Baseball Audiobooks | Sports & Recreation

Inside the Empire: The True Power Behind the New York Yankees

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A riveting look at what is really said and done behind closed doors with the New York Yankees, the most famous and wealthiest sports franchise in the world Using the 2018 baseball season as the backdrop, Inside the Empire gives readers the real, unvarnished “straight-from-the-gut” truth from Brian Cashman, Aaron Boone, Giancarlo Stanton, C.C. Sabathia—even Hal Steinbrenner and Randy Levine—and many more. This is baseball’s version of HBO’s award-winning NFL series “Hard Knocks.” Klapisch and Solotaroff take you deep into the Yankees clubhouse, their dugout, and the front office and pull back the curtain so that every fan can see what really goes on. Bottom line? You may think you know everything about the storied franchise of the New York Yankees and what makes them tick. But Inside the Empire will set the record straight, and drop bombshells about iconic figures along the way. There’s never been a baseball book quite like it.

Bob Klapisch, Paul Solotaroff (Author), Bob Klapisch (Narrator)

Audiobook

Inside The Empire: The True Power Behind the New York Yankees

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A riveting look at what is really said and done behind closed doors with the New York Yankees, the most famous and wealthiest sports franchise in the world Using the 2018 baseball season as the backdrop, Inside the Empire gives readers the real, unvarnished "straight-from-the-gut" truth from Brian Cashman, Aaron Boone, Giancarlo Stanton, C.C. Sabathia-even Hal Steinbrenner and Randy Levine-and many more. This is baseball's version of HBO's award-winning NFL series "Hard Knocks." Klapisch and Solotaroff take you deep into the Yankees clubhouse, their dugout, and the front office and pull back the curtain so that every fan can see what really goes on. Bottom line? You may think you know everything about the storied franchise of the New York Yankees and what makes them tick. But Inside the Empire will set the record straight, and drop bombshells about iconic figures along the way. There's never been a baseball book quite like it.

Bob Klapisch, Paul Solotaroff (Author), Bob Klapisch (Narrator)

Audiobook

Infinite Baseball: Notes from a Philosopher at the Ballpark

In this deeply entertaining book, philosopher and baseball fan Alva Noë explores the many unexpected ways in which baseball is truly a philosophical kind of game. For example, he ponders how observers of baseball are less interested in what happens, than in who is responsible for what happens; every action receives praise or blame. To put it another way, in baseball-as in the law-we decide what happened based on who is responsible for what happened. Noë also explains the curious activity of keeping score: a score card is not merely a record of the game, like a video recording; it is an account of the game. Baseball requires that true fans try to tell the story of the game, in real time, as it unfolds, and thus actively participate in its creation. Some argue that baseball is fundamentally a game about numbers. Noë's wide-ranging, thoughtful observations show that, to the contrary, baseball is not only a window on language, culture, and the nature of human action, but is intertwined with deep and fundamental human truths. The book ranges from the nature of umpiring and the role of instant replay, to the nature of the strike zone, from the rampant use of surgery to controversy surrounding performance enhancing drugs. Throughout, Noë's observations are surprising and provocative. Infinite Baseball is a book for the true baseball fan.

Alva Noe (Author), Barry Abrams (Narrator)

Audiobook

In Scoring Position: 40 Years of a Baseball Love Affair

Bob Ryan has scored every baseball game he's attended, at every level, since the start of the 1977 season. It's a deeply personal tradition still going strong at more than 1,400 games and counting. The tattered scorebooks he's filled are worn from age, travel, and countless summer days, but their grids and scrawled symbols tell the stories of milestones, rivalries, rare historic achievements, and more. In Scoring Position captures the incomparable spirit of baseball, with its infinite possibilities and madcap anomalies. Ryan, alongside baseball historian and statistician Bill Chuck, has scoured his scorecard archives for the most singular events-a switch-hitter being hit by a pitch from both sides of the plate in the same game; a player batting for the cycle off four different pitchers; even back-to-back pinch-hit home runs with two outs in the 9th. Featuring some of the game's biggest names and wildest scenarios, this is a fascinating romp through baseball history, exuding a pure zeal for this sport that fans of all teams will recognize in themselves.

Bill Chuck, Bob Ryan (Author), Chris Lutkin, Pat Grimes, Pete Cross (Narrator)

Audiobook

Imperfect

On an overcast September day in 1993, Jim Abbott took the mound at Yankee Stadium and threw one of the most dramatic no-hitters in major-league history. The game was the crowning achievement in an unlikely success story, unseen in the annals of professional sports. In Imperfect, the one-time big league ace retraces his remarkable journey. Born without a right hand, Jim Abbott as a boy dreamed of being a great athlete. Raised in Flint, Michigan, by parents who saw in his condition not a disability but an extraordinary opportunity, Jim became a two-sport standout in high school, then an ace pitcher for the University of Michigan. But his journey was only beginning. As a nineteen-year-old, Jim beat the vaunted Cuban National Team. By twenty-one, he'd won the gold medal game at the 1988 Olympics and-without spending a day in the minor leagues-cracked the starting rotation of the California Angels. In 1991, he would finish third in the voting for the Cy Young Award. Two years later, he would don Yankee pinstripes and deliver a one-of-a-kind no-hitter. It wouldn't always be so good. After a season full of difficult losses-some of them by football scores-Jim was released, cut off from the game he loved. Unable to say good-bye so soon, Jim tried to come back, pushing himself to the limit-and through one of the loneliest experiences an athlete can have. But always, even then, there were children and their parents waiting for him outside the clubhouse doors, many of them with disabilities like his, seeking consolation and advice. These obligations became Jim's greatest honor. In this honest and insightful memoir, Jim Abbott reveals the insecurities of a life spent as the different one, how he habitually hid his disability in his right front pocket, and why he chose an occupation in which the uniform provided no front pockets. With a riveting pitch-by-pitch account of his no-hitter providing the ideal frame for his story, this unique athlete offers readers an extraordinary and unforgettable memoir.

Jim Abbott, Tim Brown (Author), Jim Abbott (Narrator)

Audiobook

If You Were Only White: The Life of Leroy “Satchel” Paige

If You Were Only White explores the legacy of one of the most exceptional athletes ever-an entertainer extraordinaire, a daring showman and crowd-pleaser, a wizard with a baseball whose artistry and antics on the mound brought fans out in the thousands to ballparks across the country. Leroy 'Satchel' Paige was arguably one of the world's greatest pitchers and a premier star of Negro Leagues Baseball. But in this biography, Donald Spivey reveals Paige to have been much more than just a blazing fastball pitcher. Spivey follows Paige from his birth in Alabama in 1906 to his death in Kansas City in 1982, detailing the challenges Paige faced battling the color line in America and recounting his tests and triumphs in baseball. He also opens up Paige's private life during and after his playing days, introducing listeners to the man who extended his social, cultural, and political reach beyond the limitations associated with his humble background. Paige's life intertwined with many of the most important issues of the times in US and African American history. Spivey incorporates interviews with former teammates conducted over twelve years, as well as exclusive interviews with Paige's son Robert, daughter Pamela, Ted 'Double Duty' Radcliffe, and John 'Buck' O'Neil to tell the story of a pioneer who helped transform America through the nation's favorite pastime.

Donald Spivey (Author), Terrence Kidd (Narrator)

Audiobook

If These Walls Could Talk: Stories From the New York Mets Dugout, Locker Room, and Press Box

Mike Puma of the New York Post provides insight into the team's inner sanctum as only he can The New York Mets are one of the most historic teams in Major League Baseball, with superstars over the years including Jacob deGrom, Mike Piazza, David Wright, and Tom Seaver. Aided by dozens of new, exclusive interviews, listeners will gain the perspective of players, coaches, and personnel from Mets history in moments of greatness as well as defeat, making for a keepsake no fan will want to miss. Few fan bases display as much rabid devotion to their team as the New York Mets', win or lose. That spirit is celebrated in this colorful collection of stories about the Lovable Losers.

Mike Puma (Author), Barry Abrams (Narrator)

Audiobook

If These Walls Could Talk: Boston Red Sox

A New York Times Sports and Fitness Bestseller The Boston Red Sox are one of the most iconic teams in Major League Baseball, with nine World Series championships and countless greats who have donned the Sox uniform. In If These Walls Could Talk: Stories from the Boston Red Sox Dugout, Locker Room, and Press Box, former player and longtime broadcaster Jerry Remy provides insight into the team's inner sanctum as only he can. Listeners will gain the perspective of players, coaches, and personnel in moments of greatness as well as defeat, making for a keepsake no fan will want to miss.

Jerry Remy, Nick Cafardo, Sean Mcdonough (Author), Joe Barrett (Narrator)

Audiobook

I'm Keith Hernandez: A Memoir

Legendary first baseman Keith Hernandez tells all in this gripping and literary memoir. Keith Hernandez revolutionized the role of first baseman. During his illustrious career with the World Series-winning St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets, he was a perennial fan favorite, earning eleven consecutive Gold Gloves, a National League co-MVP Award, and a batting title. But it was his unique blend of intelligence, humor, and talent--not to mention his unflappable leadership, playful antics, and competitive temperament--that transcended the sport and propelled him to a level of renown that few other athletes have achieved, including his memorable appearances on the television show Seinfeld . Now, with a striking mix of candor and self-reflection, Hernandez takes us along on his journey to baseball immortality. There are the hellacious bus rides and south-of-the-border escapades of his minor league years. His major league benchings, unending plate adjustments, and role in one of the most exciting batting races in history against Pete Rose. Indeed, from the Little League fields of Northern California to the dusty proving grounds of triple-A ball to the grand stages of Busch Stadium and beyond, I'm Keith Hernandez reveals as much about America's favorite pastime as it does about the man himself. What emerges is an honest and compelling assessment of the game's past, present, and future--a memoir that showcases one of baseball's most unique and experienced minds at his very best.

Keith Hernandez (Author), Keith Hernandez (Narrator)

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I Should Have Quit This Morning: Adventures in Minor League Baseball

The road to Major League baseball goes through the minor leagues. Every year there are over 5,500 players trying to work their way to the top of the tiered minor league system. Very few people know what life is really like for these aspiring players-until now. This collection of stories from actual minor league players is a hilarious, heartbreaking and honest account of the struggle to make it to the big leagues. In this book, you will learn: - How it feels to be the first pick in the MLB draft ("everyone started screaming") and how it feels for a player to not hear his name called at all ("Three days came and went and I didn't get picked.") - What Spring Training is like for minor leaguers ("The difference between big league camp and minor league camp is night and day.") - Where players live and how they eat ("I became a pro at cooking in the 'kitchen bathroom' in the hotel.") - What it's like to get promoted, demoted and traded ("It was the first time I actually cried when someone got moved or traded.") - What it's like when players get the ultimate call up to the Major Leagues ("It was still during the game and everyone was like, 'Dude, go call your parents or something.") And so much more!

Kathy Diekroeger (Author), Michael Butler Murray (Narrator)

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Hurricane Season: The Unforgettable Story of the 2017 Houston Astros and the Resilience of a City

An inside look at the 2017 Houston Astros championship season, focusing on the epic seven-game World Series, the front office decisions that built a winning team, and the resilience of the city in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. On November 1, 2017, the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in an epic seven game battle to become 2017 World Series champs. For the Astros, the combination of a magnificently played series, a 101-victory season, and the devastation Hurricane Harvey brought to their city was so incredible it might give Hollywood screenwriters pause. The nation's fourth-largest city, still reeling in the wake of disaster, was smiling again. The Astros' first-ever World Series victory is a great baseball story, but it's also the story of a major American city--a city (and a state) that the rest of the nation doesn't always love or understand--becoming a sentimental favorite because of its grace and good will in response to the largest natural disaster in American history. The Astros' miracle season is also the fascinating tale of a thoroughly modern team. Constructed by NASA-inspired analytics, the team's data-driven system took the game to a more sophisticated level than the so-called Moneyball approach. The team's new owner, Jim Crane, bought into the system and was willing to endure humiliating seasons in the baseball wilderness with the hope, shared by few initially, that success comes to those who wait. And he was right. But no data-crunching could take credit for a team of likeable, refreshingly good-natured young men who wore "Houston Strong" patches on their jerseys and meant it--guys like shortstop Carlos Correa, who kept a photo in his locker of a Houston woman trudging through fetid water up to her knees. The Astros foundation included George Springer, a powerful slugger and rangy outfielder; third-baseman Alex Bregman, whose defensive play and clutch hitting were crucial in the series; and, of course, the stubby and tenacious second baseman José Altuve, the heart and soul of the team. Hurricane Season is Houston Chronicle columnist Joe Holley's moving account of this extraordinary team--and the extraordinary circumstances of their championship.

Joe Holley (Author), Jamie Renell (Narrator)

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How Baseball Happened: Outrageous Lies Exposed! The True Story Revealed

The fascinating, true, origin story of baseball-how America's first great sport developed and how it conquered a nation Baseball's true founders don't have plaques in Cooperstown. The founders were the hundreds of uncredited amateurs-ordinary people-who played without gloves, facemasks, or performance incentives in the middle decades of the nineteenth century. Unlike today's pro athletes, they lived full lives outside of sports. They worked, built businesses, and fought against the South in the Civil War. But that's not the way the story has been told. The wrongness of baseball history can be staggering. You may have heard that Abner Doubleday or Alexander Cartwright invented baseball. Neither did. You may have been told that a club called the Knickerbockers played the first baseball game in 1846. They didn't. You have read that baseball's color line was uncrossed and unchallenged until Jackie Robinson in 1947. Nope. You may have heard Cooperstown, Hoboken, or New York City called the birthplace of baseball, but not Brooklyn. Yet Brooklyn was the home of baseball's first fans, the first ballpark, the first statistics-and modern pitching. Baseball was originally supposed to be played, not watched. This changed when crowds began to show up at games in Brooklyn in the late 1850s. We fans weren't invited to the party; we crashed it. Professionalism wasn't part of the plan either, but when an 1858 Brooklyn versus New York City series accidentally proved that people would pay to see a game, the writing was on the outfield wall. When the first professional league was formed in 1871, baseball was already a fully formed modern sport with championships, media coverage, and famous stars. Professional baseball invented an organization, but not the sport itself. Baseball's amazing amateurs had already done that. Thomas W. Gilbert's history is for baseball fans and anyone fascinating by origin stories and American culture.

Thomas W. Gilbert (Author), George Newbern (Narrator)

Audiobook

Baseball Audiobooks in Sports & Recreation