- Table View
- List View
The Last Line: My Autobiography
by Packie BonnerIrish national hero, a Celtic great and their most-capped player, Patrick 'Packie' Bonner is a goalkeeping legend.He was Jock Stein's last signing for the club when he left his native Donegal for the city of Glasgow in 1978, where Packie evolved from being a shy, homesick teenager into a confident, world-class talent and first-choice goalkeeper. Billy McNeill handed him a debut on St Patrick's Day in 1979, and Packie went on to provide the last line of defence a record 641 times for the club. A seasoned Irish internationalist, Packie was a vital component in the most-celebrated Irish national squad ever, playing in a golden era under the tutelage of the inimitable Jack Charlton.In The Last Line, Packie shares stories from his incredible career, including his greatest moment in front of a global audience during the Italia '90 World Cup tournament when he became the penalty shoot-out hero of the nation by saving a spot-kick that took the Irish to the quarter-finals stage in their very first World Cup adventure.It was an iconic moment that would change his life forever not least because, whilst in Italy, he, along with his teammates, had an audience with another goalkeeper, Pope John Paul II.Throughout his 80 cap international career, he competed against the very best in the world. Men such as Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten, Gheorghe Hagi, Roberto Baggio and Gary Lineker came to know the name Packie Bonner. Equally, in his glittering Celtic career that included the winning of four Scottish League titles, three Scottish Cups and one Scottish League Cup, Packie Bonner played alongside some great Celtic names like Tommy Burns, Paul McStay, and Murdo Macleod.Along the way, Packie had to endure a career-threatening back injury, as well as the devastation of a routine save going wrong and costing a goal on the world stage against Holland in 1994, ultimately leading to elimination from the World Cup in America. More than just the telling of trophies, titles and triumphs, this is the story of a Celtic legend and a true great of Irish International football.
The Last Man's Reward
by David PatneaudeWhen a chance yard-sale purchase nets five boys a Willie Mays rookie card worth $4,000, their lives seem to narrow and intensify. The boys devise a "last man" contest--the winner gets the Mays card, and the losers get zip. Twelve-year-old Albert has a life-and-death reason for winning the card--and his own very special terrors about the abandoned mine where the boys have hidden it for safekeeping. Just how far is Albert willing to go to be the last man?
The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball
by John W. Miller“Baseball books don’t get any better than this...Earl Weaver has at last been given his due.” —George F. Will. <br> “Vivid ... Most sports books are pop flies to the infield. Miller &’s is a screaming triple into the left field corner.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times. <br> The first major biography of legendary Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver—who has been described as “the Copernicus of baseball” and “the grandfather of the modern game”—The Last Manager is a wild, thrilling, and hilarious ride with baseball’s most underappreciated genius, and one of its greatest characters. <p> Long before the Moneyball Era, the Earl of Baltimore reigned over baseball. History’s feistiest and most colorful manager, Earl Weaver transformed the sport by collecting and analyzing data in visionary ways, ultimately winning more games than anybody else during his time running the Orioles from 1968 to 1982. When Weaver was hired by the Orioles, managers were still seen as coaches and inspirational leaders, more teachers of the game than strategists. Weaver invented new ways of building baseball teams, prioritizing on-base average, elite defense, and strike throwing. Weaver was the first manager to use a modern radar gun, and he pioneered the use of analytical data. By moving six-foot four-inch Cal Ripken Jr. to shortstop, Weaver paved the way for a generation of plus-sized superstar shortstops, such as Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. He foreshadowed almost everything that Bill James, Billy Beane, Theo Epstein, and hundreds of other big-brain baseball types would later present as innovations. <p> Beyond being a great baseball mind, Weaver was a rare baseball character. Major League Baseball is show business, and Weaver understood how much of his job was entertainment. Weaver’s legendary outbursts offered players cathartic relief from their own frustration, signaled his concern for the team, and fired up fans. In his frequent arguments with umpires, he hammed it up for the crowds, faked heart attacks, ripped bases out of the ground, and pretended to toss umpires out of the game. Weaver also fought with his players, especially Jim Palmer, but that creative tension contributed to stunning success and a hilarious clubhouse. During his tenure as major-league manager, the Orioles won the American League pennant in 1969, 1970, 1971, and 1979, each time winning more than 100 games. <p> The Last Manager uncovers the story of Weaver’s St. Louis childhood with a mobster uncle, his years of minor-league heartbreak, and his unlikely road to becoming a big-league manager, while tracing the evolution of the game from the old-time baseball of cross-country trains and “desk contracts” to the modern era of free agency, video analysis, and powerful player agents. Weaver’s career is a critical juncture in baseball history. He was the only manager to hold a job during the five years leading up to and the five years after free agency upended the sport in 1976. <p> Weaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. “No manager belongs there more,” wrote Tom Boswell. “Weaver encapsulates the fire, the humor, the brains, the childishness, the wisdom and the goofy fun of baseball.” The Last Manager tells the story of one man—belligerent, genius, infamous—who left his mark on the game for generations. <b>New York Times Bestseller</b>
The Last Marlin: The Story of a Family at Sea
by Fred WaitzkinThe author of Searching for Bobby Fischer tackles his own childhood in this &“remarkably ambitious and satisfying memoir&” (The New York Times Book Review). Fred Waitzkin depicted the joys and trials of parenthood with remarkable perception in Searching for Bobby Fischer, the inspiration for the beloved major motion picture. A New York Times Notable Book, The Last Marlin is another sweeping family saga, the tale of an adolescence spent navigating between two very different parents and the discovery of a lifelong passion for deep-sea fishing. Waitzkin&’s father, Abe, is both a prolific salesman—the &“Beethoven of fluorescent lighting&” in the fifties—and a frail man, driven to succeed despite his declining health, while his mother, Stella, is an eccentric abstract artist, once a student of de Kooning and Hans Hoffman, and a free spirit who resents her husband&’s dirty business tactics and conventional notions of success. As their relationship disintegrates, Waitzkin is torn between them. But soon he finds solace on the ocean. At first, fishing is a way to bond with Abe—and irritate Stella—but over the years it becomes a way of life. From the Long Island Sound to the drug-infested coastline of Bimini and the marlin-rich waters of the Gulf Stream, Waitzkin comes to believe that fishing is the answer to all his problems, even as he starts his own family. Hailed by Outside magazine as &“a graceful father–son memoir that artfully braids rich, disparate strands,&” The Last Marlin is a tribute to the open sea, the solitude it provides, and the connections it fosters.
The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty: The Game, the Team, and the Cost of Greatness
by Buster OlneyFor several years the Yankees were unstoppable World Series champs. Olney describes the lives of the players, coaches, and managers during this time. He outlines scandals, strategies, and memorable plays, while arguing that the philosophy that made the team great was also harmful and inevitably lead to its eventual defeat.
The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty: The Game, the Team, and the Cost of Greatness
by Buster OlneyFor six extraordinary years around the turn of the millennium, the Yankees were baseball's unstoppable force, with players such as Paul O'Neill, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera. But for the players and the coaches, baseball Yankees-style was also an almost unbearable pressure cooker of anxiety, expectation, and infighting. With owner George Steinbrenner at the controls, the Yankees money machine spun out of control. In this new edition of The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty, Buster Olney tracks the Yankees through these exciting and tumultuous seasons, updating his insightful portrait with a new introduction that walks readers through Steinbrenner's departure from power, Joe Torre's departure from the team, the continued failure of the Yankees to succeed in the postseason, and the rise of Hank Steinbrenner. With an insider's familiarity with the game, Olney reveals what may have been an inevitable fall that last night of the Yankee dynasty, and its powerful aftermath.
The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty: The Game, the Team, and the Cost of Greatness
by Buster OlneyFor six extraordinary years around the turn of the millennium, the Yankees were baseball's unstoppable force, with players such as Paul O'Neill, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera. But for the players and the coaches, baseball Yankees-style was also an almost unbearable pressure cooker of anxiety, expectation, and infighting. With owner George Steinbrenner at the controls, the Yankees money machine spun out of control. In this new edition of The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty, Buster Olney tracks the Yankees through these exciting and tumultuous seasons, updating his insightful portrait with a new introduction that walks readers through Steinbrenner's departure from power, Joe Torre's departure from the team, the continued failure of the Yankees to succeed in the postseason, and the rise of Hank Steinbrenner. With an insider's familiarity with the game, Olney reveals what may have been an inevitable fall that last night of the Yankee dynasty, and its powerful aftermath.
The Last Pass: Cousy, Russell, the Celtics, and What Matters in the End
by Gary M. PomerantzOut of the greatest dynasty in American professional sports history, an intimate story of race, mortality, and regretAbout to turn ninety, Bob Cousy, the Hall of Fame Boston Celtics captain who led the team to its first six championships on an unparalleled run, has much to look back on in contentment. But he has one last piece of unfinished business. The last pass he hopes to throw is to close the circle with his great partner on those Celtic teams, fellow Hall of Famer Bill Russell, now 84. These teammates were basketball's Ruth and Gehrig, and Cooz, as everyone calls him, was famously ahead of his time as an NBA player in terms of race and civil rights. But as the decades passed, Cousy blamed himself for not having done enough, for not having understood the depth of prejudice Russell faced as an African-American star in a city with a fraught history regarding race. Cousy wishes he had defended Russell publicly, and that he had told him privately that he had his back. At this late hour, he confided to acclaimed historian Gary Pomerantz over the course of many interviews, he would like to make amends. At the heart of the story THE LAST PASS tells is the relationship between these two iconic athletes. The book is also in a way Bob Cousy's last testament on his complex and fascinating life. As a sports story alone it has few parallels: An poor kid whose immigrant French parents suffered a dysfunctional marriage, the young Cousy escaped to the New York City playgrounds, where he became an urban legend known as the Houdini of the Hardwood. The legend exploded nationally in 1950, his first year as a Celtic: he would be an all-star all 13 of his NBA seasons. But even as Cousy's on-court imagination and daring brought new attention to the pro game, the Celtics struggled until Coach Red Auerbach landed Russell in 1956. Cooz and Russ fit beautifully together on the court, and the Celtics dynasty was born. To Boston's white sportswriters it was Cousy's team, not Russell's, and as the civil rights movement took flight, and Russell became more publicly involved in it, there were some ugly repercussions in the community, more hurtful to Russell than Cousy feels he understood at the time. THE LAST PASS situates the Celtics dynasty against the full dramatic canvas of American life in the 50s and 60s. It is an enthralling portrait of the heart of this legendary team that throws open a window onto the wider world at a time of wrenching social change. Ultimately it is a book about the legacy of a life: what matters to us in the end, long after the arena lights have been turned off and we are alone with our memories.
The Last Pick: The Boston Marathon Race Director's Road to Success
by David J. Mcgillivray Linda Glass Fechter<p>"If you can dream it, it can happen." In this heartening book, Boston Marathon race director and motivational speaker David McGillivray shares the challenges he has overcome to inspire readers to similar triumphs in their own lives. <p>Always the last pick for team sports because of his small stature, David McGillivray drove himself to excel at individual sports. <p>When he was 16, he set himself up for the one "failure" that would motivate the rest of his life. <p>He attempted to run in his first Boston Marathon--without training for the event. Not crossing the finish line could have been a crushing blow. <p>Instead he went on to complete 115 marathons and eventually to become the Boston Marathon's race director. <p>At age 23, McGillivray completed his celebrated 3,452-mile run across the United States to raise money for cancer research. <p>The story of his journey and what he learned about himself will give all readers a new understanding of how to prepare for and achieve success. <p>McGillivray's many accomplishments will convince readers that virtually any goal is possible. <p>This book will motivate them to overcome the mental obstacles that often keep dreams from becoming reality.
The Last Putt: 2 Teams, One Dream & a Freshman Named Tiger
by Brian Murphy Neil HayesCollege golf is the breeding ground for the PGA, and the sport’s overlooked chapter. And in 1995 college golf saw its ultimate showdown. At the NCAA championship, a freshman who would become the sport’s biggest icon stood on the green in a sudden-death playoff that would settle the score in a tense and heated rivalry. Would Tiger Woods sink the putt?Based on exhaustive reporting and interviews, The Last Putt tells the story of an epic rivalry that encapsulated the changing face of the game. On one side was Oklahoma State, a true golfing dynasty featuring the young bloods of a privileged golf family and a coach whose winning record and reputation for toughness made him a mythical figure. On the other side was Stanford, born of the creative recruiting of an unforgettable group of players: Notah Begay (golf ’s first prominent Native American), Casey Martin (who broke down barriers by playing with a severe disability), and Tiger Woods.A stirring ensemble tale of young men carving out their futures on and off the course, The Last Putt makes for compelling, stroke-for-stroke reading down to the last putt.
The Last Real Season: A Hilarious Look Back at 1975 - When Major Leaguers Made Peanuts, the Umpires Wore Red, and Billy Martin Terrorized Everyone
by Mike ShropshireIn The Last Real Season, Shropshire captures the essence of a different time and different place in baseball, when the average salary for major leaguers was only $27,600...when the ballplayers' drug of choice was alcohol, not steroids...when major leaguers sported tight doubleknit uniforms over their long-hair and Afros...and on July 28th, 1975, the day that famed Detroit resident Jimmy Hoffa went missing, the Detroit Tigers started a losing streak of 19 games in a row. On the day that the Tigers blew a 4-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, Shropshire recalls: "I drank three bottles of Stroh's beer in less than a minute and wrote that 'Jimmy Hoffa will show up in the left field stands with Amelia Earhart as his date before the Tigers will win another game.'"And so it goes. Filled with just the kind of wonderful baseball stories that real fans crave, this is the funniest baseball book of the year.
The Last Road Race
by Richard WilliamsThe story of the 1957 Pescara Grand Prix - the last race of the heroic age of motor racingThere has been much talk of how Grand Prix motor racing has become rather dull with big name, big brand winners ousting out all competition. But it wasn't always so. Once a romantic sport, motor sport produced heros whose where individual skill and daring were paramount.The 1957 Pescara Grand Prix marked the end of an era in motor racing. Sixteen cars and drivers raced over public roads on the Adriatic coast in a three-hour race of frightening speed and constant danger. Stirling Moss won the race, beating the great Juan Manuel Fangio (in his final full season) and ending years of supremacy by the Italian teams of Ferrari and Maserati. Richard Williams brings this pivotal race back to life, reminding us of how far the sport has changed in the intervening fifty years. The narrative includes testaments from the four surviving drivers who competed - Stirling Moss, Tony Brooks, Roy Salvadori and Jack Brabham.
The Last Road Race: The 1957 Pescara Grand Prix
by Richard WilliamsThe story of the 1957 Pescara Grand Prix - the last race of the heroic age of motor racingThere has been much talk of how Grand Prix motor racing has become rather dull with big name, big brand winners ousting out all competition. But it wasn't always so. Once a romantic sport, motor sport produced heros whose where individual skill and daring were paramount.The 1957 Pescara Grand Prix marked the end of an era in motor racing. Sixteen cars and drivers raced over public roads on the Adriatic coast in a three-hour race of frightening speed and constant danger. Stirling Moss won the race, beating the great Juan Manuel Fangio (in his final full season) and ending years of supremacy by the Italian teams of Ferrari and Maserati. Richard Williams brings this pivotal race back to life, reminding us of how far the sport has changed in the intervening fifty years. The narrative includes testaments from the four surviving drivers who competed - Stirling Moss, Tony Brooks, Roy Salvadori and Jack Brabham.
The Last Season
by Roy MacgregorNow that his hockey career is ending, what will become of his life? Felix Batterinski grew up tough in Northern Ontario where hockey was the only way out of a life of grinding poverty. He got out and enjoyed fame as a hockey "enforcer" for the Philadelphia Flyers. But fame is fleeting.Now in his thirties and at the end of his playing career, Felix tries to make a go of it as a player-coach for a Finnish club. As the lone Canadian on the team, he is an outsider with a reputation that takes on a life of its own. When a controversial play brings his comeback bid to a screeching halt, Felix is faced with his own obsolescence and begins a tragic descent into disillusion and despair.
The Last Season
by Stuart StevensFathers, sons, and sports are enduring themes of American literature. Here, in this fresh and moving account, a son returns to his native South to spend a special autumn with his ninety-five-year-old dad, sharing the unique joys, disappointments, and life lessons of Saturdays with their beloved Ole Miss Rebels. After growing up in Jackson, Stuart Stevens built a successful career as a writer and political consultant. But in the fall of 2012, not long after he turned sixty, the presidential campaign he'd worked on suffered a painful defeat. Grappling with a profound sense of loss and mortality, he began asking himself some tough questions, not least about his relationship with his father. The two of them had spent little time together for decades. He made a resolution: to invite his father to attend a season of Ole Miss football games together, as they'd done when college football provided a way for his father to guide him through childhood--and to make sense of the troubled South of the 1960s. Now, driving to and from the games, and cheering from the stands, they take stock of their lives as father and son, and as individuals, reminding themselves of their unique, complicated, precious bond. Poignant and full of heart, but also irreverent and often hilarious, The Last Season is a powerful story of parents and children and of the importance of taking a backward glance together while you still can.From the Hardcover edition.
The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul
by Phil Jackson Michael ArkushAn inside look at the season that proved to be the final ride of a truly great dynasty—Kobe Bryant, Shaq, and the LA Lakers For the countless basketball fans who were spellbound by the Los Angeles Lakers&’ 2003–2004 high-wire act, this book is a rare and phenomenal treat. In The Last Season, Lakers coach Phil Jackson draws on his trademark honesty and insight to tell the whole story of the season that proved to be the final ride of a truly great dynasty. From the signing of future Hall-of-Famers Karl Malone and Gary Payton to the Kobe Bryant rape case/media circus, this is a riveting tale of clashing egos, public feuds, contract disputes, and team meltdowns that only a coach, and a writer, of Jackson&’s candor, experience, and ability could tell. Full of tremendous human drama and offering lessons on coaching and on life, this is a book that no sports fan can possibly pass up.
The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dreams
by Darcy FreyA chronicle of four aspiring young men as they navigate the NCAA recruitment process, their only hope of escape from a life of crime, poverty, and despair.It ought to be just a game, but basketball on the playgrounds of Coney Island is much more than that. In The Last Shot, the aspirations of a few of the neighborhood’s most promising players reveal that what they have going for them (athletic talent, grace, and years of dedication) may not be enough to defeat what’s working against them: woefully inadequate schooling, family circumstances that are often desperate, and the slick, brutal world of college athletic recruitment.Incisively and compassionately written, The Last Shot introduces us to unforgettable characters and takes us into their world with an intimacy seldom seen in contemporary journalism. The result is a startling and poignant exposé of inner-city life and the big business of college basketball.
The Last Stand of Payne Stewart: The Year Golf Changed Forever
by Kevin RobbinsFrom award-winning sports writer Kevin Robbins, The Last Stand of Payne Stewart is the story of legendary golfer Payne Stewart, focusing on his last year in the PGA Tour in 1999, which tragically culminated in a fatal air disaster that transpired publically on televisions across the country.Forever remembered as one of the most dramatic storylines in the history of golf, Payne Stewart's legendary career was bookended by a dramatic comeback and a shocking, tragic end. Here, Robbins brings Stewart's story vividly to life. Written off as a pompous showman past the prime of his career, Stewart emerged from a long slump in the unforgettable season of 1999 to capture the U.S. Open and play on the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team. He appeared to be a new man that summer: wiser, deeper, and on the verge of a new level of greatness. Then his journey to redemption ended in October, when his chartered Learjet flew aimlessly for more than a thousand miles, ran out of fuel, and fell to earth in a prairie in South Dakota. His death marked the end of an era, one made up of "shotmakers" who played the game with artistry, guile, finesse, and heart. Behind them were Tiger Woods, David Duval, Phil Mickelson, and other young players whose power and strength changed the PGA Tour forever. With exclusive access to Stewart's friends, family, and onetime colleagues, Kevin Robbins provides a long-overdue portrait of one of golf's greats in one of golf's greatest seasons.
The Last Temptation of Rick Pitino: A Story of Corruption, Scandal, and the Big Business of College Basketball
by Michael SokoloveFrom acclaimed New York Times Magazine author Michael Sokolove, the astonishing inside story of the epic corruption scandal that has rocked the NCAA and exposed the rot and hypocrisy at the heart of big-time college sports.At a lavish annual event in late August 2017, the University of Louisville athletic director, who made more than $5 million in compensation in 2016, announced an extension of his school's sponsorship deal with Adidas: $160 million for another 10 years. The invitees were city's gentry - horse breeders, bourbon distillers, partners at big law firms, the state's governor, Matt Bevin, and its most powerful politician, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. One month later, the FBI revealed that it had reached the endgame of a sprawling investigation of large-scale corruption involving Adidas, Louisville and a host of other colleges, in which large payments were laundered from Adidas through a network of coaches and fixers to athletes and their families to induce them to go to Adidas-branded college programs. In short order, Hall of Fame basketball coach Rick Pitino (salary: $8 million) and athletic director Tom Jurich were fired, and fear and trembling swept through the world of bigtime college athletics. Because there is another shoe, as it were, and it will fall.In THE LAST TEMPTATION OF RICK PITINO, Michael Sokolove lifts the rug on the Louisville scandal and places it in the context of the much wider problem, the farce of amateurism in bigtime college sports. In a world in which even assistant coaches can make high-six and seven-figure salaries, as long as they keep the "elite" athletes coming in, shoe deals can reach into the nine figures, and everyone is getting rich but the players, can it be surprising that unscrupulous parties would pay athletes, creating in effect a black market in young men, a veritable underground railroad of talent? But a few bad apples are one thing. In THE LAST TEMPTATION OF RICK PITINO, Michael Sokolove shows an elaborate, systematic machine, involving hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit payments and connecting at least one of the largest apparel companies in the world with schools across the country. The Louisville-Adidas scandal has revealed a web of conspiracy whose scope has shaken big-time college sports to its core, delivering a devastating blow to the fantasy of amateurism, of "scholar athletes." A Shakespearean drama of greed and desperation involving some of the biggest characters in the arena of sports, THE LAST TEMPTATION OF RICK PITINO will be the definitive chronicle of this scandal and its broader echoes.
The Last Thing I Remember (The Homelanders #1)
by Andrew KlavanHigh schooler Charlie West just woke up in a nightmare.He&’s strapped to a chair. He&’s covered in blood and bruises. He hurts all over. And a strange voice outside the door just ordered his death.Charlie West is a good kid. The last thing he can remember, he was a normal high-school student doing normal things—working on his homework, practicing karate, daydreaming of becoming an air force pilot, writing a pretty girl&’s number on his hand. How long ago was that? And more to the point . . . How is he going to get out of this room alive?By calling on his deepest reserves of strength and focus, Charlie manages a desperate escape . . . only to find out that this nightmare isn't ending. There's a whole year of his life that he can't remember—a year in which he was convicted of murdering his best friend and working with terrorists.Now, with the police hunting him and a band of killers on his trail, he's got to find the answers to some of the deepest questions there are: Who am I? What do I stand for? And how am I going to stay alive?From Edgar Award winning and bestselling author Andrew Klavan comes the first installment of The Homelanders series.Exciting young adult suspense novel Approximately 82,000 words Part of the Homelanders series Book 1: The Last Thing I Remember Book 2: The Long Way Home Book 3: The Truth of the Matter Book 4: The Final Hour
The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness
by Andy McCulloughThe definitive biography of Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, examining the genesis of his brilliance, his epic quest to win the World Series, and his singular place within the evolving baseball landscape—based on exclusive interviews with Kershaw and more than 200 others. More than any baseball player of his generation, Clayton Kershaw has embodied the burden of athletic greatness, the prizes and perils that await those who strive for it all. He is a three-time Cy Young award winner, the first pitcher to win National League MVP since Bob Gibson, and a surefire, first-ballot Hall of Famer. Many of his peers consider him the greatest pitcher to ever climb atop a big-league mound. In an age when baseball became more impersonal, a sport altered by adherence to algorithms and actuarial tables, Kershaw personified the game&’s lingering humanity, with his joy and suffering on display each October as he chased a championship. He pitched through pain, placing his future at risk on the game&’s grandest stages. He endeared himself to teammates and foes alike with his refusal to make excuses, with his willingness to shoulder the blame when he failed. And he only further impressed them when he returned, year after year, even as his body broke down from the strain of his profession. The journey captivated fans in Los Angeles and beyond, so much so that when the Dodgers finally won a title in 2020, the baseball world exulted in his triumph. The Last of His Kind traces Kershaw&’s path from a boyhood fractured by divorce to his development as one of the most-heralded pitching prospects in Texas history to his emergence in Los Angeles as the spiritual heir to Sandy Koufax. But the book also charts Kershaw&’s place in baseball&’s changing landscape, as his own stubbornness butted against the game&’s evolution. The story of baseball in the 21st century can be told through Kershaw&’s career, from his apprenticeship with icons like Joe Torre and Greg Maddux, to his wary relationship with the implementation of analytics, to his victimhood in the 2017 sign-stealing scandal at the hands of the Houston Astros. The game has changed so much during Kershaw&’s illustrious career. To understand how baseball is played today, and how it got that way, you must understand the journey of Clayton Kershaw.
The Last of His Kind: The Life and Adventures of Bradford Washburn, America's Boldest Mountaineer
by David Roberts“A breezy, readable volume that is one part adventure story, one part biography. . . . Tales, stunning and stirring, of mountaineering.” —Boston GlobeIn The Last of His Kind, renowned adventure writer David Roberts gives readers a spellbinding history of mountain climbing in the twentieth century as told through the biography of Brad Washburn, legendary mountaineering pioneer and photographer. Jon Krakauer, author of Into Thin Air, has praised David Roberts, saying, “Nobody alive writes better about mountaineering”—and nowhere is that truth more evident than in this breathtaking account of the life and exploits of America’s greatest mountain climber.“A longtime friend of Washburn and a former mountaineer, Roberts is an ideal candidate for writing Washburn's biography.” —Publishers Weekly“Part of the reason that David Roberts's biography of mountain climber Bradford Washburn is titled “The Last of His Kind” is that so often Washburn was the first of his kind: He achieved nine first ascents of peaks in North America alone, taking striking photographs along the way.” —Washington Post“Excellent.” —Booklist“A well-crafted biography. . . . Roberts’s style effectively captures the suspense and danger of Washburn’s adventures. A thorough and admiring portrait.” —Kirkus Reviews
The Late Archaic across the Borderlands: From Foraging to Farming
by Bradley J. VierraWhy and when human societies shifted from nomadic hunting and gathering to settled agriculture engages the interest of scholars around the world. One of the most fruitful areas in which to study this issue is the North American Southwest, where Late Archaic inhabitants of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts of Mexico, Arizona, and New Mexico turned to farming while their counterparts in Trans-Pecos and South Texas continued to forage. By investigating the environmental, biological, and cultural factors that led to these differing patterns of development, we can identify some of the necessary conditions for the rise of agriculture and the corresponding evolution of village life. The twelve papers in this volume synthesize previous and ongoing research and offer new theoretical models to provide the most up-to-date picture of life during the Late Archaic (from 3,000 to 1,500 years ago) across the entire North American Borderlands. Some of the papers focus on specific research topics such as stone tool technology and mobility patterns. Others study the development of agriculture across whole regions within the Borderlands. The two concluding papers trace pan-regional patterns in the adoption of farming and also link them to the growth of agriculture in other parts of the world.
The Late Hit (Gridiron)
by K. R. ColemanWith talk of their high school shutting down for good, Busby and his best friend Anton know that it might be up to their football team to save the school. With such high stakes, is it worth it to ignore injuries and push through? Will a concussion keep Anton—the star quarterback—from playing? Not if he has anything to say about it! Busby is forced to make a difficult decision. . . .
The Laws of the Ring
by Tim Keown Urijah FaberWhat's your passion? For Urijah "The California Kid" Faber, fighting is not just a thrill but an act of self-expression. From his first fight in the outlaw MMA days of 2003, Urijah recognized his passion for the sport-and since then the former WEC World Featherweight Champion, now fighting as a top bantamweight in the UFC, has been living his dream. As one of the most exciting, charismatic fighters today, with a loyal following in the MMA community, Urijah is well known for his inventive fight style, cutting-edge approach to fitness, and California swag. In The Laws of the Ring, Urijah relates the full story of how he has made a career out of a highly demanding sport. Even outside the ring, his passion for fighting has motivated him to do so much more-to open his own fitness center, create a sports clothing line, lead a fight team, and recently to coach up-and-coming fighters in the television show The Ultimate Fighter. But even the California Kid couldn't do it all without constant hard work, healthy habits, and a whole lot of positive thinking. With his thirty-six "Laws of Power," Urijah shares the life lessons he's learned along his unconventional path, drawing from personal experience to give readers a sense of life inside the ring-and show how to take those lessons into their own worlds. Part manifesto for success, personal journey, and meditation on a well-lived life, The Laws of the Ring is filled with funny, provocative, and inspirational stories for a colorful glimpse into the rise of a young superstar, and the philosophy behind his accomplishments. With clear-eyed perspective and down-to-earth advice, Urijah zeroes in on getting the life you want-and living it to the fullest.