Sportbiographien

From a popular senior writer for Sports Illustrated comes this high-stakes, boys-on-the-road story about the most unlikely of phenoms-a heavyset, bipolar, and endlessly charming pool hustler named Kid Delicious In most sports the pinnacle is Wheaties-box notoriety. But in the world of pool, notoriety is the last thing a hustler desires. Such is the dilemma that faces one Danny Basavich, an affable, generously proportioned Jewish kid from Jersey, who flounders through high school until he discovers the one thing he excels at-the felt-and hits the road.Running the Table spins the outrageous tale of Kid Delicious and his studly-if less talented-set-up man, Bristol Bob. Never was there a more entertaining or mismatched pair of sidekicks, as together they go underground into the flavorfully seamy world of pool to learn the art of the hustle and experience the highs and lows of life on the road. Their four-year odyssey takes them from Podunk pool halls to slick urban billiard rooms across America, as they manage one night to take down as much as $30,000, only to lose so much the next night that they lack gas money to get home. With every stop, the action gets hotter, the calls get closer, and Delicious's prowess with a cue stick becomes known more and more widely. Ultimately, Delicious sheds his cover once and for all and becomes professional pool's biggest sensation since Minnesota Fats. In a book sure to appeal to fans of Bringing Down the House and Positively Fifth Street, Wertheim evokes a subculture full of nefarious but loveable characters and illuminates America's fascination with games and gambling. He also paints a lasting portrait of an insanely talented and magnetic hustler, who is literally larger than life.

Following the retirement of the legendary Carl Fogarty, Chris Walker has become Britain's most popular motorcycle racer. Incredibly brave, outspoken and with talent to burn, Chris is frank about his hell-raising exploits on and off track, his legion of fans and his action-packed career in World and British superbikes. Chris Walker's first book recreates his zest for life, passion for bikes, but most-of-all, his unique sense of humour. It includes not only the inside story of his racing, but revelations of his and fellow riders' more 'racy' exploits. Chris will also expose some of the inner demons that are rarely shown to the public. Major storylines include: A childhood surrounded by bikes, and his first girlfriend: 'She was 13 going on 21 and had the biggest boobs I have ever seen.' A catalogue of broken bones: just weeks after spending four months in plaster following a serious road bike accident, he almost severed his other leg when motocrossing. The inevitable attention of the opposite sex: 'Girls would not have been knocking on my motorhome door offering a blow-job if I hadn't been racing bikes...' The classic season-long ding-dong battle with arch-rival Neil Hodgson, which went to the courts over disputed points. The loyal support, and exploits, of his five-strong 18-stone posse of mates known as the 'Big Lads' and the less-welcome attentions of a fully-fledged stalker. A switch to Carl Fogarty's race team: 'The bike caught fire during practice at Silverstone and I jumped off to avoid serious injury ? but not before all my pubic hair had burnt off!' His battles with the debilitating Bell's Palsy. His long-awaited first World Superbike win from the back of the grid at Assen in 2006. Updated and told in Chris's inimitably self-deprecating style ? and with all the drama of the opening races of the 2008 World Supersport series ? the book breaks the mould of recent motorcycling autobiographies.

Tom Stanton's Ty and The Babe tells of the incredible saga of baseball's fiercest rivals, the forging of a surprising friendship, and the battle for the 1941 Has-Beens Golf ChampionshipEarly in the twentieth century, fate thrust a young Babe Ruth into the gleaming orbit of Ty Cobb. The resulting collision produced a dazzling explosion and a struggle of mythic magnitude. At stake was not just baseball dominance, but eternal glory and the very soul of a sport. For much of fourteen seasons, the Cobb-Ruth rivalry occupied both men and enthralled a generation of fans. Even their retirement from the ball diamond didn't extinguish it.On the cusp of America's entry into World War II, a quarter century after they first met at Navin Field, Cobb and Ruth rekindled their long-simmering feud-this time on the golf course. Ty and Babe battled on the fairways of Long Island, New York; Newton, Massachusetts; and Grosse Ile, Michigan; in a series of charity matches that spawned national headlines and catapulted them once more into the spotlight.Ty and The Babe is the story of their remarkable relationship. It is a tale of grand gestures and petty jealousies, superstition and egotism, spectacular feats and dirty tricks, mind games and athleticism, confrontations, conflagrations, good humor, growth, redemption, and, ultimately, friendship. Spanning several decades, Ty and The Babe conjures the rollicking cities of New York, Boston, and Detroit and the raucous world of baseball from 1915 to 1928, as it moved from the Deadball days of Cobb to the Lively Ball era of Ruth. It also visits the spring and summer of 1941, starting with the Masters Tournament at Augusta National, where Cobb formally challenged Ruth, and continuing with the golf showdown that saw both men employ secret weapons.On these pages, author Tom Stanton challenges the stereotypes that have cast Cobb forever as a Satan and Ruth as a Santa Claus. Along the way, he brings to life a parade of memorable characters: Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Grantland Rice, Tris Speaker, Lou Gehrig, Will Rogers, Joe DiMaggio, a trick shot-shooting former fugitive, and a fifteen-year-old caddy with an impeccable golf lineage.No other ball players dominated their time as formidably as Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. Even today, many decades since either man walked this earth, they tower over the sport. Who was better? Who was the greatest? Those questions followed them throughout their baseball careers, into retirement, and onto the putting greens. That they linger yet is a testament to their talents and personalities.

In Senior Year, Dan Shaughnessy focuses his acclaimed sports writing talents on his son Sam's senior year of high school, a turning point in any young life and certainly in the relationship between father and son. Using that experience, Shaughnessy circles back to his own boyhood and calls on the many sports greats he's known over the years -- Ted Williams, Roger Clemens, Larry Bird -- to capture that uniquely American rite of passage that is sports.Growing up, Dan Shaughnessy was so baseball-obsessed that he played games by himself and didn?ft even let himself win. His son, Sam Shaughnessy, came by his own love of sports naturally and was a natural hitter who quickly ascended the ranks of youth sports. Now nicknamed the 3-2 Kid for his astonishing ability to hover between success and failure in everything he does, Sam is finally a senior, and it's all on the line: what college to attend; how to keep his grades up and his head down until graduation; and whether his final high school baseball season, which features foul weather, a hitting slump, and a surprising clash with a longtime coach, will end in disappointment or triumph.All along the way, Dad is there, chronicling that universal experience of putting your child out on the field -- and in the world -- and hoping for the best. With gleaming insight, wicked humor, and, at times, the searching soul of an unsure father, Shaughnessy illuminates how sports connect generations and how they help us grow up -- and let go.

The inspiring and dramatic story of Big Papi, from growing up poor to becoming one of the most popular and successful players in Major League Baseball.Raised in the Dominican Republic, signed by the Seattle Mariners, and released by the Minnesota Twins, David Ortiz landed in baseball-crazy Boston, of all places. Generally regarded as an underachiever to that point in his career, Ortiz blossomed into one of the most feared and adored sluggers in baseball while altering the course of the game's history, helping Boston win its first World Series in eighty-six years and thereby breaking the infamous "Curse of the Bambino."Along the way, Ortiz established his place as a truly Ruthian figure in the annals of our national pastime: an imposing figure in the batter's box, yet an endearing man to the young, particularly in his native Dominican Republic, where he has focused his charitable efforts on improving the health of children. The son of two caring parents, and a loving father of three, Ortiz is a hero to many.Now, in his memoir, the man affectionately known as "Big Papi" recounts his life from growing up in an impoverished area of the Dominican Republic (where baseball is king) to his ascension in Boston (where he became one). Ortiz discusses, in detail, his historic and record-setting performances as a member of the Red Sox, his exploding popularity, the challenges of playing in Boston, and life in the Red Sox clubhouse.Big Papi is a unique memoir by a charismatic man who appeals to young and old, on the baseball field or off.

Since England's famous 1966 World Cup victory, Alf Ramsey has been regarded as the greatest of all British football managers. By placing Ramsey in an historical context, award-winning author Leo McKinstry provides a thought-provoking insight into the world of professional football and the fabric of British society over the span of his life. Ramsey's life is a romantic story of heroism. Often derided by lesser men, he overcame the prejudice against his social background to reach the summit of world football. The son of a council dustman from Essex, Ramsey had been through a tough upbringing. After army service during the war, he became a professional footballer, enjoying a successful career with Southampton and Tottenham and winning 32 England caps. But it was as manager of Ipswich Town, and then the architect for England's 1966 World Cup triumph, that Ramsey will be most remembered. The tragedy was that his battles with the FA would ultimately lead to his downfall. He was sacked after England failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup and was subsequently ostracised by the football establishment. He died a broken man in 1999 in the same modest Ipswich semi he'd lived in for most of his life. Drawing on extensive interviews with his closest friends and colleagues in the game, author Leo McKinstry will help unravel the true character of this fascinating and often complex football legend.

Lute! presents the autobiography of one of college basketball's greatest coaches, Lute Olson. "It was love at first sight. . . . One day I picked up a basketball, and it never let me go."For fifty seasons Lute Olson taught young athletes the skills of basketball--and life. Starting as a high school coach, he worked his way to the top of the basketball world, winning more than a thousand games, a national championship, and a world championship, producing some of the NBA's biggest stars, and eventually being enshrined in the basketball Hall of Fame.Lute! is the story of his upbringing in Mayville, North Dakota, where he learned his famous work ethic and survival skills; the telling of the eighteen years it took to finally coach for a major college team; the fond memories of coaching famed players as well as the stories of bitter losses and breathtaking wins. This is his story, from recruiting in the big cities and the vast farmlands of the Midwest, to finally winning an NCAA championship. It's the inside-the-locker-room story of many extraordinary emotional moments that will live forever in basketball lore. "Lute! Lute! Lute!" The cheer by which the Arizona fans greet their coach before each game is the story of a man with a lifelong passion for a game. This book will take the reader inside the incredibly popular world of collegiate basketball, as seen through the eyes of a giant of the sport.But his is far more than a basketball story. Lute's partner for forty-seven years in building championship programs was his high school sweetheart, Bobbi, whose blueberry pancakes became as widely known in the basketball world as his own full head of white hair. While Lute was the taciturn coach, she became the player's mother-away-from-home. America got to meet her as she fought her way courtside through cheering fans after Lute's Arizona team had earned a trip to the Final Four, and on national television he swept her off her feet and the two of them whirled round and round in joy. It is a love story of a couple who together built a sports legend. Lute and Bobbi Olson were a team. The Arizona community loved her almost as much as he did---traditionally at the beginning of each game the Wildcat band greeted them with a cheer. Their almost half-century love affair ended with Bobbi's death from cancer. Lute explores how he dealt with her death, and how he moved forward to find a new love.This is the chronicle of one American boy's dream to become a great basketball coach--his achievements, his coaching strategies, and the wins and losses he faced as boy, man, and coach, but always with one constant in his life: the game of basketball. This is the story of fifty seasons in the life of Lute Olson.

Henry Aaron left his mark on the world by breaking Babe Ruth's record for home runs. But the world has also left its mark on him. "Hammering Hank" Aaron's story is one that tells us much about baseball, naturally, but also about our times. His unique, poignant life has made him a symbol for much of the social history of twentieth-century America. Raised during the Depression in the Deep South enclave of Mobile, Alabama, Aaron broke into professional baseball as a cross-handed slugger and shortstop for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. A year later, he and a few others had the unforgettable mission of integrating the South Atlantic League. A year after that, he was a timid rookie leftfielder for the Milwaukee Braves, for whom he became a World Series hero in 1957 as well as the Most Valuable Player of the National League. Aaron found himself back in the South when the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1965. Nine years later, in the heat of hatred and controversy, he hit his 715th home run to break Ruth's and baseball's most cherished record--a feat that was recently voted the greatest moment in baseball history. That year, Aaron received over 900,000 pieces of mail, many of them vicious and racially charged. In a career that may be the most consistent baseball has ever seen. Aaron also set all-time records for total bases and RBIs. He ended his playing days by spending two nostalgic seasons back in Milwaukee with the Brewers, then embarked on a new career as an executive with the Atlanta Braves. He was for a long time the highest-ranking black in baseball. In this position, Aaron has become an unofficial spokesman in racial matters pertaining to thenational pastime. Because of the depth and pertinence of Aaron's dramatic experiences, "I Had A Hammer" is more than a baseball autobiography. Henry Aaron's candor and insights have produced a revealing book about his extraordinary life and time.

An orphan turned caddy born near the Omaha stockyards, Johnny Goodman was considered too small, too foreign, and too poor to play the country club game. But he swore he would prove everyone wrong, and before a nation’s riveted gaze this self-taught kid from the wrong side of the tracks beat the legendary Bobby Jones in the 1929 U.S.Amateur at a little-known California course called Pebble Beach. Goodman’s victory sent shock waves through the rarified world of golf in the Roaring Twenties, but he was just getting started. The idealistic Goodman clung to his amateur status despite lucrative offers from sponsors and Hollywood, ultimately winning the 1933 U.S. Open—the last amateur to perform this stunning feat. A hero in the Depression-era press, Goodman went on to win the 1937 U.S. Amateur—becoming only the fifth golfer in history to wear both crowns.Like The Greatest Game Ever Played, Michael Blaine’s King of Swings brings the story of one of golf’s forgotten heroes to life.

Straddling humour, trivia and sport, 'Notorious' brings together for the first time one hundred of the most potty sportsmen in history. From boxing to cycling, soccer to baseball, and most sports in between, here are the hard-men and the criminals, the psychos and the loonies, that make up the sporting madness hall of shame. Among the prime candidates for sporting lunacy in this book:Prinya Charoenpal, one of the most talented kick-boxers in the sport's history, who wore make-up and pink nail polish, broke down when asked to strip for the weigh-in, pummelled the opponent who made the mistake of mocking her with a camp embrace, and who fought solely to get the money for a sex-change operation.Jack 'Hacksaw' Reynolds, the San Francisco 49-ers linebacker during the 80s, who once got plastered after losing a college game, went out to the car park with a hacksaw, and cut someone's car in half.The Brazilian football star Edmundo, infamous on the pitch for beating up fans, referees and journalists, and making his name off it by crashing his truck and killing three people, and being arrested for force-feeding beer to a chimpanzee at his son's birthday party.And there's more. The rugby league hard-man with a predilection for sticking a rigid digit finger up opponents' rears on the field of play; the baseball Hall of Famer who wielded his bat to beat up unsuspecting victims; the golfer hospitalised three times for alcohol poisoning, who came through two suicide attempts, three divorces, plus countless hotel room trashings and suspensions; the Irish jockey involved in an air rage incident who copped 110 hours of community service...And closer to home, the likes of Roy Keane, Alex Higgins, Vinnie Jones and Paul Gascoigne are also featured in this wildly captivating, and often shocking, collection of crazed sports celebrities.

A Fire to Win is an honest and revealing biography of Woody Hayes, a man who ranks in the pantheon of football coaches. Woody Hayes is one of the greatest football coaches in history-and one of the most fascinating. More than a brilliant coach, he was a complicated, contradictory man. The former history teacher would tout the ideals of democracy yet run his football empire as an absolute monarchy. But he had a surprisingly altruistic side, hidden from the public,. and Hayes visited local hospitals, donated his time, money, and advice, and insisted that his players graduate. More than just a standard biography, A Fire to Win explores the psychological motivations of one of the most complex of coaches.First and foremost, Woody Hayes was a coach-and his achievements are stunning. While at Ohio State, he won five national titles, and thirteen Big Ten Conference championships, made eight Rose Bowl appearances, and earned two national Coach of the Year awards. His killer instincts, honed in the navy, where he commanded a destroyer escort in the Pacific during World War II, helped him lead his teams to a 30-9 winning average. Moreover, Hayes's lifetime coaching record, 238-72-10, puts him in the first rank of college coaching immortals. No other coach has won more games in a shorter period.John Lombardo uses his extensive sports writing experience to craft an accurate portrait of one of the most complex and fascinating figures in football. Countless interviews of former players, assistant coaches, administrators, faculty, associates, and friends shape the image of Hayes and his career, which spanned the mid-1940s to the late 1970s during a tremendous period of change in American society.

RIP GRAHAM THORPE 1969-2024 Graham Thorpe's achievements on the cricket field contrasted wildly with his personal problems, where drink and depression combined to send him spiralling off the rails. This is his brutally honest life story. Graham Thorpe was one of the best batsmen in world cricket for more than a decade. Yet the national press hounded him as 'English cricket's most disturbed player' for pulling out of a series of tours and turning his back on the game more than once. With painful candour and often unexpected humour, Thorpe dissects his career in cricket and the inner recesses of his private life: the impact of his bitter divorce; the suicidal depression that afflicted him in his darkest hours; the reasons why he needed to 'save himself' by withdrawing from past England tours; the elation of his magnificent century on his comeback Test at the Oval in 2003; and his fresh outlook in life with a new partner after confronting his own failings and past troubles. Twelve years on from his Test debut against Australia, Thorpe took the decision to retire from international cricket after the disappointment of his controversial non-selection for the Ashes 2005 tour. With updated material on his coaching spell in Australia ? where he gained valuable insight into cricket's No 1 nation. Graham Thorpe died in August 2024.

A riveting tale of perseverance in the face of hardship, Cinderella Man is the chronicle of the boxer James J. Braddock, whose exceptional story of achievement against all odds was the subject of a major motion picture. Braddock, dubbed the Cinderella Man, staged the greatest comeback in fighting history, rising in the span of twelve months from the relief rolls to a face-off against the heavyweight champion, Max Baer. Against the gritty backdrop of Depression-era New York, Schaap paints a vivid picture of the fight world in its golden age, evoking a time when boxing resonated with a country trying desperately to get back on its feet.

An inspiring book about dedication, the love of dogs, and the physical endurance and mental toughness needed to run the Iditarod sled dog race -- from a female perspective. Lisa Frederic didn't set out to run the Iditarod. She just fell in love with the event and wanted to help. She ended up working as a volunteer for the Trail Committee at various checkpoints. Then she helped Iditarod champion Jeff King train his puppies. She had never mushed before. She was a rookie, but a rookie with heart and drive. She started out with short races and eventually raced the 1,049 miles from Anchorage to Nome in the Iditarod. Her story speaks to everyone who has ever followed a dream and found that the dream realized is even bigger than the imagined one.

In this vivid biography Geoffrey C. Ward brings back to life the most celebrated — and the most reviled — African American of his age. Jack Johnson battled his way out of obscurity and poverty in the Jim Crow South to win the title of heavyweight champion of the world. At a time when whites ran everything in America, he took orders from no one and resolved to live as if color did not exist. While most blacks struggled simply to exist, he reveled in his riches and his fame, sleeping with whomever he pleased, to the consternation and anger of much of white America. Because he did so the federal government set out to destroy him, and he was forced to endure prison and seven years of exile. This definitive biography portrays Jack Johnson as he really was--a battler against the bigotry of his era and the embodiment of American individualism.

When Jose Canseco burst into the Major Leagues in the 1980s, he changed the sport -- in more ways than one. No player before him possessed his mixture of speed and power, which allowed him to become the first man in history to belt more than forty home runs and swipe more than forty bases in the same season. He won Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, and a World Series ring. Canseco shattered the mold of the out-of-shape baseball player and ushered in a new era of superathletes who looked like bodybuilders, made outrageous salaries, and enjoyed rock-star lifestyles. And the ticket for this ride? Steroids. Behind the gaudy stats and the glamour of his public life, Canseco cultivated a secret just about everyone in MLB knew about, one that would alter the game of baseball and the way we view our heroes forever. Canseco made himself a guinea pig of the performance-enhancing drugs that were only just beginning to infiltrate the American underground. Anabolic steroids, human growth hormones -- Canseco mixed, matched, and experimented to such a degree that he became known throughout the league as "The Chemist." He passed his knowledge on to trainers and fellow players, and before long, performance-enhancing drugs were running rampant throughout Major League Baseball. Sluggers scooping up pitches at their ankles and blasting them out of the park, pitchers cranking fastballs inning after inning -- Canseco showed the players how to customize their doses to sculpt the bodies they wanted, and baseball as we know it was the result. Today, this issue has crept out of the closet and burst into the headlines as players balloon to herculean proportions and hundred-year-old records are not only broken, but also demolished. In this shocking memoir, Canseco sheds light on a life of dizzying highs and debilitating lows, provides the answers to questions about steroids that millions of fans are only now beginning to ask -- and suggests that, far from being a passing trend, the steroid revolution is only a taste of things to come. Who's juiced? According to Canseco's authoritative account, more than you think. And baseball will never be the same.

Michael Owen reveals the highlights and pitfalls of being a professional footballer in his first official autobiography, which contains his personal reflections on eight years in the game, including two World Cups, two European Championships and goalscoring records for club and country. Updated to include his first full season with Real Madrid. After his famous goal against Argentina in France '98, Michael Owen was forced to grow up almost overnight, his sudden fame propelling him to stardom to the extent that the hopes of a football nation now rest on the slender frame of this 26-year-old. In his autobiography, Owen is forthright in his views on the game: he reacts to the accusations of diving, his susceptibility to injury, and his alleged gambling addiction; he writes candidly about his career at Liverpool, from Roy Evans to Gerard Houllier, and the reasons behind him leaving the club that made him as a player; and he talks about his ambitions for the England team and his new club Newcastle. He is also opinionated about his England striking partnership with Wayne Rooney and the threat from Jermaine Defoe; his complex and at times difficult relationship with coaches such as Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan and Sven-Goran Eriksson; and he has strong views on the thug culture still rife in English football. Outside of the game, he talks openly for the first time about the death threats to him and his family, his relationship with childhood sweetheart Louise Bonsall ? including her serious injury from a riding accident ? and their baby Gemma as well as his passion for horse racing and betting. Exclusive to this paperback edition, there are two new chapters covering Owen's dramatic transfer to Real Madrid, the frustrations of his first season in La Liga and the reasons for his return to England. The book will also expose the inside story of England's 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign.

The Old Man and the Tee presents one man's hilarious and heartwarming quest to drop 10 strokes from his golf game in a year, using the top teachers, pros, and equipment money can buy.As a kid caddying for his father on the sunburned links of West Texas, Turk Pipkin had dreamed of great achievements in golf. Unfortunately, life got in the way. A lack of talent didn't help much either. It was not until his father passed away that Turk realized he'd forgotten his childhood dream and had lost the simple joy he'd once found in the game.Deciding that the time for all his pitiful golf excuses was past, Turk embarked upon the golf quest of a lifetime. For twelve months, he'd ignore work and other distractions, and dedicate himself to the game. He'd seek instruction from golf's greatest teachers, put the best equipment in his bag, and play the world's finest courses. His seemingly impossible goal was to take ten strokes off his 16-handicap.With lessons from David Leadbetter, Dave Pelz, and Ben Crenshaw, and with spiritual guidance from great old men like Willie Nelson, George Plimpton, and Byron Nelson, Turk's epic journey carries him from Pebble Beach to Scotland and back again, where he risks everything on one final round for his father.Follow Turk on the journey of a lifetime, and learn to love golf-and life- all over again.

The searingly honest and at times harrowing autobiography of the former Liverpool, Aston Villa and England striker. Exposes the dark and often seedy world hidden behind the glamorous facade of professional football. 'I was a mess. I couldn't get out of bed. I couldn't structure my day properly. I couldn't face having a shower or getting dressed. Those all seemed like major events I didn't want to confront.' Once the most charismatic and expensive player in the new Premiership flooded with cash, Stan Collymore had, by the age of 28, booked himself into The Priory to treat his depression, close to self-destruction and unable to get his head round playing at all. Along the way, he had been the goalscorer nobody wanted to congratulate, the centre-forward no one knew how to manage, a deeply reluctant star in a tabloid culture that saw him make the front pages as often as the back, and that waited for him to crack up or lash out. When he eventually did, it was, infamously, inevitably, at his then celebrity girlfriend, Ulrika Jonsson. But then retired from football in 2001 and finding himself in the commentary box, he proved he did care about the game, rather too much perhaps, sounding like a fan as much as an ex-player ? and at a stroke he had more in common with the rest of the nation. He knew it was all so much more than a game, and what happened on the field was only a reflection of what was going on inside players' heads. The contradictions remain. A man, who had a steady stream of celebrity women falling at his feet, shamed by his voyeurism in a Cannock car park; a star with everything who was once discovered by his wife tightening a belt around his neck; a loving dad of two whose own father walked out of the marital home and who Collymore continues to blot from his memory to this day; a footballer who abstains from drugs, yet who needs therapy at Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous; the loner slated for his aloofness who found critical acclaim as a football pundit on national prime-time radio. This is Stan Collymore's own life story, the real person on his flawed character and personal demons, telling it like you have never seen before ? raw and uncut.

Though many of his contemporaries considered him second only to Babe Ruth in the 1920s and 1930s, Mickey Cochrane is often overlooked by fans and historians. The hard-hitting catcher played on three World Series winners. Fiercely competitive on the field, Cochrane was a true gentleman off it. Though he was a highly regarded member of the A's championship teams, it is his career in Depression-era Detroit that he is best remembered. The pressure of the adulation there and his duties as player, manager and Tigers vice president led to a breakdown in 1935. On his way to recovery, he was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by Bump Hadley and was nearly killed, ending his career. This full story of Cochrane's Hall of Fame career and his off-field life was researched from primary documents and interviews with his family.

Few modern British sportsmen have fascinated the public more than Geoff Boycott. In this first comprehensive and balanced account of Boycott's life ? fully updated to include his battle against cancer ? award-winning author Leo McKinstry lifts the lid on one of cricket's great enigmatic characters. A record-breaking Test cricketer and acerbic commentator, Geoff Boycott has never been far away from controversy during his long career in the game. Based on meticulous research and interviews with a host of players, Test captains, officials, broadcasters, friends and enemies, this definitive biography cuts through the Boycott myth to expose the truth about this charismatic, single-minded and often exasperating personality. What was Boycott like as a schoolboy? How did his England cricket colleagues such as Graham Gooch, Dennis Amiss and Brian Close feel about him as a person? Why was he so unpopular in his early career for Yorkshire? And what is the real truth about the relationships that soured his private world? From his upbringing as a miner's son in a Yorkshire village, through highlights like his hundredth century at Headingley against Australia, to the low points such as the damaging court case in France, this warts-and-all account of his life makes for captivating reading.

When Melissa King, a transplanted southerner in search of connection, finds herself on the lean, mean streets of Chicago, she turns to her childhood passion for basketball. In her late twenties, King is at a crossroads in her life, and the randomness of the game as it is played on the streets suits her mood. The rules are unwritten, the teams a haphazard collection of players, and unlike anything else around her, the courts feel like home. So wherever there is a game, she gets her ball and goes. From the rough, male-dominated inner-city courts of Chicago, she travels to lazy oceanside pickup games in sunny California and dilapidated gyms in her Bible Belt home state.In a street-smart voice full of understated humor and palpable hope, King chronicles her journey, using the rhythms of the court to riff on the issues of race, class, gender, religion, sexual politics, and love. Ultimately, through the jubilant swish of the net, the brunt of an egregious foul, and the knowing glance of a stranger who says yes, you can be on my team, King discovers in those rare moments on the court the countless things she wants in life but cannot name.

In this collection of interviews, baseball players, coaches, and managers speak candidly about their most memorable moments and experiences in baseball's big leagues. Their recollections of the former big leaguers often come from their early years spent learning the game, their first time stepping on the field as a big leaguer, their first strikeout as a pitcher, or their first hit as a batter--to the more disappointing moments such as a first trade, a World Series loss, or a release signaling the end of a career. Bob Friend, Bobby Thomson, Johnny Pesky, Jim Kaat, Frank Malzone, Dale Berra, Larry Bowa, Gil McDougald, Gene Garber, Billy Sample, Nellie Briles, Jon Matlack, Catfish Hunter, Fred Patek, Vern Law, Clem Labine, Virgil Trucks, Frank Tanana, Jimmy Greengrass, Bill Virdon, Sparky Anderson, Dick Williams, Hector Lopez, and Ralph Houk are the interviewees.