analytical tools have overturned traditional pitching and hitting techniques How a wave of young talent is making MLB both better than ever and arguably worse to watch Instead of out-drafting, out-signing, and out-trading their rivals, baseball's best minds have turned to out-developing opponents, gaining greater edges than ever by perfecting prospects and eking extra runs out of older athletes who were once written off. Lindbergh and Sawchik take us inside the transformation of former fringe hitters into home-run kings, show how washed-up pitchers have emerged as aces, and document how coaching and scouting are being turned upside down. The MVP Machine charts the future of a sport and offers a lesson that goes beyond baseball: Success stems not from focusing on finished products, but from making the most of untapped potential.
Download or read book The Story of the Houston Astros written by Sara Gilbert and published by Creative Paperbacks. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of the Houston Astros professional baseball team from its inaugural 1962 season to today, spotlighting the team's greatest players and most memorable moments.
Download or read book The Story of the Houston Astros written by Sara Gilbert and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although baseball has passionate fans in Canada, Japan, and many other countries, it will always be known as America’s pastime. In this updated version of the bestselling series, readers will learn the full history of each team, from the storied Boston Red Sox to the perennial powerhouse New York Yankees. Side panels and “All-Time Team” profiles enhance the historical narrative, spotlighting famous players and memorable moments, while spectacular photos capture all the hard-hitting, base-stealing action. The history of the Houston Astros professional baseball team from its inaugural 1962 season to today, spotlighting the team’s greatest players and most memorable moments.
Download or read book Jose Altuve Baseball Superstar written by Brian Sandalow and published by ABDO. This book was released on 2019-08-01 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jose Altuve: Baseball Superstar tells the story of a baseball underdog whose small stature didn't keep him from winning multiple batting titles, the American League MVP Award, and the World Series with the Houston Astros. Features include a timeline, a glossary, further readings, websites, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.
Download or read book A Six gun Salute written by Robert Reed and published by Taylor Trade Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This commemorative book pays tribute to a chapter of Houston's baseball history nearly swept away in the fanfare of the Astrodome.
Download or read book How Baseball Happened written by Thomas W. Gilbert and published by Godine+ORM. This book was released on 2020-09-15 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The untold story of baseball’s nineteenth-century origins: “a delightful look at a young nation creating a pastime that was love from the first crack of the bat” (Paul Dickson, The Wall Street Journal). You may have heard that Abner Doubleday or Alexander Cartwright invented baseball. Neither did. You may have been told that a club called the Knickerbockers played the first baseball game in 1846. They didn’t. Perhaps you’ve read that baseball’s color line was first crossed by Jackie Robinson in 1947. Nope. Baseball’s true founders don’t have plaques in Cooperstown. They were hundreds of uncredited, ordinary people who played without gloves, facemasks, or performance incentives. Unlike today’s pro athletes, they lived full lives outside of sports. They worked, built businesses, and fought against the South in the Civil War. In this myth-busting history, Thomas W. Gilbert reveals the true beginnings of baseball. Through newspaper accounts, diaries, and other accounts, he explains how it evolved through the mid-nineteenth century into a modern sport of championships, media coverage, and famous stars—all before the first professional league was formed in 1871. Winner of the Casey Award: Best Baseball Book of the Year
Download or read book My Dad Yogi written by Dale Berra and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A candid and nostalgic father-son memoir by Dale Berra, providing a unique perspective on his legendary Hall of Fame dad, the inimitable and highly quotable Yogi Berra. Everyone knows Yogi Berra. The American icon was the backbone of the New York Yankees through ten World Series Championships, managed the National League Champion New York Mets in 1973, and had an ingenious way with words that remains an indelible part of our lexicon. But no one knew him like his family did. My Dad, Yogi is Dale Berra's chronicle of his unshakeable bond with his father, as well as an intimate portrait of one of the great sports figures of the 20th Century. When Yogi wasn't playing or coaching, or otherwise in the public eye, he was home in the New Jersey suburbs, spending time with his beloved wife, Carmen, and his three boys, Larry, Tim, and Dale. Dale presents -- as only a son could -- his family's history, his parents' enduring relationship, and his dad's storied career. Throughout Dale's youth, he had a firsthand look at the Major Leagues, often by his dad's side during Yogi's years as a coach and manager. The Berra's lifelong family friends included Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Whitey Ford. It's no coincidence that all three Berra sons were inspired to play sports constantly, and that all three became professional athletes, following in their dad's footsteps. Dale came up with the Pittsburgh Pirates, contributing to their 1979 championship season and emerging as one of baseball's most talented young players. After three strong seasons, Dale was traded to New York, briefly united with his dad in the Yankee dugout. But there was also an extraordinary challenge developing. Dale was implicated in a major cocaine scandal involving some of the biggest names in the sport, and his promising career was ultimately cut short by his drug problem. Yogi supported his son all along, eventually staging the intervention that would save Dale's life, and draw the entire family even closer. My Dad, Yogi is Dale's tribute to his dad -- a treat for baseball fans and a poignant story for fathers and sons everywhere.
Download or read book Headed Home written by Glenn Wilson and published by Lucid Books. This book was released on 2011-11-12 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wilson, a first-round draft pick of the Detroit Tigers in 1980, played 10 seasons in Major League Baseball. Injuries and disappointment shortened his career, and when investments soured causing business ventures to fail, he found himself living in pain and misery. In that pain, he came to know what it meant to truly have a relationship with God.
Download or read book They Call Me Pudge written by Ivan Rodriguez and published by Triumph Books. This book was released on 2017-08-01 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With 14 All-Star appearances, 13 Gold Gloves, a Most Valuable Player Award, and, of course, a World Series ring, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez has more than earned his spot in Cooperstown as one of the best Major League catchers of all time. In They Call Me Pudge, Rodriguez tells the story of his unforgettable baseball journey, from signing his first professional contract as a 16 year-old in Puerto Rico, to his years in Texas, Detroit, and beyond, to the World Series stage in Miami, and behind the doors of the Texas Rangers front office. Rodriguez's accomplishments, his teammates, and his biggest challenges all receive time in the spotlight in this refreshing memoir of a life and Hall-of-Fame career.
Download or read book Buzz Saw written by Jesse Dougherty and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The remarkable story of the 2019 World Series champion Washington Nationals told by the Washington Post writer who followed the team most closely. By May 2019, the Washington Nationals—owners of baseball’s oldest roster—had one of the worst records in the majors and just a 1.5 percent chance of winning the World Series. Yet by blending an old-school brand of baseball with modern analytics, they managed to sneak into the playoffs and put together the most unlikely postseason run in baseball history. Not only did they beat the Houston Astros, the team with the best regular-season record, to claim the franchise’s first championship—they won all four games in Houston, making them the first club to ever win four road games in a World Series. “You have a great year, and you can run into a buzz saw,” Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg told Washington Post beat writer Jesse Dougherty after the team advanced to the World Series. “Maybe this year we’re the buzz saw.” Dougherty followed the Nationals more closely than any other writer in America, and in Buzz Saw he recounts the dramatic year in vivid detail, taking readers inside the dugout, the clubhouse, the front office, and ultimately the championship parade. Yet he does something more than provide a riveting retelling of the season: he makes the case that while there is indisputable value to Moneyball-style metrics, baseball isn’t just a numbers game. Intangibles like team chemistry, veteran experience, and childlike joy are equally essential to winning. Certainly, no team seemed to have more fun than the Nationals, who adopted the kids’ song “Baby Shark” as their anthem and regularly broke into dugout dance parties. Buzz Saw is just as lively and rollicking—a fitting tribute to one of the most exciting, inspiring teams to ever take the field.
