Amazing Baseball Teams


Book Description

The stories of seven big league teams and how they became champions. Includes the Cubs, Braves, Cardinals, Indians, Dodgers, Mets, and Yankees.




Baseball Dynasties


Book Description

Assesses the top fifteen baseball teams of the twentieth century, including such legendary squads as the 1927 Yankees and the 1970 Orioles, to determine which team was the greatest of the modern era.




Paths to Glory


Book Description

An essential experience of being a baseball fan is the hopeful anticipation of seeing the hometown nine make a run at winning the World Series. In Paths to Glory, Mark L. Armour and Daniel R. Levitt review how teams build themselves up into winners. What makes a winning team like the 1900 Brooklyn Superbas or the 1917 White Sox or the 1997 Florida Marlins? And how are these teams different? What makes each championship team a unique product of its time? Armour and Levitt provide the historical context to show how the sport's business side has changed dramatically but its competitive environment remains the same. Utilizing new statistics to evaluate a player's value and career patterns, Armour and Levitt explore the teams that took risks, created their own opportunities, and changed the game. How did the Washington Senators achieve the unthinkable and blow past Babe Ruth's Yankees in 1924 and 1925? How did the 1965 Minnesota Twins quickly rise to the top and why did they just as suddenly fall? Did Charlie Finley assemble the last old-fashioned championship team before free agency, or was the Moustache Gang another example of winning by building from within? Why did the star-laden Red Sox of the 1930s keep falling short? In exploring these teams and more, Armour and Levitt analyze the players, the managers, and the executives who built teams to win and then lived with the consequences.




The 25 Greatest Baseball Teams of the 20th Century Ranked


Book Description

The best baseball team of the 20th century? How about the 1906 Cubs? Or the 1998 Yankees? Don't forget the 1929 A's, or the 1976 Reds. Some say the Yanks had a pretty good squad in 1927. There were so many great teams in the last century, it would be hard to compile a list of the 25 best--much less rank those clubs--but that's what the authors have done! This is an endlessly fascinating tome, sure to prompt spirited discussions around the water cooler or above the dugout. Let the arguments (and the fun!) begin!




May the Best Team Win


Book Description







All-Time Nines


Book Description

Who was the best baseball team of all time? This timeless question can most effectively be answered through comprehensive analysis of baseball statistics. Over the course of a season, winning teams tend to score more runs while allowing fewer than their opponents. The greater the difference in runs per game, the more a team can be expected to win. Comparing this data for the top five percent of Major League nines from 1901 through 2014, this book argues that runs above league average is the best statistic for ranking teams. The author sorts 220 teams by era, franchise and skills--hitting, fielding, baserunning, pitching--evaluates their strengths and weaknesses and assigns numerical values to each player's skills to demonstrate how they contributed to team performance.




Great Teams in Baseball History


Book Description

What are greatest teams in baseball and what made them stand out? Learn statistics about Hall of Fame players and the records of unstoppable teams. Discover how players came together to beat their opponents. Read about changes that were constantly being made to keep up with the growing sport. From talented players to dynamic managers, this book spans almost a century to find the best in baseball history.




Winners


Book Description

"We’re all winners, as Dayn Perry serves as our trusted guide on this idiosyncratic but profoundly informative walking tour of the great teams and players of the last few decades." —Rob Neyer, ESPN.com "Dayn Perry's really got something here. Part history, part handbook, Winners is an essential read for anyone trying to understand how great teams get that way." —Joe Sheehan, BaseballProspetus.com "We look at baseball from so many angles today that we too often forget the point is not to look at the game from an interesting view for its own sake, but to learn how it works, in the service of learning why teams win. Any fan who wants to know will find their answers in this book." —Tim Marchman, baseball columnist, The New York Sun "Dayn Perry crafts a lively narrative that blends astute analysis with clever storytelling. He gets to the bottom of what makes a great team tick." —Kevin Towers, General Manager and Executive Vice President, San Diego Padres




Legends: The Best Players, Games, and Teams in Baseball


Book Description

“With the LEGENDS series, Howard Bryant brings to life the best that sports has to offer—the heroes, the bitter rivalries, the moments that every sports-loving kid should know.”—Mike Lupica, #1 bestselling author of Travel Team, Heat, and Fantasy League Experience baseball's most exciting moments, World Series heroics, greatest players, and more! Baseball, America's pastime, is a sport of moments that stand the test of time. It is equally a sport of a new generation of heroes, whose exploits inspire today's young fans. This combination makes for a winning debut in Legends: The Best Players, Games, and Teams in Baseball. This is no traditional almanac of mundane statistics, but rather a storyteller's journey through baseball's storied game. Told in fun, accessible chapters and accompanied by iconic photos, a slew of Top Ten lists for kids to chew on and debate, and a Timeline of the 40 Most Important Moments in Baseball History, this collection covers some of the greatest players from Babe Ruth to Hank Aaron; the greatest teams to take the field and swing the bats; the greatest social triggers, such as Jackie Robinson's breaking of the color barrier; the greatest playoff rivalries, including the 2004 showdown between the Red Sox and Yankees that turned into an instant classic; and, of course, the edge-of-your-seat World Series moments that left some cheering while others wept. This is the perfect book for young fans eager to learn more about the sport that will stay with them for a lifetime. Praise for LEGENDS: * "A terrific gathering of heroic hacks and legendary near misses."—Kirkus Books, starred review