{"title":"Sports \u0026 Recreation--Baseball--Essays \u0026 Writings","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"love-me-hate-me-barry-bonds-and-the-making-of-an-antihero","title":"Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eacclaimed sports writer and bestselling author Jeff Pearlman, \u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003ea searing and insightful look into the life and career of Barry Bonds, one of the most celebrated, contradictory and controversial sports figures of our time\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo player in the history of baseball has left such an indelible mark on the game as Barry Bonds. In his twenty-year career, Bonds has amassed an unprecedented 7 Most Valuable Player awards, 8 Gold Gloves, and more than 700 home runs (and counting), an impressive assortment of feats that has earned him the consideration as one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. Equally deserved, however, is his reputation as an insufferable braggart, whose mythical home runs are rivaled only by his legendary ego. From his staggering ability and fabled pedigree (father Bobby played outfield for the Giants; cousin Reggie and godfather Willie are both Hall of Famers), to his well-documented run-ins with teammates and his alleged steroid abuse, Bonds inspires a like amount of passion from both sides of the fence. 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And from that simple decision until his last season on the mound in the major leagues, it was his faith, work ethic, and love for the game that propelled him through challenges that would have ruined other athletes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eStarting and Closing\u003c\/em\u003e chronicles the final season in a legendary career that included fourteen years in one of the most dominant rotations in baseball, a Cy Young Award, and a World Series title--all while battling and overcoming \"career-ending\" injuries. Recounting a season that tested his perseverance and deepened his faith, Smoltz flashes back to watershed moments in the skeptic-defying journey from being one of the best starting pitchers of all time, to closer, to starter again. What emerges is an inspirational story from a man who believed not just in himself but in God's plan for him--and one more year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 0062120565\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9780062120564\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Smoltz, John, Yaeger, Don\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: William Morrow \u0026amp; Company\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"William Morrow \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Mar 2013)","offer_id":45936779428037,"sku":"9780062120564","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9780062120564.jpg?v=1772850605"},{"product_id":"unhittable-how-technology-mavericks-and-innovators-engineered-baseballs-new-era-of-pitching-dominance","title":"Unhittable: How Technology, Mavericks, and Innovators Engineered Baseball's New Era of Pitching Dominance","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe baseball expert famously known as PitchingNinja explores the revolution that has given pitchers an unprecedented advantage in today's game.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCan Tarik Skubal three-peat as AL Cy Young? After winning Rookie of the Year and his first Cy Young, how does Paul Skenes get even nastier? Can Jacob deGrom crack 200 strikeouts again? How will Spencer Strider approach his return to dominance? Which pitchers stand to gain the most from an automated strike zone? And what separates Shohei Ohtani's approach to training from everyone else--why is he the outlier? If you're asking questions like these as the season approaches, \u003ci\u003eUnhittable\u003c\/i\u003e is just what you've been looking for to prep for Opening Day. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePitching dominates baseball as never before. Spin rate, sweepers, 105 mph fastballs--all have become standard when evaluating pitching arms and techniques and are familiar lingo in discussion and analysis of the game. Gone is the era of the swaggering power hitters. Batting averages are close to the deadball era; team records for strikeouts are broken and then broken again. The game has fundamentally changed, and hitters may never catch up. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA self-taught coach who has evolved into a top pitching analyst, Rob Friedman has closely observed this revolution that has transformed baseball for both players and fans. Friedman is sought after by players like Cy Young Award-winners Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal, and All-Stars such as Yu Darvish, and he spotlights the influential figures behind this transformation: \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTom House, a former MLB pitcher turned coaching visionary, utilized cutting-edge technology to refine the techniques of legends like Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson. His unconventional methods paved the way for a new era shaped by the collision of technology and tradition.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBrent Strom, another MLB pitching insider, has used data to revive flagging careers--helping stars like Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Charlie Morton to use technology to enhance their performance.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKyle Boddy, of Driveline Baseball, has trained elite pitchers such as Trevor Bauer, Shohei Ohtani, and Clayton Kershaw, using advanced analytics and technology, as well as others.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePeppered with insights drawn from interviews with top pitchers, \u003ci\u003eUnhittable \u003c\/i\u003eis an insider's look at how these advancements have been used by players themselves, and how they have fundamentally changed America's pastime.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 0063456761\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9780063456761\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Friedman, Rob\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Harper\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"HardCover (Mar 2026)","offer_id":45937586274501,"sku":"9780063456761","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9780063456761_1f29b617-f547-492e-bba0-fabb956d9b2c.jpg?v=1772881117"},{"product_id":"homestand-small-town-baseball-and-the-fight-for-the-soul-of-america","title":"Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America","description":"\u003cb\u003eA poignant memoir exploring small town baseball as a lens into what's right and wrong with modern America--written by an acclaimed journalist and Army Ranger who, after returning from Iraq to a painfully divided country, rediscovered its core values in the bleachers of a minor league ballpark in Batavia, New York. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Bardenwerper finds hope in the people and community around a former minor league baseball team.\"\u003ci\u003e--Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Will reveal more about the prospects for America than 100 news stories about politics, and will be a lot more fun.\"--James Fallows, bestselling co-author of \u003ci\u003eOur Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhat happens when a minor league team--the heart and soul of a Rust Belt town in western New York--is shut down by the billionaires who run Major League Baseball? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBatavia, New York--between Rochester and Buffalo--hosted its first professional baseball game in 1897. 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Leavy has a voice demanding to be heard--and Major League Baseball should listen.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e-- THE WALL STREET JOURNAL\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling biographer and lifelong baseball devotee takes readers on an epic journey through the game that baseball has become-- a heartfelt manifesto that's perfect for lovers of the sport.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Jane Leavy has always loved baseball. Her grandmother lived one long, loud foul ball away from Yankee Stadium--the same grandmother who took young Jane to Saks Fifth Avenue and bought her her first baseball glove. It's no coincidence that Leavy was covering the game she loved for the Washington Post by the late 1970s. 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