Downright Filthy Pitching - The Science of Effective Velocity (EV) is the study of baseball pitch speeds and how location changes the reaction time of the hitter. This science answers why pitchers are great one day and awful the next and why hitters fall into slumps with no answers. For the first time there is scientific proof that will teach pitchers how to go from having 'Nasty Stuff' to becoming 'Downright Filthy'. This book series shows you how to maximize the effects of every pitch in your arsenal, like time management for pitch speed usage. This is the first provable explanation for why certain pitches are swung on and missed one day and hit out of the yard the next. EV gives pitchers a detailed plan to help them maximize their deception............and yes, deception is now measurable and can be practiced. The only scientific pitch calling method has been implemented by Collegiate programs in baseball and softball throughout the country and with many Major League pitchers, catchers and coaches. EV has uncovered the truth behind some longtime myths about pitching. Find out why: 'Shorter Pitchers' may actually be far more deceptive' - 'Outside fastball is not the best pitch in baseball' - 'Keeping the ball down is killing you' and many other myths explained through this new set of goggles that has changed the game. You will never look at the game of baseball the same way again.

Downright Filthy Pitching Book 2 - Hitters' Attention is the second book of the Downright Filthy Pitching Series, describing the incredible discovery of the science of Effective Velocity. Every hitter that ever stepped into a batters box is limited by the human condition. A fastball at the Major League level at 95 MPH travels to home plate in under .395 seconds. The average MLB hitter takes about 1/3 of that time or about .13 to .15 seconds to swing the bat, leaving only .267 seconds to see, identify the direction, identify the spin, which leads to identifying the pitch type, which leads to identifying the true reactionary speed of the pitch and finally to the decision to swing or not. When you factor in the time it takes for the brain to process the 2-5 possible pitch choices it could be, needless to say hitters are at a massive disadvantage. Couple all of this with the fact that Ev efficient pitchers hide the identity of pitches even further by what they learned in Book 1 about Ev Tunnels. This refers to the fastball and the off speed pitches being in the same vertical and horizontal planes for 1/3 to 1/2 of the way to the plate. It is all but impossible for hitters to accomplish all of this and maintain their optimum swing mechanics. Of course hitters can 'make contact' with elite offerings but their production goes down dramatically. After testing hitter's reactionary abilities for many years, Inside Edge, the first data collection service for MLB teams, opened their database to see if the same things were happening at the highest levels. The statistics backed the findings in the reactionary tests at every point. Hitters' Attention is very real and very misunderstood. Let's shed some light on that subject and 'Get Downright Filthy.' Perry Husband

Longlisted for the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing. The lively and fascinating story of baseball’s 150-year hunt for the perfect pitch. In August 2012, Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners pitched a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays in what Terry McDermott calls “one of the greatest exhibitions of off-speed pitches ever put on.” For McDermott, a lifelong fan and student of baseball, the extraordinary events of that afternoon inspired this incisive meditation on the art of pitching. Within the framework of Hernandez’s historic achievement, Off Speed provides a vibrant narrative of the history and evolution of pitching, combining baseball's rich tradition of folklore with the wealth of new metrics from a growing legion of statisticians who are transforming the way we think about the game. Off Speed is also the personal story of a fan’s steadfast devotion, first kindled in McDermott by his father at the local diamond in small-town Iowa and now carried forward with the same passion by his own daughters. Approaching his subject with the love every fan brings to the park and the expertise of a probing journalist, McDermott explores with irrepressible curiosity the science and the romance of baseball.

Downright Filthy Pitching Book 3 - The Science of Pitch Sequencing is the 3rd book of the series on Effective Velocity. Book 1 is the introduction into the science and understanding of what Effective Velocity is all about. Book 2 describes the Hitters' Attention or the human limitations of reacting to a pitch at such high velocities and the MLB studies that back the findings. Book 3 describes how to implement Effective Velocity into your pitching approach in the simplest and most innovative and creative ways. This is the first book to show you how the baseball actually works to create different types of movements, to aid in deception. This is the first book to scientifically show how to gain a significant advantage against hitters by learning to sequence pitches in the most deceptive way possible. This book shows pitchers how to design their most effective pitch assortment and how to use them at maximum efficiency. "I'm an old history teacher. In the history of man some innovations were so revolutionary that they forever changed the course of history. I believe Perry's study and innovation of EV is changing and will change the game of baseball...it has certainly changed the way we attack hitters at Pitching Central. Every day we have a choice. We can choose to stay current and ride the wave as the change alters the landscape...or stubbornly choose to be the cynic and swear the earth is flat...and be at the bottom of the wave when it moves through. Regardless, an innovation of this magnitude will affect us either way." Ron Wolforth Author of the Combat Pitcher- Preparing the Next Generation of Pitchers for Battle CEO Pitching Central

A New York Times bestseller! They burned her home. They stole her brother and sister. But vengeance is following. Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she'll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she's not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old step father Lamb for company. But it turns out Lamb's buried a bloody past of his own. And out in the lawless Far Country the past never stays buried. Their journey will take them across the barren plains to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feud, duel and massacre, high into the unmapped mountains to a reckoning with the Ghosts. Even worse, it will force them into an alliance with Nicomo Cosca, infamous soldier of fortune, and his feckless lawyer Temple, two men no one should ever have to trust . . . Red Country takes place in the same world as the First Law trilogy, Best Served Cold, andThe Heroes. This novel also represents the return of Logen Ninefingers, one of Abercrombie's most beloved characters.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today • “Everything a romantic comedy should be: witty, relatable, and a little complicated.”—People A heartfelt debut about the unlikely relationship between a young woman who’s lost her husband and a major league pitcher who’s lost his game. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR In a sleepy seaside town in Maine, recently widowed Eveleth “Evvie” Drake rarely leaves her large, painfully empty house nearly a year after her husband’s death in a car crash. Everyone in town, even her best friend, Andy, thinks grief keeps her locked inside, and Evvie doesn’t correct them. Meanwhile, in New York City, Dean Tenney, former Major League pitcher and Andy’s childhood best friend, is wrestling with what miserable athletes living out their worst nightmares call the “yips”: he can’t throw straight anymore, and, even worse, he can’t figure out why. As the media storm heats up, an invitation from Andy to stay in Maine seems like the perfect chance to hit the reset button on Dean’s future. When he moves into an apartment at the back of Evvie’s house, the two make a deal: Dean won’t ask about Evvie’s late husband, and Evvie won’t ask about Dean’s baseball career. Rules, though, have a funny way of being broken—and what starts as an unexpected friendship soon turns into something more. To move forward, Evvie and Dean will have to reckon with their pasts—the friendships they’ve damaged, the secrets they’ve kept—but in life, as in baseball, there’s always a chance—up until the last out. A joyful, hilarious, and hope-filled debut, Evvie Drake Starts Over will have you cheering for the two most unlikely comebacks of the year—and will leave you wanting more from Linda Holmes. Praise for Evvie Drake Starts Over “A quirky, sweet, and splendid story of a woman coming into her own.”—Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six “Effortlessly enjoyable . . . [a] pitch-perfect . . . adult love story that is as romantic as it is real.”–USA Today “Charming, hopeful, and gently romantic . . . Evvie Drake is great company.”—Rainbow Rowell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park

Originally published in hardcover in 2008.