The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers

The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers
Author: Bill James
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 500
Release: 2008-06-16
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1439103771

Preeminent baseball analyst Bill James and ESPN.com baseball columnist Rob Neyer compile information on pitches and their origins, nearly two thousand pitchers, and more in this comprehensive guide. Pitchers, the pitches they throw, and how they throw them—they’re the stuff of constant scrutiny, but there's never been anything like a comprehensive source for such information…until now. Bill James and Rob Neyer spent over a decade compiling the centerpiece of this book, the Pitcher Census, which lists specific information for nearly two thousand pitchers, ranging throughout the history of professional baseball. Their guide also includes a dictionary describing virtually every known pitch, biographies of great pitchers who have been overlooked, and top ten lists for fastballs, spitballs, and everything in between. James and Neyer also weigh in on the debate over pitcher abuse and durability, offer a formula for predicting the Cy Young Award winner, and reveal James’s Pitcher Codes. Learn about the origins and development of baseball’s most important pitches and more knuckleballers and submariners than you ever thought existed! Baseball’s action always starts with the pitchers. Begin to understand them and join in on entertaining debates while having a great deal of fun with the history of the game that captivates so many with this one-of-a-kind guide.

High-flying Birds

High-flying Birds
Author: Jerome M. Mileur
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2009
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0826271782

"Mileur provides a game-by-game account of the 1942 St. Louis Cardinals, world champions and the winningest team in franchise history. He recounts the team's close pennant race against the Brooklyn Dodgers and World Series victory over the New York Yankees, while conveying the physical and mental demands on the players within the context of wartime America"--Provided by publisher.

The Cardinals Encyclopedia

The Cardinals Encyclopedia
Author: Mike Eisenbath
Publisher: Temple University Press
Total Pages: 689
Release: 1999
Genre:
ISBN: 1566397030

This encyclopedia of the Cardinals baseball team includes extensive profiles for the top 200 players, a synopsis of the careers of every team player, stories, statistics, game-by-game accounts of every season, and information on every manager.

The Called Shot

The Called Shot
Author: Thomas Wolf
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 409
Release: 2020-05-01
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1496221702

In the summer of 1932, at the beginning of the turbulent decade that would remake America, baseball fans were treated to one of the most thrilling seasons in the history of the sport. As the nation drifted deeper into the Great Depression and reeled from social unrest, baseball was a diversion for a troubled country—and yet the world of baseball was marked by the same edginess that pervaded the national scene. On-the-field fights were as common as double plays. Amid the National League pennant race, Cubs’ shortstop Billy Jurges was shot by showgirl Violet Popovich in a Chicago hotel room. When the regular season ended, the Cubs and Yankees clashed in what would be Babe Ruth’s last appearance in the fall classic. After the Cubs lost the first two games in New York, the series resumed in Chicago at Wrigley Field, with Democratic presidential candidate Franklin Roosevelt cheering for the visiting Yankees from the box seats behind the Yankees’ dugout. In the top of the fifth inning the game took a historic turn. As Ruth was jeered mercilessly by Cubs players and fans, he gestured toward the outfield and then blasted a long home run. After Ruth circled the bases, Roosevelt exclaimed, “Unbelievable!” Ruth’s homer set off one of baseball’s longest-running and most intense debates: did Ruth, in fact, call his famous home run? Rich with historical context and detail, The Called Shot dramatizes the excitement of a baseball season during one of America’s most chaotic summers.

The Baseball Maniac's Almanac

The Baseball Maniac's Almanac
Author: Bert Randolph Sugar
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 714
Release: 2010-07-01
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1613210043

An addictive read that is sure to spark conversation wherever baseball is spoken, The Baseball Maniac’s Almanac is part reference, part trivia, part brain teaser, and absolutely the greatest, most unusual, and thorough compendium of baseball stats and facts ever compiled—all verified for accuracy by the Baseball Hall of Fame. In its pages, renowned sportswriter Bert Randolph Sugar presents thousands of fascinating lists, tables, data, and stimulating facts about: Individual players and teams Managers Player relatives The Hall of Fame Annual awards The World Series All-Star Games The book also contains a list of the all-time statistical leaders for every major league team as well as a truly unforgettable miscellaneous section that answers such mind-boggling questions as, “Which major-leaguers have palindromic surnames?” and “Which players born under each zodiac sign have hit the most career home runs?”

Gabby Hartnett

Gabby Hartnett
Author: William F. McNeil
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2015-02-18
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0786481293

Gabby Harnett is believed by many to be the greatest catcher of all time. This work chronicles Hartnett's life from his early years in Millville, Massachusetts, through his twenty-year career with the Chicago Cubs as player and manager, his time in various capacities in the minor leagues and with the New York Giants and Kansas City Athletics, to his post-major league career as a businessman in Chicago. His childhood, early baseball experiences with the local team and with a nearby prep school, and his first professional baseball season with the Worcester Boosters of the Eastern League are covered in detail. Hartnett's major league career as the catcher for the Cubs is well-documented, including his near career-ending arm injury in 1929, the 1932 World Series that featured Babe Ruth's legendary "called shot," and Hartnett's famous "homer in the gloamin" against the Pittsburgh Pirates that propelled Chicago to the 1938 National League pennant. The author also compares Hartnett's statistics to those of his famous contemporaries, Mickey Cochrane and Bill Dickey, on a year-by-year basis.

The Team by Team Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball

The Team by Team Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball
Author: Dennis Purdy
Publisher: Workman Publishing
Total Pages: 1186
Release: 2006-01-01
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0761139435

Looks at the history of every existing major league baseball team and provides a variety of team and player statistics.

Chicago Sluggers

Chicago Sluggers
Author: John Freyer
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 134
Release: 2005-05-18
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1439615292

The Chicago White Stockingslater renamed the Cubswon the inaugural National League Pennant in 1876 with a barrage of offensive numbers. Ross Barnes led the league at a .421 clip, and three other Chicago batters finished among the leagues top five hitters. Even pitcher Al Spalding hit an impressive .312. Thus began the "northsiders" tradition of producing some of the major leagues greatest sluggersincluding "Cap" Anson, "Gabby" Hartnett, and "Hack" Wilson. The Chicago White Soxstill named the White Soxwon the inaugural American League Pennant in 1901, led by Fielder Jones .311 average for a team built more around pitching than hittinga team that won its first World Series title in 1906 with the nickname "The Hitless Wonders." But the "southsiders" also put up some lofty offensive numbers with the likes of Shoeless Joe Jackson and Eddie Collins.

The Midsummer Classic

The Midsummer Classic
Author: David Vincent
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 630
Release: 2001-01-01
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 9780803292734

Examines the history of All-Star baseball, providing play-by-plays, rosters, and box scores of each game; and discusses how All-Star games have been influenced by racial integration, expansion teams, and the designated hitter.

Baseball's Iconic 1-0 Games

Baseball's Iconic 1-0 Games
Author: Warren N. Wilbert
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2013
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0810885786

Although very few baseball games end with a final score of one to zero, and such a score line might suggest a contest devoid of drama, nothing could be further from the truth. Since the 1876 inaugural season of professional baseball, many 1-0 games have proved as compelling as those featuring a parade of pitchers and a plethora of home runs. In Baseball's Iconic 1-0 Games Warren Wilbert has chronicled the tensest 1-0 nail-biters that have occurred since baseball's first professional season. Organized thematically, Baseball's Iconic 1-0 Games starts by examining 1-0 games achieved on Opening Day, with the finest selected from the more than 50 that have occurred since 1876. Regular season games, in which less than three percent result in a 1-0 score, are then detailed, including those games pitched by such greats as John "Jocko" Flynn and Randy Johnson. Championship play, from the first inning of playoffs to the final out of the World Series, has its own share of 1-0 drama, and this, too, is covered extensively. These chapters are then followed by a look at the elusive perfect 1-0 game, of which only eight have been pitched since 1871--seven with a single pitcher. Pitching titans such as Walter Johnson, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Bert Blyleven, Christy Mathewson, Dean Chance, Ed Walsh, Guy White, and Cy Young have had more than their fair share of 1-0 victories, and an additional chapter examines these pitchers and their 1-0 games. Appendixes include a full list of pitchers to have thrown a no-hit 1-0 game, pitching greats who have amassed ten or more career 1-0 victories, and 1-0 games in both the Negro Leagues and the Japanese Major Leagues. Featuring more than 30 photographs, Baseball's Iconic 1-0 Games is sure to fascinate all baseball fans, players, and historians.