Players Books

Baseball fans love statistics. They are part and parcel of the lore and the talk of the game. This book is built around an interesting idea, giving a page a short essay to ' firsts'. The first player to hit four- hundred, or the first player to win thirty- games in a season etc. There is a lot of baseball lore in this book much of which will be new even to the most dedicated of baseball funs.
This is a book for baseball fans only but I am sure they will enjoy it.

Think you know everthing there is to know about baseball? You'll be surprised by the factoids uncovered. A must have reference guide for all baseball enthusists.

As a H.S. basketball coach I found Tom Emma's book very helpfull in guiding my players wieght training. The book gives great descriptions of all the excercises that are used, so even a beginner can start lifting the correct way. The best part about the book I found as a coach was that it is specifically made for the sport of basketball. Tom gives a full year program for the player to follow, including a calender so they can stay on track. The workouts are planned for different parts of a basketball season, post season, pre-season, and in season. I am already seeing a vast improvement with my team, and we have only been using Tom's program for three months. A Basketball Players Comprhensive Guide to Strength Training is a must for all coaches and players, it will make you feel safe sending your team into the weight room, knowing that the are doing workouts designed specifically for Basketball

I read this book and found it to be an extremely useful guide. This is not just a book that one reads an puts on the shelf. It doubles as a guide one can keep with them and use all year long. The book provides a complete personal training guide as well as great diet tips and the proper ways to stretch before hitting the court and much more.

It is gratifying to find such a carefully written study of bebop -- a study which focuses from start to finish on the music. We know that many of the musicians had troubled lives and suffered with drugs and discrimination. The social and personal dimensions of bebop, however, have received ample attention in books, movies, and TV shows. This book is almost unique in providing a readable and scholarly analysis of the music. Owens faced a number of choices as to how to present his material, and he made the intelligent choice each time: Focus on the music (rare), not the details of "personal problems" (common); present just the right level of technical detail, never vague but never overly pedantic; trace the historical development of the music rather than an abstract description or a "how to play bop" approach (also common); and my favorite: organize the discussion around the idioms and masters of specific instruments -- sax, trumpet, piano, and so on. This last choice enables him to provide fresh insights as to how specific stylistic innovations on different instruments finally produced the characteristic ensemble style of bebop. I've bought two copies and I'm constantly recommending this book to friends.

A thourough exploration of the style of Parker, Gillespie, Davis, Evans and dozens of others. Replete with transcriptions and stylistic summaries. Many recordings reviewed. And his enthusiam for all that is Bebop matches Clint Eastwood's for "Bird". A musicological gem.

be a team player of superior work perfomance in industrial psychology

be a team player of superior work perfomance in industrial psychology

This book has become a mainstay at my house, and a favorite of my family's as a reference tool. It's not as in-depth as Total Baseball or the ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, but it gives quick summaries of Hall-of-Famers careers, great pennant races, important games from history, and also lists award winners, record holders, and seasonal batting and pitching leaders. The portability of this book makes it much easier to bring to games or to have near the TV.

A great resource, and well-written.

This book is filled with lot of biographical information of teams, players, stadiums and such interesting games that occured in the past. If you like this kind of information such as statistics of the player and such as things you'll love this book as I do !
Let's read it an screams PLAY BALL !

Rube Foster-what an amazing man! Dr. Robert Cottrell's impeccably researched biography gives us insight into the evolution of an outstanding athlete, coach, manager, businessman, visionary, and co-founder of the Negro Leagues. In this book, we not only get a detailed look into the day-to-day life of a ballplayer (complete with box scores-balls, strikes, hits, walks, stolen bases, and outstanding plays). More importantly, we see the panorama of black ball (and white ball) in the early part of the 20th century as we barnstorm the country and Cuba with Rube and his various teams and teammates. This biography joins the pantheon of other works by Dr. Cottrell. In his earlier biographies of I.F. Stone, Nicholas Comfort, and Roger Baldwin, we saw sensitive yet balanced looks at strong-willed men in conflict with oppressive conservatism and prejudice in the areas of journalism, religion, and social injustice. Now, we are treated to the same spirited view of our nation's pastime and one of its unsung heroes. This book about Rube Foster provides us nothing less than a much needed revisionist's look at American history.

Rube Foster-what an amazing man! Dr. Robert Cottrell's impeccably researched biography gives us insight into the evolution of an outstanding athlete, coach, manager, businessman, visionary, and co-founder of the Negro Leagues. In this book, we not only get a detailed look into the day-to-day life of a ballplayer (complete with box scores-balls, strikes, hits, walks, stolen bases, and outstanding plays). More importantly, we see the panorama of black ball (and white ball) in the early part of the 20th century as we barnstorm the country and Cuba with Rube and his various teams and teammates. This biography joins the pantheon of other works by Dr. Cottrell. In his earlier biographies of I.F. Stone, Nicholas Comfort, and Roger Baldwin, we saw sensitive yet balanced looks at strong-willed men in conflict with oppressive conservatism and prejudice in the areas of journalism, religion, and social injustice. Now, we are treated to the same spirited view of our nation's pastime and one of its unsung heroes. This book about Rube Foster provides us nothing less than a much needed revisionist's look at American history.

I bought and played Beyond Competition when it first came out at the age of 8; nearly 25 years later, I still think back on it fondly and still pull it out from time to time to introduce to friends. As a life-long player of games, I am nostalgic for many educational game titles from my youth (such as the classic "M.U.L.E." for Atari 800). While I can't say that the 6 games included in this title are the best games I've ever played, they were solid games with an excellent point: that there are limits to what competition can do for society, that not everything must be a win-lose situation. A point world leaders could do well to remember in this age of terrorism. There is so little work done in this space, so few games that get you to think outside the box politically, that this book will always remain close to my heart.

A note for prospective buyers. The book has many tear-out pages, so be sure to discuss the condition with a seller of a used copy.

Sid Sackson is a genius known for designing excellent board games. This book consists of six "board" games designed to be played cooperatively. The themes are unique, as are the game mechanics. Another winner from Sackson.

I bought the book for my cousin, he and myself love it. Is very easy to read and funny

Is baseball good? Truly a thought to siphen, nor weary and lasting is the prime thought. I'll concede Senor David Ortiz is great, but only if you stop waiving that violin in my face.

Big Play has the best writing on college football Ive read since Dan Jenkins' classic Saturday's America, and the best stuff on pro football since Tex Maule was at his peak in Sports Illustrated. A great book, particularly the Bart Starr-Johnny Unitas comparison.

I've had the pleasure of knowing Allen Barra since 1970 or so when we wrote for the UAB (University of Alabama in Birmingham) student newspaper. A very imaginative writer, he could write 15 inches of column on anything and everything, and while he wrote mostly about entertainment items back then, sports was always something that intrigued him.

Over the years, I occasionally read his articles in INSIDE SPORTS and other publications, then in the early 1990's, I picked-up a Village Voice because of the blurb on the cover "Barra on Tyson," and we've renewed our friendship. But, please don't think that this review is merely the writing of an appreciative friend.

From the early 1990's, I've read his works in a variety of publications and webzines, such as Slate.com., and the New York times: sometimes agreeing with him, sometimes not, but always enjoying his way of cutting through the bull. Allen sometimes has a way of over-analyzing situations that drives some folks nuts, but he actually developed, with the assistance of an economics professor at the UAB whose name I forget, a great way of using statistics to compare two players from different era.

With regards to this collection of articles, I cannot tell you if these 38 articles, covering 20+ years of writings, are the cream of the crop, because there are some I've read that aren't included that were terrific, too. However, I will tell you that these are written by someone who knows how to write about sports in a way that tries to place it in perspective to the society that we live in. Usually when a writer tries to do that, they end up in a fourth and inches situation and then get caught behind the line of scrimage, and the ball is turned over. In BIG PLAY, though, Allen gets the first down everytime and succeeds on such a scale that I am truly puzzled why he has not won a Pulitzer Prize.

This is an excellent book for anyone who loves football and appreciates great writing.

I consider myself lucky to have a hardcover copy of this book. It reads like fiction while still providing quite a bit of insight into the world of a professional blackjack team. While casino conditions have changed, most of the presented information is still valuable for any serious blackjack player.

Back in the late 70's and early 80's, Ken Uston was the king of blackjack. The Big Player is a story of his adventures where he gets recruited into a team of card counters to play and win blackjack against the casinos. This book does not present any card counting systems. It is a book about the stories he had after going up against the casinos.

He had a wild ride and discusses the never ending battle between his teams and the casinos. How they'd get barred, different tactics and strategies they used, team play, etc.

If you are interested in card counting of blackjack, you'll love this story.