Making the Play: How to Get the Best of Baseball Back

Making the Play: How to Get the Best of Baseball Back Review

See more picture

Making the Play: How to Get the Best of Baseball Back Feature

Baseball is in trouble. Yes, revenue has never been higher, attendance has never been better, and baseball has never had a stronger international presence. But the game has rarely faced more significant problems: Steroid scandals, management-labor rifts, self-centered superstars, a dramatic decline in the number of African American players and fans, constraints on youth baseball fields and resources, and competition from other sports and entertainment options all threaten the foundations of our national pastime.

Dave Winfield knows and loves the game and he believes baseball can be rescued and revitalized. A respected role model and ambassador of the sport, Winfield outlines his strategy for making baseball the game he knows it can be: inclusive, empowering, and entertaining. He focuses on how to make the game more fan-friendly, and especially how to reach out to the African American community. From the commissioner's office to the kids on the street, Winfield examines the game from every perspective, offering ideas and solutions for diversifying front offices; marketing the game; developing community-based programs; and working out fair, creative, and lucrative parameters for the business of baseball. Making the Play inspires readers to get out of the armchair and into the action.

Check price now

Rerate Products

Customer Review

The New New Journalism: Conversations with America's Best Nonfiction Writers on Their Craft

The New New Journalism: Conversations with America's Best Nonfiction Writers on Their Craft Review

See more picture

The New New Journalism: Conversations with America's Best Nonfiction Writers on Their Craft Feature

Forty years after Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, and Gay Talese launched the New Journalism movement, Robert S. Boynton sits down with nineteen practitioners of what he calls the New New Journalism to discuss their methods, writings and careers.

The New New Journalists are first and foremost brilliant reporters who immerse themselves completely in their subjects. Jon Krakauer accompanies a mountaineering expedition to Everest. Ted Conover works for nearly a year as a prison guard. Susan Orlean follows orchid fanciers to reveal an obsessive subculture few knew existed. Adrian Nicole LeBlanc spends nearly a decade reporting on a family in the South Bronx. And like their muckraking early twentieth-century precursors, they are drawn to the most pressing issues of the day: Alex Kotlowitz, Leon Dash, and William Finnegan to race and class; Ron Rosenbaum to the problem of evil; Michael Lewis to boom-and-bust economies; Richard Ben Cramer to the nitty gritty of politics. How do they do it? In these interviews, they reveal the techniques and inspirations behind their acclaimed works, from their felt-tip pens, tape recorders, long car rides, and assumed identities; to their intimate understanding of the way a truly great story unfolds.

Interviews with:
Gay Talese
Jane Kramer*
Calvin Trillin
Richard Ben Cramer*
Ted Conover*
Alex Kotlowitz*
Richard Preston*
William Langewiesche*
Eric Schlosser
Leon Dash
William Finnegan
Jonathan Harr*
Jon Krakauer*
Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
Michael Lewis*
Susan Orlean
Ron Rosenbaum
Lawrence Weschler*
Lawrence Wright*

* Search our online catalog to find other titles by these Vintage and Anchor Books authors.

Check price now

Rerate Products

Customer Review

Read This Next: 500 of the Best Books You'll Ever Read

Read This Next: 500 of the Best Books You'll Ever Read Review

See more picture

Read This Next: 500 of the Best Books You'll Ever Read Feature

Ever been betrayed by a pretty cover and a pair of alluring blurbs?

Rest assured: Read This Next will never hurt you. The 500 book recommendations contained within these pages have all been carefully vetted and approved by two literary professionals with discerning taste and witty wit. Arranged into delightful thematic lists, these suggestions cover the best of literature high and low, from page-turning classics to mind-expanding fluff; from murder mysteries and post-apocalyptic visions to historical fiction and bathroom books. Each book is paired with deeply insightful, deeply hilarious discussion questions, perfect for book groups or for readers who just enjoy talking to themselves.

In a world where so many books disappoint— robbing you of your time and money, promising more than they can deliver—Read This Next is the wickedly smart, faithful, and attractive partner you’ve always dreamed would bring you true and lasting reading happiness.

Check price now

Rerate Products

Customer Review

The State of Baseball Management: Decision-Making in the Best and Worst Teams, 1993-2003

The State of Baseball Management: Decision-Making in the Best and Worst Teams, 1993-2003 Review

See more picture

The State of Baseball Management: Decision-Making in the Best and Worst Teams, 1993-2003 Feature

In recent years there has been a great deal of discussion about the economics of baseball. For most of that time, the assumption inside and outside the game has been that there is simply too much disparity between "the haves" and "the have-nots," especially in terms of salaries and team payrolls.

The top five teams (Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros) and bottom five teams (Florida Marlins, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers) over the past ten years are analyzed here. The author considers many factors in his evaluation of each team’s performance, among them team philosophies and business models as shown through trades and free agent acquisitions, general managers’ moves and personnel decisions, and player performance.

Check price now

Rerate Products

Customer Review

Make Winning a Habit: 20 Best Practices of the World's Greatest Sales Forces

Make Winning a Habit: 20 Best Practices of the World's Greatest Sales Forces Review

See more picture

Make Winning a Habit: 20 Best Practices of the World's Greatest Sales Forces Feature

A master of the complex sale and a bestselling author, Rick Page is also one of the most experienced sales consultants and trainers in the world. Make Winning A Habit defines the gap between what companies know to do and how they consistently perform.

Page clearly identifies five “Ts” of transformation: Talent, Technique, Teamwork, Technology and Trust. These five elements, when fully developed and integrated into the sales and marketing organization, begin to create the habit of winning over customers in every industry. Stories of successes-and failures-from members of prominent companies help you apply the five “Ts” to your company's culture, and point the way to more effective plans for motivating employees, building and coaching winning teams, and improving hiring processes.

Then, with the use of Page's assessment scorecard, you can compare your company with some of the strategies and practices of the best sales forces in the world. Designed to gauge your organization's effectiveness and further develop breakthrough sales growth, this scorecard highlights your strengths and weaknesses, helping you bridge the gap between where you are and where you need to be.

You'll also learn about:

• The “Deadly Dozen” (pains sales managers feel today) and how they can kill business
• A ten-point process for identifying and hiring nothing less than “A” players
• The 8 “ates” of managing strategic accounts and how they will maximize revenue and elevate relationships
• How to identify and correct the six most common areas of poor individual sales performance

With Make Winning A Habit, you'll discover the obstacles between you and the consistent sales performance you can achieve-and find the tools to not only make success a habit, but one that will keep growing with your business.

Check price now

Rerate Products

Customer Review