Baseball Audiobooks | Sports & Recreation

Red Sox Rhymes: Verses and Curses Audiobook

From the voice of Fenway Park comes a collection of sixty-four humorous and nostalgic poems celebrating the Boston Red Sox. A commonwealth institution and popular local television personality who is also the announcer, ambassador, and poet laureate for Fenway Park, Dick Flavin has entertained audiences with his incredible poetic talent and abiding love for the Red Sox before countless home games for more than twenty years. Now, this legendary talent's poems are gathered together for the first time in this keepsake volume. As a beloved Red Sox insider, Flavin has been privileged to watch history in the making, from the team's 2005 World Series victory that finally broke its nearly century-long "curse," to road-tripping with Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky, to witnessing Ted Williams final appearance at the plate. His pithy and comedic verses, including such gems as "The Beards of Summer," "Long Live Fenway Park," and his best known, "Teddy at the Bat", pay homage to the American pastime, New England's favorite team and players (and the curses and legends that have followed it), and the passionate Nation that has remained faithful through victory and defeat. Illustrated with more than fifty photos from the official Red Sox archives, Red Sox Rhymes honors all of Red Sox fandom and is an essential memento for every Bosox fan.

Dick Flavin (Author), Dick Flavin, Henry Strozier (Narrator)

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The Best Team Money Can Buy: The Los Angeles Dodgers' Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse

In 2012 the Los Angeles Dodgers were bought out of bankruptcy in the most expensive sale in sports history. Los Angeles icon Magic Johnson and his partners hoped to put together a team worthy of Hollywood. By most accounts they have succeeded, if not always in the way they might have imagined. In The Best Team Money Can Buy, Molly Knight tells the story of the Dodgers' 2013 and 2014 seasons. She shares a behind-the-scenes account of the astonishing sale of the Dodgers, revealing why the team was not overpriced, as well as what the Dodgers actually knew in advance about rookie phenom and Cuban defector Yasiel Puig. We learn how close manager Don Mattingly was to losing his job during the 2013 season-and how the team turned around the season in the most remarkable fifty-game stretch (42-8) of any team since World War II, before losing in the NLCS. Knight also provides a rare glimpse into the infighting and mistrust that derailed the team in 2014 and resulted in ridding the roster of difficult personalities and the hiring of a new front office. Exciting, surprising, and filled with juicy details, Molly Knight's account is a must-listen for baseball fans and anyone who wants the inside story of today's Los Angeles Dodgers.

Molly Knight (Author), Hillary Huber (Narrator)

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Ty Cobb

Finally-a fascinating and authoritative biography of perhaps the most controversial player in baseball history, Ty Cobb. Ty Cobb is baseball royalty, maybe even the greatest player who ever lived. His lifetime batting average is still the highest of all time, and when he retired in 1928, after twenty-one years with the Detroit Tigers and two with the Philadelphia Athletics, he held more than ninety records. But the numbers don't tell half of Cobb's tale. The Georgia Peach was by far the most thrilling player of the era: "Ty Cobb could cause more excitement with a base on balls than Babe Ruth could with a grand slam,

Charles Leerhsen (Author), Malcolm Hillgartner (Narrator)

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Molina: The Story of the Father Who Raised an Unlikely Baseball Dynasty

A baseball rules book. A tape measure. A lottery ticket. These were in the pocket of Bengie Molina’s father when he died of a heart attack on the rutted Little League field in his Puerto Rican barrio. The items serve as thematic guideposts in Molina’s beautiful memoir about his father, who through baseball taught his three sons about loyalty, humility, courage, and the true meaning of success. Bengie and his two brothers—Jose and six-time All-Star Yadier—became famous catchers in the Major Leagues and have six World Series championships among them. Only the DiMaggio brothers can rival the Molinas as the most accomplished siblings in baseball history. Bengie was the least likely to reach the Majors. He was too slow, too sensitive, and too small. But craving his beloved father’s respect, Bengie weathered failure after deflating failure until one day he was hoisting a World Series trophy in a champagne-soaked clubhouse. All along he thought he was fulfilling his father’s own failed dream of baseball glory—only to discover it had not been his father’s dream at all. Written with the emotional power of sports classics such as Field of Dreams and Friday Night Lights, Molina is a love story between a formidable but flawed father and a son who, in unearthing answers about his father’s life, comes to understand his own.

Bengie Molina (Author), Henry Leyva, Joan Ryan (Narrator)

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Big Data Baseball: Math, Miracles, and the End of a 20-Year Losing Streak

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was old school and stubborn. But after twenty straight losing seasons and his job on the line, he was ready to try anything. So when he met with GM Neal Huntington in October 2012, they decided to discard everything they knew about the game and instead take on drastic "big data" strategies. Going well beyond the number-crunching of Moneyball, which used statistics found on the back of baseball cards to identify market inefficiencies, the data the Pirates employed was not easily observable. They collected millions of data points on pitches and balls in play, creating a tome of reports that revealed key insights for how to win more games without spending a dime. They discovered that most batters struggled to hit two-seam fastballs, that an aggressive defensive shift on the field could turn more batted balls into outs, and that a catcher's most valuable skill was hidden. Hurdle and Huntington got to work trying to convince the entire Pirates organization and disgruntled fans to embrace these unconventional, yet groundbreaking methods. All this led to the end to the longest consecutive run of losing seasons in North American pro sports history. The Pirates' 2013 season is the perfect lens for examining baseball's burgeoning big-data movement. Using flawless reporting, award-winning journalist Travis Sawchik takes you behind-the-scenes to reveal a game-changing book of miracles and math.

Travis Sawchik (Author), Peter Larkin (Narrator)

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The Game: Inside the Secret World of Major League Baseball's Power Brokers

The incredible inside story of power, money, and baseball's last twenty years In the fall of 1992, America's National Pastime is in crisis and already on the path to the unthinkable: cancelling a World Series for the first time in history. The owners are at war with each other, their decades-long battle with the players has turned America against both sides, and the players' growing addiction to steroids will threaten the game's very foundation. It is a tipping point for baseball, a crucial moment in the game's history that catalyzes a struggle for power by three strong-willed men: Commissioner Bud Selig, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, and union leader Don Fehr. It's their uneasy alliance at the end of decades of struggle that pulls the game back from the brink and turns it into a money-making powerhouse that enriches them all. This is the real story of baseball, played out against a tableau of stunning athletic feats, high-stakes public battles, and backroom political deals--with a supporting cast that includes Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, Joe Torre and Derek Jeter, George Bush and George Mitchell, and many more. Drawing from hundreds of extensive, exclusive interviews throughout baseball, The Game is a stunning achievement: a rigorously reported book and the must-read, fly-on-the-wall, definitive account of how an enormous struggle for power turns disaster into baseball's Golden Age.

Jon Pessah (Author), Jeremy Arthur (Narrator)

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Seeing Home: The Ed Lucas Story: A Blind Broadcaster's Story of Overcoming Life's Greatest Obstacles

Soon to be a major motion picture, Seeing Home: The Ed Lucas Story is the incredible true tale of a beloved Emmy-winning blind broadcaster who refused to let his disability prevent him from overcoming many challenging obstacles and achieving his dreams.In 1951, when he was only twelve years old, Ed Lucas was hit between the eyes by a baseball during a sandlot game in Jersey City. He lost his sight forever. To cheer him up, his mother wrote letters to baseball superstars of the day, explaining her son's condition. Soon Ed was invited into their clubhouses and dugouts, as the players and coaches personally made him feel at home. Despite the warm reception he got from his heroes, Ed was told repeatedly by others that he would never be able to accomplish anything worthwhile because of his limitations. But Hall-of-Famer Phil Rizzuto became Ed's mentor and encouraged him to pursue his passion-broadcasting. Ed then overcame hundreds of barriers, big and small, to become a pioneer-the first blind person covering baseball on a regular basis, a career he has successfully continued for six decades. Ed may have lost his sight, but he never lost his faith, which got him through many pitfalls and dark days. When Ed's two sons were very young, his wife walked out and left him to raise them all by himself, which he did. Six years later, Ed's ex-wife returned and sued him for full custody, saying that a blind man shouldn't have her kids. The judge agreed, tearing Ed's sons away from their father's loving home. Ed fought the heartbreaking decision with appeals all the way up to the highest level of the court system. Eventually, he prevailed, marking the very first time in US history that a disabled person was awarded custody over a non-disabled spouse. Even in his later years, Ed is still enjoying a remarkably blessed life. In 2006, he married his second wife, Allison, at home plate in old Yankee Stadium, the only time that such a thing ever happened on that iconic spot. Yankee owner George Steinbrenner himself catered the whole affair, which was shown live on national television. Seeing Home: The Ed Lucas Story is truly a magical read and a universally uplifting and inspirational tale for everyone, whether or not you happen to be a sports fan. Over his long and amazing life, Ed has collected hundreds of anecdotes from his personal relationships and encounters with everyone, from kings and presidents to movie stars and sports Hall-of-Famers, many of which he shares in this memoir, using his trademark humorous and engaging style, cowritten with his youngest son, Christopher.

Christopher J. Lucas, Ed Lucas (Author), Christopher J. Lucas (Narrator)

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The Matheny Manifesto: A Young Manager's Old-School Views on Success in Sports and Life

“Nothing worth doing right is easy.” –Mike Matheny Mike Matheny was just forty-one, without professional managerial experience and looking for a next step after a successful career as a Major League catcher, when he succeeded the legendary Tony La Russa as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012. While Matheny has enjoyed immediate success, leading the Cards to the postseason three times in his first three years, people have noticed something else about his life, something not measured in day-to-day results. Instead, it’s based on a frankly worded letter he wrote to the parents of a Little League team he coached, a cry for change that became an Internet sensation and eventually a “manifesto.” The tough-love philosophy Matheny expressed in the letter contained his throwback beliefs that authority should be respected, discipline and hard work rewarded, spiritual faith cultivated, family made a priority, and humility considered a virtue. In The Matheny Manifesto, he builds on his original letter by first diagnosing the problem at the heart of youth sports−hint: it starts with parents and coaches−and then by offering a hopeful path forward. Along the way, he uses stories from his small-town childhood as well as his career as a player, coach, and manager to explore eight keys to success: leadership, confidence, teamwork, faith, class, character, toughness, and humility. From “The Coach Is Always Right, Even When He’s Wrong” to “Let Your Catcher Call the Game,” Matheny’s old-school advice might not always be popular or politically correct, but it works. His entertaining and deeply inspirational book will not only resonate with parents, coaches, and athletes, it will also be a powerful reminder, from one of the most successful new managers in the game, of what sports can teach us all about winning on the field and in life.

Jerry B. Jenkins, Mike Matheny (Author), Mark Deakins (Narrator)

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El Cerrador: Mi vida

The greatest relief pitcher of all time shares his extraordinary story of survival, love, and baseball. Mariano Rivera, the man who intimidated thousands of batters merely by opening a bullpen door, began his incredible journey as the son of a poor Panamanian fisherman. When first scouted by the Yankees, he didn't even own his own glove. He thought he might make a good mechanic. When discovered, he had never flown in an airplane, had never heard of Babe Ruth, spoke no English, and couldn't imagine Tampa, the city where he was headed to begin a career that would become one of baseball's most iconic. What he did know: that he loved his family and his then girlfriend, Clara, that he could trust in the Lord to guide him, and that he could throw a baseball exactly where he wanted to, every time. With astonishing candor, Rivera tells the story of the championships, the bosses (including The Boss), the rivalries, and the struggles of being a Latino baseball player in the United States and of maintaining Christian values in professional athletics. The thirteen-time All-Star discusses his drive to win; the secrets behind his legendary composure; the story of how he discovered his cut fastball; the untold, pitch-by-pitch account of the ninth inning of Game 7 in the 2001 World Series; and why the lowest moment of his career became one of his greatest blessings. In The Closer, Rivera takes readers into the Yankee clubhouse, where his teammates are his brothers. But he also takes us on that jog from the bullpen to the mound, where the game -- or the season -- rests squarely on his shoulders. We come to understand the laserlike focus that is his hallmark, and how his faith and his family kept his feet firmly on the pitching rubber. Many of the tools he used so consistently and gracefully came from what was inside him for a very long time -- his deep passion for life; his enduring commitment to Clara, whom he met in kindergarten; and his innate sense for getting out of a jam. When Rivera retired, the whole world watched -- and cheered. In The Closer, we come to an even greater appreciation of a legend built from the ground up.

Mariano Rivera (Author), Carlos Carrasco, Wayne Coffey (Narrator)

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Blood Sport: Alex Rodriguex, Biogenesis, and the Quest to End Baseball's Steroid Era

The definitive, deeply revelatory, and wildly dramatic story of the Alex Rodriguez and Biogenesis scandal, co-written by the reporter who broke the story. All Porter Fischer wanted was the $4,000 Tony Bosch owed him. But Bosch would not pay him back, so he swiped Bosch’s Biogenesis ledgers as collateral. Fischer eventually examined the lists of clients and treatment plans revealed in the ledgers and saw what he really had: proof that major and minor sports figures came to the Miami antiaging clinic for anabolic steroids, human growth hormones, and other illegal drugs. That included one of the greatest sluggers in modern baseball history, three-time MVP Alex Rodriguez. When Fischer showed those notebooks to Tim Elfrink, an investigative reporter at Miami New Times, it sparked one of the wildest—and costliest—sports scandals ever. In Blood Sport, Elfrink teams up with Gus Garcia-Roberts, an investigative reporter at New York’s Newsday, to finally tell the full story. A-Rod, an obscenely talented and wealthy, self-destructive man, is one of the book’s central figures. The tale is rooted in the unique tropical lawlessness of Miami, a city populated with muscle-bulging crooks, spray-tanned fake doctors, and millionaire athletes looking for any chemical advantage. And it’s a chronicle of America’s latest mad quest for a fountain of youth—a billion-dollar obsession with HGH, a drug with uncertain benefits and even hazier risks backed by a mountain of lobbyist dollars. Seven years after Game of Shadows let readers experience the characters and drama inside baseball’s performance-enhancing-drug scourge, Blood Sport will demonstrate that the steroid era never ended. It evolved.

Gus Garcia-Roberts, Tim Elfrink (Author), Johnny Heller (Narrator)

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The Hall: A Celebration of Baseball's Greats: In Stories and Images, the Complete Roster of Inductee

A deluxe baseball treasury unlike any other, complete with essays, photos, and player bios from The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Everyone dreams of Cooperstown. It's a hallowed name in baseball, for players as well as their fans. It's a house where legends live; it's everything that's great about the game. Never before has the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum published a complete registry of inductees with plaques, photographs, and extended biographies. In this unique, 75th anniversary edition, read the stories of every player inducted into the Hall, organized by position. Each section begins with an original essay by a living Hall of Famer who played that position: Hank Aaron, George Brett, Orlando Cepeda, Carlton Fisk, Tommy Lasorda, Joe Morgan, Jim Rice, Cal Ripken Jr., Nolan Ryan, and Robin Yount.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (Author), Dale E. Turner, Dale Turner, Mark Comstock, Nick Omana, Pete Larkin, Various Readers, Various Readers (Narrator)

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Voices of All-Time Baseball Greats

Hear the voices of all-time baseball greats, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Carl Hubbell, Johnny Vander Meer, and broadcaster Mel Allen. Also, includes the radio call of Brooklyn Dodgers' Cookie Lavagetto's 1947 World Series game-winning double against the New York Yankees, Babe Ruth's final goodbye at Yankee Stadium, and the New York Giants' Bobby Thomson's three-run walk off 'Shot Heard Run The World' home run off Brooklyn's Ralph Branca to win the 1951 National League pennant.

Babe Ruth, Carl, Hubbell, Johnny Van De Meer, Lou Gehrig, Mel Allen, Unknown, Unknown (Author), Babe Ruth, Carl, Hubbell, Johnny Van De Meer, Johnny Van de Meer, Lou Gehrig, Mel Allen, Various Readers, Various Readers (Narrator)

Audiobook

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