Teams Books

The old school way to play basketball. Dave DeBusschere was one of the best forwards to play the game. His accounting of the 1970 championship series is one for the record books.

Jim Bouton's Ball Four was more controversial and Jerry Kramer's Instant Replay chronicled a larger-than-life team, but The Open Man by Dave DeBusschere is as solid as crisp outlet passes and sound defensive play on the hardwood floor.

Chronicling the 1969-1970 championship season of the New York Knickerbockers, DeBusschere - with editors, Paul D. Zimmerman and Dick Schaap - pack the 267 pages with pointed opinions and feelings about the game of life, on and off the court.

In one very heated blast, he says on March 7th, "We took the floor at the Spectrum tonight, with the Philadelphia fans offering their usual courtesies - cussing our wives and mothers and questioning our masculinity. They are the worst fans in the league; they don't deserve a winning team."

A wonderful section on the emotions within the business of sports takes place in the closing pages. The euphoria of a locker room exploding with jubilation after taking the title in seven tough games versus the Los Angeles Lakers is followed by DeBusschere emptying out his locker a few days later, seeing the nameplates of three players already lost through an expansion draft and turning off the lights, leaving the empty Madison Square Garden to attend a celebration held by Mayor John Lindsay.

The club had the best regular season record in the 14-team league - 60-22 - with a fantastic 23-2 start - and DeBusschere averaging 16.1 points per game in the 19 total playoff games of the Knicks. But statistics play only a very minor role in telling the story of a team that truly made New York City proud.

An enjoyable book about the Knicks' 1969-70 Championship season, by one of the starting line-up. Debusschere kept a day-to-day diary during that season, obviously because he thought this team was something special.

And they were! The title refers to Coach Red Holzman's creedo: "See the ball, hit the open man." These Knicks didn't have high-profile superstars or sappy showmen. No jitter-bugging after making a fancy shot. They played some of the best intelligent, unselfish team basketball in history. And this was before basketball became more entertainment than sport. I'd bet they'd beat the pants off of any team nowadays.

Anyway, I read this as a kid over and over. I found it inspiring and still look to Dave DeBusschere as a role model. I lost my copy in a flood, but I'm sure it's a good read for an adult, too.

And there are no dirty words, either--yes, this was also before high-priced sports bums made tons of extra money by "writing" books where every other word was a vulgarism, profanity or obscenity. Kinda refreshing!

For countries without the book and information about the management of organ recipents as like as my conutry of Korea, this book give me a lot of information. Also, using many episodes which are familar with non-specialist, it is very easy to understand the contents. I recommend you with a great hope of long and healthy life with new organs.

For countries without the book and information about the management of organ recipents as like as my conutry of Korea, this book give me a lot of information. Also, using many episodes which are familar with non-specialist, it is very easy to understand the contents. I recommend you with a great hope of long and healthy life with new organs.

For countries without the book and information about the management of organ recipents as like as my conutry of Korea, this book give me a lot of information. Also, using many episodes which are familar with non-specialist, it is very easy to understand the contents. I recommend you with a great hope of long and healthy life with new organs.

Alan Weiss tells it like it is. If you want to learn from one of the best...read EVERYTHING Alan Weiss writes! Alan's insights and experience are second to none. I personally own just about every book Alan Weiss has written. He is not only a consultant's consultant, but he is also a gifted writer as well.
Alan Weiss's advice, insights and knowledge will take years off your learning curve. This book is a must for your library.

Lenny Laskowski, Author of National Best Selling Book:
"10 Days to More Confident Public Speaking"
President of LJL Seminars(tm)

This book was written 9 years ago, but it could have been talking about 2003. Having just lived through a massive coporate "optimization" and seeing my friends become the "attrits" (those impacted by the attrition) I found myself thinking "yes...exactly...that's right" on every page. These stupid euphemisms have found their way back into our corporate vocabulary - they were ridiculed in this book in 1995, and are just as ridiculous today. With a few minor updates, this book needs to be re-published. It is brilliant.

Weiss has extensive experience reviewing the management of organizations. He gives true-to-life examples and theories, and shows the successes and/or failures of organizations. Contrary to what one might believe, the book is entertaining, humorous, and so true! Anyone who has ever trudged the 9-to-5 grind will see his organization (and its shortfalls) reflected in this book. It is an enjoyable read, a MUST for Dilbert fans.

This book helps people to understand, what it means to be a true Red Sox fan. The author takes us on an adventure sharing his personal experiences through his eyes and those of his family and friends. The pain, the frustration and finally, the bliss is all hear for us to share. You do not have to be a sports junkie to love this book. Lots of tears,laughs and memories. A great read.

Robert Sullivan has given us an easy to read treasure by which to remember our beloved Red Sox. He reminds us of how we shared the trials and tribulations of the Sox with those closest to us-year after year. The irony is that Sullivan has been living and working in NY for over 20 years and has had to share his "Sox thoughts" with a small group of BOSOX fans in NY called "blowhards." In Sullivan's depiction of the ALCS you feel like you are in Yankee stadium with him experiencing the unbelievable happen. This is a classic that I read in one night because I couldn't put it down. I have passed it on to friends and family( just sox fans of course). I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Barry A. Plummer

Quite frankly, I'm a little tired of all the so-called "Life-time Sox Fans" suddenly discovering their penchant for the pen, not to mention the almighty dollar, conjuring up any excuse for a Red Sox flavored literary treat that ultimately leaves the reader unsatisfied. Robert Sullivan, his family, and his friends have truly lived through the agony and ecstacy of what it takes to wear the "B" on your hat. His book, "Our Red Sox", is written with Mr. Sullivan's inimicable wit and style and shares not only lively commentary on a most memorable year, but also personal and touching insights on what it truly means to be a "Fan."

What CEO doesn't need a steady stream of growing thriving customers? Mr Andreini's insights helped give me "THE FORMULA" to cultivating customers to unbelievable success. I followed the process even starting the ugly part of reviewing ourselves. After the hard part, my team followed the process and we quickly built what we believe from our customers respone "the best service in the business". Now my customers sell themselves. The crazy thing is it's not rocket science but a REAL Review of the facts. Andreini gives you the HOW TO's, tests follow up and action steps. I wish I had this book 2 years ago for I would not have suffered the pain of what I now see as giving really unsatisfactory customer service. The amazing thing is the customers were telling us but we didn't listen. That mistake will never happen again.

This books is the first book that I have found that I can relate to about customer service. It was an easy read and I was drawed in since the very first chapter. It has helped me in numberous ways in dealing with my customers needs. I would recommend this book to companies ranging in size from large to small. I will not be surprised to see this book in the top seller list for this year. Thank you Mr. Andreini for bringing this book into view for all of us who have lost sight of providing customer service to our clients!

This Book takes a new approach at Customer Service. It gives you a step-by-step process to follow inorder to achieve the highest level of customer satisfaction. It is an enjoyable read with real-life experiences. I have made it required reading for all my employees. The tests that come with the book were fun and very informative about my employees. A must read for any individual looking to improve their business.

This is the kind of story we don't get enough of in America today. On the surface, it's about a poor California boy who grows up battling adversity and, through determination and showmanship, makes a name for himself as a Dodger Stadium peanut vendor. But it's also about the healing power of family and friendship, and the importance of faith and a positive attitude. This kind of life story is getting harder to find, as society gets more hectic and we get more and more insulated from one another. How refreshing it is to read about a man who dedicated his life to connecting with people -- by tossing them a bag of peanuts -- in the classic setting of the old ballpark. It may sound corny, but we'll miss it when it's gone. Books like this can inspire us to maintain values and traditions that are sadly slipping away.

The Perfect Pitch is a biographical portrait of Roger
Owens, the famous Peanut Man at Los Angeles' Dodger
stadium. Owens has been expertly trick-tossing bags of
salted peanuts to enthusiastic baseball fans for over
40 years. He began working as a peanut vendor at the
age of 15. In 1962 he moved right along with the LA
Dodgers into Dodger Stadium. His arsenal of throwing
tricks (behind the back, overhand, underhand,
between-the-legs) and general friendliness had made
Owens into something of a celebrity, which was
cemented in 1976 by an invitation to appear as a guest
on The Tonight Show hosted by Johnny Carson.

The eldest of nine children, Owens struggled in his
youth with issues that many readers will be able to
relate to. His mother's battle with a mental illness
sent him and his siblings into foster care for some
time. In his twenties, Owens was involved in a Jeep
accident that nearly cost him his life. But even in
the face of poverty and distress, Roger Owens never
let it crush his optimistic and warm spirit.

This is a delightful story of an underdog coming out
on top, and you don't have to be a baseball fan to
enjoy it. (Although baseball fans will love the
detailed descriptions of the games). It is a story
about real people persevering throughout the struggles
of life. You can put yourself in Roger Owens' shoes
and feel his excitement radiating from the pages. A
moving tale with plenty of photographs, it is a fast
paced and engaging story for all readers.

Review by Gretchen Olson of BookReview.com.

You might be thinking to yourself...why would you want to read a book about a peanut vendor...but this isn't any ordinary peanut vendor, this is the famous Roger Owens who has thrown peanuts at Dodger games for the last 46 years and is still going strong.Roger's story is heartbreaking and uplifting. It is inspirational and engaging. He came from a very large family and spent a very tough childhood trying to find himself and help support his family who were very poor.His mother suffered from mental problems and Roger and his siblings were placed in different foster homes.Baseball and the LA Dodgers turned out to be Roger's saving grace. He began his long career at the Coliseum and moved with the Dodgers to Dodger Stadium in 1962 and he has been there ever since.Roger developed quite a following in the sports and entertainment world with his humor and special ability to throw peanuts behind his back and between his legs and hit his mark every time.Roger also experienced a life threatening jeep accident early in his career. Roger's nephew Daniel wrote this book about his uncle and it is indeed a labor of love.If you read one book about a peanut vendor make it this one.

You could probably run a small country with the money sales organizations spend on standardized training. Unfortunately, most of it goes right down the drain, according to sales guru Derek Gatehouse, who says many of today's highly touted sales methods don't make much difference. To him, they are all so much voodoo. Gatehouse believes that instead of wasting money on ordinary training and cookie-cutter processes, companies should focus on hiring only people with "naturally born" sales talent and enlisting only the very best sales managers to supervise them. Then, they should carefully structure their pay programs to give salespeople true incentives. Gatehouse developed his robust sales acumen while toiling for three decades in America's toughest sales trenches. Given this lucid manual, getAbstract finds that he has a lot to teach most companies about organizing and running topflight sales teams.

Ignore this book's title. Surely Derek Gatehouse knows that there is no such entity as a "perfect sales force" but indeed there is much of great value to be learned from what the book's subtitle suggests: "the best practices of the world's best sales teams." However, questions immediately arise: Which are they? Who selected them? According to which criteria? How recent was the information when the selections were made? (Note: Most of the companies that Peters and Waterman praise in In Search of Excellence no longer meet the criteria by which they were selected and several of them have since been acquired by another company.) Gatehouse shares the results of the Gallup organization's 30-year study of top performance, which includes more than 3,000,000 people thus far. He asserts that people rather than processes process sell, and, that those who are "natural born" sales people will "sell circles around all the rest."

How to develop such a sales force? "The only feasible growth system for a sales force, and the only way to build a sales force of top performers, is to learn the language of selling talents. This will let you cast the exact right talents into each stage of your particular sales type, and then gain an understanding of what specific conditions generate autonomous top performance from these gifted sellers." That in the proverbial "nutshell" is what Gatehouse's book is all about: explaining "the formula for a top-producing sales force, one that is made up primarily of those salespeople that sell four times more than all others." This formula takes into full account three separate but interdependent components: "natural-born" sales aptitude, performance enhancement training, and the environment (i.e. "external conditions")in which people sell.

With regard to how Gatehouse organizes his material, he introduces the six best practices of "the perfect salesforce" in Chapter 2 and then devotes a separate chapter to each. For example, #1 consists of ten "selling talents" that Gatehouse examines with rigor and eloquence and #6 consists of best practices in results-based management. In the final chapter, he explains the need for a Perfect SalesForce committee that has only one purpose: to ensure that initiatives "stay on track" as the six best practices are adopted during what amounts to a two-phase process: determination of the changes that need to be made and then the on-going, daily operations. "This latter phase is where companies go off track; everyone is too close to the daily grind to step back and see things objectively. It is here that your committee best serves." Gatehouse then offers a detailed case history of an actual company, Dilan Ink, with which he was closely associated. He explains a four-stage process that begins with an assessment of the current situation and concludes with training.

For whom will this book be most valuable? Certainly anyone who serves on a "Perfect SalesForce committee" whose membership should include a C-level executive, someone from HR, the sales manager, at least one top sales performer (preferably more), and the company owner(s), if appropriate. Others who should read this book are those who are sales administrators or aspire to become one. My own rather extensive experience in sales and sales management suggests that most "natural born" sales people, those who "sell circles around all the rest," would rather be selling than reading about others who do...one man's opinion. However, I think CEOs should be among those who read this book because Gatehouse offers some valuable perspectives on how those in the salesforce, out on the proverbial "front line," in active and frequent contact with current and prospective customers, can provide invaluable competitive intelligence, especially about market trends.

Gatehouse encourages those who purchase his book to check out a wealth of resources at www.theperfectsalesforce.com that include articles, training videos, tools, his daily blog, and a members' forum.

Derek Gatehouse has spent more than 30 years working at every level of sales in many industries. This book distills what he has learned about what works in sales and what he teaches to his clients as CEO of Vendis, Inc. The foundational idea of the book is that there is no secret to sales that you can give to people without sales talent that will turn them into top performers. Instead, he argues, you need to understand the kind of talents your company needs in its salespeople and hire the most talented people of that type that you can. He urges you to study your most successful salespeople and guides you in what to look for in their work. By learning what they do right you can hire more people with the same abilities. The key is to be more dispassionate and not hire someone because they seem good to you or that you like them. You need performers. So, learn what makes such people tick and hire them.

The book has 9 chapters and an appendix with a 50-page case study of a real company that illustrates the entire process he lays out in this book. And a good index.

The nine chapters cover:

1) The Perfect Salesforce - he makes his case for native talent over the notion of teaching sales.
2) The 6 Best Practices - The 10 Selling Talents, Sorting Stages for Talent, Talent-Based Hiring, Pay and Quota, Sales Behavior Training, Result-Based Management.
3) The 10 Selling Talents
4) Sorting Sales Stages for Talent
5) The Talent Based Hiring Process
6) The Pay Plan and Quota
7) Sales Behavior Training
8) Result-Based Management
9) Growing `The Perfect Salesforce'

While the first 3 of the best practices are likely to be the most different for you (at least they were for me), the author lays out his principles very well. He also provides online forms and even a bookmark you can print out to help you.

I think what Gatehouse says about sales makes sense and much of it agrees with my personal experience. There are naturally talented salespeople, and there are different sales requirements at different companies, for different sales assignments, and the way you set up their pay and quote matters and great deal. And I like his emphasis on sales training having something to offer in adding refinements to talent and management by emphasizing the positive. His saying that under performing salespeople are miscast is spot on. What others call firing he calls releasing and I like that wording a lot. I did the same thing when I found people who just couldn't get a job done. My emphasis was that they deserved to be successful, but the job they had was not going to help them be successful.

A thoughtful and helpful book.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

This was definitely the most complete and insightful report on Philadelphia Phillies history that I have ever read. A complete look at each season, the players, as wells as the management and administration of this fine organization. Wonderful pictures and a complete record section made this book one of the finest of its type.

A one stop book on Phillies history. Stats, stories, photos. Its all in there. It is truly an awesome book for any Phillies fan, any baseball fan for that matter. A great piece of work.

The third edition of The Phillies Encyclopedia was released prior to the 2004 season. The original version was released in 1983, and a second edition was printed in 1993. Anything you've ever wanted to know about the Phillies is all here from their inaugural year of 1883 through the end of the Veterans Stadium era in 2003. A summary of every season is included, bios of over 200 players, every manager, owner, and club president. Rare facts, stories, you name it, it's here.

If you are a diehard Phillies fan, this is for you. If you are a casual Phillies fan, and would like to learn more of the team's history, this is a great place to start. If you are a fan of baseball history in general, I highly recommend The Phillies Encyclopedia.

I can't wait until the next edition comes out!

Some books I read for the history, some I read for the story, and then there is The Phillies Reader. Being a life long Philadelphia Phillies fan, this book allowed me to read about some of my boyhood heroes and bring out the kid in me once again.

Follow the 300-page trail of one of baseball's oldest and most storied franchises in this remarkable collection of Phillies archives. From the earliest days of Ed Delahanty and his four home run game to Billy Hamilton to the roaring 20's with Pete Alexander.

Travel back in time to watch the Whiz Kids like Robin Roberts and Ritchie Ashburn of the 50's to the Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton lead powerhouses of the 70's and 80's. You'll read about the Wheeze Kids with Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez of 1983.

I was amazed at the ups and downs, the trial and tribulations, the emotional roller coaster this book presented and how it all falls neatly into place. A true must have for any Phillies Fan at a price that should be of no objection. Congratulations on a spectacular job well done!

This is a wonderful and educational chronological collection of newspaper columns written about the Phillies from the 1930's through the 1993 World Series. There is a pleasing array of writing styles, perspectives and events chronicled. I wish the book were bigger, though. For instance, I hoped for more detail about the infamous 1964 "stretch drive." I was born in 1958 and first started rooting for the Fightins in 1970. 1964 is not in my personal memory bank, thank goodness. But, even in the absence of material I had hoped to see, this book is very entertaining reading, and a must for any Phillie fan - or baseball fan - who appreciates the history of the Phils or the game itself.

Yes, I am one of the few, the proud,.....the Philadelphia Phillies' fans. And was this book ever perfect for me.

I have always been a baseball fan, and my favorite team has always been the Philadelphia Phillies. This book allowed me to travel back through the wild history of the ball club. The stories are wonderful, but more importantly, most of them are written by top-notch newspaper reporters or well-known authors. Some of the more personal stories, written by players, etc., are also well-done, and give a nice human touch to the book.

This was an intersting and entertaining read, and one that could be enjoyed by all fans of America's Pastime.

I'm not a big baseball fan, but I wanted to read this book because it pertained to the Negroe Leagues, a part of baseball most of us don't know much about. I was delighted. The Pittsburgh Crawfords was both entertaining and informative. What a wonderful cast of characters! And wonderful stories.

I'm not a big baseball fan, but I wanted to read this book because it pertained to the Negroe Leagues, a part of baseball most of us don't know much about. I was delighted. The Pittsburgh Crawfords was both entertaining and informative. What a wonderful cast of characters! And wonderful stories.

The Pittsburg Crawfords by James Bankes presents an excellent insight into the world of black baseball and some of its greatest stars such as Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell and Josh Gibson. One of the books fascinating parts is a comparison of black stars with the 1927 Yankees Murderes Row. As a baseball fan, I highly recommend this book.