In this novel, the careers of a golden boy rookie hitter for the Cubs and a hard-hitting Mets pitcher take very different paths. The baseball is thrilling, but it is what happens off the field that makes this story a classic.

"Legendary Detroit Tigers pitcher Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) has always been better at baseball than at love. Just ask Jane (Kelly Preston), his on-again, off-again girlfriend. At the end of a disappointing season, just before what may be the last professional game of his life, Jane tells Billy she's leaving him. Now with his career and his love life in the balance, Billy battles against his physical and emotional limits as he plays the game of...

A one-handed pitcher who became one of the select few to pitch a no-hitter in Major League Baseball explains how he rose above his disability to excel at the sport he loved in high school, college, and adulthood.

"An early celebrity pitcher, Denton "Cy" Young (1867-1955) established supreme standards on the mound. A small-town Ohio farmer made good, he set Major League pitching records in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that will likely last forever. The winner of 511 games-- nearly one hundred more than the second-ranked hurler-- Young pitched the first perfect game of the modern era, as well as three no-hitters. His talents helped establish the American...

Every year, Major League Baseball spends more than $1.5 billion on pitchers, five times more than the salary of every NFL quarterback combined. Pitchers are the games lifeblood. Their import is exceeded only by their fragility. One tiny band of tissue in the elbow, the ulnar collateral ligament, is snapping at unprecedented rates, leaving current big league players vulnerable and the coming generation of baseball-playing children dreading the three...

An unlikely friendship ignites between two baseball players. One is the team's ace pitcher and social charmer; the other is the catcher, a farm boy from Georgia who lacks sophistication. During their last season together, the two men grow in manhood and respect for themselves and each other.

When a shoulder injury ended his minor league pitching career twelve years ago, Jim Morris resorted to the next best thing: coaching. But Jim's team, knowing their coach is a great ball player, makes a deal with him: if they win the district championship, they want Jim to try out for a major-league organization. Going from worst to first, the team makes it to state, and Jim is forced to live up to his end of the deal. While there prove to be a lot...

"Mariano Rivera never dreamed of becoming a professional athlete. He didn't grow up collecting baseball cards, playing Little League, or cheering on his home team at the World Series. He had never heard of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, or Mickey Mantle. One day, that all changed. From a childhood playing pickup games in Panama to an epic career with the New York Yankees, Mariano's rise to greatness has been anything but ordinary. He's the guy...

"Take one abrasive professional athlete, a quirky out-of-work schoolteacher, and an overweight geriatric dog, and you're ready for a lesson in love ... Tippy style. Pro baseball pitcher Cal Crawford is not a dog guy. When he inherits his deceased mother's elderly dog, Tippy, he's quick to call on a pet-sitting service. Gina isn't thrilled to be a dog sitter when her aspirations lie in the classroom. Furthermore, she can't abide the unfriendly Cal,...