Major League Life

Major League Life
Author: Phil Shore
Publisher:
Total Pages: 124
Release: 2020-06-18
Genre:
ISBN: 9781735245812

What motivates professional athletes? Mike Trout's 12-year, $430 million contract or Cristiano Ronaldo's 82 million Twitter followers show fame and fortune are large driving forces. Players in Major League Lacrosse, however, are not as fortunate. The league's average attendance in 2018 was 3,619 people per game, and players held other jobs to make ends meet. In 2019, many high-profile MLL players left to start their own league, the Premier Lacrosse League, believing they could better raise the profile of the sport and their salaries. But what made other players and coaches stay in MLL? Why did several spectators remain superfans?Major League Life goes behind-the-scenes of all six MLL teams and explores why the league is so important to its players, coaches, and superfans. Whether it is the Massachusetts kids that went from fans in the stands to players on the field or the goalie from Japan that attended open tryouts for three years before landing a spot on the Denver roster, read why the league means so much to them when so many others don't even know it exists.

Bigger Than the Game

Bigger Than the Game
Author: Dirk Hayhurst
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2014
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0806534877

"The best writer in a baseball uniform." --Tyler Kepner, The New York Times After nearly a decade in the minors, Dirk Hayhurst defied the odds to climb onto the pitcher's mound for the Toronto Blue Jays. Newly married, with a big league paycheck and a brand new house, Hayhurst was ready for a great season in the Bigs. Then fate delivered a crushing hit. Hayhurst blew out his pitching shoulder in an insane off-season workout program. After surgery, rehab, and more rehab, his major-league dreams seemed more distant than ever. From there things got worse, weirder, and funnier. In a crazy world of injured athletes, autograph-seeking nuns, angry wrestlers, and trainers with a taste for torture, Hayhurst learned lessons about the game--and himself--that were not in any rulebook. Honest, soul'searching, insightful, hilarious, and moving, Dirk Hayhurst's latest memoir is an indisputable baseball classic. Praise for The Bullpen Gospels and Out of My League "Dirk Hayhurst writes about baseball in a unique way. Observant, insightful, human, and hilarious." --Bob Costas "A fun read. . .This book shows why baseball is so often used as a metaphor for life." --Keith Olbermann "Entertaining and engaging. . .reminiscent of Jim Bouton's Ball Four." --Booklist "A rare gem of a baseball book." --Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated "A humorous, candid, and insightful memoir of Hayhurst's rookie season in the majors. . .Grade: Home Run." --Cleveland Plain Dealer

To Stir a Movement

To Stir a Movement
Author: Jeremy Affeldt
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: Baseball players
ISBN: 9780834130517

Jeremy Affeldt's passion doesn't end when he walks off the field. As an outspoken advocate against human trafficking and a committed servant against injustice, Affeldt has made a significant mark in this world.

Going the Other Way

Going the Other Way
Author: Billy Bean
Publisher: The Experiment
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2014-01-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1615192638

Published in 2014 with a new preface by the author. Originally published in hardcover in 2003 by Marlowe & Company.

Minor Moments, Major Memories

Minor Moments, Major Memories
Author: Mark Leinweaver
Publisher:
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2005
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 9781592287352

Baseball is pure and hope springs eternal.

Baseball Life Advice

Baseball Life Advice
Author: Stacey May Fowles
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2017-04-11
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0771038712

National Bestseller A Globe and Mail Best Book A National Post Best Book of the Year A passionate ode to baseball, its culture, and its community, which both celebrates and challenges the game – and reminds us why it really matters. For Stacey May Fowles, the game of baseball is one of "long pauses punctuated by tiny miracles." In this entertaining and thoughtful book, Fowles gives us a refreshingly candid and personal perspective on subjects ranging from bat flips to bandwagoners, from the romance of spring training to the politics of booing, from the necessity of taking a hard look at players' injuries and mental health issues to finding solace at the ballpark. Fowles confronts head-on the stereotype that female fans lack real knowledge about the game, and also calls out the "boys will be boys" attitude and its implications both on and off the field. She also shares her reverence for the no-hitter, her memories of going to the ballpark with her dad, and the challenges of falling in love with someone who didn't like baseball. Throughout the book, she offers exhilarating snapshots of the Toronto Blue Jays' 2015 and 2016 seasons, and gathers a selection of inspiring "baseball life advice" quotes from players and others that provide unexpected insight into how we could all live better lives. With remarkable verve, intelligence, and an unabashed enthusiasm, Fowles explores how we can use the lens of baseball to examine who we are. And in this passionate ode to the game, its culture, and its community, she reminds us that although baseball can break your heart, it will always find a way to make it whole again.

Home Game

Home Game
Author: Bret Boone
Publisher: Crown Archetype
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2016-05-10
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1101904917

From the first third-generation player in Major League history, a sometimes moving, always candid inside look at his family’s seventy years in baseball A five-foot-ten fireball questioned by scouts because of his small stature, supposed lack of power, and cocky attitude, Bret Boone didn’t care about family legacy as he fought his way to the Major Leagues in 1992; he wanted to make his own way. He did just that, building a career that featured three All-Star appearances, four Gold Gloves, a bout with alcohol­ism, and the mixed blessing of being traded three times. But now that he’s coaching minor leaguers half his age—and his fifteen-year-old son has the potential to be the first fourth-generation Major Leaguer—Bret has a new perspective on his remarkable family, with its ten All-Star appearances, 634 home runs, 3,139 RBIs, and countless kitchen-table debates about the game’s great­est players. For the first time, he’s ready to share his adventures as part of the sport’s First Family. Infused with Bret’s candor and deep love of the game, Home Game traces baseball’s evolution—on the field and behind the scenes—from his grandfa­ther Ray’s era in the 1950s to his father Bob’s in the ’70s and ’80s to the one he shared with his brother Aaron in the ’90s and 2000s—sometimes called the PED era—when players made millions, dined on lobster in the clubhouse, and, in some cases, indulged in performance-enhancing drugs. Along the way, his book also touches on Boone family lore, from Ray playing with his hero Ted Williams and Bob winning a World Series with the 1980 Phillies to Bret’s flop in a nationally televised home-run derby and Aaron’s historic home run in the 2003 playoffs. Blending nostalgia, close analysis of the game, insight into baseball’s un­written codes, and controversial thoughts on its future as a sport and a busi­ness, Bret Boone offers a one-of-a-kind look at the national pastime—from the colorful, quotable scion of a family whose business is baseball.

Fleet Walker's Divided Heart

Fleet Walker's Divided Heart
Author: David W. Zang
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 196
Release: 1998-02-01
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 9780803299139

Moses Fleetwood Walker was the first black American to play baseball in a major league. He achieved college baseball stardom at Oberlin College in the 1880s. Teammates as well as opponents harassed him; Cap Anson, the Chicago White Stockings star, is blamed for driving Walker and the few other blacks in the major leagues out of the game, but he could not have done so alone. A gifted athlete, inventor, civil rights activist, author, and entrepreneur, Walker lived precariously along America’s racial fault lines. He died in 1924, thwarted in ambition and talent and frustrated by both the American dream and the national pastime.

Minor-League Buzz, Major-League Life

Minor-League Buzz, Major-League Life
Author: Don Miers
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2015-08-21
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1491770716

Buzz Meyers grew up in the 1960s, so it should be no surprise what hes all about: baseball, sex, rock n rolland baseball. Toiling at different jobs, he cant help but think how wonderful it would be to work at a ballpark, and he gets his chance when he becomes the sales and concessions manager for the Hampton Roads Monitors, a minor-league team near Virginia Beach. He might not be a player, but this is the next best thing, and while he puts in long hours, he also gets the chance to party and meet baseball legends, upcoming stars, and a cast of unforgettable characters. The longer he stays in the business, the more he realizes hes partying a little too much, and he starts trying new things, including giving back to his community, lecturing, acting, singing, and even hosting his own radio show. When he runs for elected office at the same time his team is engaged in a heated pennant race, he has no idea what to expect. But no matter what happens, he can bask in the satisfaction of having lived a major-league life in the minors.

The Making of Major League

The Making of Major League
Author: Jonathan Knight
Publisher: Gray & Company, Publishers
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2015-05-29
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1938441656

A behind-the-scenes look at one of the greatest baseball movies ever. If you love watching "Major League," you’ll be fascinated by this inside story. Based on interviews with all major cast members plus crew and producers, it tells how writer/director David S. Ward battled the Hollywood system to turn his own love of the underdog Cleveland Indians into a classic screwball comedy. Learn how a tight-knit group of rising young stars (and a few wily veterans) had a blast pretending to play ball while creating several iconic characters. Filled with little-known facts and personal recollections about outtakes and inside jokes, batting practice and script changes, all-night location shoots, bar hopping and more, this is the ultimate guide to the film that reinvented the baseball movie and inspired a generation of belly laughs. Includes rare photos, storyboard illustrations, script excerpts, and more. With a foreword by Charlie Sheen.