Author: Josh Wilker
Publisher: Seven Footer Press
ISBN: 9781934734162
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 264
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Book Description
Wilker marks the stages of his life through the baseball cards he collected as a child. He captures the experience of growing up obsessed with baseball cards and explores what it means to be a fan of the game.
Author: Pat Jordan
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504033647
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 211
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Book Description
“One of the best and truest books about baseball, and about coming to maturity in America.” —Time In the late 1950s, acclaimed sportswriter Pat Jordan was a young pitching phenom, blowing away opposing batters for his Fairfield, Connecticut, high school baseball team. Fifteen major league clubs offered him a contract, but it was the Milwaukee Braves who won out, signing Jordan to a $45,000 bonus—one of the largest paid to any new player by the organization—and shipping him off to McCook, Nebraska, to play for their Class D ball club. It did not take long, however, for Jordan to realize he was out of his depth in professional baseball’s backwoods. He battled with inconsistency and a lack of control for three dismal seasons in such far-flung locales as Keokuk, Iowa, and Palatka, Florida, before the Braves released him and he gave up his dreams of big league greatness. Declared “unforgettable” by the Los Angeles Times and “a major triumph” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, A False Spring is a powerful and deeply affecting memoir about the gift of athletic talent and the heartbreak of unfulfilled promise.
Author: Josh Wilker
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 161039402X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 321
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Book Description
A moving, funny, inventive parenting memoir, written in a surprising form: an encyclopedia of failure in sports What can a new father learn about parenthood from reading sports almanacs? For most dads, the answer to this question is: nothing. But to Josh Wilker, whose life and writing have been defined by sports fandom, all of the joy, helplessness, and absurdity of parenthood are present between the lines. After all, what better way to think about losing control than Eugenio Velez's forty-five consecutive at-bats without a hit? How better to understand ridiculous joy than the NFL career of Walter Achiu, whose nickname was "Sneeze"? In the stories of sports figures large and small, Wilker finds the pathos in success and the humor in losing. As the terrified father of a one-day-old, Wilker recalls the 1986 World Series, when the moment was too big for the Red Sox. When he finds himself stealing away for an hour of alone time, Wilker thinks of boxer Roberto Duran, so beaten by Sugar Ray Leonard that he finally gave up. And yet, even as the frustrations and anxieties build, Wilker remembers Mets pitcher Anthony Young, who broke the baseball record for most consecutive losses -- and never stopped showing up. Finding the richness of life in obscure wrestling maneuvers and pop-ups lost in the sun, Benchwarmer is a book of unique humanity and surprising wisdom.
Author: Josh Wilker
Publisher: Algonquin Books
ISBN: 1616200693
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256
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Book Description
Captures the experience of growing up obsessed with baseball cards and explores what it means to be a fan of the game as the author marks the stages of his life through the cards he collected as a child.
Author: Josh Wilker
Publisher: Catapult
ISBN: 1593764189
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 129
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Book Description
In 1977, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training had a moment in the sun. A glowing junk sculpture of American genres—sports flick, coming-of-age story, family melodrama, after-school special, road narrative—the film cashed in on the previous year’s success of its predecessor, The Bad News Bears. Arguing against the sequel’s dismissal as a cultural afterthought, Josh Wilker lovingly rescues from the oblivion of cinema history a quintessential expression of American resilience and joy. Rushed into theaters by Paramount when the beleaguered film industry was suffering from “acute sequelitis,” the (undeniably flawed) movie miraculously transcended its limitations to become a gathering point for heroic imagery drawn from American mythology. Considered in context, the film’s unreasonable optimism, rooted in its characters’ sincere desire to keep playing, is a powerful response to the political, economic, and social stresses of the late 1970s. To Wilker’s surprise, despite repeated viewings, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training continues to move him. Its huge heart makes it not only the ultimate fantasy of the baseball-obsessed American boy, but a memorable iteration of that barbed vision of pure sunshine itself, the American dream.
Author: Scott Mebus
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101200693
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 438
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Book Description
Thirteen-year-old New Yorker Rory Hennessy can see things no one else can. When a magician's trick opens his eyes to Mannahatta, Rory finds an amazing spirit city coexisting alongside modern-day Manhattan. A place where Indian sachems, warrior cockroaches, and papier-mƒch‚ children live, ruled by the immortal Gods of Manhattan - including Babe Ruth, Alexander Hamilton, and Peter Stuyvesant. But Rory's power to see Mannahatta brings danger, and he is pursued by enemies, chasing history and trying to free those who have been enslaved. And when he is given the chance to right Mannahatta's greatest wrong, seeing Mannahatta may not be a gift after all. . . .
Author: Chris Fox
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 710
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Book Description
Fated to destroy the world. Determined to save it. My name is Xal and I live in the dims, a walled prison where my people are kept by our cruel masters until we are needed to fight once more. One member of every family must answer the Call, for our blood bears the magic of a demonic god and all the terrible power that brings. We march to war against the Fomori, an unstoppable army of giants, and their behemoths. If we do not, then our families are put to death. The Hasrans use us as cannon fodder and worse. They used up my father, and he never came home. Die resisting. Die fighting. My choice isn't if it happens, but rather how I sell my life. If by some miracle I survive, I will be granted entrance to the Imperial Academy where every noble house will vie to architect my end. They cannot allow the void-blooded to live. They cannot allow us to thrive or to gain more magic from the bodies of other dead gods. They cannot allow us to win. They fear the rise of another dreadlord. And they are right to fear. I will pull down an empire, and that is just the beginning. Shattered Gods is based on the Magitech Chronicles pen & paper RPG, and takes place in the same universe. If you're a gamer, litRPG fan, or just want to see the stats for the characters in the book, come join us! Link is in the book or check us out at magitechchronicles.com.
Author: Skip Bayless
Publisher: Diversion Books
ISBN: 1626811628
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 438
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Book Description
“No football fan will want to miss this one.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “A searing character study…a breathless, can’t-put-it-down read.” —LOS ANGELES TIMES “As savvy, dirt-dishing expose.” —KIRKUS REVIEWS From nationally-acclaimed journalist and ESPN commentator Skip Bayless, the newly updated eBook edition of the classic bestseller GOD'S COACH. First published in 1990, this unforgettable expose tears the metallic blue shine off the legendary star, revealing the truth about ‘America’s Team’ and its beloved head coach Tom Landry, whose much-regaled Christian charity extended to strangers everywhere, yet stopped short of the team who labored under him. From the hangover that led Jerry Jones to buy the team, to the wild ride of the Staubach era, Bayless strips away the image of the team created by the most powerful PR machine in sports, revealed by insiders willing to break their silence. Packed with unparalleled insight into one of the most storied franchises in the history of sports, GOD'S COACH is a compelling revelation about a corrupt football franchise that dared call itself America’s Team. Skip Bayless appears daily as the host of ESPN’s First Take; his commentary appears regularly on ESPN.com. A former columnist for the Dallas Morning News, DALLAS TIMES HERALD, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, and SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, and sportswriter for the LOS ANGELES TIMES and MIAMI HERALD. In addition to GOD'S COACH, he is the author of THE BOYS and HELL-BENT.
Author: Lawrence Watt-Evans
Publisher: Misenchanted Press
ISBN: 1619910381
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 672
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Book Description
The gods had chosen the Domdur to rule the world, and had chosen Malledd to be their champion among the Domdur.They had not asked Malledd whether he wanted the job.Now a wizard has raised an army of the undead to overthrow the Domdur Empire, and the world awaits the divine champion who is to save them -- but will Malledd come?And if he does, can he be the savior the Domdur expect, or has the gods' favor turned elsewhere?
Author: Jim George
Publisher: Harvest Kids
ISBN: 9780736908245
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Thank You, dear God, for blessing me With food, a home, and a family. And now, O Lord, I ask if You might, Help me be honest and do what is right. Following the success of the bestselling God’s Wisdom for Little Girls, now the wonderful teachings of Proverbs come to life for young boys, age 4-7, too! In God’s Wisdom for Little Boys memorable rhymes by Jim and Elizabeth George play alongside watercolors by Judy Luenebrink for a charming presentation of truths to live by. With each turn of the page, parents and their children discover that God’s little boy is prayerful thankful responsible kind brave truthful ...and so much more! Imparting God’s wisdom to sons, grandsons, and any young boy today will help them become men of God tomorrow. This charming book is a gift that will make an eternal impression on every special boy in your life.
