Baseball Explained

After trying unsuccessfully to explain baseball to his English cousins in a few emails, Phillip Mahony searched for a book that would explain the rules and history of baseball in a clear and concise manner. Having no luck locating such a book, he wrote one himself. He begins by describing basic ideas like the appearance of the field, the format of the game, and the lineup, that can be considered preliminaries to understanding the game. He then goes into greater detail, covering the objectives for the offensive and defensive teams and different strategies. Having explained the actual game he then goes on to explore the different statistics used in baseball and the way that teams use these statistics to advise strategy. He concludes with an overview of the history of Major League Baseball. Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

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A Calculus of Color: The Integration of Baseball's American League

In 1947, as the integration of Major League Baseball began, the once-daring American League had grown reactionary, unwilling to confront postwar challenges--population shifts, labor issues and, above all, racial integration. The league had matured in the Jim Crow era, when northern cities responded to the Great Migration by restricting black access to housing, transportation, accommodations and entertainment, while blacks created their own institutions, including baseball's Negro Leagues. As the political climate changed and some major league teams realized the necessity of integration, the American League proved painfully reluctant. With the exception of the Cleveland Indians, integration was slow and often ineffective. This book examines the integration of baseball--widely viewed as a triumph--through the experiences of the American League and finds only a limited shift in racial values. The teams accepted few black players and made no effort to alter management structures, and organized baseball remained an institution governed by tradition-bound owners.

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The Handmade Skateboard: Design & Build a Custom Longboard, Cruiser, or Street Deck from Scratch

 
The Handmade Skateboard is the definitive book on building custom skate decks of all shapes and sizes, from the high-performance street deck to the classic longboard to a vintage pinstripe cruisers that will turn heads everywhere you go. When you make your own skateboard from scratch you have the opportunity to create something that is perfectly tailored to you: a deck that matches your height, your weight, your center of balance, your skill level and your intended use. More importantly, making your own skate deck allows you to design a perfect deck to fit your personal style, making a statement about who you are. There's nothing wrong with choosing off-the-shelf and mass produced, but who doesn't prefer to stand out. Be different. Be one of a kind. That's what you get with a custom handmade skateboard. Whether you are an accomplished woodworker or an absolute beginner, The Handmade Skateboard guides you step-by-step through building five skateboard designs; from a simple Hack Board built in a few spare hours to a high-performance street deck pressed from seven layers of high-quality Maple veneers. A design guide covers everything you need to know about sizing and shaping your deck and choosing the right trucks and hardware. And detailed photos, illustrations and clear written instruction throughout provide all the information and motivation you need to make your own skateboard from scratch.

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Capital Region Motorcycling

The early 20th century was a time of greatness and prosperity for New York's Capital Region. Economically powerful cities like Albany and Schenectady were home to emergent companies that employed a growing population. This influx gave way to an abundance of stores and retail establishments that catered to newly settled residents. With the local economy experiencing unprecedented growth, people had discretionary income to be used for leisure activities, such as going to Proctor's Theater or enjoying the sport of motorcycling. Capital Region Motorcycling reveals the many activities that were enjoyed by those who wished to participate or watch. Photographs of road tours, polo matches, hill climbs, field meets, scrambles, and short-track and ice racing are featured alongside stories of the Electric City Riders and Spitzies Roamers motorcycle clubs.

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Top Trails Glacier National Park: Must-Do Hikes for Everyone

Written by local author Jean Arthur, Top Trails: Glacier National Park leads visitors to secluded trails and unique settings while providing details of current and past human activity, wildlife movement, and geologic changes that altered the landscape and created America’s tenth national park. The unique approach of Top Trails: Glacier National Park reveals the best trails that wind alongside sensitive meadows and climb above crystalline lakes and leads hikers to backcountry respites unique to Glacier. The guide also traces outlaws, poachers, and mining ventures that occurred inside the current park boundary.

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Walking the Woods and the Water: In Patrick Leigh Fermor's Footsteps from the Hook of Holland to the Golden Horn

"Nick Hunt has written a glorious book, rich with insight and wit, about walking his way both across and into contemporary Europe. . . . So many memorable encounters with people and places! A book about gifts, modernity, endurance and landscape, it represents a fine addition to the literature of the leg."Robert Macfarlane, award-winning travel writer, author ofThe Wild Places and The Old Ways: A Journey On Foot
"This moving and profoundly honest book sometimes brings a sense of unlimited freedom, sometimes joy, sometimes an extraordinary, dream-like dislocation: always accompanied by a dazzling sharpness of hearing and vision. I see now how that youthful walk informed so much of Paddy's style. Before setting out Hunt was going to write to Paddy. The letter was never written, and by the time he set off, Paddy was dead. How touched and fascinated he would have been to read this book."Artemis Cooper, biographer of Patrick Leigh Fermor and co-editor of The Broken Road
In 1933, the eighteen-year-old Patrick Leigh Fermor set out in a pair of hobnailed boots to chance and charm his way across Europe, "like a tramp, a pilgrim, or a wandering scholar." The books he later wrote about this walk,A Time of Gifts, Between the Woods and the Water, and the posthumousThe Broken Road are a half-remembered, half-reimagined journey through cultures now extinct, landscapes irrevocably altered by the traumas of the twentieth century.
Aged eighteen, Nick Hunt read A Time of Gifts and dreamed of following in Fermor's footsteps. In 2011 he began his own "great trudge"on foot all the way to Istanbul. He walked across eight countries, following two major rivers and crossing three mountain ranges. With only Fermor's books to guide him, he trekked some 2,500 miles through Holland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.
His aim? To have an old-fashioned adventure. To slow down and linger in a world where we pass by so much, so fast. To discover for himself what remained of hospitality, kindness to strangers, freedom, wildness, adventure, the mysterious, the unknown, the deeper currents of myth and story that still flow beneath Europe's surface.

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The Whistleblower: Rooting for the Ref in the High-Stakes World of College Basketball

During a season on the road with college basketball referees, Bob Katz watched the games they officiated, listened in on their candid conversations in locker rooms and hotel lobbies, and explored the challenges they must regularly confront. In this portrait of one consummate professional at the top of his game, Katz pulls off an unbelievable feat: In The Whistleblower, we come to actually root for the ref.
Ed Hightower, raised in poverty in the segregated rural South, went on to become superintendent of schools in Edwardsville, Illinois. But it is his side-career as an elite NCAA referee (4 NCAA Championship games, 12 Final Fours) that has earned him renown--which in the eyes of angry coaches and hostile fans is a far cry from affection. Alone among thousands in the stadium and millions watching at home, the ref's goal is fairness and neutrality. He truly does not care who wins or loses. His passion to do the right thing on the court is shaped by character and training and a rare kind of honor. In The Whistleblower, the fascinating yet nearly unknown role of the referee is artfully revealed by a writer of talent.

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Rickey & Robinson: The True, Untold Story of the Integration of Baseball

In Rickey & Robinson, legendary sportswriter Roger Kahn at last reveals the true, unsanitized account of the integration of baseball, a story that for decades has relied on inaccurate, second-hand reports. This story contains exclusive reporting and personal reminiscences that no other writer can produce, including revelatory material he’d buried in his notebooks in the 40s and 50s, back when sportswriters were still known to "protect" players and baseball executives.
That starts, first and foremost, with an in-depth examination of the two men chiefly responsible for making integration happen: Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson. Considering Robinson’s exalted place in American culture (as evidenced by the remarkable success of the recent biopic), the book’s eye-opening revelations are sure to generate controversy as well as conversation. No other sportswriter working today carries Kahn’s authority when writing about this period in baseball history, and the publication of this book, Kahn’s last, is a true literary event. In Rickey & Robinson, Kahn separates fact from myth to present a truthful portrait of baseball and its participants at a critical juncture in American history.

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The Great Defender: My Hockey Odyssey

:Legendary Canadien and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Larry Robinson takes readers rink-side in this highly anticipated and poignantly told memoir.
Larry Robinson spent 20 seasons playing in the NHL -- seventeen with the Montreal Canadiens and retiring from the game after his final 3 seasons with the LA Kings. His great size gave his teams an incredible presence on the blue line and a tremendous defender in front of their net. But he was more than just big. He was agile, he could score and he played a style that provided both offensive and defensive strengths.
For his effort, Robinson was twice recognized as the NHL's top defencemen and his contribution helped the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup six times during his tenure with the team. Never afraid to drop his gloves and play a physical game, Robinson is and will forever be regarded as one of the NHL's greatest defencemen.
In The Great Defender, Robinson relives his road to the NHL and the unexpected NHL journey that has lasted over 4 decades. He has enjoyed the good fortune of playing with greats, including Ken Dryden and Guy Lafleur to coaching the greatest of all--Wayne Gretzky. His successes as a player and coach are well-documented and in his memoir, hockey fans will now enjoy the opportunity to experience the odyssey of this legendary player as seen through his eyes, lived through his emotions, and told through his voice. Robinson's story is one of triumph and will leave readers cheering for the man fondly nicknamed "Big Bird."
In the process of writing this book, bestselling sports writer Kevin Shea interviewed many of Robinson's teammates, colleagues, players and family members and spent countless hours with Larry himself to capture a fascinating picture of one of hockey's greatest careers.

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Running Away: A Memoir

When journalist Robert Andrew Powell finished his first marathon, he cried, cradled in his father's arms. Long-distance runners understand where those tears come from, even if there are others who will never grasp what drives someone to run 26.2 consecutive miles in a grueling mental and physical test. Powell's emotional reaction to completing the race wasn't just about the run, though. It was also about the joy and relief of coming back up after hitting rock bottom.
"Running Away" is the story of how one decision can alter the course of a life. Knocked down by a divorce and inspired by his father, Powell decided to change his mindset and circumstances. He moved to Boulder and began running in earnest for the first time in his life. Over the 26.2 chapters that follow, Powell grapples with his past, gaining insight and hard-won discipline that give him hope for the future.

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