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The legendary Willie Mays shares the inspirations and influences responsible for guiding him on and off the field in this reflective and inspirational memoir.

Widely regarded as the greatest all-around player in baseball history because of his unparalleled hitting, defense and baserunning, the beloved Willie Mays offers people of all ages his lifetime of experience meeting challenges with positivity, integrity and triumph in 24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid.

TBE Favorite Quotes:

"People judge you all kinds of ways. Let them say what they want. Be your own judge. Trust your heart."

"A lot of my love for baseball comes from my dad. We'd sit and talk baseball all day."

"Ladies and gentlemen. I know you don't like this kid but please stop hollering at him. He's killing us."

"What I'm saying, without the numbers, is that Willie Mays' best season is...every year."

"They might not know Willie Mays the legendary ballplayer, but they know Willie Mays the larger-than-life figure who cares about their well-being, and that goes a long way."

"I realize and accept that I am not Willie Mays, but he inspires me to keep trying. I think that is the proper role of a hero in one's life."

Baseball’s legends come alive in these pages, which are not merely rankings but vibrant profiles of the game’s all-time greats. Posnanski dives into the biographies of iconic Hall of Famers, stars of the Negro Leagues, forgotten heroes, talents of today, and more. He doesn’t just rely on records and statistics—he lovingly retraces players’ origins, illuminates their characters, and places their accomplishments in the context of baseball’s past and present.

TBE Favorite Quotes:

"Yes, Niekro was getting outs, but he was also inflicting significant psychic damage on All-Star catcher Joe Torre, who could not catch the knuckles and was beginning to see ghosts and question his own existence."

"When he belts a home run, he does it with such authority it seems like an act of God."

"Roberts, I have a book with the names of all the great hitters who got a hit off me. You ain't in it."

"Trying to hit him was like trying to drink coffee with a fork."

"He's got more stomach than a parachute-jumper. He runs like a scalded dog."

"Fathers and sons. They are at the heart of so many baseball stories."

"Baseball has given me the opportunity to know people, to hurt people once in a while, but mostly to love people."

In the summer of 1973 Joe Castle was the boy wonder of baseball, the greatest rookie anyone had ever seen. The kid from Calico Rock, Arkansas, dazzled Cub fans as he hit home run after home run, politely tipping his hat to the crowd as he shattered all rookie records.

Calico Joe quickly became the idol of every baseball fan in America, including Paul Tracey, the young son of a hard-partying and hard-throwing Mets pitcher. On the day that Warren Tracey finally faced Calico Joe, Paul was in the stands, rooting for his idol but also for his dad. Then Warren threw a fastball that would change their lives forever.

TBE Favorite Quotes:

"In his first round of major-league batting practice, he swung at the first two pitches and missed. He would not miss again for a long time."

"Oh, sure, we have seventy-four games left. One home run per game is not out of the question."

"He's not even shaving yet. Let the boy grow up."

"What we heard was the sickening thud of the baseball cracking into flesh and bone."

"I'm...still...batting...a...thousand...off...you."

Anyone who saw Clemente, as he played with a beautiful fury, will never forget him. He was a work of art in a game too often defined by statistics. During his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he won four batting titles and led his team to championships in 1960 and 1971, getting a hit in all fourteen World Series games in which he played. His career ended with three-thousand hits, the magical three-thousandth coming in his final at-bat.

TBE Favorite Quotes:

"The law of cause and effect and causality both work the same with inexorable exactitudes. Luck is the residue of design."

"Clemente 'had a batting style like a man falling down a fire escape.'"

"Compact, flawlessly sculpted, with chiseled ebony features and an air of unshakable dignity."

"In a moment like this, your mind is a circular stage. You can see a lot of years in a few minutes. You can see everything firm and you can see everything clear."

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth."

"Nobody dies the day before. You die the day you're supposed to."

"Land, blood, name, and race."

The Cubs Way takes readers behind the scenes, chronicling how key players like Rizzo, Russell, Lester, and Arrieta were deftly brought into the organization by Epstein and coached by Maddon to outperform expectations. Together, Epstein and Maddon proved that clubhouse culture is as important as on-base-percentage, and that intangible components like personality, vibe, and positive energy are necessary for a team to perform to their fullest potential.

Verducci chronicles the playoff run that culminated in an instant classic Game Seven. He takes a broader look at the history of baseball in Chicago and the almost supernatural element to the team's repeated loses that kept fans suffering, but also served to strengthen their loyalty.
The Cubs Way is a celebration of an iconic team and its journey to a World Championship that fans and readers will cherish for years to come.

From the World Series Game 7 Lineup Card:

"C+B+L": "Courage plus belief equals life."

"DNPTPTETP": "Do not permit the pressure to exceed the pleasure."

"DSB": "Do simple better."

"DNBAFF": "Do not be a f***ing fan."

"PROCESS!": Stick to the process; don't worry about results.

"B Present, Not Perfect."

Now, in The Red Sox Years , the decorated manager opens up for the first time about his tenure in Boston, unspooling the narrative of how this world-class organization reached such incredible highs and dipped to equally incredible lows. As no book has ever quite done before, Francona escorts readers into the rarefied world of a twenty-first-century clubhouse, revealing the mercurial dynamic of the national pastime from the inside out. But through it all, there was always baseball, that beautiful game of which Francona never lost sight.

TBE Favorite Quotes:

"Baseball is not life or death, but the Red Sox are."

"The non-stars notice the small things. That's why they often become the best managers."

"I always worry that you're going to outsmart your own self. Sometimes simple is better. If you're outsmarting the other team and yourself, it doesn't work."

"There's one thing I'm going to be proud of after I'm gone. I think they're going to find there's more shit that goes on than they realize."

Chronicles the 2004 federal investigation that led to the exposure of performance-enhancing drug use by some of the nation's most famous baseball athletes, documenting how self-proclaimed nutritionist Victor Conte penetrated top levels of professional sports by exploiting corrupt practices.

TBE Favorite Quotes:

"We had no reason to believe that anyone at the highest level was not using performance-enhancing drugs."

"I'd have to say everyone's using something and I'm not excluding myself from that."

"Though their efficacy was debated, the drugs became a financial windfall for [Patrick] Arnold after he popularized on called androstenedione."

"Selig had allowed baseball's problem with performance-enhancing drugs to get out of control, they contended, and now the commissioner was posturing for the politicians in Washington."

"In the long run, the only thing that mattered was that the fans weren't disappointed by the spectacle."

Relive the most thrilling seasons of Cleveland Indians baseball in recent memory! Remember the excitement of those first years at Jacobs Field? When it seemed the Indians could find a way to win almost any game? When screaming fans rocked the jam-packed stands every night? When a brash young team snapped a forty-year slump and electrified the city? Those weren’t baseball seasons, they were year-long celebrations.

TBE Favorite Quotes:

"You'd walk on to the field for batting practice and so many fans were already there--hours before the game."

"We had Paul Sorrento batting eighth, and he hit 25 homers that year."

"Omar was never afraid. Never afraid to steal a base. Never afraid to field a ball with his bare hand. Never afraid to be Omar."

"THANK YOU CLEVELAND, YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET!"

This definitive biography of Henry (Hank) Aaron--one of baseball's immortal figures--is a revelatory portrait of a complicated, private man who through sports became an enduring American icon.

After his retirement in 1976, Aaron's reputation only grew in magnitude. But his influence extended beyond statistics. Based on meticulous research and extensive interviews The Last Hero reveals how Aaron navigated the upheavals of his time--fighting against racism while at the same time benefiting from racial progress--and how he achieved his goal of continuing Jackie Robinson's mission to obtain full equality for African Americans, both in baseball and society, while he lived uncomfortably in the public eye.

TBE Favorite Quotes:

"You know what the hardest thing is? What nobody wants to understand--is me. People want their memories of me to be my memories of me. But you know what? They're not."

"Baseball cares about the standard of excellence, and that means people will always look to Henry Aaron."

"Ted Williams came running from the clubhouse to see whose bat was making that distinctive sound...When told it was a newcomer named Aaron, he responded 'Write it down and remember it. You'll be hearing that name often.'"

"I don't smile when I have a bat in my hand. That's the time for business."

"They proved to the world that a man's ability is limited only by his lack of opportunity."

At the tender age of twenty-four, Lou Gehrig decided to tell the remarkable story of his life and career. He was one of the most famous athletes in the country, in the midst of a record-breaking season with the legendary 1927 World Series-winning Yankees. In an effort to grow Lou’s star, pioneering sports agent Christy Walsh arranged for Lou’s tale of baseball greatness to syndicate in newspapers across the country. Until now, those columns were largely forgotten and lost to history.

Lou comes alive in this inspiring memoir. It is a heartfelt rags-to-riches tale about a dirt poor kid from New York who became one of the most revered baseball players of all time.

TBE Favorite Quotes:

"The smack of a ball in a fielder's glove, the crack of a bat against the horsehide, and immediately the game gets me. The crowds, the color, the feeling of expectancy, the umpire with his mask and chest pad, the windup of the pitcher, a fast throw, a slide for base...the whole thing, and every bit of it gives me a thrill."

"Immortal because somehow he managed to touch and soften the heart of everyone who heard his name."

"I guess every youngster who ever tossed a ball or swung a bat has dreams of some day breaking into big league baseball. I know I did."

"I'm proud to be a ballplayer. I'm proud of the game and the men who play it. And so long as I wear a big league uniform, I will give all I can to the game."

Dodger Stadium is an American icon. But the story of how it came to be goes far beyond baseball. The hills that cradle the stadium were once home to three vibrant Mexican American communities. In the early 1950s, those communities were condemned to make way for a utopian public housing project. Then, in a remarkable turn, public housing in the city was defeated amidst a Red Scare conspiracy.

But before Dodger Stadium could be built, the city would have to face down the neighborhood's families -- including one, the Aréchigas, who refused to yield their home. The ensuing confrontation captivated the nation - and the divisive outcome still echoes through Los Angeles today.

TBE Favorite Quotes:

"Baseball became not just a game, and not just a product, but a symbol of what it was to be American."

"Even in the 1950s, the fact of baseball and the mythology of baseball were inseparable. It was already a sport that froze its greatest moments into historical time even as they were occurring."

"In its exclusionary hardheadedness and its preference for soothing mythology over uncomfortable truth, baseball was not unlike the country that made it."

"The paradox of Dodger Stadium is the paradox of Los Angeles. It's a ballpark where we find a much-needed civic communion in the middle of the city by leaving the city behind."