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| astros spring training 2024: The Cactus League Emily Nemens, 2020-02-04 Named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR and Lit Hub. A Los Angeles Times Bestseller. A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice In The Cactus League [Emily Nemens] provides her readers with what amounts to a miniature, self-enclosed world that is funny and poignant and lovingly observed. --Charles McGrath, The New York Times Book Review An explosive, character-driven odyssey through the world of baseball Jason Goodyear is the star outfielder for the Los Angeles Lions, stationed with the rest of his team in the punishingly hot Arizona desert for their annual spring training. Handsome, famous, and talented, Goodyear is nonetheless coming apart at the seams. And the coaches, writers, wives, girlfriends, petty criminals, and diehard fans following his every move are eager to find out why—as they hide secrets of their own. Humming with the energy of a ballpark before the first pitch, Emily Nemens's The Cactus League unravels the tightly connected web of people behind a seemingly linear game. Narrated by a sportscaster, Goodyear’s story is interspersed with tales of Michael Taylor, a batting coach trying to stay relevant; Tamara Rowland, a resourceful spring-training paramour, looking for one last catch; Herb Allison, a legendary sports agent grappling with his decline; and a plethora of other richly drawn characters, all striving to be seen as the season approaches. It’s a journey that, like the Arizona desert, brims with both possibility and destruction. Anchored by an expert knowledge of baseball’s inner workings, Emily Nemens's The Cactus League is a propulsive and deeply human debut that captures a strange desert world that is both exciting and unforgiving, where the most crucial games are the ones played off the field. |
| astros spring training 2024: Cheated Andy Martino, 2021-06-08 “A baseball book that reads like a spy novel—a story about cheaters and the cheated that has the power to forever change how we feel about the game.” —Brian Williams, MSNBC anchor and host of The 11th Hour The definitive insider story of one of the biggest cheating scandals to ever rock Major League Baseball, bringing down high-profile coaches and players, and exposing a long-rumored sign-stealing dark side of baseball The ensuing scandal rivaled that of the 1919 Black Sox and the more recent steroid era, and became one of the most significant that the game had ever seen. The fallout ensnared many other teams, either as victims, alleged cheaters or both. The Los Angeles Dodgers felt robbed of a World Series title, and fended off accusations about their organization. Same for the New York Yankees. The Boston Red Sox were soon under investigation themselves. The New York Mets lost a promising manager before he ever managed a game. Andy Martino, an award-winning journalist who has covered Major League Baseball for more than a decade, has broken numerous stories about the Astros and sign-stealing in baseball. In Cheated, Martino takes readers behind the scenes and into the heart of the events that shocked the baseball world. With inside access to the people directly involved, Martino breaks down not only exactly what happened and when, but reveals the fascinating explanations of why it all came about. The nuance and detail of the scandal reads like a true sports whodunnit. How did otherwise good people like Astros' manager A.J. Hinch, bench coach Alex Cora and veteran leader Carlos Beltran find themselves on the wrong side of clear ethical lines? And did they even know when those lines had been crossed? Cheated is an explosive, electrifying read. |
| astros spring training 2024: Astroball Ben Reiter, 2019-03-26 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The inside story of the Houston Astros, whose relentless innovation took them from the worst team in baseball to the World Series in 2017 and 2019 “Reiter’s superb narrative of how the team got there provides powerful insights into how organizations—not just baseball clubs—work best.”—The Wall Street Journal Astroball picks up where Michael Lewis’s acclaimed Moneyball leaves off, telling the thrilling story of a championship team that pushed both the sport and business of baseball to the next level. In 2014, the Astros were the worst baseball team in half a century, but just three years later they defied critics to win a stunning World Series. In this book, Ben Reiter shows how the Astros built a system that avoided the stats-versus-scouts divide by giving the human factor a key role in their decision-making. Sitting at the nexus of sports, business, and innovation, Astroball is the story of the next wave of thinking in baseball and beyond, at once a remarkable underdog tale and a fascinating look at the cutting edge of evaluating and optimizing human potential. |
| astros spring training 2024: The MVP Machine Ben Lindbergh, Travis Sawchik, 2019-06-04 Move over, Moneyball -- this New York Times bestseller examines major league baseball's next cutting-edge revolution: the high-tech quest to build better players. As bestselling authors Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik reveal in The MVP Machine, the Moneyball era is over. Fifteen years after Michael Lewis brought the Oakland Athletics' groundbreaking team-building strategies to light, every front office takes a data-driven approach to evaluating players, and the league's smarter teams no longer have a huge advantage in valuing past performance. Lindbergh and Sawchik's behind-the-scenes reporting reveals: How undersized afterthoughts José Altuve and Mookie Betts became big sluggers and MVPs How polarizing pitcher Trevor Bauer made himself a Cy Young contender How new analytical tools have overturned traditional pitching and hitting techniques How a wave of young talent is making MLB both better than ever and arguably worse to watch Instead of out-drafting, out-signing, and out-trading their rivals, baseball's best minds have turned to out-developing opponents, gaining greater edges than ever by perfecting prospects and eking extra runs out of older athletes who were once written off. Lindbergh and Sawchik take us inside the transformation of former fringe hitters into home-run kings, show how washed-up pitchers have emerged as aces, and document how coaching and scouting are being turned upside down. The MVP Machine charts the future of a sport and offers a lesson that goes beyond baseball: Success stems not from focusing on finished products, but from making the most of untapped potential. |
| astros spring training 2024: 100 Things Astros Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die (World Series Edition) Brian McTaggart, Craig Biggio, 2018-04-16 There's never been a better time to be an Astros fan, and this lively, detailed book explores the personalities, events, and facts every fan should know. Whether you're a die-hard booster from the days of the Colt .45's or a new supporter of Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, these are the 100 things all fans need to know and do in their lifetime. It contains every essential piece of Astros knowledge and trivia, as well as must-do activities, and ranks them all from 1 to 100, providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist as you progress on your way to fan superstardom. This World Series edition has been updated to include the team's 2017 championship season as well as a new generation of stars, including Altuve, Correa, George Springer, Dallas Keuchel, Justin Verlander, and more. |
| astros spring training 2024: Astros Strong Houston Chronicle, 2017-11-03 During three consecutive 100-loss seasons, Houston Astros management asked fans to be patient, promising them there was a plan in place that would result in success. That patience was rewarded with the ultimate prize in 2017, as the Astros knocked off the Los Angeles Dodgers in thrilling fashion to claim the first World Series crown in team history. During the regular season they ran away with the American League West, winning the division by a massive 21 games. Anchored by a dynamic offense and boosted by the late-season acquisition of a resurgent Justin Verlander, this historic team would not be denied on their way to the long-awaited title. Packed with superb coverage and vivid color photography from the Houston Chronicle, Astros Strong: Houston's Historic 2017 Championship Season guides fans through the Astros' entire amazing journey &– from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey and resiliency of the Houston community, to the Astros' quick work of the powerful Red Sox in the ALDS; from their hard-fought ALCS win over the young Yankees, all the way through their incredible World Series triumph over the dominant Dodgers. This commemorative edition also includes feature stories on Astros stars Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, George Springer, and other fan favorites, and is a must-have keepsake for Astros fans of all generations. |
| astros spring training 2024: Tampa Spring Training Tales Rick Vaughn, 2024-03-11 Author Rick Vaughn uncovers the stories that keep Tampa's passion for the National Pastime burning . /b/p |
| astros spring training 2024: Field of Schemes Neil deMause, Joanna Cagan, 2015-03 |
| astros spring training 2024: One Last Strike Tony La Russa, Rick Hummel, 2012-09-25 One Last Strike by legendary baseball manager Tony La Russa is a thrilling sports comeback story. La Russa, the winner of four Manager of the Year awards—who led his teams to six Pennant wins and three World Series crowns—chronicles one of the most exciting end-of-season runs in baseball history, revealing with fascinating behind-the-scenes details how, under his expert management, the St. Louis Cardinals emerged victorious in the 2011 World Series despite countless injuries, mishaps, and roadblocks along the way. Talking candidly about the remarkable season—and his All-Star players like Albert Pujols and David Freese—the recently retired La Russa celebrates his fifty years in baseball, his team’s amazing recovery from 10 ½ games back, and one final, unforgettable championship in a book that no true baseball fan will want to miss. |
| astros spring training 2024: New York Yankees 2020 Official Media Guide and Record Book New York Yankees Media Relations Department, 2020-02-24 Typically available only to sportswriters, broadcasters and Yankees front office staff, the New York Yankees 2020 Official Media Guide and Record Book is the ultimate insider's resource and collectible. It contains stats and biographies of every player in the Yankees organization, hundreds of photos of Yankees past and present, and the definitive history of the club since its inception in 1903. The experts agree that the Yankees 2020 Official Media Guide and Record Book is the best and most comprehensive book about the Yankees anywhere |
| astros spring training 2024: Ball Four Jim Bouton, 2012-03-20 The 50th Anniversary edition of “the book that changed baseball” (NPR), chosen by Time magazine as one of the “100 Greatest Non-Fiction” books. When Ball Four was published in 1970, it created a firestorm. Bouton was called a Judas, a Benedict Arnold, and a “social leper” for having violated the “sanctity of the clubhouse.” Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force Bouton to sign a statement saying the book wasn’t true. Ballplayers, most of whom hadn’t read it, denounced the book. It was even banned by a few libraries. Almost everyone else, however, loved Ball Four. Fans liked discovering that athletes were real people—often wildly funny people. David Halberstam, who won a Pulitzer for his reporting on Vietnam, wrote a piece in Harper’s that said of Bouton: “He has written . . . a book deep in the American vein, so deep in fact that it is by no means a sports book.” Today Ball Four has taken on another role—as a time capsule of life in the sixties. “It is not just a diary of Bouton’s 1969 season with the Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros,” says sportswriter Jim Caple. “It’s a vibrant, funny, telling history of an era that seems even further away than four decades. To call it simply a ‘tell all book’ is like describing The Grapes of Wrath as a book about harvesting peaches in California.” Includes a new foreword by Jim Bouton's wife, Paula Kurman “An irreverent, best-selling book that angered baseball’s hierarchy and changed the way journalists and fans viewed the sports world.” —The Washington Post |
| astros spring training 2024: Future Value Eric Longenhagen, Kiley McDaniel, Keith Law, 2020-04-14 An unprecedented look inside the world of baseball scouting and evaluation from two of the industry's top prospect analysts For the modern Major League team, player evaluation is a complex, multi-pronged, high-tech pursuit. But far from becoming obsolete in this environment—as Michael Lewis' Moneyball once forecast—the role of the scout in today's game has evolved and even expanded. Rather than being the antithesis of a data-driven approach, scouting now represents an essential analytical component in a team's arsenal. Future Value is a thorough dive into baseball's changing world of talent acquisition and development, a world with its own language, methods, metrics, and madness. From rural high schools to elite amateur showcases, from the back fields of spring training to major league draft rooms, Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel break down the key systems and techniques used to assess talent. It's a process that has moved beyond the quintessential stopwatches and radar guns to include statistical models, countless measurable indicators, and a broader international reach. ?Practical and probing, discussing wide-ranging topics from tool grades to front office politics, this is an illuminating exploration of how to watch baseball and see the future. |
| astros spring training 2024: The Lords of the Realm John Helyar, 2011-07-27 The ultimate chronicle of the games behind the game.—The New York Times Book Review Baseball has always inspired rhapsodic elegies on the glory of man and golden memories of wonderful times. But what you see on the field is only half the game. In this fascinating, colorful chronicle—based on hundreds of interviews and years of research and digging—John Helyar brings to vivid life the extraordinary people and dramatic events that shaped America's favorite pastime, from the dead-ball days at the turn of the century through the great strike of 1994. Witness zealous Judge Landis banish eight players, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, after the infamous Black Sox scandal; the flamboyant A's owner Charlie Finley wheel and deal his star players, Vida Blue and Rollie Fingers, like a deck of cards; the hysterical bidding war of coveted free agent Catfish Hunter; the chain-smoking romantic, A. Bartlett Giamatti, locking horns with Pete Rose during his gambling days of summer; and much more. Praise for The Lords of the Realm A must-read for baseball fans . . . reads like a suspense novel.—Kirkus Reviews Refreshingly hard-headed . . . the only book you'll need to read on the subject.—Newsday Lots of stories . . . well told, amusing . . . edifying.—The Washington Post |
| astros spring training 2024: My Dad, Yogi Dale Berra, 2019-05-07 In this nostalgic memoir, a son provides a unique perspective on his legendary father–the baseball star, Yogi Berra. Yogi Berra was the backbone of the New York Yankees through ten World Series Championships. In My Dad, Yogi is Dale Berra chronicles his unshakeable bond with his father, going back to his suburban New Jersey upbringing, his parents’ enduring relationship, and his Dad’s formidable career. Following in his Dad’s footsteps, Dale came up with the Pittsburgh Pirates, contributing to their 1979 championship season and emerging as one of baseball's most talented young players before eventually uniting with his Dad in the Yankee dugout. Yogi supported his son throughout his highs of his careers and lows of a drug addiction, eventually staging an intervention that would save Dale's life, and draw the entire family even closer. My Dad, Yogi is Dale's tribute to his dad–a treat for baseball fans and fathers and sons everywhere. |
| astros spring training 2024: Bouton Mitchell Nathanson, 2022-04 Bouton examines the remarkable life of a player and an author who forever changed the way we view not only sports books but professional sports as a whole. |
| astros spring training 2024: Making Airwaves: 60+ Years at Milo's Microphone Milo Hamilton, 2012-01-31 MissingMilo Hamilton has called 11 no-hitters and a World Series, often in tandem with such broadcast legends as Jack Buck, Jack Brickhouse, Bob Elson, and Harry Caray. His work was so well-received that he was enshrined into the broadcasters? wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992. He received an even more unexpected honor eight years later ? election to the exclusive Radio Hall of Fame, of which only seven other baseball broadcasters belong. He has truly managed to work his way up from humble origins. The story he tells in Making Airwaves: 60 Years at Milo's Microphone is a profile in courage, a tale of talent and determination, and a behind-the-scenes look at seven decades of baseball history. |
| astros spring training 2024: My Mets Bible Evan Roberts, 2024-04-02 A love letter to New York Mets fandom— the triumphs, the heartbreak, and everything in between Childhood for Evan Roberts was defined by outings to the old Shea Stadium with his father, always with a scorebook in hand. What began as a gameday ritual replete with misspelled player names and scrawled symbols turned into an obsession with scoring every game he watched, one which persisted as Roberts rose through the ranks at WFAN. Taken together, those scorebooks form a living, breathing Mets diary spanning 30 years of thrilling— and, at times, tortured— fandom.My Baseball Bible is an exercise in memory and nostalgia, and a meditation on the things that stick with us as sports fans. With his personal scorecards as a guide, Roberts brings to life some of the most unforgettable moments in Mets lore, offering a fresh perspective on the highs and lows of being a die-hard fan. Meticulously kept history mixes with personal recollections and behind-the-scenes anecdotes covering touchstone events such as Johan Santana's no-hitter, Robin Ventura's grand slam single, and the loss that Roberts has never quite gotten over.By turns heartfelt and hilarious, Roberts delivers a thrilling and wholly unique journey through modern Mets history. |
| astros spring training 2024: Winning Fixes Everything Evan Drellich, 2023-02-14 The reporter who broke the Houston Astros' cheating scandal reveals how a baseball team could so dramatically descend into corruption, with never-before-told details of a broken management culture, the once-revered leaders who enabled it and the scandal itself. Baseball, that old romantic game, has been defaced and consumed by corporate America. As Moneyball-thinking and Ivy League graduates grabbed hold of the sport, the Astros set out to build a cost-efficient winning machine on the principles of the outside business world, squeezing every dollar out of every transaction, player and employee. In less than a decade, ex-Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow helped revolutionize the game. He created an environment that led to one of the worst cheating scandals in baseball history, a Shakespearean tragedy of innovation and failed change management. Through years of extensive interviews, former Houston Chronicle beat writer Evan Drellich, now a national writer for The Athletic, delivers the definitive account of baseball’s most controversial franchise and how a modern baseball team truly works—without the usual myth-spinning. Drellich reveals the rise and fall of the Astros to be a collision of subcultures. The team’s top boss was a former McKinsey consultant who lived on the bleeding edge with no guardrails. He hired outsider after outsider to change the organization as quickly and cheaply as possible. The wins piled up, and so did the cash for the billionaire owner with a checkered business past. But not even a World Series title could cover up the rot. All of it came at a cost to fans, employees, and the sport on a whole. But as Winning Fixes Everything makes clear, “The Astros Way” isn’t going anywhere. Drellich uses the saga of the Astros’ scandal to detail the evolution of baseball itself. |
| astros spring training 2024: Cincinnati Red and Dodger Blue Tom Van Riper, 2017-04-13 Call it the forgotten rivalry. The Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers may not share geographical boundaries, and today they don’t even play in the same division, but for a period of time in the 1970s Dodgers vs. Reds was the best rivalry in Major League Baseball. They boasted the biggest names of the game—Johnny Bench, Steve Garvey, Pete Rose, Don Sutton, and Ron Cey, to name a few—and appeared in the World Series seven out of nine years. In Cincinnati Red and Dodger Blue: Baseball's Greatest Forgotten Rivalry, Tom Van Riper provides a fresh look at these two powerhouse teams and the circumstances that made them so pivotal. Van Riper delves into the players, managers, executives, and broadcasters from the rivalry whose impact on baseball continued beyond the 1970s—including the first recipient of Tommy John surgery (Tommy John himself), the all-time hit king turned gambling pariah (Pete Rose), and two young announcers who would soon go on to national prominence (Al Michaels and Vin Scully). In addition, Van Riper recounts in detail the 1973 season when both teams were at or near their peak form, particularly the extra-inning nail-biter between the Reds and Dodgers that took place on September 21 and effectively decided the divisional race. Cincinnati Red and Dodger Blue includes never-before-published interviews with former players from the rivalry, providing a personal and in-depth look at this decade in baseball full of upheaval and change. Baseball’s realignment in 1994 may have rendered this great rivalry nearly forgotten, but its story is one that will be enjoyed by baseball fans and historians of all generations. |
| astros spring training 2024: Big Data Baseball Travis Sawchik, 2015-05-19 Big Data Baseball provides a behind-the-scenes look at how the Pittsburgh Pirates used big data strategies to end the longest losing streak in North American pro sports history. New York Times Bestseller After twenty consecutive losing seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates, team morale was low, the club’s payroll ranked near the bottom of the sport, game attendance was down, and the city was becoming increasingly disenchanted with its team. Big Data Baseball is the story of how the 2013 Pirates, mired in the longest losing streak in North American pro sports history, adopted drastic big-data strategies to end the drought, make the playoffs, and turn around the franchise’s fortunes. Big Data Baseball is Moneyball for a new generation. Award-winning journalist Travis Sawchik takes you behind the scenes to expertly weave together the stories of the key figures who changed the way the Pirates played the game, revealing how a culture of collaboration and creativity flourished as whiz-kid analysts worked alongside graybeard coaches to revolutionize the sport and uncover groundbreaking insights for how to win more games without spending a dime. From pitch framing to on-field shifts, this entertaining and enlightening underdog story closely examines baseball’s burgeoning big data movement and demonstrates how the millions of data points which aren’t immediately visible to players and spectators, are the bit of magic that led the Pirates to finish the 2013 season in second place and brought an end to a twenty-year losing streak. |
| astros spring training 2024: Minor-League Buzz, Major-League Life Don Miers, 2015-08-21 Buzz Meyers grew up in the 1960s, so it should be no surprise what hes all about: baseball, sex, rock n rolland baseball. Toiling at different jobs, he cant help but think how wonderful it would be to work at a ballpark, and he gets his chance when he becomes the sales and concessions manager for the Hampton Roads Monitors, a minor-league team near Virginia Beach. He might not be a player, but this is the next best thing, and while he puts in long hours, he also gets the chance to party and meet baseball legends, upcoming stars, and a cast of unforgettable characters. The longer he stays in the business, the more he realizes hes partying a little too much, and he starts trying new things, including giving back to his community, lecturing, acting, singing, and even hosting his own radio show. When he runs for elected office at the same time his team is engaged in a heated pennant race, he has no idea what to expect. But no matter what happens, he can bask in the satisfaction of having lived a major-league life in the minors. |
| astros spring training 2024: Minimize Injury, Maximize Performance Dr. Tommy John, Myatt Murphy, 2018-06-05 Dr. Tommy John's unique program: a diet, lifestyle, and movement plan (Rethink. Rebuild. Replenish. Recover) for injury- and performance-proofing young athletes in every sport Beginning as early as age 6 and continuing through the teenage years and on into their twenties, both male and female athletes are more at risk of serious injuries at younger ages than ever before. Dr. Tommy John, son of lefty pitcher Tommy John and also a sports performance and healing specialist, offers an invaluable diet, lifestyle, and movement plan (Rethink. Rebuild. Replenish. Recover) for injury- and performance-proofing young athletes in every sport. Dr. John explores the sudden rise of Tommy John surgeries being performed on young athletes today, as well as the many injuries--and the surgeries required to fix them--increasing at an alarming rate in baseball and all youth sports. Dr. John's book outlines the three top causes behind this injury epidemic: The American lifestyle, the business of youth sports (from coaches to corporations), and the decisions we believe as parents are truly benefiting our children. Minimize Injury, Maximize Performance focuses on prevention, and also offers tips on how to tailor the advice for athletes coming back from an injury, with over 120 black and white photographs. |
| astros spring training 2024: The Baseball Codes Jason Turbow, Michael Duca, 2011-03-22 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. |
| astros spring training 2024: Liftoff! Brian T. Smith, 2018-07-03 After 55 years of waiting, Houston Astros fans were hungry for World Series glory. After three consecutive 100-loss seasons, some tantalizing tastes of playoff success, and a devastating hurricane that united a community, their patience was rewarded in dramatic, exuberant fashion. In Liftoff!, Houston Chronicle writer Brian T. Smith expertly retraces the team's magical 2017 championship season as well as the moves and moments that made it all possible—the hiring of general manager Jeff Luhnow in 2011, drafting Carlos Correa with the first overall pick, the meteoric rise of Jose Altuve, the trade that brought ace Justin Verlander to Houston, and more. Featuring an unforgettable cast of characters both on the field and in the front office, this is the story of how the Astros went from empty seats to packed stadiums and, at long last, earned history. |
| astros spring training 2024: Try Not to Suck Bill Chastain, Jesse Rogers, Ben Zobrist, 2018-04-01 With his irreverant personality, laid-back approach, and penchant for the unexpected, Joe Maddon is a singular presence among Major League Baseball managers. Whether he's bringing clowns and live bear cubs to spring training or leading the Chicago Cubs to their first World Series victory in 108 years, Maddon is always one to watch. In Try Not to Suck, ESPN's Jesse Rogers and MLB.com's Bill Chastain fully explore Maddon's life and career, delving behind the scenes and dissecting that mystique which makes Maddon so popular with players and analysts alike. Packed with insight, anecdotes, and little-known facts, this is the definitive account of the curse-breaker and trailblazer at the helm of the Cubs' new era. |
| astros spring training 2024: Baseball in New Orleans S. Derby Gisclair, 2004 In July of 1859, seventy-five young New Orleanians came together to form the seven teams that comprised the Louisiana Base Ball Club. They played their games in the fields of the de la Chaise estate on the outskirts of New Orleans near present-day Louisiana Avenue. As America's population grew through immigration, so did the popularity of what the largest newspaper in New Orleans, the Daily Picayune, called in November of 1860 the National Game. Baseball quickly replaced cricket as the city's most popular participant sport. In 1887, local businessmen and promoters secured a minor league franchise for the city of New Orleans in the newly formed Southern League, beginning the city's 73-year love affair with the New Orleans Pelicans. From Shoeless Joe Jackson, to Hall of Famers Dazzy Vance, Joe Sewell, Bob Lemon, and Earl Weaver, to today's stars such as Jeff Cirillo and Lance Berkman, the road to the majors brought many notable players through New Orleans. From these early beginnings to the present-day New Orleans Zephyrs of the AAA Pacific Coast League, local fans have continued the tradition of baseball in New Orleans. |
| astros spring training 2024: Nobody's Perfect Armando Galarraga, Jim Joyce, Daniel Paisner, 2011-06-02 The Detroit Tigers, an umpire, a pitcher, and a mistake—one of the “classic, human, baseball stories” (Ken Burns, creator of the PBS mini-series Baseball). The perfect game is one of the rarest accomplishments in sports. In nearly four hundred thousand contests in over 130 years, it has happened only twenty times. On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga threw baseball’s twenty-first. Except that’s not how it entered the record books. That’s because Jim Joyce, voted the best umpire in the game in 2010 and 2011, missed the call on the final out. But rather than throwing a tantrum, Galarraga simply turned and smiled, went back to the mound, and finished the game. “Nobody’s perfect,” he said later in the locker room. “You might think everything that could have been said, replayed, and revealed about that night has already been uttered, logged, and exposed. You would, however, be as wrong as the unfortunate Mr. Joyce” (The Detroit News). In Nobody’s Perfect, Galarraga and Joyce come together to tell the personal story of a remarkable game that will live forever in baseball lore, and to trace their fascinating lives in sports. The result is “a masterpiece”, an absorbing insider’s look at two careers in baseball, a tremendous achievement, and an enduring moment of pure grace and sportsmanship (The Huffington Post). |
| astros spring training 2024: Turn Your Season Around Darryl Strawberry, 2021-01-12 For anyone ready to move their life forward, from tragedy, personal failure, unfair circumstances, or just a sense of being stuck, baseball legend and bestselling author Darryl Strawberry offers transformational practices and the tangible hope that you can enjoy a future filled with power, purpose, and freedom. Darryl Strawberry has seen it all--the highs and lows of an intense career as a Major League Baseball all-star, drug addiction, marriage challenges, prison time, and battles with cancer. With honesty and transparency, Strawberry shares the same foundational principles that transformed his life from the inside out--the power of prayer, cultivating healthy friendships, weathering trials without losing heart, refreshing the way you think, and letting God change your life for good. Ultimately, he'll help you discover and trust the redemptive process of making small, daily decisions to follow God into a life of faith, health, and freedom. Strawberry weaves compelling stories from his own life with those of others he met through his speaking and ministry work across the nation. These uplifting testimonies will inspire you with the reminder that God's power can renew any life, no matter what has happened. With scriptural insights and real-life examples, Strawberry celebrates the miracles God works in us for healing, cleansing, and new beginnings. Strawberry's life story is proof that you can overcome life's adversities one decision, one step at a time. It's time to turn your season around. |
| astros spring training 2024: The 2024 Almanac of Fun Highlights, 2023-05-16 The 2024 edition of the Almanac of Fun has 304 pages jam-packed with hundreds of the most engaging puzzles, activities, jokes, crafts, quizzes, recipes, facts, and more for kids to enjoy all year long. Get ready for a year of fun in 2024 with favorite Highlights puzzles and activities that celebrate traditional and wacky holidays, historical anniversaries, world events, and everything in between. Kids can puzzle their way through each month while learning lots of interesting facts and documenting their own occasions! |
| astros spring training 2024: The Captain David Wright, Anthony DiComo, 2021-06-01 A memoir from one of the most admired players in baseball, the captain of the New York Mets, David Wright David Wright played his entire Major League Baseball career for one team, the team he dreamed of playing for as a kid: the New York Mets. A quick fan favorite from Virginia who then earned his stripes in New York, Wright came back time and again from injury and demonstrated the power of hard work, total commitment, and an infinite love of the game. Wright’s stats are one thing. He was a seven-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, and a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He holds many Mets franchise records and was nicknamed Captain America after his performance in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. But there is more: The walk-offs. The Barehand. The Subway Series and World Series home runs. And the electricity that swept through Shea Stadium then Citi Field whenever number 5, “the Captain,” was in the game. |
| astros spring training 2024: The Devil Wears Pinstripes Jim Caple, 2005 In The Devil Wears Pinstripes, Jim Caple, ESPN.com’s “designated Yankee hater,” takes on the rabid fans of baseball’s twenty-six-time World Champions, and offers a decidedly different slant on the New York Yankees—the losers of thirteen World Series. Caple delivers his send-up of the evil empire with scathing irony, laying waste to all things Yankees. A creative and unauthorized timeline pokes fun at the organization’s trades, its legendary vanity, and its near-lethal stadium food. He skewers the owners, coaches and players—from the target of all targets George Steinbrenner to the pinstriped icons in the House That Ruth Built. Heroes and lesser mortals appear in all their tarnished glory, whether they’re participating in a World Series shutout, in drunken brawls at strip joints, or engaging in the notorious wife-swapping incident of the 1970s. Die-hard Yankee haters and the fans of all other baseball teams are sure to appreciate this hilariously provocative diatribe. |
| astros spring training 2024: Cobra Dave Parker, Dave Jordan (Sportswriter), 2021-04 Finalist for the 2021 CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year For that period of time, he was the greatest player of my generation.--Keith Hernandez Dave Parker was one of the biggest and most badass baseball players of the late twentieth century. He stood at six foot five and weighed 235 pounds. He was a seven-time All-Star, a two-time batting champion, a frequent Gold Glove winner, the 1978 National League MVP, and a World Series champion with both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Oakland A's. Here the great Dave Parker delivers his wild and long-awaited autobiography--an authoritative account of Black baseball during its heyday as seen through the eyes of none other than the Cobra. From his earliest professional days learning the game from such baseball legends as Pie Traynor and Roberto Clemente to his later years mentoring younger talents like Eric Davis and Barry Larkin, Cobra is the story of a Black athlete making his way through the game during a time of major social and cultural transformation. From the racially integrated playing fields of his high school days to the cookie-cutter cathedrals of his prime alongside all the midseason and late-night theatrics that accompany an athlete's life on the road-Parker offers readers a glimpse of all that and everything in between. Everything. Parker recounts the triumphant victories and the heart-breaking defeats, both on and off the field. He shares the lessons and experiences of reaching the absolute pinnacle of professional athletics, the celebrations with his sports siblings who also got a taste of the thrills, as well as his beloved baseball brothers whom the game left behind. Parker recalls the complicated politics of spring training, recounts the early stages of the free agency era, revisits the notorious 1985 drug trials, and pays tribute to the enduring power of relationships between players at the deepest and highest levels of the sport. With comments at the start of each chapter by other baseball legends such as Pete Rose, Dave Winfield, Willie Randolph, and many more, Parker tells an epic tale of friendship, success, indulgence, and redemption, but most of all, family. Cobra is the unforgettable story of a million-dollar athlete just before baseball became a billion-dollar game. |
| astros spring training 2024: The Long Season Jim Brosnan, 2016-03-15 “Takes readers inside the clubhouse, the dugout, and the bullpen-not to mention the airplane, the train and the hotel room-in ways no sportswriter ever has.” — Washington Post “Rich and always interesting....This is the most authentic and convincing book about baseball I have ever read.” — Los Angeles Times “Funny, candid, and even more interesting because it doesn’t chronicle an exceptional season (something Brosnan reserved for his second book, Pennant Race, 1962), this book was a game changer.” — Booklist “One of the best baseball books ever written. It is probably one of the best American diaries as well.” — New York Times |
| astros spring training 2024: Where Nobody Knows Your Name John Feinstein, 2015-03-17 Minor league baseball is quintessentially American: small towns, small stadiums, $5 tickets, $2 hot dogs, the never-ending possibility of making it big. But looming above it all is always the real deal: Major League Baseball. John Feinstein takes the reader behind the curtain into the guarded world of the minor leagues, like no other writer can. Where Nobody Knows Your Name explores the trials and travails of the inhabitants of Triple-A, focusing on nine men, including players, managers and umpires, among many colorful characters, living on the cusp of the dream. The book tells the stories of former World Series hero Scott Podsednik, giving it one more shot; Durham Bulls manager Charlie Montoya, shepherding generations across the line; and designated hitter Jon Lindsey, a lifelong minor leaguer, waiting for his day to come. From Raleigh to Pawtucket, from Lehigh Valley to Indianapolis and beyond, this is an intimate and exciting look at life in the minor leagues, where you’re either waiting for the call or just passing through. |
| astros spring training 2024: Sports, Media, and Society Kevin Hull, 2024-05-30 Details how sports, media, and social issues intersect outside the playing field. Featuring a unique blend of theory, discussion topics, and pertinent case studies, the text takes students beyond the how-tos of creating content to understanding the whys behind it. |
| astros spring training 2024: My 1961 Andy Strasberg, 2021-04-26 |
| astros spring training 2024: Trading Bases Joe Peta, 2014-03-04 An ex–Wall Street trader improved on Moneyball’s famed sabermetrics and beat the Vegas odds with his own betting methods. Here is the story of how Joe Peta turned fantasy baseball into a dream come true. Joe Peta turned his back on his Wall Street trading career to pursue an ingenious—and incredibly risky—dream. He would apply his risk-analysis skills to Major League Baseball, and treat the sport like the S&P 500. In Trading Bases, Peta takes us on his journey from the ballpark in San Francisco to the trading floors and baseball bars of New York and the sportsbooks of Las Vegas, telling the story of how he created a baseball “hedge fund” with an astounding 41 percent return in his first year. And he explains the unique methods he developed. Along the way, Peta provides insight into the Wall Street crisis he managed to escape: the fragility of the midnineties investment model; the disgraced former CEO of Lehman Brothers, who recruited Peta; and the high-adrenaline atmosphere where million-dollar sports-betting pools were common. |
| astros spring training 2024: The Football Thesaurus 2e Jesse Goldberg-Strassler, 2021-07-27 Field generals throw back-shoulder passes to vertical threats, working off the bump and run. Penalties were originally signaled by horns, not flags. Tailbacks follow the big uglies to paydirt for a touchdown. Football is a sport with its own lingo and jargon - a colorful patois that's developed over the years and millions of games, college and pro, with today's broadcasters developing their own descriptions of America's Game. In The Football Thesaurus, a fascinating compendium of football terms, Jesse Goldberg-Strassler - broadcaster, storyteller, talker, voice - explains what football terms mean and how they came to be. Whether it's a discussion of how Doug Plank was the inspiration for Buddy Ryan's 46 defense or why legendary Chicago Bears owner/coach George Halas referred to a football as a cantaloupe, Goldberg-Strassler's book succeeds both as a football reference and a history of the game. Football is the country's favorite sport, the heartbeat of most every town, community, and metropolis, Goldberg-Strassler says. We watch it, we breathe it, and - above all else - we talk it. The Football Thesaurus is filled with all the ways the game is talked, from the casual jargon of the armchair quarterback to the barking cadence of the signal-caller in the shotgun. The Football Thesaurus comes from the author of The Baseball Thesaurus. The Baseball Thesaurus has been an Amazon bestseller and is currently in a third edition. Professionals in the sport agree: Sports fans have their own unique language. The Football Thesaurus delves into the terms that have helped turn football into America's Game. I've always been fascinated by the words used to describe the action on the field, Jesse not only provides the terminology but also the context. A terrific resource that will be a part of my preparation for every new season. - Ian Eagle, broadcaster, CBS Sports A fabulous read, whether as a refresher for the die-hard fan, a scroll for the football historian, or as a foundation to learn about the game itself. Jesse hits many of the fine points that make the game unique. I imagine if aliens ever came down and asked what football is, I'd give them this text and then slowly back away, cowering in fear. - Adam Amin, broadcaster, ESPN For the casual fan, The Football Thesaurus weaves the basic concepts of the game with entertaining stories from Army's Lonely End to Michigan State's Little Giants, Goldberg-Strassler says. For the 12th Man, the Thesaurus collects every type of technique and play imaginable, sharing how to differentiate between a stalk and a trap block, a jet and an orbit sweep, and a flare and a banana route. |
| astros spring training 2024: Weaver on Strategy Earl Weaver, Terry Pluto, 1984 |
| astros spring training 2024: Baseball Biographies for Kids Dean Burrell, 2024-04-16 Get to know the game with inspiring baseball biographies for ages 8 to 12! It's the bottom of the ninth, bases are loaded, and your team is down by three—who do you want coming up to bat? Discover the most talented players in every position on the field with Baseball Biographies for Kids! This lineup shows you what it takes to be a real MVP, with a run-down of stories, stats, and achievements of the best players in baseball, from the 1960s through today. Legends of the league—Get inspired by the players who defined the game, like Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax, and Ichiro Suzuki. Key career stats—Each biography in this baseball history book includes the player's life story, as well as their major statistics like games played, ERA, hits, and more. Draft your own all-star team—Fill out the included starting lineup sheet with your favorite picks for each position. Whether you're an aspiring athlete or just a big fan, this book of baseball stories for kids is sure to give you a greater love of the game! |
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Astros trade proposal brings in Red Sox fan favorite outfielder to fix Jose Altuve mistake
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Will Astros lose top power bat after late-game injury?
2 days ago · The Houston Astros lost their decade-long anchor at third base in February when Alex Bregman bolted for Boston. Houston's new face at the hot corner has quickly quieted any …
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Houston Astros drop series finale to Cleveland Guardians
Jun 8, 2025 · Houston Astros relief pitcher Steve Okert (48) makes a wild throw to first base on a bunt by Will Wilson allowing Guardians' Nolan Jones to score during the seventh inning of a …
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