Out of My League:


Book Description

The New York Times bestseller from the author of The Bullpen Gospels. “A humorous, candid and insightful memoir . . . Grade: Home Run.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer After six years in the minors, pitcher Dirk Hayhurst hopes 2008 is the year he breaks into the big leagues. But every time Dirk looks up, the bases are loaded with challenges—a wedding balancing on a blind hope, a family in chaos, and paychecks that beg Dirk to ask, “How long can I afford to keep doing this?” Then it finally happens—Dirk gets called up to the Majors, to play for the San Diego Padres. A dream comes true when he takes the mound against the San Francisco Giants, kicking off forty insane days and nights in the Bigs. Like the classic games of baseball’s history, Out of My League entertains from the first pitch to the last out, capturing the gritty realities of playing on the big stage, the comedy and camaraderie in the dugouts and locker rooms, and the hard-fought, personal journeys that drive our love of America’s favorite pastime. “A rare gem of a baseball book.”—Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated “Observant, insightful, human, and hilarious.”—Bob Costas “A fun read . . . This book shows why baseball is so often used as a metaphor for life.”—Keith Olbermann “Entertaining and engaging . . . reminiscent of Jim Bouton’s Ball Four.”—Booklist “The book is a terrific read. If you loved Bullpen Gospels (I’d have a hard time believing you are a baseball fan if you didn’t) you will love Out of My League too.”—Bluebird Banter




Out of My League


Book Description

It's all fun and games until someone catches feelings. Sophia Wallace is convinced her life is over when her high school cuts the journalism program. Without the elective, she loses her chance to intern with the biggest newspaper company in the county, and why? All because the baseball team needs more funding. To make matters worse, her boyfriend publicly dumps her at a party, which is mortifying. But the icing on the cake is when the captain of the baseball team and the most popular guy at Bayview High, Walsh Hunter, decides to be chivalrous. He jumps in, throws his arm around Sophia, and declares his undying love for her. In front of everyone. Suddenly, Sophia is thrown into a world of fake relationships and undercover journalism, and she realizes she's way, way out of her league. Good thing she's got the team captain to teach her how to play. But faced with choosing between saving her journalism class or her newfound feelings for Walsh, will she strike out or hit a home run?




Out of My League


Book Description

After years of war, Lincoln Sheppard thought he'd left the violence and ugliness behind. He was content with the life he built for himself. Then the woman down the street came in and shook everything up.All Eden Brenner ever wanted was to have a place to call home. She finally found that in Hope Valley. Then she went and fell in love with the man a few houses down the first time she laid eyes on him. There was just one problem. Women like her didn't catch the attention of men like him. He was totally and completely out of her league. And to make matters worse, when her past comes knocking, the beautiful world she's built for herself is at risk of crumbling to the ground.When danger forces Eden into his arms, Lincoln begins to see her in a whole new light, and he suddenly finds himself wanting things he never expected. And he wants them all with the shy, clumsy woman from down the street. But when the truth comes out, that proves nearly impossible. Now he's fighting the hardest battle of his life, and the stakes are higher than ever. Protect the woman he's falling for while trying to win her heart at the same time.




Out of Their League


Book Description

Dave Meggyesy had been an outside linebacker with the St. Louis Cardinals for seven years when he quit at the height of his career to tell about the dehumanizing side of the game?about the fraud and the payoffs, the racism, drug abuse, and incredible violence. The original publication of Out of Their League shocked readers and provoked the outraged response that rocked the sports world in the 1970s. But his memoir is also a moving description of a man who struggled for social justice and personal liberation. Meggyesy has continued this journey and remains an active champion for players? rights through his work with the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA). He provides a preface for this Bison Books edition.




Out of My League (The Underdog series #1)


Book Description

Maura Richards’ plan for her life is simply to not have a plan. From watching the clock at her temp job to ending relationships before they get serious, Maura can only commit to being noncommittal. Enter Jet Knox, the starting quarterback of her beloved hometown pro football team. Maura dismisses their first encounter as merely a thrilling brush with celebrity, but Jet has other ideas. He’s made a living setting—and scoring—goals. Wooing Maura is his latest objective. Everyone in Maura’s life seems to have an opinion about her relationship with Jet, but with so many ideas, rumors, and doubts, Maura must rely on the judgment of the last person she feels she can trust: herself. search terms: free first in series, romantic comedy, rom com, humorous, chick lit, sports, strong female heroine




Wallflower (Special Edition)


Book Description

She'd spent her entire life as a wallflower, hiding from the rest of the world. Willow Thorne had gotten really good at blending in with the wallpaper. The shy, quiet little mouse was more comfortable spending her days in her protective little bubble. Then she met a big, burly mechanic who looked really good on a motorcycle and made her feel things she'd never felt before. Gavin "Stone" Hendrix didn't do commitment, and love was completely out of the question. After spending the first half of his life taking care of everyone else, he was done being the responsible one. Then he met a shy, nervous brunette who knocked him off his feet and made him question everything he thought he believed. Willow brought out his protective instincts. Stone made her want to step out of her shell. No one in a million years expected the hard-as-stone biker to fall for the wallflower, but the small town of Redemption was in for a major surprise.




UpDating!


Book Description

Straight-from-the-hip advice on how to find, date, and land that special person In this follow-up to her international bestseller How to Make Anyone Fall in Love With You, Leil Lowndes explains why, when it comes to the quest for true romance, no one needs to settle for anything less than Mr. or Ms. Right. Whether it's someone rich and classy, drop-dead gorgeous, with a high IQ, or truly honorable that a reader finds most desirable, Leil Lowndes shows how to weed out the frogs and find your own true prince or princess. Combining Lowndes's trademark wit and sage insights into human behavior with easy-to-master strategies and techniques, UpDating!: Offers readers a complete program for screening out the duds and finding, dating, and capturing the man or woman of their dreams Arms readers with different sets of techniques for attracting different categories of mates, including the gorgeous, the smart, the rich, the honorable, and others Helps romance seekers overcome selfdoubt, feel and act more confident, and be their best selves




Odd Man Out


Book Description

Matt McCarthy never expected to get drafted by a Major League Baseball team. A biophysics major at Yale, he was a decent left-handed starter for a dismal college team. But good southpaws are hard to find, and when the Anaheim Angels selected him in the 21




Paper Lion


Book Description

The book that made a legend -- and captures America's sport in detail that's never been matched, featuring a foreword by Nicholas Dawidoff and never-before-seen content from the Plimpton Archives. George Plimpton was perhaps best known for Paper Lion, the book that set the bar for participatory sports journalism. With his characteristic wit, Plimpton recounts his experiences in talking his way into training camp with the Detroit Lions, practicing with the team, and taking snaps behind center. His breezy style captures the pressures and tensions rookies confront, the hijinks that pervade when sixty high-strung guys live together in close quarters, and a host of football rites and rituals. One of the funniest and most insightful books ever written on football, Paper Lion is a classic look at the gridiron game and a book The Wall Street Journal calls "a continuous feast...The best book ever about football -- or anything!"




Boxed out of the NBA


Book Description

The Eastern Professional Basketball League (1946-78) was fast and physical, often played in tiny, smoke-filled gyms across the northeast and featuring the best players who just couldn’t make the NBA—many because of unofficial quotas on Black players, some because of scandals, and others because they weren’t quite good enough in the years when the NBA had less than 100 players. In Boxed out of the NBA: Remembering the Eastern Professional Basketball League, Syl Sobel and Jay Rosenstein tell the fascinating story of a league that was a pro basketball institution for over 30 years, showcasing top players from around the country. During the early years of professional basketball, the Eastern League was the next-best professional league in the world after the NBA. It was home to big-name players such as Sherman White, Jack Molinas, and Bill Spivey, who were implicated in college gambling scandals in the 1950s and were barred from the NBA, and top Black players such as Hal “King” Lear, Julius McCoy, and Wally Choice, who could not make the NBA into the early 1960s due to unwritten team quotas on African-American players. Featuring interviews with some 40 former Eastern League coaches, referees, fans, and players—including Syracuse University coach Jim Boeheim, former Temple University coach John Chaney, former Detroit Pistons player and coach Ray Scott, former NBA coach and ESPN analyst Hubie Brown, and former NBA player and coach Bob Weiss—this book provides an intimate, first-hand account of small-town professional basketball at its best.