Baseball World Series


Book Description

It's the biggest game of their lives--and only one can win Liam and Carter's teams are on the verge of winning the greatest championship of all: the Little League Baseball World Series. Cousins and best friends who grew up playing baseball together, Liam and Carter must now play against each other to achieve their dreams of winning the Series title! One cousin will win, and the other will lose.




The World of Little League®


Book Description

From its humble beginnings as a three-team sport in 1939 until today, Little League continues to build character and promote courage and loyalty. The World of Little League" Museum also has emerged as a world-class showcase for the largest youth sports organization on the planet. Among the items on display in this amazing museum are a Little League keystone patch taken to outer space, an astronaut's suit, a piece of the Berlin Wall, updated safety equipment, and other artifacts that help to tell the history of the sport. Little League graduates include doctors, actors, musicians, firefighters, Olympians, educators, writers, sports stars, and a president of the United States. Their stories and others can be found in this book and at the museum, which is adjacent to Howard J. Lamade Stadium, where the Little League Baseball World Series has been played every August since 1959.




Play Ball! the Story of Little League Baseball


Book Description

Bestselling History of Little League Baseball and the Little League Baseball World Series.




Lonely Little Leaguer


Book Description

MARTIN CUNNINGHAM is a 13-year-old boy with a lot on his mind. He lives with his dad who is gone most of the time driving across the nation in an 18-wheeler. Martin's mother has disappeared and has been missing for six months. Nobody seems to know where she is or why she has disappeared. Martin worries about her constantly and looks forward to her coming home each day. He wants to talk to his dad about her, but his dad seems reluctant to say anything and always dismisses the topic.Martin encounters many challenges over the spring and summer, most of them involving his father, who is difficult to get along with and makes demands on Martin that Martin finds difficult to fulfill. He is anxious to please his father and show him what an extraordinary baseball player he is becoming, but his father doesn't appear to be very interested.Tragedy seems to dog Martin's every turn. However, he has many friends who care about him and with their help, he manages to cope with the many ups and downs in his life.




Lefty Louie the Little Leaguer


Book Description

This heartwarming story is about 10-year-old Louie Jordan. He has dreamed about being a pitcher on a Little League Baseball team. But there is one thing that has prevented him from pursuing his dream. He was born with only one arm. He has no friends and always keeps to himself. Every day at school, he has to face the school bully and the other kids. They often make fun of him by calling him, "Lefty Louie." One day, a new girl in school, Brenda Summers, becomes his friend and encourages him to try out for the local Little League team. Follow Louie's journey as he faces many obstacles during the tryouts until his dream finally comes true. When the big day comes to pitch in the Little League Season Opener, he walks to the mound and receives a thunderous standing ovation. This story is a real "Grand Slam" that will bring joy to every reader who has ever had a dream.




Let Them Play


Book Description

Segregated Charleston, SC, 1955: There are 62 official Little League programs in South Carolina -- all but one of the leagues is composed entirely of white players. The Cannon Street YMCA All-Stars, an all-black team, is formed in the hopes of playing in the state's annual Little League Tournament. What should have been a time of enjoyment, however, turns sour when all of the other leagues refuse to play against them and even pull out of the program. As the only remaining Little League team in the state, Cannon Street was named state winner by default, giving the boys a legitimate spot in the Little League Baseball World Series held in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. While the Cannon Street team is invited to the game as guests, they are not allowed to participate since they have not officially "played" and won their state's tournament. Let Them Play takes its name from the chant shouted by the spectators who attended the World Series final. Author Margot Theis Raven recounts the inspiring tales of the Cannon Street All-Stars as they arrived in Williamsport, PA and never got the chance to play for the title thanks to the bigotry and ignorance of the South Carolina teams. Winning by forfeit, the Cannon Streeters were subsequently not allowed to participate in Williamsburg because they had not "played" their way into the tournament. Let Them Play is an important civil rights story in American history with an even more important message about equality and tolerance. It's a tale of humanity against the backdrop of America's favorite pastime that's sure to please fans of the sport and mankind. This summer will mark the 50th year since the fans' shouts of Let Them Play fell on deaf ears and 14 boys learned a cruel lesson in backwards politics and prejudice. This book can help teach us a new lesson and assure something like this never happens again.




Jeff Burroughs' Little League Instructional Guide


Book Description

As millions of Little League fans around the world know, Jeff Burroughs is coach of the two-time Little League world champions, the Long Beach All-Stars. In Jeff Burroughs' Little League Instructional Guide, he shares with other coaches and parents the lessons he has learned in the big and little leagues, on the field, on the bench, and in the dugout.




The Kid from Tomkinsville


Book Description

DIVRookie pitcher Roy Tucker is full of hope for his first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers—and hope might be what the team needs most/divDIV /divDIVRoy Tucker—a small-town kid from Tomkinsville, Connecticut—has quit his job at the drugstore and packed up for Dodgers training camp in Clearwater, Florida, hoping to make the team as a rookie pitcher. He expects the field to be competitive and realizes he might not pass muster, but after just one practice, he discovers just how difficult a goal he has set./divDIV /divDIVBut the Dodgers are an aging team, and owner Jack MacManus is getting tired of the smart remarks from sports reporters and the manager of the rival Giants, Bill Murphy. With a little coaching and encouragement from Dave Leonard, the oldest catcher in the big leagues, this kid from Tomkinsville might be just what the team needs./div




Where Nobody Knows Your Name


Book Description

Minor league baseball is quintessentially American: small towns, small stadiums, $5 tickets, $2 hot dogs, the never-ending possibility of making it big. But looming above it all is always the real deal: Major League Baseball. John Feinstein takes the reader behind the curtain into the guarded world of the minor leagues, like no other writer can. Where Nobody Knows Your Name explores the trials and travails of the inhabitants of Triple-A, focusing on nine men, including players, managers and umpires, among many colorful characters, living on the cusp of the dream. The book tells the stories of former World Series hero Scott Podsednik, giving it one more shot; Durham Bulls manager Charlie Montoya, shepherding generations across the line; and designated hitter Jon Lindsey, a lifelong minor leaguer, waiting for his day to come. From Raleigh to Pawtucket, from Lehigh Valley to Indianapolis and beyond, this is an intimate and exciting look at life in the minor leagues, where you’re either waiting for the call or just passing through.




Handsome Ransom Jackson


Book Description

Millions of America’s youth dream of playing major league baseball or in a college bowl game on New Year’s Day. Growing up in Arkansas during the Great Depression, Ransom Jackson had no idea that one day he would not only play in back-to-back Cotton Bowls for two different colleges—the first and only player to do so—but that he would also become known as “Handsome Ransom,” all-star third baseman for the Chicago Cubs. He was in Chicago in 1953 when Ernie Banks became the first African American to play for the Cubs. He was in Brooklyn in 1956, the year Jackie Robinson retired. In 1957, Jackson was the last Brooklyn player to hit a home run before the team moved to LA. Jackson’s major league career spanned the entire decade of the 1950s, a time when the landscape of baseball changed dramatically as teams moved to new cities, built new stadiums, and integrated their rosters. Handsome Ransom Jackson: Accidental Big Leaguer is an autobiographical account of Jackson’s fascinating journey from his boyhood days in Arkansas to playing in the major leagues, where many of his teammates were future Hall of Famers. It’s a fun and nostalgic visit to the past, with Jackson sharing such memories as spring training with the Cubs on Catalina Island, befriending a Mafia boss in Massachusetts, batting behind Hank Sauer and getting knocked down by pitchers retaliating for Sauer’s home runs, rooming with Don Drysdale on an historic baseball tour of Japan, and sitting in the dugout in LA with Dodger teammates looking for movie stars in the stands. In addition, Jackson remembers being brought to Brooklyn to take over third base for the aging Jackie Robinson, and quickly discovering that nobody replaces a legend like Jackie. While many of the players from the 1950s are no longer with us, Jackson’s invaluable and timeless stories celebrate the greatness of the game and preserve a sliver of history from the heart of the golden age of baseball. Featuring many never-before-published photographs from Ransom Jackson’s personal collection, including photos of Dodger and Cub greats Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Carl Erskine, Ralph Kiner, and Ernie Banks, Handsome Ransom Jackson will take the reader back to an era when baseball was truly the national pastime.