With an emphasis on instilling a love for the game, this handbook instructs parents and coaches on teaching the basics of baseball to young players. More than 80 photos demonstrate the proper techniques for hitting, fielding, and pitching, and appendices of games and drills reinforce the lessons in ways that youths will enjoy. Taking into account the differing needs of players by age, the authors provide separate discussions for young children and adolescents.

From age-appropriate drills to motivation strategies, this step-by-step guide to youth baseball offers all the information parents and coaches need to help young players reach their full potential.

The landscape of amateur baseball has drastically changed over the last few years. In that time, we have forgotten to remind ourselves that we are dealing with children. Baseball is a game that does offer life lessons and promotes hard work and discipline. What place does joy, inexperience, and futile effort have in the game today? If understanding the game of baseball is such a vital part of achieving success, then, let us step back and simplify the teaching process. "Squish the Bug" A Beginners Guide to Baseball is focused on delivering a simple and positive introduction to baseball for players and parents alike. If we can develop a clear understanding of the necessary fundamentals, then improvement and enrichment will soon follow. Have fun with "Squish the Bug", A Beginner's Guide to Baseball, it may reveal that those closest to our youngsters could very be their best coaches.

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.

An insider’s look at baseball’s unwritten rules, explained with examples from the game’s most fascinating characters and wildest historical moments. Everyone knows that baseball is a game of intricate regulations, but it turns out to be even more complicated than we realize. All aspects of baseball—hitting, pitching, and baserunning—are affected by the Code, a set of unwritten rules that governs the Major League game. Some of these rules are openly discussed (don’t steal a base with a big lead late in the game), while others are known only to a minority of players (don’t cross between the catcher and the pitcher on the way to the batter’s box). In The Baseball Codes, old-timers and all-time greats share their insights into the game’s most hallowed—and least known—traditions. For the learned and the casual baseball fan alike, the result is illuminating and thoroughly entertaining. At the heart of this book are incredible and often hilarious stories involving national heroes (like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays) and notorious headhunters (like Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale) in a century-long series of confrontations over respect, honor, and the soul of the game. With The Baseball Codes, we see for the first time the game as it’s actually played, through the eyes of the players on the field. With rollicking stories from the past and new perspectives on baseball’s informal rulebook, The Baseball Codes is a must for every fan.

No position on the field receives more attention from fans than the starting pitcher, and yet it is one of the most misunderstood positions in all of baseball. Author Rob Trucks conducted dozens of interviews with major league hurlers, from past greats like Jim Kaat and Bill Spaceman Lee to today's top pitchers, including Bronson Arroyo and Jake Peavy, to give baseball fans an insider's look at this key position.

Everything You Need to Become a Hardball Know-It-All The next book in the Fanbook series from Sports Illustrated Kids, The Baseball Fanbook has all the nerdy-cool insider knowledge that fans ready for next-level, in-depth stats need to know to impress their friends, family, coaches, and any season ticket holders they may meet. Tailor-made for baseball fanatics ages 8 and up who know the basics of the sport they love, may play it, and are looking to become super fans, this new fanbook is filled with fun trivia, unique lingo, and illustrated behind-the-skills how-to's. Chapters include Team Tidbits (salient baseball facts about every MLB team), Think Like a Manager (essential strategies to understand), He Reminds Me Of (compares current players to legendary greats of AmericaÕs favorite pastime), and much more!