Other books that might interest you

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  Cooperstown Confidential -...

  Zev Chafets

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  If baseball is America's national religion, then the Hall of Fame is its High Church. Being named among its 286 inductees makes you the closest thing our country has to an undisputed hero - even a secular saint. But the men in the Hall of Fame are no angels. Among their number are gamblers, drunks, race-baiters, at least one murderer, and perhaps the greatest collection of bona fide characters ever to be dignified by an honor of any kind. 
  This is the book the Hall of Fame deserves. Along with the story of the institution comes a smart, irreverent discussion of some of the great barstool questions of all time (Why did Jim Bunning make the Hall but not Mickey Lolich? How much is it worth to a player's autograph-signing career to get in? Did Ty Cobb really kill somebody?) and a fresh look at some of the Hall's most and least admirable characters. Taken in all, it amounts to a shadow history of America's Game, shown through the prism of its most sacred spot. Written with a deep love of the game and a hardened skeptic's eye, this is a book to incite both passionate conversation and a fresh appreciation of baseball as a mirror and catalyst for our nation's culture.

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  Here's the Catch - A Memoir of...

  Ron Swoboda

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  In time for the 50th anniversary of the Mets' miraculous 1969 World Series win, right fielder Ron Swoboda tells the story of that amazing season, the people he played with and against (sometimes at the same time), and what life was like as an Every Man ballplayer. 
  Ron Swoboda wasn't the greatest player the Mets ever had, but he made the greatest catch in Met history, saving a game in the 1969 World Series, and his RBI clinched the final game. By Met standards that makes him legend. The Mets even use a steel silhouette of the catch as a backing for the right field entrance sign at Citi Field. 
  In this smart, funny, insightful memoir, which is as self-deprecating as a lifetime .249 hitter has to be, he tells the story of that magical year nearly game by game, revealing his struggles, his triumphs, and what life was like for an every day, Every Man player, even when he was being platooned. He shows what it took to make one of the worst teams in baseball and what it was like to leave one of the best. And when he talks about the guys he played with and against, it's like you're sitting next to him on the team bus, drinking Rheingold. This is a book anyone who loves the game will love as much.

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  Bobby Moore: By the Person Who...

  Tina Moore

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  A tribute to the late Bobby Moore, captain of England’s World Cup winning side of 1966, one of the greatest footballers of his generation, and a man who personified Britain in the swinging sixties. This is his powerful and moving human-interest life story, as told by his wife Tina, including his battle against cancer.‘But Bobby had been in that dark place before Lance Armstrong was even born. In many ways it was even more devastating…in those days cancer was something you just didn’t mention, a taboo word, a fearful prospect. All I could think was, he’s only 23 and he’s been handed his death warrant.’Bobby Moore’s death in 1993, at the age of 51, had a profound impact on the people of this country. As the only English football captain ever to raise the World Cup, he was not just a football icon but a national one.Yet Bobby was an intensely reserved, almost mysterious personality. Only one person was his true friend and confidante – his first wife, Tina, whom he met at 17 and married in 1962.With her, he went through all the triumphs and crises of his professional career – the life-threatening illness that struck him at 23, his clashes with West Ham (and later England) manager Ron Greenwood, his emergence as a footballer of international renown, the almost unheard of media intrusion and the kidnap threats on their children, that amazing 1966 World Cup Final day, the drama of Bogota when he was accused of theft, and his depression as he struggled to adapt to the end of his playing career.Tina Moore’s story of her life with Bobby, the break-up of their marriage and what happened afterwards, is inspirational, candid and told with revelations and authentic insight into what made Bobby tick. Alongside previously unseen material that sheds new light on his character and anecdotes about players, wives and managers told from a female perspective, it is a moving tribute to a national icon by the person who knew him better than anyone.

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  A Voyage for Madmen

  Peter Nichols

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  In 1968, nine sailors set off on the most daring race ever held: to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe nonstop. It was a feat that had never been accomplished and one that would forever change the face of sailing. Ten months later, only one of the nine men would cross the finish line and earn fame, wealth, and glory. For the others, the reward was madness, failure, and death.In this extraordinary book, Peter Nichols chronicles a contest of the individual against the sea, waged at a time before cell phones, satellite dishes, and electronic positioning systems. A Voyage for Madmen is a tale of sailors driven by their own dreams and demons, of horrific storms in the Southern Ocean, and of those riveting moments when a split-second decision means the difference between life and death.

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  Risky Business - People Pastimes...

  Al Alvarez

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  Al Alvarez's writing career has come in many guises. One of the most influential post-war critics, he has written profoundly and eloquently about writers and their craft for over fifty years. But Alvarez has also been a passionate amateur of risky pursuits - poker playing, mountaineering, flying in aeroplanes - and he written about these subjects with a rare depth, liveliness and perception. This is a collection of his finest essays. Ranging from trenchant literary criticism to accounts of polar expeditions and poker championships, Risky Business is a sparkling and eclectic anthology from our most unusual man of letters.

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  The Extreme Weather Survival...

  Life The Editors of Outdoor,...

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  Fast facts and practical advice to keep you prepared, whether you’re dealing with mud or flood, drought or derecho.   This valuable, comprehensive guide is full of life-saving information for virtually any extreme weather event—blizzard, hurricane, firestorm, tornado, heatwave, and beyond. Weather reporter Dennis Mersereau, working with the editors of Outdoor Life magazine, debunks common myths, provides hands-on survival tips (some of them literally hands-on—as in, don’t lose your fingers to frostbite), and shares some fascinating historical facts and world records. Learn how to: Read a weather mapSurvive in a snowbound carStay oriented in a whiteoutMake waterproof matchesAvoid lightning hot spotsRescue someone caught in a floodKnow your monsoonsSurvive a sandstormMake peace with the polar vortexDrought-proof your home and much more   “Don’t mess with the Mersereau. He will find your weather fables and he will crush them…We need more Dennises. In fact, the National Weather Service itself should be run by Dennis, with each local office headed by a Dennis-like weather blogger tasked with explaining the relevant weather news of the day, and entertaining us when the weather is boring.”—Slate

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