The Knuckleball Club - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The Knuckleball Club write by Richard A. Johnson. This book was released on 2016-06-09. The Knuckleball Club available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. The knuckleball—so difficult to hit but also difficult to control and catch—has been a part of major league baseball since the early 1900s and continues to be used to this day. This remarkable and unusual pitch is the instrument of a special breed of pitcher, a determined athlete possessing tremendous concentration, self confidence, and a willingness to weather all kinds of adversity. In The Knuckleball Club: The Extraordinary Men Who Mastered Baseball's Most Difficult Pitch, Richard A. Johnson provides an informal history of the wildest, weirdest, most mesmerizing pitch of all time. Beginning with an examination of the invention of the knuckleball, Johnson then briefly touches upon the science and psychology of the pitch before profiling the game’s great knuckleballers. Rich in anecdotes and interviews, this book shares the unique stories of Hoyt Wilhelm, Phil Niekro, Jim Bouton, Tom Candiotti, Tim Wakefield, R.A. Dickey, and many others. Also featured are the stories of the best knuckleball catchers, from Bob Uecker and Doug Mirabelli to Rick Ferrell and Paul Richards. While knuckleballers today are an anomaly, decades ago a surprisingly large number of major league pitchers used the knuckler. The Knuckleball Club is the first book to provide a comprehensive survey of the pitch and the players who used it, offering a deep understanding of how the knuckleball has fit into the fabric of the game over the past one hundred years. Anyone wanting to learn more about this unusual pitch, from baseball historians and fans to current and former players, will find this book an entertaining and enlightening read.
Knuckleball
Knuckleball - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Knuckleball write by Lew Freedman. This book was released on 2015-03-17. Knuckleball available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. “It took me a day to learn [the knuckleball] and a lifetime to learn how to throw it for a strike.” This quote, by pitcher and coach Charlie Hough, is the best way to understand baseball’s most baffling and mysterious pitch. Not even the best practitioners of the art of throwing a knuckleball know where it is going most of the time. As a pitch that floats and comes into the plate in what appears to be slow motion, it is miraculous that those who employ the pitch don’t get creamed all over the park by batters who seem to know that it’s coming. Including interviews with Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, former All-Stars Wilbur Wood and Tim Wakefield, as well as other famed knuckleballers, Lew Freedman (Clouds over the Goalpost, A Summer to Remember), breaks down the history of this infamous pitch, which it seems can be traced back to Chicago White Sox pitcher Ed Cicotte, as well as its effect on baseball as a whole. With pitcher R. A. Dickey, who rejuvenated his career from castoff to 2011 Cy Young Award winner, the knuckleball is still a topic of conversation in the sport, and it continues to be one of the many marvels of our national pastime. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Tom Candiotti
Tom Candiotti - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Tom Candiotti write by K.P. Wee. This book was released on 2014-08-23. Tom Candiotti available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Most baseball fans know Tom Candiotti as a knuckleballer but he began his career as a conventional pitcher in 1983--after becoming just the second player to appear in the major leagues following Tommy John surgery, at a time when only Tommy John himself had ever come back from the operation. Candiotti, whose arm recovered, threw fastballs and curveballs in his first two years in the majors before switching over to the knuckleball for the 1986 season. He would then go on to use primarily the knuckleball for the rest of his career, though he threw a good enough curveball to get hitters out. This biography is based on the recollections of Candiotti himself, his former teammates and managers, newspaper and periodical accounts, and archival resources.
Wherever I Wind Up
Wherever I Wind Up - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Wherever I Wind Up write by R.A. Dickey. This book was released on 2013-03-26. Wherever I Wind Up available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. The perfect gift for baseball fans, now with a new epilogue by author R.A. Dickey, winner of the 2012 Cy Young award. "An astounding memoir—haunting and touching, courageous and wise."—Jeremy Schaap, bestselling author, Emmy award-winning journalist, ESPN In 1996, R.A. Dickey was the Texas Rangers’ much-heralded No. 1 draft choice. Then, a routine physical revealed that his right elbow was missing its ulnar collateral ligament, and his lifelong dream—along with his $810,000 signing bonus—was ripped away. Yet, despite twice being consigned to baseball’s scrap heap, Dickey battled back. Sustained by his Christian faith, the love of his wife and children, and a relentless quest for self-awareness, Dickey is now the starting pitcher for the Toronoto Blue Jays (he was previously a star pitcher for the New York Mets) and one of the National League’s premier players, as well as the winner of the 2012 Cy Young award. In Wherever I Wind Up, Dickey eloquently shares his quintessentially American tale of overcoming extraordinary odds to achieve a game, a career, and a life unlike any other.
The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball, 2d ed.
The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball, 2d ed. - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball, 2d ed. write by Jonathan Fraser Light. This book was released on 2016-03-25. The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball, 2d ed. available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. More than any other sport, baseball has developed its own niche in America's culture and psyche. Some researchers spend years on detailed statistical analyses of minute parts of the game, while others wax poetic about its players and plays. Many trace the beginnings of the civil rights movement in part to the Major Leagues' decision to integrate, and the words and phrases of the game (for example, pinch-hitter and out in left field) have become common in our everyday language. From AARON, HENRY onward, this book covers all of what might be called the cultural aspects of baseball (as opposed to the number-rich statistical information so widely available elsewhere). Biographical sketches of all Hall of Fame players, owners, executives and umpires, as well as many of the sportswriters and broadcasters who have won the Spink and Frick awards, join entries for teams, owners, commissioners and league presidents. Advertising, agents, drafts, illegal substances, minor leagues, oldest players, perfect games, retired uniform numbers, superstitions, tripleheaders, and youngest players are among the thousands of entries herein. Most entries open with a topical quote and conclude with a brief bibliography of sources for further research. The whole work is exhaustively indexed and includes 119 photographs.
