Author Michael Hermann, president of Wicked Cow Entertainment, and The Wiffle Ball Inc.'s, brand managers, gives readers an inside look at this palatial Wiffle get-up and at the best Wiffle fields around, as well as the down-and-dirty on how in 1953 a down-on-his luck shoe polish salesman and his 16-year-old son concocted the first Wiffle Ball from spare perfume packaging, turning a plastic orb into an American icon. You'll explore The Science of Wiffle, and why a Wiffle Ball, well, "waffles." You'll also learn all the how to's: how to build the best field; how to throw the best sinker ball; and how to best tape up a Wiffle Bat. And best of all, major leaguers and A-list celebs will share their fondest and funniest Wiffle memories.

Charles Monagan knows Connecticut. As editor of Connecticut Magazine he has spent years discovering and describing the people, places, and things that comprise the character of his home state. With this entertaining collection of photos, anecdotes, and little-known facts, Monagan presents fifty of his favorite icons—from the hot lobster roll to the Yale Bowl, the U.S.S. Nautilus to the Merritt Parkway—and shows native and newcomer alike the independent spirit and local pride at the heart of this great state of Connecticut.

A brand new edition of the finalist for the 2008 Casey Award, presented annually to the best baseball book, 101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out profiles America’s greatest baseball museums, shrines, sports bars, pop culture landmarks and ballpark sites. From sandlots and skyboxes to TV rooms and sports bars, America’s love for baseball has inspired countless memories, discussions, and tributes. Josh Pahigian takes us across America to explore the places where the game’s history, culture, and lore come to life. Whether we travel by car or sit in the comfort of our favorite armchair, the book guides us to 101 amazing baseball places—including Ted Williams’ boyhood home, the Field of Dreams movie site, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the Chicago bar where the Cubs’ “Curse of the Billy Goat” was born, Babe Ruth’s grave, and scores of other captivating landmarks and curios. Replacing the now-extinct sites from the previous edition, updating entries for attractions that have moved, re-assigning coveted chapters to more inspiring baseball venues that have since opened, and including stunning color photos for nearly all of them, Josh Pahigian has created the perfect gift for any baseball fan.

The author polls several designers of different age groups and phases in their careers about what they consider “good design�. Each has selected an existing design piece they feel to be good, based on their personal definition of what “good� is. The author also takes a critical look at the design to determine if it is effective with its target market and interviews the designer of the piece to unlock the concept behind the design. By taking this backwards approach through design—from completed piece back to conception—readers will discover why the design works and how they can use this information in their own projects.

2015 Top Ten Sports Books for Youth, Booklist Biggie is about one loner's imperfect chase of perfection. Henry "Biggie" Abbott is the son of one of his hometown's most famous athletes. His father was a baseball legend and his step-dad is a close second. At an obese 300+ pounds though, Biggie himself prefers classroom success to sports. As a perfectionist, he doesn't understand why someone would be happy getting two hits in five trips to the plate. "Forty percent, that's an F in any class," he would say. As Biggie's junior year begins, the girl of his dreams, Annabelle Rivers, starts to flirt with him. Hundreds of people have told him to follow in his dad's footsteps and play ball, but Annabelle might be the one to actually convince him to try.