Best Baseball Coaching

Mr. Colletti’s book might be even more groundbreaking [than Moneyball ] in some ways: It’s a nearly unprecedented opportunity to see what running a baseball franchise looks like through the eyeballs of an actual general manager. After reading this book, you will not only understand the job of a general manager better but also the game of baseball itself.”— Tom Verducci, author of The Cubs Way and co-author of The Yankee Years. An unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at the career of famed former Los Angeles Dodgers General Manager (a position also known as “The Big Chair”), whose tenure spanned nine of the most exciting and turbulent years in the franchise’s history. During his tenure with the Dodgers, Colletti had the highest winning percentage of any general manager in the National League. In The Big Chair , he lets readers in on the real GM experience from his unique vantage point—sharing the inner workings of three of the top franchises in the sport, revealing the out-of-the-headlines machinations behind the trades, the hires and the deals; how the money really works; how the decision-making really works; how much power the players really have and why—the real brass tacks of some of the most pivotal decisions made in baseball history that led to great success along with heartbreak and failure on the field. Now, in The Big Chair , readers will hear the wisdom and perspective that helped the organization change its culture and reach levels never before accomplished.” — Brian Sabean, three-time World Series champion, Executive VP, Baseball Operations, San Francisco Giants. “Ned Colletti is the best kind of baseball lifer. “Ned Colletti's terrific account of the inner workings of a baseball team is engaging, honest, accurate and a great read. “Ned has been a baseball lifer since long before he climbed up his professional ladder that stretches from Chicago through San Francisco to Los Angeles. Sharing in his journey is a must for any baseball fan, including myself.” — Chris Berman, ESPN Sportscaster “Former Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti saw the team through a sale, 14 playoff wins, and the acquisitions of Clayton Kershaw and Yasiel Puig. I don't think I've ever read any baseball executive reveal his love and passion for baseball the way Colletti does here.” –John Schulian, winner of the PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing "Hard to put down.” –Boston Globe “Part baseball handbook and part Cinderella story.” – Los Angeles Times “A fascinating behind-the-scenes account of his 35 years working in the front office of the Cubs, Giants and Dodgers....More than anything, Colletti shows how being a GM is a 24/7 thrill ride.” —Chicago Tribune “Highly recommended.” – San Francisco Chronicle.

In those eight years, the Red Sox were transformed from a cursed franchise to one of the most successful and profitable in baseball history—only to fall back to last place as soon as Francona was gone. As no book has ever quite done before, Francona escorts readers into the rarefied world of a twenty-first-century clubhouse, revealing the mercurial dynamic of the national pastime from the inside out. But it was an unforgettable, endlessly entertaining, and instructive time in baseball history, one that is documented and celebrated in Francona , a book that examines like no other the art of managing in today’s game. “Even baseball fans who loathe the Boston Red Sox will find it tough to root against former manager Francona… [Gurner's] reading keeps the narrative moving forward, and Francona's story is compelling.

The New York Times Bestseller With inside access and reporting, Sports Illustrated senior baseball writer and FOX Sports analyst Tom Verducci reveals how Theo Epstein and Joe Maddon built, led, and inspired the Chicago Cubs team that broke the longest championship drought in sports, chronicling their epic journey to become World Series champions. Tom Verducci, twice named National Sportswriter of the Year and co-writer of The Yankee Years with Joe Torre, will have full access to team president Theo Epstein, manager Joe Maddon, and the players to tell the story of the Cubs' transformation from perennial underachievers to the best team in baseball. Those dual qualities make him the perfect guy to not only capture the experience of what the Cubs at long last achieved, but to explain the thinking and planning that led to last Fall's crescendo of emotions.” —Bob Costas. "Verducci, a longtime baseball writer for Sports Illustrated, is perhaps the perfect scribe to tell this definitive tale, a generational talent who can talk numbers and remain awed at the game’s beauties. “In Mr. Verducci’s entertaining book, he notes that the ‘construction of a championship team is granular’ and the ‘final picture is a Seurat painting’ with ‘many tiny dots of color’ and ‘millions of reasons and thousands of cascading events.’ He’s right: The artistic brush containing the power of positivity helped make the Chicago Cubs winners once more.” — The Washington Times.

As America’s best-selling coaching text, Successful Coaching has helped over a million coaches develop their coaching philosophies; improve their communication, teaching, and management skills; and understand their responsibilities as a coach. The updated fourth edition of Successful Coaching offers students as well as new and veteran coaches a comprehensive guide to every aspect of coaching. Written by a coach for coaches, Successful Coaching blends the latest research and accepted practices in the sport sciences with practical advice from seasoned coaching veterans. Successful Coaching helps readers think critically about their motivation for being a coach and establish a coaching philosophy and style that pave the way for a fulfilling sport experience for coaches and their athletes. The founder and president of Human Kinetics, he also started the American Sport Education Program, the largest coaching education program in the United States. A past president of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education, he has been recognized for his contribution to sport by the National Recreation and Park Association and by his induction into the National Association for Sport and Physical Education Hall of Fame.

When award-winning journalist Dave Jamieson’s parents sold his childhood home a few years ago, he rediscovered a prized boyhood possession: his baseball card collection. In Mint Condition, his fascinating, eye-opening, endlessly entertaining book, Jamieson finds the answer by tracing the complete story of this beloved piece of American childhood. It's a form of megalomania, of course, one famous card collector once said of his hobby—and, as Jamieson explains, there are plenty of people willing to cash in on collectors' obsessions; the secondary market for baseball cards may be as much as a half-billion dollars annually. *Starred Review* Every time a rare baseball card brings a million-dollar price at auction, thousands of aging former collectors wistfully recall shoeboxes full of rookie cards and wonder if they lost a fortune when Mom cleaned out their rooms. Jamieson doesn’t supply lists of valuable cards (there are collectors’ journals for that); rather, he chronicles the history of collectible cards, profiles a few unique collectors, and tracks the development of the hobby and ponders its future. In tracing the history of collectible cards, Jamieson shows the extraordinary lengths to which the early cigarette and card companies went to separate young boys from their money, a penny and then a nickel at a time.

The riveting inside story of college basketball's fiercest rivalry among three coaching legends—University of North Carolina's Dean Smith, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, and North Carolina State's Jim Valvano—by the king of college basketball writers, #1 New York Times bestseller John Feinstein On March 18, 1980, the immensely powerful Duke basketball program announced the hiring of its new coach—the man who would resurrect the team, restore glory to Duke, and defeat the legendary Dean Smith, who coached down the road at UNC Chapel Hill and had turned UNC into a powerhouse. The hiring didn't raise as many eyebrows, but with the exuberant Valvano on board, two new coaches were now in place to challenge Dean Smith—and the most sensational competitive decade in history was about to unfold. Feinstein pulls back the curtain on the recruiting wars, the intensely personal competition that wasn't always friendly, the enormous pressure and national stakes, and the battle for the very soul of college basketball allegiance in a hot-bed area. "The book is one of [John Feinstein's] best, a beguilingly personal, sometimes heartbreaking look at the psychic cost of doing battle in America’s most brutally, nakedly competitive (and actual) arenas. "Feinstein entertains readers with fair, objective observations based on fact and his unique inside access gained not only through years of his coverage but also through many new interviews with former players, coaches and administrators...In a famous speech before he died, Valvano implored all of us to attempt to do three things each day: laugh, think and cry. His longstanding relationships with the principals give the book its insider appeal; his history with each man goes back decades, and the intersecting, layered looks at each are built on firsthand knowledge...Funny and smart." He is the author of A Season on the Brink and A Good Walk Spoiled , both #1 New York Times bestsellers and Last Shot , which won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for mystery writing in the Young Adult category.

As the head coach at USC, he brought the Trojans back to national prominence, amassing a 97-19 record over nine seasons. This same mind-set and culture will shape his program as he returns to the NFL to coach the Seattle Seahawks. He reveals how his recruiting strategies, training routines, and game-day rituals preserve a team's culture year after year, during championship seasons and disappointing seasons alike. He has helped troubled kids on the streets of Los Angeles through his foundation A Better LA. Given the tough sanctions recently imposed on the USC football program for rules violations in 2004–05, when Carroll was the program’s highly successful head coach, it’s understandable if fans consider this book as much about damage control for Carroll, now the new head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, as a primer on how to win forever. Such as it is, Carroll and Roth’s book explains how, through decades of coaching in the college and pro ranks, he developed his successful philosophy of winning, which, in a nutshell, is Do things better than they have ever been done before. "During his time at USC Pete Carroll raised the bar in college football coaching with 7 straight BCS appearances, but as you'll read in Win Forever, his ultra competitive spirit and infectious energetic attitude have been the foundation to his many successes both on and off the field." Reading his book, it's evident that he has a clear understanding that his job is more about creating an environment and foundation for young men that can better who they are every day on and off the field." "What impressed me about Pete is his contagious, positive approach and that his talents go far beyond what makes a great football coach. This will help everyone in our organization and will play a big part in defining the Seahawks' mindset and philosophy as we move forward."

After studying the golf swing for over 25 years, JF Tamayo has developed a revolutionary method proved for the weekend golfer of any level to significantly improve distance and accuracy from day one, based on three main principles: - CAMILO VILLEGAS --CAMILO VILLEGAS. "Every weekend golfer should read this great book."