Catching-101


Book Description

CATCHING-101: The Complete Guide for Baseball Catchers is the most comprehensive book ever written for baseball catchers. It contains tips, drills, and proper mechanics that will help every catcher or coach better understand the most difficult position on the field. This book contains information on EVERY aspect of catching that Coach Barksdale has learned through his years of experience from coaching nationally ranked NCAA teams, and playing at almost every level from Little League to professional baseball. A few of the topics covered in CATCHING-101 are: Receiving Blocking Catching Pop Flies Throwing Fielding Bunts Plays at Home Plate Drills Pitchouts Pass Balls/Wild Pitches Giving Signals And More! If you have been searching for a source with lots of high quality information about catching, this is the book for you! CATCHING-101 was written by Coach Xan Barksdale who is currently an NCAA Division I baseball coach and an ex-professional baseball player. Coach Barksdale played in the Atlanta Braves organization and has been a featured speaker at the prestigious ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) national convention.




Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way


Book Description

Coaching young players, developing their skills, and cultivating a love for the sport may be the most rewarding experience baseball can offer. Cal and Bill Ripken understand this like few others. From their father, Cal Sr., a legend in the Baltimore Orioles organization for 37 years, they learned to play the game the right way. Those lessons, paired with their combined 33 years of big league experience, helped develop the Ripken Way, a method of teaching the game through simple instruction, solid explanations, encouragement, and a positive atmosphere. In Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way, Cal and Bill share this approach to coaching and development. Whether you're teaching your children at home, managing the local travel team, or working with high school-level players, Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way will help you make a difference both on and off the field, with these features: More than 50 drills covering defense, hitting, pitching, and baserunning Age-specific practice plans for players ranging from 4 to 15+ Strategies for setting goals and reasonable expectations for your players and team Advice on communicating with parents, players, and staff Methods for creating a positive and fun environment in which kids can learn the skills and strategies of the game Bill Ripken was once voted by his peers as one of the big league players most likely to become a manager. Cal Ripken, Jr., known as baseball's Iron Man, is a member of the game's All-Century Team and a future Hall of Famer. Together, they are proof positive that the Ripken Way is the right way to teach the game of baseball.




The Brooklyn Nine


Book Description

Follows the fortunes of a German immigrant family through nine generations, beginning in 1845, as they experience American life and play baseball.




How Baseball Happened


Book Description

The untold story of baseball’s nineteenth-century origins: “a delightful look at a young nation creating a pastime that was love from the first crack of the bat” (Paul Dickson, The Wall Street Journal). 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. Perhaps you’ve read that baseball’s color line was first crossed by Jackie Robinson in 1947. Nope. Baseball’s true founders don’t have plaques in Cooperstown. They were hundreds of uncredited, ordinary people who played without gloves, facemasks, or performance incentives. 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. In this myth-busting history, Thomas W. Gilbert reveals the true beginnings of baseball. Through newspaper accounts, diaries, and other accounts, he explains how it evolved through the mid-nineteenth century into a modern sport of championships, media coverage, and famous stars—all before the first professional league was formed in 1871. Winner of the Casey Award: Best Baseball Book of the Year




Batting Order


Book Description

A New York Times bestseller From acclaimed author of the Home Team series Mike Lupica comes an inspiring novel about the heart and soul of baseball. On or off the field, Ben and Matt couldn’t be more different. Ben Roberson is an all-or-nothing player: he’s big, he’s bold, and he’s brash. Ben’s swing can hit a ball right out of the park—but that’s if he can get a hit at all. Matt Baker is small, and shy, and his stutter has him avoiding the spotlight—even if he’s the best all-rounder on the team. But while Matt knows he’s got the chops, a part of him has always envied “Big Ben” and his attention-grabbing charm. So it’s a total shock when Ben asks Matt to help him work on his swing. Because Ben can’t put the ball into play, and his showboating comes at the expense of the team. And even though Matt’s trying to help, Ben doesn’t seem to take him seriously, especially when it means toning things down. The end of the season is fast approaching—is there enough time for Ben to realize bigger isn’t always better? For Matt to understand that sometimes, being the bigger person means standing up for yourself? Or will they have to accept defeat?




2022 Official Rules of Major League Baseball


Book Description

An important resource for umpires, coaches, leagues, and serious fans of Major League Baseball (MLB), this handbook lists the dos and don'ts of the national pastime. Fully up-to-date, this book contains the official and sanctioned MLB rules and their interpretations per the Playing Rules Committee, the sole group that determines baseball's regulations.




The Double-Goal Coach


Book Description

The Double-Goal Coach is filled with powerful coaching tools based on Jim Thompson's Positive Coaching Alliance. These strategies reflect the "best-practices" of elite coaches and the latest research in sports psychology.Hundreds of workshops have shaped these tools for maximum effectiveness and ease of use. The lessons and activities can be used in the very next practice to make sports fun and to get the best from players. The Double-Goal Coach provides the framework for coaches and parents to transform youth sports so sports can transform youth -- allowing young athletes to enjoy sports while learning valuable life lessons.




Baseball Rules in Black and White


Book Description

The new 2017 Edition of Baseball Rules in Black & White ""Difficult High School Baseball Rules Made Easy"" includes three additional rule topics, plus the 2017 high school rule changes. The 2017 Edition has expanded to a total of 19 troublesome rule topics. From those 19 troublesome rules over 200 ruling actions, examples, and summaries in basic language and large font are provided. Each of the over 200 rulings include the original rule & page number from the high school rule book and this book includes a Table of Contents listed in alphabetical order, making finding a rule simple. Baseball Rules in Black and White will accelerate and increase a new umpire's baseball rule knowledge substantially. It is a great refresher for veteran umpires and coaches. By reading easy to find, clearly stated rules you will learn more in less time than reading a conventional rule book!




Changing the Game


Book Description

The modern day youth sports environment has taken the enjoyment out of athletics for our children. Currently, 70% of kids drop out of organized sports by the age of 13, which has given rise to a generation of overweight, unhealthy young adults. There is a solution. John O’Sullivan shares the secrets of the coaches and parents who have not only raised elite athletes, but have done so by creating an environment that promotes positive core values and teaches life lessons instead of focusing on wins and losses, scholarships, and professional aspirations. Changing the Game gives adults a new paradigm and a game plan for raising happy, high performing children, and provides a national call to action to return youth sports to our kids.




The Little Green Book of Tennis


Book Description

Golf is a disease, not a game. Especially when you take the game up in your fifties, as I did. After a series of injuries stopped my recreational tennis play, and my retirement from a lifetime of coaching and teaching tennis, I tried golf. It didn't take long to realize it was not an easy endeavor. Someone said, "You can't learn anything from a golf book, but you have to read a lot of golf books to find that out!" I found the gurus of golf instruction: Ledbetter, Pelz, and Hogan, who was said to have written the book with the secret! I did find one that really attracted me but in a somewhat different way.