Baseball Playing

What does it mean to play heads-up baseball? A heads-up player has confidence in his ability, keeps control in pressure situations, and focuses on one pitch at a time. His mental skills enable him to play consistently at or near his best despite the adversity baseball presents each day.

In Playing Through the Pain, writer Dan Good seeks to make sense of MLB MVP Ken Caminiti's fascinating, troubled life. The story of Caminiti, the player who opened the lid on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, has never been properly told. Caminiti voluntarily admitted in a 2002 Sports Illustrated cover story that he used steroids during his career, including his 1996 season, and guessed that half of the players were using performance-enhancing drugs. Good's on-the-record sources include Caminiti's steroids supplier, people who attended rehab with him, and more.

In 1940, at just 15 years old, small-town baseball star Gene Moore was signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers, who saw in him the potential to become one of the great catchers of all time. Before that could happen, though, WWII intervened. Gene's story, a surprising paean to the power and humanity of a game, is told here by his son, a first-time author who exhibits the confidence and pacing of a pro.

Marcia Powers wants nothing to do with ballplayer Brock Carter, especially after she told him to go away and pursue his dreams. She has more than she can handle with an elderly father, a business to run, and a four-year-old daughter posing as her baby sister. Brock Carter's back in town to rekindle his romance with Marcia, and this time, he's not letting her run him out of town. Marcia is unable to resist Brock, but determined to keep her secret. Brock's already lost his heart to Marcia once.

The company I worked for had been bought by who I later found out was my best friend's ex. That was one crazy story. He ended up being a retired Pittsburgh Pirate. I was just as shocked when I found out. He'd gotten three of his ball playing friends to agree to do some promotion for the company for practically nothing. I was going to be the one to get them everything they needed while they were there. Out of the three of them, I was sure there would be at least one sexy man that would have the need to release some stress, and I was all for helping him. You see, I didn't do love or ...

On the field and off the field, bartender Jeanine Jewell plays, collecting one-night stands like baseball cards. She doesn't need a man, except to curl her toes and make her scream. She's learned the hard way that love is about control and manipulation - and the last thing she can handle is letting herself be vulnerable, or having anyone discover her shameful secret. Scoring women is easy for catcher Kirk Kennedy - they don't call him "Catch and Release" for nothing. He never goes back for a repeat performance. Being traded to a new city is an opportunity for new adventures.

Harvard has a reputation for turning out notable lawyers, doctors, politicians, and scientists - but not exactly for producing professional ballplayers. However, in the mid-1970s Rick Wolff transferred from this major leaguer of academia to baseball’s minors, playing for the Detroit Tigers organization. Thirty years later, his son followed in his footsteps: Harvard diploma in hand, he now plays for a minor league affiliate of the New York Mets.

In baseball there are superstars and stars and everyday players and then there are the rest. Within the rest are role players and specialists and journeymen and then there are the backup catchers. The Tao of the Backup Catcher is about them, the backup catchers, who exist near the bottom of the roster and the end of the bench and between the numbers in a sport–and a society–increasingly driven by cold, hard analytics.

Jessica Song is tired of being a good girl, staying in a relationship well past closing time. Fresh from a breakup, she takes a walk on the wild side as a sports events intern. Baseball rookie Jay Pak Ahn has been burned one too many times by good girls, especially his cheating ex-fiancée. When he meets wild Jessica, he throws away all caution to enjoy her to the fullest.

Ethan Bryan played and wrote about baseball for years. Then his daughters challenged him to set out on a yearlong experiment: to play catch with someone every day. This experience led him across 10 states and 12,000 miles on a quest both quixotic and inspiring. Taking you from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to the home of the Daytona Tortugas in Florida, Bryan played ball and swapped stories with public school teachers, veterans, journalists, nurses, musicians, entertainers, entrepreneurs, athletes from every level, and members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Baseball, autism, and a single mom. Love may not be enough. Veteran relief pitcher Ryan Hudson always saves the game for his team. He’s dependable, focused, and good at what he does. Which is why he prefers to live alone and not have anything to do with women and all the noise and chaos they bring. Noise and chaos is all single mother Jamie Rush knows. Working and taking care of her two boys is a full time job, especially since one of them is autistic and she gets no help from her ex-husband. When her two sons win a day with ballplayer Ryan Hudson, they strike up an odd friendship with ...

In this candid, revealing, and entertaining memoir, the beloved New York Yankee legend looks back over his nearly 50-year career as a player and a manager, sharing insights and stories about some of his most memorable moments and some of the biggest names in Major League Baseball. For nearly five decades, Lou Piniella has been a fixture in Major League Baseball, as an outfielder with the legendary New York Yankees of the 1970s, and as a manager for five teams.

Tina Lee is fresh out of jail and trying her level best to make it on her own. Returning home late from work, Tina discovers an abandoned puppy, skin and bones and blind. Timmy Li is the Rattlers’ star young pitcher and he’s wary of women making moves on his billionaire father who’s newly single. When he discovers Tina palling around with his dad, he’s determined to derail her—by dating her. When Timmy rescues Tina from a gang of abusive men, he has a hard time hating her—especially since she has a soft spot for Donut, the blind double dappled dachshund puppy. Besides, she’s ...

I'd had one night with that baseball player. It was one crazy, drunken mistake. I was right about one thing, he didn't make it easy on me. The man drove me crazy. Just when I thought I was rid of the hot, sexy Pittsburgh Pirate, he'd appeared again at a party. My best friend Carrie thought the party was to thank everyone at the company for all of our hard work. She had no idea that the love of her life and owner of the company was going to propose to her. It was something I wasn't missing for the world. That was my plan anyway. That was until that darn ballplayer threw me over his shoulder ...

Lance took the news of my pregnancy much better than I thought he would. He was awesome and totally into the idea of being a dad. He'd even bought us a house and taken over my apartment. Everything our baby needed was bought. We were ready and still had a month to go. Don't get me wrong, we definitely had some ups and downs along the way. When I say ups and downs, I mean more like a roller coaster ride. Just when I thought things were getting back to normal, as normal as things ever were for us, something happened that changed everything. Our baby was in danger. Would everything be okay? ...

Things weren't going exactly as I'd planned. I was still following my three rules. Don't get close, never fall in love, and always have fun. It was just getting a bit harder to follow them. I'd had plenty of fun with the ballplayer, but it needed to stop. My life was changing, and it was time for me to come to terms with a few things. There would be no more having fun for us. I would not be having fun with anyone. Too many things were happening, and I needed time to think. I was pregnant. It happened the very first time we were together. When I say very first time, I mean the day we met. ...

What does it mean to play heads-up baseball? A heads-up player has confidence in his ability, keeps control in pressure situations, and focuses on one pitch at a time. His mental skills enable him to play consistently at or near his best despite the adversity baseball presents each day.

We made it through the trip. It wasn't easy though. You remember me saying I'd be rid of him, right? It didn't happen. I don't care what I did, he was still there. For one reason or another, he was there. My best friend and his friend decided to get married. They called to let us know. Of course they couldn't make it easy. We had to be there the next morning. Ugh! Talk about notice. We made it in time for the wedding. It only made sense to drive together. I ended up so glad we did. Something happened and I'd gotten sick. The man had to make things even more difficult for me. He took care of...

Playing for Keeps is an insightful, in-depth account of the game that became America's premier spectator sport for nearly a century. Reconstructing the culture and experience of early baseball through a careful reading of the sporting press, baseball guides, and the correspondence of the player-manager Harry Wright, Warren Goldstein discovers the origins of many modern controversies during the game's earliest decades.The 20th Anniversary Edition includes information about the changes that have occurred in the history of the sport since the 1980s.

The company I worked for had been bought by who I later found out was my best friend's ex. That was one crazy story. He ended up being a retired Pittsburgh Pirate. I was just as shocked when I found out. He'd gotten three of his ball playing friends to agree to do some promotion for the company for practically nothing. I was going to be the one to get them everything they needed while they were there. Out of the three of them, I was sure there would be at least one sexy man that would have the need to release some stress, and I was all for helping him. You see, I didn't do love or ...