A baseball player risks his career in 1922 when he agrees to play in a game against a black semi-pro team from East St. Louis. He realizes there's more at stake than his career when a black pitcher is lynched and killed by the Klan. Mickey investigates the murder, and is plunged into a shocking world of violence and corruption.

The definitive work on the language of baseball—one of the “Five Best Baseball Books” (Wall Street Journal). Hailed as “a staggering piece of scholarship” (Wall Street Journal) and “an indispensable guide to the language of baseball” (San Diego Union-Tribune), The Dickson Baseball Dictionary has become an invaluable resource for those who love the game. Drawing on dozens of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century periodicals, as well as contemporary sources, Dickson’s brilliant, illuminating definitions trace the earliest appearances of terms both well known and obscure. This edition includes more than 10,000 terms with 18,000 individual entries, and more than 250 photos. This “impressively comprehensive” (The Nation) book will delight everyone from the youngest fan to the hard-core aficionado.

The conclusion of the Sandy Koufax Era was a wild roller coaster ride for the LA Dodgers. Overly dependent on the fragile left arm of their to-be Hall of Fame left-hander, they careened from their worst season since World War II in 1964 after losing Koufax to an injury in mid-August, to a World Series Championship in 1965 on the strength of his shutout performance on short rest in Game 7 with the Twins, to an ignominious World Series collapse to the Orioles in 1966 after he single-handedly saved the Dodgers' 1966 regular season in the final game. In the last two seasons of his career, Koufax averaged an impressive 27 complete games, 27 wins and 350 strikeouts. Yet 16 days after winning his second straight unanimous Cy Young Award, he shocked Major League Baseball by announcing he was going to retire. Like a supernova that had lit up the sports world for six years, he flamed out and was gone by age 30.

Still not sure what makes a sinker different from a curve? Can't remember when the M&M boys played with the Yankees? Want to know where the "seventh-inning stretch" comes from? Then you've done the right thing by picking up this book - the most complete collection of baseball terms and slang to be found between two covers. Impeccably researched, The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary covers all the bases.

Play, watch, and understand America's favorite pastime Baseball continues to be a popular game both as a spectator sport and as a pastime. Since the publication of Baseball For Dummies, 3rd Edition, baseball teams have changed, new MLB stadiums have been built, and rules have been updated. This updated 4th Edition brings you the latest information on the players, the places, and above all, the game. Baseball For Dummies is for baseball fans at all levels, from players and coaches to spectators who love the game. Baseball Hall of Fame player Joe Morgan explains baseball with remarkable insight, using down-to-earth language so everyone from the casual observer to the die-hard fan can gain a fuller appreciation of the sport. Improve your hitting, pitching, and fielding Find a baseball team to play on, from Little League on up Evaluate stats, players, and records Coach baseball or umpire effectively Get more out of a trip to the ballpark The latest on baseball stats and sabermetrics Complete with Morgan's personal lists of top-ten toughest pitchers, smartest players, and most strategic managers, Baseball For Dummies gives you all the inside tips, facts, and stats so you can have Major League fun!

Gamer By: John Coppett Gamer by John Coppett is a unique tale of fiction based on the life of Millard “Frosty” Snyder, a 74-year-old widower. As we meet Frosty on an early April day, he is tending the garden that his late wife, Francine, had loved and cared for; it is the first anniversary of her passing. The couple had been childless, which had left Frosty without a support system. Gardening was an activity that provided some relief from his sorrow; it made him feel close to Francine. The story unravels in several realms of time and space, which gives the reader a deeper understanding of the life of Frosty Snyder. There will be glimpses of his past as a Minor League Baseball catcher and later as a scout for the Cardinals; with so many memories, his recollections prompt him to consult with Francine, even though she is gone. There is the present, which takes off with an unexpected invitation to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and makes him a celebrity in his hometown. And then there are the ghosts of players from the past, now playing for the Eternal League; will this be in Frosty’s future? With Frosty’s notoriety, come opportunities he could never have dreamed of at the age of seventy-four. Will the possibility of a scandal create more stress than he can handle; or, will Frosty Snyder succeed in fulfilling a promise made, showing himself to be a true “gamer”? Enjoy the rollercoaster ride that is the life of Millard “Frosty” Snyder. To quote the author, “Never give up on a dream.”

With his fourth book from Reedy Press, The Making of an Icon, Jim Merkel captured the spirit behind the conception and construction of one of America’s most distinctive and beloved national monuments. More than two million visitors stand in awe at the Gateway Arch each year, and the stories behind it were unearthed in breathless detail in the first edition. Back with even more lore and the addition of beautiful color images, Merkel brings new information on the Arch grounds and museum to this updated and revised second edition. Now expanded, his book includes more stories compiled from interviews with the visionaries, finaglers, protesters, and intrepid workers who built the arch while one misstep away from a fatal fall. Merkel’s book will help us appreciate the relentless pursuit, innovation, and toil that raised the Arch to the sky.