Baseball as a Road to God

Baseball as a Road to God PDF Author: John Sexton
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101609737
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
The president of New York University offers a love letter to America’s most beloved sport and a tribute to its underlying spirituality. For more than a decade, John Sexton has taught a wildly popular New York University course about two seemingly very different things: religion and baseball. Yet Sexton argues that one is actually a pathway to the other. Baseball as a Road to God is about touching that something that lies beyond logical understanding. Sexton illuminates the surprisingly large number of mutual concepts shared between baseball and religion: faith, doubt, conversion, miracles, and even sacredness among many others. Structured like a game and filled with riveting accounts of baseball’s most historic moments, Baseball as Road to God will enthrall baseball fans whatever their religious beliefs may be. In thought-provoking, beautifully rendered prose, Sexton elegantly demonstrates that baseball is more than a game, or even a national pastime: It can be a road to enlightenment.

Baseball as a Road to God

Baseball as a Road to God PDF Author: John Sexton
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101609737
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 267

Get Book Here

Book Description
The president of New York University offers a love letter to America’s most beloved sport and a tribute to its underlying spirituality. For more than a decade, John Sexton has taught a wildly popular New York University course about two seemingly very different things: religion and baseball. Yet Sexton argues that one is actually a pathway to the other. Baseball as a Road to God is about touching that something that lies beyond logical understanding. Sexton illuminates the surprisingly large number of mutual concepts shared between baseball and religion: faith, doubt, conversion, miracles, and even sacredness among many others. Structured like a game and filled with riveting accounts of baseball’s most historic moments, Baseball as Road to God will enthrall baseball fans whatever their religious beliefs may be. In thought-provoking, beautifully rendered prose, Sexton elegantly demonstrates that baseball is more than a game, or even a national pastime: It can be a road to enlightenment.

Intentional Walk

Intentional Walk PDF Author: Rob Rains
Publisher: HarperChristian + ORM
ISBN: 0849965020
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
An inside look at the faith that guides the all-stars. The St. Louis Cardinals have long been one of the most successful franchises in the major leagues. They have won 11 World Series titles and some of the most famous players in the history of the game have worn the storied “Birds on the Bat” uniform. While that on-field success has been well documented, Intentional Walk is the first book which goes beyond the story of what happens on the field to take an in-depth look at the men inside the Cardinal uniforms, and examine how their strong Christian faith is one of the driving forces behind their success. Intentional Walk features the stories of Adam Wainwright, David Freese, Lance Berkman, Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran, Jason Motte and other members of the 2012 Cardinals, written as those players and the rest of the team tried to repeat the 2011 world championship. The book talks about how they became Christians and offers their testimony about what it means for them to have God play such a prominent role in their lives. Playing for first-year manager Mike Matheny, a strong Christian as well, these men talk about their success and failure, about the challenges that come from playing baseball at the highest level, and how thankful and blessed they are to have that God-given ability. In the end, however, what is far more important to them is their life-long relationship they have established with Jesus Christ.

Dear Baseball Gods: A Memoir

Dear Baseball Gods: A Memoir PDF Author: Dan Blewett
Publisher: Dan Blewett
ISBN: 1727813936
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
Dear Baseball Gods, Why didn't you look out for him? Didn't he deserve better? He hustled, competed, and played the game the right way. What happened wasn't fair. A Second Comeback Dan sat by a tree, staring at the ground trying to decide what he would do next. The doctor had just explained that everything he worked for was now ruined. A second Tommy John surgery? Does anyone come back from that? Is my career over? Is this it? A Winding Road to the Top As a walk-on in college, Dan had to earn everything. He pitched on three hours sleep, lived in the clubhouse, played for a team that collapsed mid-season, and endured more arm pain than any kid should. A Way to Move On When finally forced to hang up his cleats, Dan looked in the mirror and didn't recognize the man peering back. If no longer a ballplayer...what would he do? What had been the point of it all? Who was he? The Deeper Side of Life as an Athlete In this philosophical memoir, written as a series of letters, you'll learn that the pinstripes don't wash off so easily.

When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It!

When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It! PDF Author: Yogi Berra
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 0786871725
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 138

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Book Description
An exciting new collection of sublimely simple wisdom from a bestselling author, celebrated athlete, and a true American hero. Three-time MVP and Hall of Famer Yogi Berra hit home runs twice in a row with his two previous books, The Yogi Book and It Ain't Over. Now, his winning streak will continue with this latest work -- a collection of appealing, funny, and surprisingly moving essays on life, happiness, and getting through the slumps. Filled with another delightful helping of Yogi's inimitable and unwittingly wise aphorisms, these reflections focus on the valuable lessons he's learned on and off the field. From his early years as an immigrant's son who dropped out of the eighth grade through his triumphant career as a player and manager who played in a record seventy-five World Series games, Yogi illustrates his homespun philosophies with apt analogies to his trove of baseball stories. He expounds on such topics as Patience (Waiting for your pitch); Sacrifice (Laying down a bunt); Trusting Others (Taking direction); and Staying Focused (Keeping your eye on the ball), to show how the rules of life and baseball are uncannily similar. And, in the tradition of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and All I Really Need to I Know I Learned in Kindergarten, he explains his recipe for fulfillment and happiness with life lessons that are profoundly simple, simply profound--and classic Yogi to the core. Following on the heels of two New York Times bestselling books and filled with memorable photos, this new collection of Yogi wisdom will undoubtedly expand his growing legion of fans. When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It! is a wise, humble, touching book that's a guaranteed winner. In short, it's Déjà vu all over again. A baseball legend reflects on the following lessons... "A nickel ain't worth a dime any more." "It ain't over til it's over." "You can't think and hit at the same time." "I didn't really say everything I said." "The future ain't what it used to be." . . . and many more.

Praying for Gil Hodges

Praying for Gil Hodges PDF Author: Thomas Oliphant
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312317621
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
"Tom Oliphant has created a small masterpiece." --Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of the bestselling Wait Till Next Year Praying for Gil Hodges is built around a detailed reconstruction of the seventh game of the 1955 World Series, when the Brooklyn Dodgers won the world championship of baseball. Thomas Oliphant creates a relentless melodrama that shows this final game in its true glory. As we move through the game, he builds a remarkable history of the Dodgers' status as a national team, based on their fabled history of near-triumphs and disasters that made them classic underdogs. He weaves into this brilliant recounting a winning memoir of his own family's story and their time together on that fateful Game Seven day, thrilling a nine-year-old boy in a loving, struggling family for whom the Dodgers were a rare source of the joys and symbols that bring families together through tough times. Written with power and clarity, this is a brilliant work that captures the majesty of baseball, the issue of race in America, and the love that one young boy, his parents, and the borough of Brooklyn had for their team. "In Praying for Gil Hodges, Tom Oliphant has created a small masterpiece---a splendid recreation of life in the 1950s, a poignant tribute to his parents, and a fabulous story about the central role the Brooklyn Dodgers played in the lives of his and countless other families. Moving effortlessly from an adult's perspective to a child's recollection, shifting seamlessly between the present and the past, he captures the reader's interest at every step along the way. I found myself happily transported back in time, following a warm-hearted young boy as he comes of age in a memorable era." ---Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of the bestselling Wait Till Next Year "Tom Oliphant is one of our most lyrical writers and he has written a love story---about his parents, about baseball, and most of all about the American values that shaped their lives." ---Bob Schieffer, Face the Nation "The story builds to a beautiful and moving resolution, proving that the true center of this book is not the seventh game of the World Series. The heart of the story is the love of a family for a place, a baseball team, but mostly for each other." ---The Boston Globe

The Faith of Fifty Million

The Faith of Fifty Million PDF Author: Christopher Hodge Evans
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 9780664223052
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
This volume features essays by religion scholars who analyze the relation of baseball and theology in American culture. Topics include issues of national identity, baseball and civil religion, baseball as a metaphor and more.

The Church of Baseball

The Church of Baseball PDF Author: Ron Shelton
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0593313968
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
LA TIMES BESTSELLER • From the award-winning screenwriter and director of cult classic Bull Durham, the extremely entertaining behind-the-scenes story of the making of the film, and an insightful primer on the art and business of moviemaking. "This book tells you how to make a movie—the whole nine innings of it—out of nothing but sheer will.” —Tony Gilroy, writer/director of Michael Clayton and The Bourne Legacy "The only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the church of baseball."—Annie in Bull Durham Bull Durham, the breakthrough 1988 film about a minor league baseball team, is widely revered as the best sports movie of all time. But back in 1987, Ron Shelton was a first-time director and no one was willing to finance a movie about baseball—especially a story set in the minors. The jury was still out on Kevin Costner’s leading-man potential, while Susan Sarandon was already a has-been. There were doubts. But something miraculous happened, and The Church of Baseball attempts to capture why. From organizing a baseball camp for the actors and rewriting key scenes while on set, to dealing with a short production schedule and overcoming the challenge of filming the sport, Shelton brings to life the making of this beloved American movie. Shelton explains the rarely revealed ins and outs of moviemaking, from a film’s inception and financing, screenwriting, casting, the nuts and bolts of directing, the postproduction process, and even through its release. But this is also a book about baseball and its singular romance in the world of sports. Shelton spent six years in the minor leagues before making this film, and his experiences resonate throughout this book. Full of wry humor and insight, The Church of Baseball tells the remarkable story behind an iconic film.

Baseball Road Trips: The Midwest and Great Lakes

Baseball Road Trips: The Midwest and Great Lakes PDF Author: Timothy Mullin
Publisher: Triumph Books
ISBN: 1600789692
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
The perfect travel guide for baseball fans who want to see more of the great ballparks in America’s heartland, this handy guide gives you the tips for best lodging, great restaurants, and local attractions for the Major League and minor league cities and towns that dot the Midwest. With details about every ballpark from Major League Baseball to the Frontier League, this travel companion tells you the best places to sit, the best ballpark food to eat, and the best places to go around town when you are not at the ballpark. From taking in a AAA game with the Iowa Cubs in Des Moines and visiting the Field of Dreams to knowing how to best experience Target Field in the Twin Cities, Baseball Road Trips: The Midwest and Great Lakes is all you need to plan a dream baseball road trip.

What Hath God Wrought

What Hath God Wrought PDF Author: Daniel Walker Howe
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199726574
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 925

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Book Description
The Oxford History of the United States is by far the most respected multi-volume history of our nation. In this Pulitzer prize-winning, critically acclaimed addition to the series, historian Daniel Walker Howe illuminates the period from the battle of New Orleans to the end of the Mexican-American War, an era when the United States expanded to the Pacific and won control over the richest part of the North American continent. A panoramic narrative, What Hath God Wrought portrays revolutionary improvements in transportation and communications that accelerated the extension of the American empire. Railroads, canals, newspapers, and the telegraph dramatically lowered travel times and spurred the spread of information. These innovations prompted the emergence of mass political parties and stimulated America's economic development from an overwhelmingly rural country to a diversified economy in which commerce and industry took their place alongside agriculture. In his story, the author weaves together political and military events with social, economic, and cultural history. Howe examines the rise of Andrew Jackson and his Democratic party, but contends that John Quincy Adams and other Whigs--advocates of public education and economic integration, defenders of the rights of Indians, women, and African-Americans--were the true prophets of America's future. In addition, Howe reveals the power of religion to shape many aspects of American life during this period, including slavery and antislavery, women's rights and other reform movements, politics, education, and literature. Howe's story of American expansion culminates in the bitterly controversial but brilliantly executed war waged against Mexico to gain California and Texas for the United States. Winner of the New-York Historical Society American History Book Prize Finalist, 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction The Oxford History of the United States The Oxford History of the United States is the most respected multi-volume history of our nation. The series includes three Pulitzer Prize winners, a New York Times bestseller, and winners of the Bancroft and Parkman Prizes. The Atlantic Monthly has praised it as "the most distinguished series in American historical scholarship," a series that "synthesizes a generation's worth of historical inquiry and knowledge into one literally state-of-the-art book." Conceived under the general editorship of C. Vann Woodward and Richard Hofstadter, and now under the editorship of David M. Kennedy, this renowned series blends social, political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military history into coherent and vividly written narrative.

Miracle in Shreveport

Miracle in Shreveport PDF Author: David Benham
Publisher: HarperChristian + ORM
ISBN: 0785215999
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
Twin brothers David and Jason Benham grew up with big dreams of baseball and an even bigger trust in God. Though they attended a small high school with no baseball field, turned down a professional offer so they could attend college together, and faced more than one missed pitch and injuries, they kept dreaming, praying together on the field, and believing in God’s provision for their lives. David and Jason’s journey, from Little League to college to professional baseball and beyond, reminds us that even when we don’t know what God is up to, He’s putting together the pieces of our life’s puzzle and executing the plans He has for each of us. Miracle in Shreveport tells the story of a family’s love, the power of prayer, and a game that is truly all-American. It is also the story of brotherhood staying strong, despite the threat of comparison in a profession committed to competition. Most of all, it is the story of being faithful in small steps, honoring God in the process, and trusting His hand in our lives. In this book, the Benhams call us to remember that when we follow God’s dream for us, we find it is better than we could have ever dreamed for ourselves.