The baseball glove is a ubiquitous item, a crucial piece of equipment in the game of baseball, and it offers the opportunity to examine the production of material culture and social practice at numerous levels. Where and how is a glove made, and how does its manufacture square with the narratives surrounding its place in American cultural life? What are the myths, superstitions, and beliefs surrounding its acquisition, care, use, and significance? How does a glove function as the center of a web of cultural practices that illustrate how individuals relate to a consumer good as a symbol of memory, personal narrative, and national identity? How do the manufacturers of baseball gloves draw upon, promote, and in some sense create these practices? How do these practices and meanings change in other national and cultural contexts? The Baseball Glove offers students the opportunity to examine these questions in an engagingly written and illustrated book that promotes hands-on interaction with a quintessential item of material culture. At the same time, the book gives students the space for critical self-reflection about the place of material goods like sporting equipment in their lives, and it provides the chance to learn different methodological approaches to studying everyday objects.

CATCHING-101: The Complete Guide for Baseball Catchers is the most comprehensive book ever written for baseball catchers. It contains tips, drills, and proper mechanics that will help every catcher or coach better understand the most difficult position on the field. This book contains information on EVERY aspect of catching that Coach Barksdale has learned through his years of experience from coaching nationally ranked NCAA teams, and playing at almost every level from Little League to professional baseball. A few of the topics covered in CATCHING-101 are: Receiving Blocking Catching Pop Flies Throwing Fielding Bunts Plays at Home Plate Drills Pitchouts Pass Balls/Wild Pitches Giving Signals And More! If you have been searching for a source with lots of high quality information about catching, this is the book for you! CATCHING-101 was written by Coach Xan Barksdale who is currently an NCAA Division I baseball coach and an ex-professional baseball player. Coach Barksdale played in the Atlanta Braves organization and has been a featured speaker at the prestigious ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) national convention.

In this heartwarming tribute, major leaguers from different eras--from Yogi Berra to Derek Jeter--fondly remember their first baseball gloves. Color photos throughout.

Dear Baseball Gods, Why didn't you look out for him? Didn't he deserve better? He hustled, competed, and played the game the right way. What happened wasn't fair. A Second Comeback Dan sat by a tree, staring at the ground trying to decide what he would do next. The doctor had just explained that everything he worked for was now ruined. A second Tommy John surgery? Does anyone come back from that? Is my career over? Is this it? A Winding Road to the Top As a walk-on in college, Dan had to earn everything. He pitched on three hours sleep, lived in the clubhouse, played for a team that collapsed mid-season, and endured more arm pain than any kid should. A Way to Move On When finally forced to hang up his cleats, Dan looked in the mirror and didn't recognize the man peering back. If no longer a ballplayer...what would he do? What had been the point of it all? Who was he? The Deeper Side of Life as an Athlete In this philosophical memoir, written as a series of letters, you'll learn that the pinstripes don't wash off so easily.

A sequel to The Wrong Stuff describes how the talented but iconoclastic baseball pitcher found himself blacklisted from professional baseball and his adventures around the world in his quest to play the sport he loved, competing in pickup games, town tournaments, senior leagues, and fantasy camps across the U.S. and Canada, China, Cuba, Russia, and South America. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.

There are many complexities in pitching, but the complexities are the last ten percent, not the first ninety. The first 90% - the things every good pitcher does - are simple. Pitching. Isn't. Complicated. is a concise explanation of the pitching maxims that every pitcher must exhibit. Covered are mechanics, mindset, mental training, situational pitching, holding runners, and more. The author has combined his playing experience with innovative training techniques to become one of the most successful young pitching coaches in the country. The methods in this book are not sensational and there are no fads, no superfluous exercises and no gimmicks. Rather, the goal is to provide only the best drills, teaching methods and concepts that comprise the optimal dose of training. Pitching. Isn't. Complicated. is a concise, layman and actionable book written to give coaches, parents and pitchers a holistic understanding of elite pitching. With a mountain of conflicting information available on the Internet, the development of pitchers has become more confusing than ever; this book will change that.