Download or read book One Shot at Forever written by Chris Ballard and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2012-05-15 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "One Shot at Forever is powerful, inspirational. . . This isn't merely a book about baseball. It's a book about heart." -- Jeff Pearlman, New York Times bestselling author of Boys Will Be Boys and The Bad Guys Won In 1971, a small-town high school baseball team from rural Illinois, playing with hand-me-down uniforms and peace signs on their hats, defied convention and the odds. Led by an English teacher with no coaching experience, the Macon Ironmen emerged from a field of 370 teams to represent the smallest school in Illinois history to make the state final, a distinction that still stands. There the Ironmen would play against a Chicago powerhouse in a dramatic game that would change their lives forever. In this gripping, cinematic narrative, Chris Ballard tells the story of the team and its coach, Lynn Sweet: a hippie, dreamer, and intellectual who arrived in Macon in 1966, bringing progressive ideas to a town stuck in the Eisenhower era. Beloved by students but not administration, Sweet reluctantly took over the ragtag team, intent on teaching the boys as much about life as baseball. Together they embarked on an improbable postseason run that buoyed a small town in desperate need of something to celebrate. Engaging and poignant, One Shot at Forever is a testament to the power of high school sports to shape the lives of those who play them, and it reminds us that there are few bonds more sacred than that among a coach, a team, and a town. "Macon's run at the title reminds us why sports matter and why sportswriting has such great power to inspire. . . [It's] one hell of a good story, and Ballard has written one hell of a good book." -- Jonathan Eig, Chicago Tribune

Download or read book Gotham Baseball written by Mark C Healey and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2021-01-25 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The Big Apple’s greatest squad . . . Selecting either a Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, New York Yankees or New York Mets player for each position.” —Long Island Herald Baseball may be the great American pastime, but in New York, it is a religion. Names like Ruth, Mays, Gehrig, Wright and Robinson live in the hearts and minds of New York fans like apostles. From the street corner to the subway car, debates about which Yankee, Giant, Dodger or Met is better than another have raged on for more than one hundred years. Now, the best of the best are chosen for each position as New York’s all-time greatest team is imagined. Shoo-ins like the Babe and Jackie have their stories told with a fresh perspective. The compelling case for Mike Piazza, not Yogi Berra, as catcher is sure to spark arguments. Sportswriter Mark Healey crafts the Gotham baseball team through captivating tales of the legends of the New York game. “One of the best Baseball Teams books of all time.” —BookAuthority “Many a sportswriter in a column and many a baseball fan in a New York City sports bar have tried to say that their guys were the best; but what if you could put the greatest in Gotham’s rich baseball history—the very, very best—on one team? . . . Mark C. Healey endeavors to do just that—and start a few more arguments along the way.” —Queens Chronicle

Download or read book Proud Parents Guide to Raising Athletic Balanced and Coordinated Kids written by Karen Ronney and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2008-09-09 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of 34 different publishing awards, this 10-minutes-per-day comprehensive program helps children ages 0 to 6 develop coordination. Tennis pro and master coach Karen Ronney offers a step-by-step handbook with over 200 games for parents who want to jump-start their child's fundamental skills, self-confidence, and sports potential while creating a lifestyle of family fitness. She offers an in-depth explanation of a child's development, their learning styles, with physical and brain anatomy and growth facts, and how simple, fun activities can be the key to unlock their abilities in every area of life. Includes recent scientific and academic research, progress charts, how to incorporate purposeful play, and even helps for families with special-needs kids. Part One: How Your Child Develops Learning Styles Building Better Brains Sensory Integration Fine Motor Development Right- or Left-Handed Gross Motor Development Coordination and Sidedness Rules of Play and Praise Part Two: Games Warm-up and Stretch Crib Capers Athletic Activities One, Two and You Building Blocks for Three Year Olds The Golden Years: Four-to-Six Year Olds

Download or read book The Reason We Play written by Marc Bona and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-10-15 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An inspirational look at a diverse group of popular American sports figures and how they found success in sports and life. Young athletes all dream of what they might become. They might see themselves as a soccer player racing through defenses at the World Cup, as a hockey player scoring the winning goal in the Stanley Cup Final, or as a figure skater in the Winter Olympics. But to get there takes hard work, dedication, and passion. In The Reason We Play: American Sports Figures and What Inspires Them, Marc Bona profiles some of the nation’s top athletes and sports personalities from the past several decades to reveal what it takes to make it in the world of professional sports. Along with fascinating accounts of the sports figures’ lives and careers, Bona includes, in their own words, what motivated them, what obstacles they overcame, and even what books they loved to read when they were young. Featuring athletes such as soccer icon Kristine Lilly, basketball star Victor Oladipo, and softball phenom Cat Osterman, The Reason We Play has something for everyone. From football to rodeo, baseball to racing, the front office to coaching, the subjects all share a common trait of excellence on and off the field.

Download or read book The Coaches written by Bill Libby and published by Garrett County Press. This book was released on 2014-10-01 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This classic book on coaching has been used as a reference guide for generations of coaches in football, baseball, soccer, gymnastics and swimming. Sports journalist Bill Libby collected wisdom from over 50 different coaches including Vince Lombardi, Bill Russell, Lefty Phillips, Billy Martin, Casey Stengel, Tom Landry, Woody Hayes, Leo Durocher, Bear Bryant, and Red Auerbach. While there are plenty of books that serve as technical manuals to the profession, The Coaches covers the reasons, tricks, motivations and passion behind this most unusual pursuit. It's why some of the most famous names in contemporary coaching keep coming back to this quintessential work of sports journalism.

Download or read book Coach Lessons on the Game of Life written by Michael Lewis and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2005-04-17 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A story with a big heart about a boy, a coach, the game of baseball, and the game of life. "There are teachers with a rare ability to enter a child's mind; it's as if their ability to get there at all gives them the right to stay forever." There was a turning point in Michael Lewis's life, in a baseball game when he was fourteen years old. The irascible and often terrifying Coach Fitz put the ball in his hand with the game on the line and managed to convey such confident trust in Lewis's ability that the boy had no choice but to live up to it. "I didn't have words for it then, but I do now: I am about to show the world, and myself, what I can do." The coach's message was not simply about winning but about self-respect, sacrifice, courage, and endurance. In some ways, and now thirty years later, Lewis still finds himself trying to measure up to what Coach Fitz expected of him.

Download or read book Catapult Loading System written by Joey Myers and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-14 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "My son at 10yo (90-lbs) is highly coach-able. I taught him the system in February and he hit well during the season but could only hit the ball around 180'. Then all of a sudden around June he started killing the ball. He was hitting home runs every game and hit a ball at least 250-feet" - Michael Parillo (via email) Sick of struggling to help hitters drive the ball hard with more consistency? Dramatically increase power without sacrificing swing quality. Literally thousands of coaches across the nation are getting predictably positive results with hitters using the CLS system. How? By applying human movement principles validated by REAL science to hitting a ball, and NOT "bro-science." THIS STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO CONSISTENT POWER TEACHES: How to master a handful of human movement principles, so you can slice the "teach hitting" learning curve in half. How to effectively load the body, so your hitters can optimize their batted ball distance potential. How elite-hitters are revealing ways to hit balls with High-Exit-Speeds, swing after swing, using three elements a 4-year-old can understand. Why 'loading and exploding the hips' is bad for lower back, and how to teach hitters a highly effective but SAFE swing. THE NEW EXPANDED EDITION INCLUDES: 'How to practice' section at end of each movement principle Chapter. How to train a 2-year-old to hit a moving ball (proof that NOT only elite hitters can be taught these movements). Why pitchers are taught to pitch around ineffective swing paths, and how to turn their weapon against them. Why coaches MUST focus their hitters' efforts on targeting and elevating pitches low in the zone. How to teach timing and get hitters on-time more often in games.

Download or read book Before the Glory written by Billy Staples and published by Health Communications, Inc.. This book was released on 2007-03 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recounts the true childhood stories and lessons of some of baseball's greatest players, including Gary Carter, Ralph Kiner, Ferguson Jenkins, and Tony Gwynn.

Download or read book Baseball s Funnymen written by Lew Freedman and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2017-01-05 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Nick Altrock to Casey Stengel, Dizzy Dean to Satchel Paige, Bill Veeck to Bob Uecker, baseball has always admired the clever. This book tells the stories of some of the players, coaches, managers and broadcasters who had the most fun in the Major Leagues and made fans laugh out loud (or shake their heads in disbelief). The author recounts tales both famous and little known that capture the character of unusual and offbeat players, unique and engaging personalities and the succession of eccentrics who were officially dubbed "Clown Prince of Baseball."

Download or read book John Cangelosi The Improbable Baseball Journey of the Undersized Kid from Nowhere to World Series Champion written by John Cangelosi and published by Riverdale Avenue Books LLC. This book was released on 2019-07-10 with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Cangelosi: The Improbable Baseball Journey of the Undersized Kid from Nowhere to World Series Champion A born and bred New Yorker, John Cangelosi’s claim to fame was as a super-quick base stealer with a tremendous work ethic. He played on that 1997 Florida Marlins team that surprised everyone by wining the World Series. In this biography, he teams up with noted sports writer K. P. Wee to share his stories of growing up in Brooklyn and what it took to become an MLB player. This is an inside look at a real everyman of baseball, full of stories about stealing bases against legendary pitchers and catchers, and how it felt to celebrate the first championship in Marlins history. “[Cangelosi] put forth the effort in the way he played, and he got back to the big leagues. You salute guys like that. And that’s why with the younger players, you just tell them, ‘Hey, look. You wanna try to get to the big leagues? Do what he does. Show up, and play hard every night.” —Terry Collins, former Buffalo Bisons manager and Houston Astros manager “If you have that blue-collar work ethic and not give up on your dreams, anything can happen. That’s what happened for me in those years in the 1990s.” —John Cangelosi

Download or read book Heat written by Mike Lupica and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007-03-01 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The #1 Bestseller! Michael Arroyo has a pitching arm that throws serious heat along with aspirations of leading his team all the way to the Little League World Series. But his firepower is nothing compared to the heat Michael faces in his day-to-day life. Newly orphaned after his father led the family’s escape from Cuba, Michael’s only family is his seventeen-yearold brother Carlos. If Social Services hears of their situation, they will be separated in the foster-care system—or worse, sent back to Cuba. Together, the boys carry on alone, dodging bills and anyone who asks too many questions. But then someone wonders how a twelve-year-old boy could possibly throw with as much power as Michael Arroyo throws. With no way to prove his age, no birth certificate, and no parent to fight for his cause, Michael’s secret world is blown wide open, and he discovers that family can come from the most unexpected sources. Perfect for any Little Leaguer with dreams of making it big--as well as for fans of Mike Lupica's other New York Times bestsellers Travel Team, The Big Field, The Underdogs, Million-Dollar Throw, and The Game Changers series, this cheer-worthy baseball story shows that when the game knocks you down, champions stand tall.

Download or read book HBR s 10 Must Reads on Leadership Lessons from Sports featuring interviews with Sir Alex Ferguson Kareem Abdul Jabbar Andre Agassi written by Harvard Business Review and published by Harvard Business Press. This book was released on 2018-01-16 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leadership and management lessons from the sports world. The world's elite athletes and coaches achieve high performance through inspiring leadership, mental toughness, and direction-setting strategic choices. Harvard Business Review has talked to many of these high performers throughout the years to learn how their success translates to the world of business. If you read nothing else on management lessons from the world of sports, read these 10 articles by athletes, coaches, and leadership experts. We've combed through our archive and selected the articles that will best help you drive performance. This book will inspire you to: Improve on your weaknesses, not just your strengths Take care of your body for sustained mental performance Increase your confidence and manage your energy before an important event Turn a struggling team around Understand the limits of performance metrics Focus on long-term goals to overcome setbacks Understand where the analogy of sports and business doesn't work This collection of articles includes "Ferguson's Formula," by Anita Elberse with Sir Alex Ferguson; "Life's Work: An Interview with Greg Louganis"; "The Making of a Corporate Athlete," by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz; "The Tough Work of Turning a Team Around," by Bill Parcells; "How an Olympic Gold Medalist Learned to Perform Under Pressure: An Interview with Alex Gregory"; "Mental Preparation Secrets of Top Athletes, Entertainers, and Surgeons," an interview with Daniel McGinn by Sarah Green Carmichael; "SoulCycle's CEO on Sustaining Growth in a Faddish Industry," by Melanie Whelan; "Life's Work: An Interview with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar"; "Major League Innovation," by Scott D. Anthony; "Looking Past Performance in Your Star Talent," by Mark de Rond, Adrian Moorhouse, and Matt Rogan; "Life's Work: An Interview with Mikhail Baryshnikov"; "How the Best of the Best Get Better and Better," by Graham Jones; "Life's Work: An Interview with Joe Girardi"; "Why There Is an I in Team," by Mark de Rond; "Life's Work: An Interview with Andre Agassi"; and "Why Sports Are a Terrible Metaphor for Business," by Bill Taylor.

Download or read book The Kaleidoscope of Lived Curricula written by Karin Ann Lewis and published by IAP. This book was released on 2021-11-01 with total page 419 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Within the context of recent, and ongoing, plural pandemics such as COVID-19 up/ending lives, social and racial chaos and catastrophe, political pressures, and economic convulsions, The Kaleidoscope of Lived Curricula: Learning Through a Confluence of Crises offers a journey through a collection of scholarly reflective creative pieces--stories of lived curricula. Like a kaleidoscope filled with loose pieces of simple colored glass and objects transforming into an infinite variety of beautiful forms and patterns with the slightest turn, the collection of pieces in this book reflect images of the sky that nurtures life; sun that illuminates understanding; earth that shifts and grounds us; fire that is primal, intending to spark and extend curricular and pedagogical conversations and understandings. This book provides a lens through which to observe and experience how plural pandemics shifted the lived curricula--the colored glass and objects in the lives of others--to surface, contextualize, confront, and curate challenges, as well as celebrate the courageous and elevate and empower marginalized groups to relate, learn, and heal through stories of lived curricula. This beautiful collection brings readers to an awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the lived curricula unlike they have ever experienced before.

Download or read book Doc written by Todd Zolecki and published by Triumph Books. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nobody's baseball story is like Roy Halladay's.He was born and raised to be a superstar. He was a first-round draft pick in 1995. He nearly threw a no-hitter in his second big-league start in 1998. But two years later, Halladay suffered arguably the worst season by any pitcher in baseball history. He was months away from being out of the game.Hall of Fame pitchers do not struggle like that. But Halladay vowed to change. He altered his pitching mechanics and rewired his brain to become one of the greatest pitchers of all time. How did Doc do it? Doc: The Life of Roy Halladay tells the remarkable story; based on more than 100 interviews with Halladay's family, friends, managers, coaches, teammates, and competitors, including extensive interviews with his wife, Brandy; comprehensive archival research; and previously unpublished commentary from Halladay himself. Doc not only tells the story of Halladay's illustrious baseball career in Toronto and Philadelphia, but his hard-driven adolescence, his lifelong personal struggles, and his motivation to pay forward the knowledge and philosophies that helped him achieve baseball greatness before his tragic death in 2017.This essential biography is a testimonial for baseball players and pitchers from high school to the big leagues still searching for their path to excellence, like Halladay. It's also a celebration and a profound exploration of a generational pitcher and a beloved teammate, friend, and family man.

Download or read book Where Have All Our Yankees Gone written by Brian Jensen and published by Taylor Trade Publications. This book was released on 2004 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Readers are taken on a revealing ride with a diverse collection of former New York Yankee players and the life stories beyond their baseball playing careers.

Download or read book Baseball s Natural written by John Theodore and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2002-09-09 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Baseball’s Natural: The Story of Eddie Waitkus is John Theodore’s true account of the slick-fielding first baseman who played for the Cubs and Phillies in the 1940s and became an immortalized figure in baseball lore as the inspiration for Roy Hobbs in Bernard Malamud’s The Natural. The son of Lithuanian immigrants, Edward Stephen Waitkus (1919–1972) grew up in Boston and served in the Pacific during World War II. His army service in some of the war’s bloodiest combat earned him four Bronze Stars. Following the war, Waitkus became one of the most popular players of his era. As a rookie he led the Cubs in hitting in 1946 and quickly established himself as one of the best first basemen in the National League. To the disappointment of fans, the Cubs traded Waitkus to the Phillies in December of 1948. When he returned to Chicago in a Philadelphia uniform in June of the following year, he was hitting .306 and seemed destined for the All Star team. On the night of June 14 at the Edgewater Beach Hotel, Waitkus’s bright career took an infamously tragic turn. He received a cryptic note summoning him to meet a young fan, Ruth Steinhagen. When Waitkus entered her hotel room, she proclaimed, “I have a surprise for you,” and then she just as quickly shot him in the chest. Steinhagen, then only nineteen, was one of the many young women—called “Baseball Annies”–who were fanatic about the game and its players, though her obsession proved more dangerous than most. A criminal court indicted Steinhagen and confined her to a state mental hospital for nearly three years. Waitkus survived the shooting, made an inspirational return to baseball in 1950, and led the Phillies to the World Series. While Waitkus triumphed over his assault, he could not conquer his private demons. Depression stemming from the attack led to a severe problem with alcohol, a failed marriage, and a nervous breakdown. Waitkus found some happiness in his final summers working with youngsters at the Ted Williams baseball camp. Cancer claimed him in 1972, just days after his fifty-third birthday. Through interviews with Waitkus’s family, fellow servicemen, former ballplayers, and childhood friends, and aided by fifteen photographs, Theodore chronicles Waitkus’s remarkable comeback as well as the difficult years following his eleven-year major league career.

Download or read book 3D Coach written by Jeff Duke and published by Revell. This book was released on 2014-06-11 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With more than 60 million athletes involved in sports in America, it is estimated that one coach will impact more people in one year than the average person does in a lifetime. Today's coach could be one of the greatest authoritative figures in the life of today's adolescent. So the question isn't whether coaches leave a legacy, but rather, what will that legacy be? Current trending research shows that only 15% of coaches are intentional about coaching beyond the skills and strategies of the game (1st Dimension). A 3-Dimensional Coach understands and harnesses the power of the coaching platform to coach the mind (2nd Dimension) and transform the heart (3rd Dimension). They can be the catalysts for internal transformation that guides both the coach and the athlete on a spiritual journey to finding purpose in our performance-based culture. Now that's a legacy! In 3D Coach, National Coaches Training Director Jeff Duke shares his own journey through the three dimensions of coaching and how it has impacted his life and those around him. He also shares the personal stories of coaches from all levels who have implemented the 3D concept into their own programs and who have pointed to Jesus Christ, the Master Coach, as the ultimate example of how to lead athletes to true significance.