This is a story about life and baseball, or maybe about baseball and life by a confessed baseball coaching lifer whose every attempt to retire has failed. So I decided to write about it. After all, it's like my wife tells me, just tell stories. So that's what I have done. The problem is, that every time we talk, we are reminded that there is another story to tell. At lunch today with sons Josh and Carl (whom both played for me, though not always willingly) we were reminded of the Legion season that Josh caught a full season of doubleheaders unbeknownst to us with a cracked bone in his ankle. While eating I received a text from my son, Rusty (who like Josh, also coached with me) coaches an MSBL team in Phoenix. He is having a terrible season and has entertained thoughts of retiring. I sent him a draft of this manuscript today, and received this text while eating lunch: "I've been ready to quit coaching after this season. After reading chapter 1, I am not ever quitting!" Thanks, Rusty. I hope you like this.

This is a story about life and baseball, or maybe about baseball and life by a confessed baseball coaching lifer whose every attempt to retire has failed. So I decided to write about it. After all, it’s like my wife tells me, just tell stories. So that’s what I have done. The problem is, that every time we talk, we are reminded that there is another story to tell. At lunch today with sons Josh and Carl (who both played for me, though not always willingly) we were reminded of the Legion season that Josh caught a full season of double headers unbeknownst to us with a cracked bone in his ankle. While eating I received a text from son, Rusty (who like Josh, also coached with me) coaches an MSBL team in Phoenix. He is having a terrible season, and has entertained thoughts of retiring. I sent him a draft of this manuscript today, and received this text while eating lunch: “I’ve been ready to quit coaching after this season. After reading chapter 1, I am not ever quitting!” Thanks, Rusty. I hope you like this.

Sportscaster Howard Cosell dubbed it "rule number one of the jockocracy" sports and politics just don't mix. But in Game Over, celebrated alt-sportswriter Dave Zirin proves once and for all that politics has breached the modern sports arena with a vengeance. From the NFL lockout and the role of soccer in the Arab Spring to the Penn State sexual abuse scandals and Tim Tebow's on-field genuflections, this timely and hard-hitting new book from the "conscience of American sportswriting" (The Washington Post) reveals how our most important debates about class, race, religion, sex, and the raw quest for political power are played out both on and off the field. Game Over offers new insights and analysis of headline-grabbing sports controversies, exploring the shady side of the NCAA, the explosive 2011 MLB All-Star Game, and why the Dodgers crashed and burned. It covers the fascinating struggles of gay and lesbian athletes to gain acceptance, female athletes to be more than sex symbols, and athletes everywhere to assert their collective bargaining rights as union members. Zirin also illustrates the ways in which athletes are once again using their exalted platforms to speak out and reclaim sports from the corporate interests that have taken it hostage. In Game Over, he cheers the victories but also reflects on how far we have yet to go. Combining brilliant set pieces with a sobering overview of today's sports scene in Zirin's take-no-prisoners style, Game Over is a must read for anyone, sports fan or not, interested in understanding how sports reflect and shape society--and why the stakes have never been higher.

A biography of the Seattle Mariners hitting and fielding star who won the MVP and Rookie of the Year Award in 2001 and became the first successful Japanese player in the Major Leagues.

With her sisters both too pregnant to help with Marconi Construction, Jo Marconi is forced to hire carpenter Cash Hunter, whose rumored talents go beyond a mastery of wood. Cash is determined to seduce her… and Jo's just as determined not to be seduced. Though she can feel the electric passion when he’s near, she knows how much damage electricity can cause—and she’s been hurt enough for a lifetime. So she’ll resist his charms. She’ll resist his lingering kiss. And above all, she’ll resist falling in love. Praise for The Marconi Brides: "This engaging second-chance-at-love story displays Child's trademark tenderness toward children, her belief in the importance of family through good times and bad, and the sort of engagingly quirky supporting characters she portrays so well, all set in a familiar, warm, and comforting hometown atmosphere." - Booklist on AND THEN CAME YOU "Child is at her most charming in [this] contemporary romance series..." - Publishers Weekly on CRAZY KIND OF LOVE

Late in 1937 Hugh Alexander, a kid fresh out of small-town Oklahoma, had just finished his second year playing outfield for the Cleveland Indians when an oil rig accident ripped off his left hand. Within three months he was back with the Indians, but this time as a scout—the youngest ever in Major League history. In the next six decades he signed more players who made it to the Majors than any other scout. His story, Baseball’s Last Great Scout, reads like a backroom, bleacher-seat history of twentieth-century baseball—and a primer on what it takes to find a winner. It gives a gritty picture of learning the business on the road, from American Legion field to try-out camp to beer joint, and making the fine distinctions between “performance” and “tools of the trade” when checking out prospects. Over the years Alexander worked for the Indians, the White Sox, the LA Dodgers, the Phillies, and the Cubs—and signed the likes of Allie Reynolds, Don Sutton, and Marty Bystrom. This book, based on extensive interviews and Alexander’s journals, is filled with memorable characters, pithy lessons, snapshots of American life, and a big picture of America’s pastime from one of its great off-the-field players.

In 1937, the Great Depression was still lingering, but at baseball parks across the country there was a sense of optimism. Major League attendance was on a sharp rise. Tickets to an Indians game at League Park on Lexington and East 66th were $1.60 for box seats, $1.35 for reserve seats, and $.55 for the bleachers. Cleveland fans were particularly upbeat—Bob Feller, the teenage phenomenon, was a farm boy with a blistering fast ball. Night games were an exciting development. Better days were ahead. But there were mounting issues facing the Indians. For one thing, it was rumored that the team had illegally signed Feller. Baseball Commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was looking into that matter and one other. Issues with an alcoholic catcher, dugout fights, bats thrown into stands, injuries, and a player revolt kept things lively. In Bad Boys, Bad Times: The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Prewar Years, 1937–1941—the follow-up to his No Money, No Beer, No Pennants: The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Great Depression—baseball historian Scott H. Longert writes about an exciting period for the team, with details and anecdotes that will please fans all over.