Sacrifice Fly

Becoming a teacher after an accident ends his career as a Brooklyn police officer, Raymond Donne is drawn back into detective work by the disappearance of one of his students, a promising baseball athlete whose father has been found murdered.

Hilarious and insightful tales from the world of professional baseball by ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian The New York Times Bestseller! In the aftermath of the Steroid Era that stained the game of baseball, at a time when so many players are so rich and therefore have a sense of entitlement that they haven't earned, ESPN baseball commentator Tim Kurkjian shows readers how to love the game more than ever, with incredible insight and stories that are hilarious, heartbreaking, and revealing. From what Pete Rose was doing in the batting cage a few minutes after getting out of prison, to why everyone strikes out these days and why no one seems to care, I'm Fascinated By Sacrifice Flies will surprise even longtime baseball fans. Tim explains the fear factor in the game, and what it feels like to get hit by a pitch; Adam LaRoche wanted to throw up in the batter's box. He examines the game's superstitions: Eliot Johnson's choice of bubble gum, a poker chip in Sean Burnett's back pocket. He unearths the unwritten rules of the game, takes readers inside ESPN, and reveals how Tony Gwynn made baseball so much more fun to watch. And, of course, Tim will explain to readers why he is fascinated by sacrifice flies.

Many fans enjoy keeping track of baseball action with easy abbreviations written on simple grids. Serious scorekeeping, however, is more complicated than just jotting down runs, outs, and the final score. Official scorekeeping requires a thorough knowledge of a large body of rules--many of which are confusing, and all of which must be followed carefully to ensure that the scorekeeper's data are valid. With confidence and enthusiasm, Andres Wirkmaa leads the reader through the daunting maze of rules that govern official scorekeeping. Chapters explain and clarify the official scorer's duties, responsibilities and authority; the official scorer's reports; and all the game-to-game details such as player listings, substitute batters and runners, out-of-turn batters, called and forfeited games, runs batted in, base hits, stolen bases, sacrifices, putouts, assists, double and triple plays, errors (and instances when errors are not charged), wild pitches and passed balls, bases on balls, strikeouts, earned runs, winning and losing pitchers, and saves. Also covered are statistics, percentage records, minimum standards for individual championships, and consecutive hitting and playing streaks.

With the aim of providing anyone interested in baseball scorekeeping everything he or she needs to perform the task, this book contains a thorough and comprehensive manual on keeping a scorecard, together with a detailed analysis of each of the numerous, and often complex, official rules governing scorekeeping in baseball (many of which were revised or modified in 2007), as well as scorekeeping issues outside of MLB's rulebook. Myriad examples are given (many drawn from significant and well-known major league games throughout the history of baseball as well as a number of examples drawn from popular culture) of how baseball's scorekeeping rules are applied and dealt with in both routine situations as well as the most difficult and convoluted scenarios. Revised and updated to reflect recent changes to the MLB rulebook, this book is very readable and perfectly accessible to a broad audience.

Linn, who saw Ted Williams play in his rookie year, probably knows more about the baseball great than anyone else alive. In this entertaining tribute to the fantastic hitter, Linn covers Williams' electrifying career, from his early days to his justly celebrated final time at bat in 1960. Photos.

The Detroit Tigers gave a memorable performance in the pennant race against the New York Yankees in 1961, the American League's first expansion season. Starting faster, the Tigers held first place for more than half the season, until the Yankees caught up in late July. They met in a climactic three-game series at Yankee Stadium. The Bronx Bombers swept all three, winning the pennant for the eleventh time in 13 seasons. But the 18 games the Tigers and Yankees played against each other were some of the most exciting contests of '61. The Yankees' saga is well known but the Tigers' tale has largely been ignored. This book chronicles the season highlights, such as the home run duel between Roger Maris, who slugged a record 61, and Mickey Mantle, who hit a personal best 54. Other outstanding performances were given by the Tigers' Norm Cash, who led the league with a .361 average, and Rocky Colavito, who hit 45 home runs.

Ernest J. Lanigan was the nephew of Sporting News founder Al Spink and one of three men in his immediate family to gain acclaim as a newspaperman. As sports editor for the New York Press and official scorer for a handful of World Series, he was the premier statistician of his day. Lanigan compiled the first baseball encyclopedia in 1922, and it is reprinted here with each of its twelve annual supplements. As the original publisher advertised on the book's title page, it "[c]omprises a review of Professional Baseball, the history of all Major League Clubs, playing records and unique events, the batting, pitching and base running champions, World's Series' statistics and a carefully arranged alphabetical list of the records of more than 3500 Major League ball players, a feature never before attempted in print."

Baseball fans can enjoy fascinating stories about great plays and controversial calls on the diamond, all while testing their own knowledge of the game. Is there a limit to a bat’s length and weight? If a batter swings for his third strike and misses, but the ball gets away from the catcher, can he still run to first? Or is he out? And what happens if the wrong batter comes up to hit—and the right player suddenly realizes that they’re out of order? Through a series of true tales, find out about little-known rules of pitching, batting, and fielding, as well as weird situations that have occurred, smart strategies for winning, and funny things have taken place over the years.

A prose and verse translation with grammatical commentary of the Upadesha Unthiyar of Sri Ramana Maharshi with relevant verses from the Tiru Unthiyar of Sri Muruganar. Also included are Manikkavacagar's Tiru Unthiyar and extracts from the Avirodha Unthiyar of Santalinga Swamigal and the Tiru Unthiyar of Uyyavantha Teva Nayanar. The book can be read in its own right, or as a companion volume to 'Ulladu Narpadu - a grammatical commentary' by the same author.

A look at baseball data from a statistical modeling perspective! There is a fascination among baseball fans and the media to collect data on every imaginable event during a baseball game and this book addresses a number of questions that are of interest to many baseball fans. These include how to rate players, predict the outcome of a game or the attainment of an achievement, making sense of situational data, and deciding the most valuable players in the World Series. Aimed at a general audience, the text does not assume any prior background in probability or statistics, although a knowledge of high school abgebra will be helpful.