Hanging Curve

"Equal parts baseball and mystery are the perfect proportion." --Robert Parker A Race To Stay Alive 1922. Another year, another team. Utility infielder Mickey Rawlings is now warming the pine for the St. Louis Browns, a team poised to go all the way. Rawlings should be overjoyed with the situation but the lack of playing time has him sneaking off to play incognito in the semi-pros. The competition is just as rough, though. In fact, some of the best players to ever throw a curveball or line up for a swing are his opponents. The only reason they aren't in the majors is because of their team color--black. Turns out that's the least of their worries. When the star pitcher of the Negro East St. Louis Cubs is found lynched after a win, Rawlings has to do everything he can to track down the killer and prevent a repeat of the deadly race riots of 1917. If he can stay alive. . . Praise for the Mickey Rawlings Baseball Mysteries "Full of life." --The New York Times Book Review on Hanging Curve "A richly atmospheric journey through time." --Booklist on Hanging Curve "A perfect book for the rain delay. . .a winner!" --USA Today on Murder at Fenway Park "Delightful. . .mixing suspense, period detail that will leave readers eager for subsequent innings." --Publishers Weekly on Murder at Fenway Park

The conclusion of the Sandy Koufax Era was a wild roller coaster ride for the LA Dodgers. Overly dependent on the fragile left arm of their to-be Hall of Fame left-hander, they careened from their worst season since World War II in 1964 after losing Koufax to an injury in mid-August, to a World Series Championship in 1965 on the strength of his shutout performance on short rest in Game 7 with the Twins, to an ignominious World Series collapse to the Orioles in 1966 after he single-handedly saved the Dodgers' 1966 regular season in the final game. In the last two seasons of his career, Koufax averaged an impressive 27 complete games, 27 wins and 350 strikeouts. Yet 16 days after winning his second straight unanimous Cy Young Award, he shocked Major League Baseball by announcing he was going to retire. Like a supernova that had lit up the sports world for six years, he flamed out and was gone by age 30.

Gamer By: John Coppett Gamer by John Coppett is a unique tale of fiction based on the life of Millard “Frosty” Snyder, a 74-year-old widower. As we meet Frosty on an early April day, he is tending the garden that his late wife, Francine, had loved and cared for; it is the first anniversary of her passing. The couple had been childless, which had left Frosty without a support system. Gardening was an activity that provided some relief from his sorrow; it made him feel close to Francine. The story unravels in several realms of time and space, which gives the reader a deeper understanding of the life of Frosty Snyder. There will be glimpses of his past as a Minor League Baseball catcher and later as a scout for the Cardinals; with so many memories, his recollections prompt him to consult with Francine, even though she is gone. There is the present, which takes off with an unexpected invitation to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and makes him a celebrity in his hometown. And then there are the ghosts of players from the past, now playing for the Eternal League; will this be in Frosty’s future? With Frosty’s notoriety, come opportunities he could never have dreamed of at the age of seventy-four. Will the possibility of a scandal create more stress than he can handle; or, will Frosty Snyder succeed in fulfilling a promise made, showing himself to be a true “gamer”? Enjoy the rollercoaster ride that is the life of Millard “Frosty” Snyder. To quote the author, “Never give up on a dream.”

Blending scientific fact and sports trivia, Robert Adair examines what a baseball or player in motion does-and why. How fast can a batted ball go? What effect do stitch patterns have on wind resistance? How far does a curve ball break? Who reaches first base faster after a bunt, a right- or left-handed batter? The answers are often surprising—and always illuminating. This newly revised third edition considers recent developments in the science of sport such as the neurophysiology of batting, bat vibration, and the character of the "sweet spot." Faster pitchers, longer hitters, and enclosed stadiums also get a good, hard scientific look to determine their effects on the game. Filled with anecdotes about famous players and incidents, The Physics of Baseball provides fans with fascinating insights into America's favorite pastime.

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice • An Indie Next Pick • Named a Most Anticipated and Must-Read Book by BuzzFeed, Book Riot, and Ms. Magazine • One of Washington Independent Review of Books' Favorite Books of 2022 "Vivid . . . Garza's accomplished debut enriches the public imagination of this corner of America, and the communities within." —Melissa Chadburn, The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) A blazing and kaleidoscopic debut about a tight-knit community of Mexican and Filipino American families on the Texas coast from a voice you won't soon forget. Welcome to Galveston, Texas. Population 50,241. Carly Castillo has only ever known Galveston. Her grandmother Magdalena claims that they descend from the Karankawas, an extinct indigenous Texan tribe, thereby tethering them to the land. Meanwhile, her boyfriend and all-star shortstop turned seaman, Jess, treasures the salty, familiar air. He’s gotten chances to leave for bigger cities, but he didn’t take them then and he sure as hell won’t now. When word spreads of a storm gathering strength offshore known as Hurricane Ike, each Galveston resident must make a difficult decision: board up the windows and hunker down or flee inland and abandon their hard-won homes. Moving through the extraordinary lives of these characters and the many individuals who circle them, The Last Karankawas weaves together a multitude of voices to present a lyrical, emotionally charged portrait of everyday survival. The result is an unforgettable exploration of familial inheritance, human resilience, and the histories we assign to ourselves.