Batter Up!

Al Kaline

Jim Hawkins, Ernie Harwell

For more than a half century, as a superstar ballplayer, television broadcaster, and front office executive, Al Kaline personified the Detroit Tigers like no one else. Learn how the skinny, shy youngster with an undying love for the game of baseball went straight from high school and the sandlots of Baltimore to the big leagues where he put on Number 6 for the Detroit Tigers and became the youngest batting champion in baseball history.

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The Big Fella

Jane Leavy

Former sportscaster Jane Leavy creates a portrait of Babe Ruth and his partnership with business manager Christy Walsh, tracing how their strategies, achievements, and notoriety established a blueprint for modern athletic stardom.

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The Bird: The Life and Legacy of Mark Fidrych

Doug Wilson

Lanky, mop-topped, and nicknamed for his resemblance to Big Bird on Sesame Street, Mark Fidrych exploded onto the national stage in 1976 as a rookie pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. He won over fans with his wildly endearing antics such as talking to the ball; getting down on his knees to "manicure" the mound of any cleat marks; and shaking hands with just about everyone from teammates to groundskeepers to cops during and after games. A Tigers fan favorite, Fidrych was named starting pitcher in the All-Star Game as a rookie and became the first athlete to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

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Ballplayer

Chipper Jones, Carroll Rogers Walton

Third baseman and legendary switch-hitter Jones, who racked up some amazing statistics during his 19 years with the Atlanta Braves, chronicles his career, comments on his teammates, analyzes top moments pitch by pitch, and reflects on money- and ster oid-soaked baseball today.

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The Kid

Ben Bradlee Jr.

Ted Williams is widely regarded as the best hitter in baseball history. His stats would be even higher if he had not left baseball for nearly five years in the prime of his career to serve as a Marine pilot in World War II and Korea. During his twent y-two years with the Boston Red Sox, Williams electrified crowds across America with his performance in the batter's box and shocked them with his notorious clashes with the press and fans.

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Lou Gehrig

Alan D. Gaff

In 1927, legendary New York Yankees hitter Lou Gehrig sat down to write the remarkable story of his life and career. Gehrig's personal remembrances were published that year as popular weekly columns in The Oakland Tribune. Until now, those pages were lost to history. Lou comes alive in his captivating memoir of a poor kid from New York who grew up to become one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

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Imperfect

Jim Abbott, Tim Brown

Born without a right hand, Jim Abbott as a boy dreamed of being a great athlete. Raised in Flint, Michigan, by parents who saw in his condition not a disability but an extraordinary opportunity, Jim became a high school athlete and an ace pitcher for the University of Michigan. On an overcast September day in 1993, Jim Abbott took the mound at Yankee Stadium and threw one of the most dramatic no-hitters in major-league history. The game was the crowning achievement in an unlikely success story, unseen in the annals of professional sports.

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