For Sports Fans

Every golfer who’s worth his favorite putter knows where golf is great: Scotland, birthplace of the game and still its most important shrine, from the splendor of St. Andrews to the regal resort at Gleneagles; and Ireland, where the links like Ballybunion and Royal County Down are of unsurpassed beauty and challenge. Whether golfers actually make the pilgrimage or arm-chair it, Where Golf Is Great is indispensable: the most luxurious, entertaining, informative, and exhaustive book on these most important destinations. Written by the bard of Scottish and Irish golf, it combines the most authoritative information with the most beautiful prose and the most stunning color photographs—an unsurpassed celebration of the places where golf is, indeed, great.

Not only is the golf great, but so are the sights, the dining, the lodging—and it’s all here: the pub lunches and three-star dinners; the country-house hotels and full-service resorts. Jim Finegan’s singularly insightful advice includes the very best play-and-stay combinations for once-in-a-lifetime perfect golf days, in this once-in-a-lifetime perfect golf book.

Shaun Morey, who recounted dozens of unbelievable-but-true grown-up fishermanís tales in his first book, Incredible Fishing Stores, which now has over 350,000 copies in print, turns his attention to young anglers.

Kid's Incredible Fishing Stories is a collection of Bizarre Catches, Fierce and Fantastic Fish, Awesome Anglers, and Record Breakers. There's 11-year-old Clayton Ludington, who stood up to a 315-pound yellowfin tuna, and Michael Mealy, a 16-year-old who landed the first tarpon ever caught on rod and reel in Cape Cod--and the first tarpon snared in those waters in 70 years. There's the exceptional angler Weston Fowler, who won his first tarpon tournament at the age of 9 and a few years later caught a 1,000-pound tiger shark. And there's the boy who hooked a piranha in Lake Ronkonkoma, Long Island. Suitable for ages 8 and up.

Training a horse brings an array of vexing challenges. What should a rider do with a horse who just won't listen? What about the horse who quickly tires, or becomes cranky during training? And there are horses who behave well in the presence of an instructor, but — maddeningly — never while alone with the rider. Situations like these can leave even the most enthusiastic equestrian feeling discouraged, frustrated, and even downright helpless.

Jessica Jahiel comes to the rescue with The Horse Training Problem Solver, the third title in her popular Problem Solver series. In her informal yet informative style, Jahiel offers sensible answers to riders' most common training challenges. In a handy, accessible Q&A format, Jahiel uses real-life case studies to bring troublesome situations to life and then solves the problems with tested, proven solutions.

The book's combination of basic training theory, effective solutions, and handy tips and strategies will help riders get the most out of every training session. Best of all, Jahiel breaks down training goals — from simple commands like "whoa" and "go" to complex transitions and ring figures — into simple building blocks, logical to both horse and human. Riders will begin to gain their animal's trust, develop realistic expectations, stay focused, and engage in effective two-way communication, ultimately resulting in a happier, better-trained, more enjoyable horse.

For the millions of Americans who show, train, or own horses — including the steady, growing market of first-time horse owners — The Horse Training Problem Solver is an indispensable reference. It will demystify horse training, improve the horse-rider relationship, and ensure a more satisfying experience for both horse and rider.

The obsessive book about the obsessive game, and more fun to read than a green at Ballybunion. Written by two authors who have misspent their lives in thrall to the sport, A DISORDERLY COMPENDIUM OF GOLF digs into the odd, the fascinating, the historical, the random, the unexpected, and the curmudgeonly, and serves up hundreds of pages of lists, anecdotes, humor, surprises, and the sheer compelling minutiae of a game whose pleasure lies in the details.

It’s all here, including history: oldest courses, top 5 money-winners at 10-year intervals, the importance of James II of Scotland. Colorful characters, like the hustler who would bet you that he could roll out of bed in the morning and make a 40-foot putt on his first try, and his secret for doing it every time. Odd rules: Did you know you may take a free drop from a fireant hill but not from poison ivy? Good golf instruction—how to hit Phil Mickelson’s trademark flop shot—and confusing golf instruction: Tom Watson says “Never feel you’re reaching for the ball,” while Johnny Miller advises “ Reach for the ball. . . .” Embarrassing moments and helpful tips. The lexicon: professional caddie nicknames, terms for an ugly shot, names of golf balls. Plus gambling games, the grasses used in greens, unusual patents, Shakespearean quotes on golf, golf at midnight, longest and shortest holes . . . and more, and more.

This is the story of a man with a dream—as well as the vision and passion to make it come true. The dream was to build a great American links course, one that would contain all the excitement of the famous golfing destinations in Scotland and Ireland, storied places like St. Andrews and Ballybunion. The man was Mike Keiser, an entrepreneur and amateur golf enthusiast, founder of the successful company Recycled Paper Greetings, and Dream Golf is the story of how, with the help of some of the most colorful—and occasionally controversial—men in golf, he transformed a remote area on Oregon's Pacific coast into not one, but three of the most stunning, challenging, and highly ranked courses in the world.
It began modestly, when Mike Keiser decided to build a nine-hole "dunes" course and golf club on the shore of Lake Michigan, near his home in Chicago. The experience prompted him to look further, with the goal of realizing a dream that he had harbored for some time: to bring to American golfers the same kind of experience he had enjoyed while playing some of the legendary courses of the British Isles, "links" courses that had evolved naturally to fit the rugged, heaving coastal terrain. These ancient courses were the antithesis of most modern American courses, where the features were shaped by bulldozers and all too often look sleek, manicured, and artificial.
No, Bandon Dunes would be a "pure" golf experience, pitting the golfer against the elements, allowing the land to dictate the course, banning the use of carts, making the golfer feel at one with both nature and the game. To achieve that goal would take a great amount of planning and hard work, the struggle of man against nature in shaping the land into three courses that would become the Bandon Dunes complex. Conventional wisdom said it was impossible. And even if he built it, would anyone come to this remote Oregon outpost?
Dream Golf is the first complete account of how drive and determination, coupled with the best minds in the game, created a utopian golf experience in a place of breathtaking natural beauty. It is the gripping and compelling account of how one man followed his dream to its greatest conclusion.

The obsessive reference for every baseball nut, THE TEAM-BY-TEAM ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL is a comprehensive, original, devour-it-like-salted-peanuts single-volume encyclopedia that marries history and statistics and delivers them team by team. Organizing by teams gives the wide view—how do the Murderer’s Row Yankees compare to the Big Red Machine? The long view—what team has given the Red Sox the most trouble over the last 100 years? And the hidden view—name the team that went through all the 1990s without a Gold Glove winner. It’s how the game is played, and now, finally, it’s presented in the way the game is best understood.

Created by baseball historian Dennis Purdy, a true buff’s buff, THE TEAM-BY-TEAM ENCYCLOPEDIA offers the history of every existing major league baseball franchise told through narrative, bios, anecdotes, photographs, and the most comprehensive team statistics ever assembled in a single book. Every year’s record, standing, attendance, and primary starting lineup for each of baseball’s 30 franchises. Top-10 leader lists for every major category (and some minor ones), plus all-time won-loss records versus all opponents. All the awards—MVP, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, Gold Glove. Manager records. Post-season records. Even retired uniform numbers. But the stats are just the beginning—each chapter contains entertaining thumbnail biographies of every franchise’s key players, recalling, for example, how the game’s greatest shortstop, Honus Wagner, was ecruited when spotted throwing rocks across a river. And sprinkled throughout are spicy team facts, bizarre anecdotes, statistical anomalies, and little-known gems—like what Babe Ruth said to Lou Gehrig after hitting his “called shot” homerun in the 1932 World Series.

"In many ways basketball was a lens through which I looked at life—I had learned to make judgments about character from what I saw players do on the court."—Bill Bradley

Bradley, former U.S. senator and presidential candidate and member of two championship New York Knicks teams, returns to the scene of his first career, and first passion, in Values of the Game. In ten esssays, filled with personal observations and reflections, he illustrates how the "right stuff" on the court—risking a last-second shot, staying in shape and playing hard, making the unselfish pass, not giving in until the final buzzer—is a proving ground for the "right stuff" in life. More than one hundred dramatic photographs of the best of the NBA—from legends Elgin Baylor and Bob Cousy, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, to such stars as Kobe Bryant and Grant Hill, to the greatest ever, Michael Jordan—exemplify the power of courage, discipline, selflessness, respect, and fair play.

Everyone knows Yogi Berra for his famous non sequiturs : "It ain't over 'til it's over." "It gets late early out here." "The future ain't what it used to be." They seem like throwaway lines, but over time they reveal deeper meanings--playful truths, like Zen koans. Yogi's not trying to be mystical, but his seemingly simple phrases reveal the depth and wisdom of his mind.

In this book, Yogi takes his experiences as one of baseball's all-time heroes and turns them into funny, appealing, and moving essays on the game of life. His philosophy is plainspoken and down-to-earth, hones through more than 50 years of reflecting on the game of baseball: "Keep trying. Stay humble, Trust your instincts. Most importantly, act. When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

In his inimitable style, using apt examples from his personal trove of baseball stories, Yogi tells us what really matters in life; what it takes to win, how to learn from losses, how to remain true to yourself, and how to be happy even when life is throwing you nothing but knuckleballs.

The irresistible calendar that's given sports lovers their daily fix for over two decades. Here are the hits, the hat tricks, the routs, the victories. Jesse Owens' quadruple gold. Sugar Ray Robinson's Valentine's Day triumph over Jake "Raging Bull" LaMotta. Danica Patrick at the wheel. After making the cut in 142 straight tournaments, Tiger's remarkable streak ending at the Colonial—where he misses by one stroke. And Shaq on his non-effort to drop pounds: "I represent the construction workers . . . the guys who work hard every day and get things done and go home and eat a burger, eat some fries, drink a beer and watch the game."

The most definitive and up-to-date encyclopedia ever compiled on The Chicago Cubs including life-time statistics for every player to ever wear a Cubs uniform, even for just one inning.

The stories and numbers compiled here tell the tale of all the contributors to the Cubs' legacy. It includes every player who ever played for the team and features every stat and important moment alongside fascinating anecdotes, lists, and biographies from the Cubs' fabled history. Includes more than 100 photographs.