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Pete Rose was a legend on the field. As baseball’s hit king, he shattered records that were thought to be unbreakable. And during the 1970s, he was the leader of the Big Red Machine, the Cincinnati Reds team that dominated the game. But he’s also the greatest player who may never enter the Hall of Fame because of his lifetime ban from the sport. Perhaps no other ballplayer’s story is so representative of the triumphs and tragedies of our national pastime.

The year was 1949, and a war-wearied nation turned from the battlefields to the ball fields in search of new heroes. It was a summer that marked the beginning of a sports rivalry unequaled in the annals of athletic competition. The awesome New York Yankees and the indomitable Boston Red Sox were fighting for supremacy of baseball's American League and an aging Joe DiMaggio and a brash, headstrong hitting phenomenon named Ted Williams led their respective teams in a classic pennant duel of almost mythic proportions—one that would be decided on the last day of the season.

It's the ultimate in fantasy baseball: You get to pick the roster, set the lineup, and decide on strategies - with real players, in a real ballpark, in a real playoff race. That's what baseball analysts Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller got to do when an independent minor-league team in California, the Sonoma Stompers, offered them the chance to run its baseball operations according to the most advanced statistics.

Josh Hamilton was the first player chosen in the first round of the 1999 baseball draft. He was destined to be one of those rare "high-character" superstars. But in 2001, working his way from the minors to the majors, all of the plans for Josh went off the rails in a moment of weakness. What followed was a four-year nightmare of drugs and alcohol, estrangement from friends and family, and his eventual suspension from baseball.

Reporting for his first day as a Boston Red Sox player, Mickey Rawlings discovers a faceless body in the empty stadium. When police name him as their suspect, he knows he must clear his name or give up baseball and his freedom. But nameless foes are trying to silence him with warnings that become increasingly dangerous. A member of the Society for American Baseball Research, Troy Soos creates delightfully authentic ballplayers and places them in believable, colorful settings.

From 2004 to 2011, Terry "Tito" Francona managed the Boston Red Sox, the most talked about, scrutinized team in all of sports. In Francona the legendary manager opens up for the first time about his eight years there, as they went from cursed franchise to one of the most successful and profitable in baseball history. He takes readers inside the rarefied world of a 21st-century clubhouse, from 2004 when they won their first championship in 86 years, through another win in 2007, to the controversial September collapse just four years later.

In the summer of 1932, at the beginning of the turbulent decade that would remake America, baseball fans were treated to one of the most thrilling seasons in the history of the sport. As the nation drifted deeper into the Great Depression and reeled from social unrest, baseball was a diversion for a troubled country - and yet the world of baseball was marked by the same edginess that pervaded the national scene.

Before Chipper Jones became an eight-time All-Star who amassed Hall of Fame-worthy statistics during a 19-year career with the Atlanta Braves, he was just a country kid from small-town Pierson, Florida. A kid who grew up playing baseball in the backyard with his dad, dreaming that one day he'd be a major league ballplayer. With his trademark candor and astonishing recall, Chipper Jones tells the story of his rise to the MLB ranks and what it took to stay with one organization his entire career in an era of booming free agency.

Dating back to the Gas House Gang of the 1930s and up to the club’s most recent World Championship in 2006, being a Cardinal has meant a style of play, a level of dedication, and a pride in being a member of a special group. This newly updated edition of Game of My Life: St. Louis Cardinals exhibits not always the best game of someone’s career, but rather, the moment that stands out the most.

A brilliant analysis of the game of baseball from two women who think everyone should be a baseball fan. For years, Deidre Silva and Jackie Koney figured that men simply knew more about baseball than they did. They tried to reconcile their love of baseball with their second-class fan status, but they finally realized that not getting in a tizzy over the 1952 World Series didn't mean that they weren't "real" fans. As loyal - but not insane or stat-obsessed - spectators, they simply had a different perspective.

The history of the 2010 World Series champions as told by their most heroic players.Orlando Cepeda breaks into the majors with a home run. Willie Mays drills four homers in a single game while sick to his stomach. Felipe Alou prays for a ninth-inning miracle with the National League pennant on the line. In Game of My Life: San Francisco Giants, you’ll experience the exceptional moments of fan favorites Will Clark, Rich Aurilia, Robby Thompson, and Rod Beck, as well as current stars like Tim Lincecum, described in their own words as only they remember them.

It is an exclusive club. So exclusive that it has only 23 members. Not everyone can join. Membership is reserved for only those select few who were able to collect 3,000 hits during their Major League Baseball careers. Babe Ruth did not make it. Neither did Lou Gehrig. Rogers Hornsby won seven batting titles, but is not a member. Neither is Joe DiMaggio. The men who are included were unique in their personalities, yet they all shared two common threads that link them together: durability and consistency.

The first book to tell the entire story of why the Red Sox are now a dynasty - and what kept them from winning for more than eight decades. For years, Red Sox fans were told that their team was cursed because the Sox sold Babe Ruth to the hated Yankees. But as Jerry Gutlon reveals in It Was Never About the Babe, there is much more drama to Red Sox history than the “Curse of the Bambino.”

Whether they wore white stockings or blue helmets, the baseball players of Chicago’s North Side have always had great stories to tell. Now fans of this loveable franchise will finally get to hear from 28 of the best players as they relive that singular moment which defined their Cubs career. In this newly updated edition of Game of My Life: Chicago Cubs, veteran sportswriter Lew Freedman brings listeners off the bench and onto the field with such greats as Billy Williams, Ernie Banks, Ferguson Jenkins, and more.

America foremost sportswriters and other personalities offer their favorite memories of Yankee Stadium, the world’s most famous ballpark. In Lasting Yankee Stadium Memories, editor Alex Belth of BronxBanterBlog.com collects personal essays by some of the most well-known and respected voices in sportswriting and entertainment today. In these revealing, sometimes hilarious, often touching essays, the contributors recount their favorite moments inside the most famed of all American stadiums.

This updated edition tells the best stories about the reigning World Series champions. The rich tradition of the San Francisco Giants has provided indelible memories for their fans ever since they moved from New York’s Polo Grounds to Seals Stadium in 1958. Tales from the San Francisco Giants Dugout captures some of the humorous and poignant moments of the team’s years on the West Coast, from the intense rivalry with the Dodgers to their amazing victory in the 2010 World Series.

In over 50 years of existence, the New York Mets have experienced almost every phase of success and failure that can be encountered by a major league team. Written by veteran baseball author Bruce Markusen, Tales from the New York Mets Dugout relives some of the favorite moments in Mets history while also telling an array of little-known stories about the players. Stand on the mound with Tom Seaver, watch from the dugout with Davey Johnson, and kneel in front of the umpire with Gary Carter.

An old gangster becomes a gangbuster. A pitcher inspires his two daughters to become professional athletes. Two best friends split apart, only to separately land behind bars. In Giants: Where Have You Gone? authors Wylie Wong and Matt Johanson reconnect listeners to San Francisco players of the past, especially those whose lives took dramatic turns.

Tales from the 1962 New York Mets Dugout chronicles the adventures, mishaps, and unforgettable stories as the New York Mets burst onto the baseball scene. From the team’s first win, in its 10th game of the season, to its last loss, which ended with the Mets grounding into a triple play, Tales from the 1962 New York Mets Dugout recaptures that spectacle of a season, with stories from those who lost and lived to tell the tale. A must-have for any baseball fan!

For several decades, the Baltimore Orioles were the envy of every Major League Baseball team. Now fans of this indomitable team can walk into the stadium and onto the field with Louis Berney’s newly revised edition of Tales from the Baltimore Orioles Dugout. Individually, these stories are funny, poignant, and eccentric. Collectively, they offer a portrait of a team that is as much a family and a community treasure as it is a professional sports organization. A must-have for any Orioles fan.