Shawn Green’s career statistics can be found on the backs of baseball cards in shoe boxes across America: 328 home runs, 1,071 RBIs, .282 career batting average, All-Star, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger. . . . But numbers tell only part of the story. His path to success was as grounded in philosophical study as in ballpark wisdom. Striving to find stillness within the rip-roaring scene of Major League Baseball—from screaming fans to national scandals— Green learned to approach the sport with a clear mind. In the tradition of Phil Jackson’s Sacred Hoops, Green shares the secrets to remaining focused both on and off the field, shedding light on a signature approach to living by using his remarkable baseball experiences to exemplify how one can find full awareness, presence, and, ultimately, fulfillment in any endeavor. Following his development from inconsistent rookie to established All-Star to aging veteran, The Way of Baseball illustrates the spiritual practices that enabled him to “bring stillness into the flow of life.” Requiring mastery of perspective and continual management of ego, the game of baseball afforded Green the opportunity to explore his potential as more than just a ballplayer. A treasure of practical wisdom and an intimate look at what it really means to “let go,” The Way of Baseball illuminates the creative possibilities within us all.

Major League All-Star Green shares how his baseball career has taught him to live life being fully present in every moment.

"The Way Baseball Works will change the way you view America's national pastime. By breaking baseball down into its integral parts, the book explains the importance of each to the whole through minute analysis and highly detailed visuals. Veteran baseball writer Dan Gutman answers the big questions and then opens your eyes to elements you hadn't even imagined. Not just a simple how-to book, The Way Baseball Works covers all the bases, including equipment: how the tools of the game - the bat, ball, glove, mask, and so many more - were born, how they developed, and how they influenced the game; strategy: how the manger makes decisions, what each player is thinking as the pitcher goes into his windup, the psychological warfare that goes on in the confrontation between hitter and pitcher; and playing the game: how the fastball, curver, splitter, slider and knuckler are thrown, and what a batter can do to hit them. The beauty of the double play. The art of the stolen base." "Through photos, charts, and computer-generated graphics, this fascinating and instructive book will deepen every fan's understanding and appreciation of the game. Created in conjunction with the National Baseball Hall of Fame, The Way Baseball Works carries the mark of one of America's most venerable institutions and the world's best source for baseball knowledge."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Reveals how the study of Zen philosophy and the martial arts enabled Sadaharu Oh, Japan's greatest baseball star, to become the biggest home-run hitter of all time.

NEW YORK TIMES bestseller WALL STREET JOURNAL bestseller #1 New York Times bestselling author Joe Posnanski is back with a masterful ode to the game: a countdown of 50 of the most memorable moments in baseball’s history, to make you fall in love with the sport all over again. Posnanski writes of major moments that created legends, and of forgotten moments almost lost to time. It's Willie Mays’s catch, Babe Ruth’s called shot, and Kirk Gibson’s limping home run; the slickest steals; the biggest bombs; and the most triumphant no-hitters. But these are also moments raw with the humanity of the game, the unheralded heroes, the mesmerizing mistakes drenched in pine tar, and every story, from the immortal to the obscure, is told from a unique perspective. Whether of a real fan who witnessed it, or the pitcher who gave up the home run, the umpire, the coach, the opposing player—these are fresh takes on moments so powerful they almost feel like myth. Posnanski’s previous book, The Baseball 100, portrayed the heroes and pioneers of the sport, and now, with his trademark wit, encyclopedic knowledge, and acute observations, he gets at the real heart of the game. From nineteenth-century pitchers’ duels to breaking the sport’s color line in the ’40s, all the way to the greatest trick play of the last decade and the slide home that became a meme, Posnanski’s illuminating take allows us to rediscover the sport we love—and thought we knew. Why We Love Baseball is an epic that ends too soon, a one-of-a-kind love letter to the sport that has us thrilled, torn, inspired, and always wanting more.

How To Play The All Star Way is a series of introductory sports books for girls and boys. Each title contains a brief history of the sport, how the sport is played, the playing positions, offensive and defensive strategies, how and where to join a team, the role of the coach, and where to get more information about the sport.

It takes a 90 mph fastball 400 milliseconds to travel from the pitcher’s hand to the catcher’s glove. It takes the human brain 80-100 milliseconds to process the image of the ball. And the average swing time requires 150 milliseconds. Snap your fingers. That’s more than the amount of time the batter has to assess the pitch and decide whether to swing. Hitting a baseball may be the most difficult thing in all of sports. Yet, instructor and author Ronnie Ortegon has helped hundreds upon thousands of players reach their diamond dreams with his simplistic, yet sound strategy that he calls “The Hitter’s Discipline.” “Ronnie is the best hitting instructor I’ve ever worked with,” says former MLB outfielder Drew Stubbs. Ortegon is, indeed, among the best teachers in the game, and this book contains all the philosophies and techniques he has helped others master over the course of his lifetime.