Don Mattingly's Hitting is Simple: The ABC's of Batting .300 presents an all-ages guide to hitting a baseball by one of the Yankee greats--which covers stance, proper balance and coverage of the strike zone to the mechanics of a fluid swing Don Mattingly was one of the greatest offensive ballplayers of his generation. In 1985 he was the American League MVP and Player of the Year--a nine-time gold glove winner, a batting champion, and six-time all-star. He remains today one of the most beloved Yankee first basemen of all-time. Now as manager for the Miami Marlins and former hitting instructor for the most successful sports franchise in history, he offers solid advice and instruction for young athletes around the world on how to hit a baseball. With instructional photos throughout, and careful step-by-step instruction, Don Mattingly's Hitting Is Simple: The ABC's of Batting .300 covers all the fundamentals: *proper balance and stance *the mechanics of a sound swing *reading pitchers and pitches *how to hit to all fields *drills to improve your timing This all-ages guide to hitting a baseball by one of the Yankee greats is sure to become one of the most definitive books on hitting in years.

In the movie Bull Durham, frustrated manager Joe Riggins stresses to his team, "This is a simple game. You throw the ball. You hit the ball. You catch the ball." This simplification works well for biomechanists too, as sports can be broken down into specific physical tasks like throwing, hitting, catching, and running. There have been significant advances in understanding some actions, but not others. In the first ten years of the journal Sports Biomechanics, only 18 of 236 articles were about hitting a ball. This scarcity is startling considering that according to USA Today (May 20, 2005), three of the five hardest things to do in sports involve hitting a ball (#1: baseball batting, #4: golf tee shot, and #5: tennis serve return). This book provides the latest biomechanical research in the under-studied field of hitting a ball. The biomechanics of baseball, cricket, hockey, hurling, softball, table tennis, and tennis are all examined. The chapters are written in a style that will both satisfy the high standards of biomechanists and provide information for instructors and athletes to improve performance. This book is based on a special issue of Sports Biomechanics.

When authors Billy Staples and Rich Herschlag are asked to write a baseball column for The Trentonian, they decide to put their own stamp on it. Covering primarily Philadelphia and New York, they forego the dirt and seek out baseballs role models, well known and not so well known. They sidestep the steroids and find the stories of courage, dedication and humanity the mainstream press so often misses. Shortly after the All-Star break, another storyline develops. In Philadelphia, the 2008 World Champions are beginning to reemerge. Up the turnpike in New York, the Yankees are showing shades of their former selves from a decade earlier. One by one, division rivals fall by the wayside, and on October 25 only the Yanks and Phils remain standing. The Phillies-Yankees World Series is a battle of baseball titans. For Staples and Herschlagwho in their first full year get to cover it from field levelit is the ultimate reward for doing it their way.

Explanation, demonstration, correction and repetition are essential to the activity of teaching. Successful coaches must be able to effectively and consistently incorporate each of these teaching methods into lessons for their teams. Ideal for any age group, the concepts in this guide help coaches to master these basic principles as they focus on the most important elements of how to teach hitting. Introduced with the author's own teaching-coaching philosophy, this work offers 21 chapters covering a hitting coach's every need. When to Start, Bat Size, Grip, Stance, Swing, Drills and Station Work, Bat Speed, Mental Preparation and Confidence, Pinch Hitting and Running a Hitting Clinic are a few examples of the many specific instructional sections included here. There are 137 photographs that supplement the text.

Boys' Life is the official youth magazine for the Boy Scouts of America. Published since 1911, it contains a proven mix of news, nature, sports, history, fiction, science, comics, and Scouting.

Don Mattingly is perhaps the greatest Yankee never to have won a World Series. A nine-time Gold Glove winner at first base, the mustachioed star affectionately called Donnie Baseball was named to six All-Star teams in the 1980s and slugged 222 home runs in 14 seasons. Yet Mattingly never reached the postseason until his final season in 1995 a campaign that ended with a crushing divisional playoff loss to Seattle. This book reveals the inner complexities of a man whose hard-nosed approach to the game turned him from a 19th-round draft choice who struggled to hit for power into the 1985 American League MVP. Mattingly reflected on his career and shared unique insights on his public debates with George Steinbrenner, the true motivation behind his retirement at age 34, his chances of being voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and more. This book also focuses on Mattingly s coaching career, including the Yankees choice to hire Joe Girardi instead of Mattingly to succeed Joe Torre as the Yankees skipper before the 2008 season and Mattingly's path to Los Angeles, where he was named Torre's successor as the Dodgers manager following the 2010 season. Through lengthy interviews with Mattingly and the players, coaches, and opponents who know him best, Donnie Baseball will finally reveal the player and coach fans have adored for decades.-Publisher's description.