Baseball

Whether you are from the Ricky Bobby era of, "if you ain't first you're last," or from the more recent decades of the "participation trophy kids," When the Fans Go Home takes an easy-to-understand evidenced-based approach to healthy competition. This book is relatable to the most elite athlete as well as the casual fan of sports. It's a guide to understanding healthy ways to compete and accepting loss as not only inevitable but a way to grow and get better for upcoming competitions. The second part of the book talks about my own personal experience as an aging adult competing with fans of baseball at a Dreamweek Camp with the Baltimore Orioles in Florida, where I now call home. So come, share this adventure with me, and find out how one of my most significant losses would emerge into one of my greatest wins and inspire the birth of a book.

Clyde Kinlaw is a washed-up baseball coach who wants to prove it isn't so.Kinlaw was a good ballplayer who became a loyal company man once he retired. He managed his old team, the Portland Loggers. Now he's a scout who doesn't feel as if the new generation of talent evaluators puts any stake in his judgment anymore. He wants to prove them wrong but doesn't know how.Then Kinlaw stumbles upon Taiquon Wattson.Kinlaw's only ally in the Portland front office, Frank Staley Jr., sends him to evaluate Ryne Standback, a first baseman considered one of the country's top high-school prospects. Standback doesn't impress Kinlaw, who dismisses him as a privileged white kid with all the skill money can buy. What draws Kinlaw's attention is a catcher on the other team. Wattson has all the tools but none of the attention. He's a poor kid who lives with his grandmother in a predominantly black town on the banks of the Savannah River. He's known locally for his football, not his baseball, skills. He's a catcher because it's the only position he can play without owning his own glove. Teams always provide a mitt. Taiquon is as raw as the crappie he hauls out of the river to help feed the family. All he knows about baseball is approximately how to play it.Stay away from Sandberg, Kinlaw advises Staley. Let Kinlaw take Wattson under his wing and make him a player. Wattson's not ready. The minor leagues would chew him up and spit him out. Staley finds a place for Kinlaw and Staley to hide. They get to know each other on a long, gradual drive to Texas, where Wattson is playing semi-pro ball and Kinlaw is coaching him.Kinlaw is not rid of Standback, however. Drafted first by Houston, Standback predictably flops in Triple-A, where his agent insisted he be assigned. All of a sudden, Staley smells a bargain and dispatches Kinlaw, already in Texas, to Corpus Christi for a second look. The humbled Standback, his life in ruins, sees that Kinlaw is the only scout who ever dealt with him honestly.Both young men change. Wattson loses his innocence. Standback loses his arrogance. Kinlaw regains his respect.

Calvin: Baseball's Last Dinosaur is the story of Calvin Griffith, who was rescued from poverty and adopted by his uncle (Hall of Famer Clark Griffith) and went on to become owner of the Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins. Calvin's life included friendships with many greats of the game and figures in American history from the 1920s through the 1980s. The Griffith family operation would see many highs and lows, finally succumbing to the corporate-driven economic realities of modern sports. But Calvin, in his typically unvarnished fashion and with Jon Kerr's help, wouldn't go without giving his version of how baseball and the world changed.

On February 11th, 2021, The North Carolina Central Baseball team walked into a meeting with the university's athletic director, expecting to be told they were canceling the upcoming season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, they were told their school was canceling baseball altogether, and that the 2021 season would be its last for the Eagles. Across the nation, historically black colleges and university baseball programs, are on the chopping block. This is the true story of the events leading up to that fateful day and how the NCCU baseball family persevered over the following months. Assistant Coach and author, Ed Porcelli, gives a first-hand account of how the players, coaches, friends, and baseball alumni of NCCU baseball, dealt with the loss of its program. What was the real reason as to why the administration decided to drop baseball? Was this really a financial decision due to the covid pandemic, or were there other factors at play? Be in the dugout, with the players and coaches, as Central enjoys its best and last season representing the Eagles. Presidential photographer Al Drago illustrates the many different emotions of the players during their final season, capturing the last moments of the Eagles, before their inevitable extinction.

The first book to comprehensively examine Lou Gehrig's famous "Luckiest Man" speech.When Lou Gehrig stepped to the plate on Independence Day 1939, he was not there to deliver a home run. For the first time in seventeen years, Gehrig was there to deliver his heart. In recent weeks he had lost his job as the Yankees' first baseman as well as the good health that had made him the team's respected Iron Horse and was facing a death sentence. Nervous and fidgety as he walked through a forest of microphones, Gehrig collected himself and delivered thirteen words that will live forever: "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."Bronx Epitaph, the first comprehensive look at the slugger's epic speech, is the story of Lou Gehrig's finest hour, a homily of so little consequence when first delivered that few newspapers published more than a sentence or two the following day. Over time, however, Gehrig's "Luckiest Man" speech has settled into a sphere so timeless and essential that it seems he delivered it only yesterday. It was, to be sure, his Bronx Epitaph.

Dan's second book on baseball is an outgrowth of his passion to educate people and keeping the game of Baseball alive through his writings.Baseball: From Providence to Prominence is broken down into three sections: first, baseball quotes; second, all original baseball stories on ballplayers from 1880 to 1970; third is Dan's own poems on baseball and the men that brought the game to life. Dan grew up in Providence, Rhode Island, and is a proud graduate of Central High School. He also graduated from Rhode Island Junior College and the Community College of Rhode Island. He has one son, Richard Mickey D'Alessio, in California and a granddaughter named Alice. Dan was a sportswriter for Sports Journal magazine in Rhode Island in 2006-07. Some of his work was published by the Providence Journal, Rhode Island, College Anchor Newspaper and the Valley Breeze. Dan is a member of the Nap Lajoie chapter of the Society of American Baseball Research. He has received letters from Bud Selig and Robert Manfred on his poem titled "Dear Mr. Commissioner" about Shoeless Joe Jackson.

Beginning with the Cleveland Indians' hard luck during World War II, this thrilling history follows the team through its historic role in racial integration and its legendary postwar comeback. Rich with player photographs and stories, this book is sure to excite American history buffs and baseball fans alike. In early 1942, baseball team owners across the country scrambled to assemble makeshift rosters from the remaining ballplayers who had not left the sport for the armed forces. The Cleveland Indians suffered a tremendous loss when star pitcher Bob Feller became the first Major Leaguer to enlist, taking his twenty-plus wins per year with him. To make matters worse, the Indians' new player-manager, Lou Boudreau, had no coaching or managing experience. The resulting team was mediocre, and players struggled to keep up morale. Feller's return in late 1945 sparked a spectacular comeback. A year later Bill Veeck bought the franchise and, over the next two years, signed the first American League players to break the color barrier: Larry Doby and Satchel Paige. The 1948 season ended with the Indians and Boston Red Sox tied, resulting in the American League's first playoff game. Thanks in part to rookie Gene Bearden's outstanding pitching, the Indians went on to beat the National League's Boston Braves for their second World Series title.

"Cheers to Baseball is a down to Earth, fun loving, real life look into what athletics truly teaches and the many stories behind those lessons. Darren Munns captures the true essence of these lifetime lessons you learn through sports and through life."~ Larissa Anderson, Head Softball Coach, University of Missouri"In crafting a lengthy career which has molded countless young men, Coach Munns has accumulated a wealth of knowledge on how the vicissitudes of life are mirrored in baseball. This is a must-read for anyone looking to gain insight into effective qualities of leadership in any endeavor."~ Doug Feldmann, Author and former Major League Scout"Coach Munns is one of the greatest baseball minds I've ever encountered, and a larger than life character. Cheers to Baseball pulls back the curtain on a one-of-a-kind baseball life and career. Once you pick it up, you won't put it down."~ Roy Hallenbeck, Coach for the Major League Baseball Identification Tour and former high school and college baseball coach"I've known Coach Munns for 30 years. His coaching anecdotes, leadership advice, and entertaining stories are on full display in Cheers to Baseball. This is a true baseball masterpiece!"~ John Szefc, Head Baseball Coach, Virginia Tech University---"I have coached college baseball for nearly three decades, but in reality baseball has coached me." ~ Darren MunnsEnjoy the insightful and wildly entertaining story of a college baseball coach that transformed four college baseball programs, who either didn't exist or were perennial losers, into improbable winners against all odds. Coach Munns details his keys to successful leadership including Contrarian philosophies, unique strategies for developing people skills, and the importance of having FUN.Cheers to Baseball by Darren Munns is a baseball jewel, but this easy read is truly beneficial for coaches of other sports, entrepreneurs, supervisors, and all aspiring leaders. Prepare to have your thoughts provoked and laugh out loud while gaining valuable leadership lessons.

Grinders: Baseball’s Intrepid Infantry is a revealing look at the pro players you DON'T remember--the ones who took the hard knocks road, bouncing between the Show and obscurity, never quite achieving their dreams, all for a chance to play the game they love. As a child, author Mike Capps became fascinated with sports journeymen--the players who take the field every week and slip off into obscurity at the end of their careers. As his beloved Grandfather reminded him, "You’ll even see their names in the box scores. They aren’t stars, but they're the engine that drives baseball’s bus.” What his grandfather called baseball’s “engine” we now call “grinders.” The back-and-forth roller coaster ride between professional baseball’s minor leagues and its nirvana, Major League Baseball, remains perplexingly difficult for countless great players and their families. Players like Deacon Jones, Brian Mazone, and Lorenzo Bundy fought tooth and nail for a shot at the big leagues and held on for as long as they could. Grinders—those relentless, hardworking players—fill every roster at every level, season after season. Without their grit, determination, and persistence, the stars wouldn’t shine as brightly. It’s time they got the recognition they deserve. A must-read for every aspiring athlete, youth coach, and passionate sports fan—Grinders is a tribute to the heart and soul of the game.

2022 SABR Seymour Medal<BR> Finalist for the 2021 CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year<BR><BR> When New York Giants owner Charles A. Stoneham came home one night in 1918 and told his teenage son, Horace, “Horrie, I bought you a ballclub,” he set in motion a family legacy. Horace Stoneham would become one of baseball’s greatest figures, an owner who played an essential role in integrating the game, and who was a major force in making our pastime truly national by bringing Major League Baseball to the West Coast.<BR><BR> Horace Stoneham began his tenure with the Giants in 1924, learning all sides of the operation until he moved into the front office. In 1936, when his father died of kidney disease, Horace assumed control of the Giants at age thirty-two, becoming one of the youngest owners in baseball history.<BR><BR> Stoneham played a pivotal role in not just his team’s history but the game itself. In the mid-1940s when the Pacific Coast League sought to gain Major League status, few but Stoneham and Branch Rickey took it seriously, and twelve years later the Giants and Dodgers were the first two teams to relocate west. Stoneham signed former Negro Leaguers Monte Irvin and Hank Thompson, making the Giants the second National League franchise to racially integrate. In the late 1940s, the Giants hired their first Spanish-speaking scout and soon became the leading team in developing Latin American players.<BR><BR> Stoneham was shy and self-effacing and avoided the spotlight. His relationships with players were almost always strong, yet for all his leadership skills and baseball acumen, sustained success eluded most of his teams. In forty seasons his Giants won just five National League pennants and only one World Series.<BR><BR> The Stoneham family business struggled, and the team was forced to sell off its beloved stars, first Willie Mays, then Willie McCovey, and finally Juan Marichal. Then Stoneham had no choice but to sell the club in 1975. While his tenure came to an unfortunate end, he is heralded as a pioneer and leader whose story tells much of baseball history from the 1930s through the 1970s.