Yankee for Life: My 40-Year Journey in Pinstripes by Bobby Murcer (Harper, May)
"Given his raucous teammates and friends—Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin, Thurman Munson, to name just a few—and his health problems in recent years... [this] book is neither a tell-all or a sob story. With humor and courage, he manages to smile through it all and make Bobby Murcer fans out of everyone, even Red Sox Nation."—David Hirshey, senior v-p/executive editor
100,000-copy first printing; publicity appearances
Arnie and Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus and Golf's Greatest Rivalry by Ian O'Connor (Houghton Mifflin, Apr.)
"Arnie and Jack paints a taut, psychologically complex and utterly entertaining portrait of how one rivalry fueled a gentleman's game into a megasport."—Susan Canavan, senior editor
30,000-copy first printing; national advertising/publicity
Daytona 500: 50 Years by J.J. O'Malley (NASCAR/Publications International)
"The Daytona is the defining event of motor sports and is steeped in tradition. It was the first lap-to-lap televised race of our sport and continues to bring unprecedented attention from celebrities and fans alike."—Jennifer White, director of publishing, NASCAR
20,000-copy first printing
Standing Tall: A Memoir of Tragedy and Triumph by C. Vivian Stringer (Crown, Mar.)
"I admired how Coach Stringer handled the Imus incident, but until I read her book proposal I had no idea what punishing odds she's faced in her life. It's not a basketball book—it's a truly uplifting memoir."—Rachel Klayman, senior editor
60,000-copy first printing; major national publicity
We Would Have Played for Nothing: Baseball Stars of the 1950s and 1960s Talk About the Game They Loved by Fay Vincent (S&S, Apr.)
The former baseball commissioner's interviews with stars from the 1950s and '60s. "All royalties go to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Fay and the others who conducted the videotaped interviews donated their time. This book is [Fay's] gift to baseball fans."—Bob Bender, v-p/senior editor
17,500-copy first printing; author publicity
Deep Drive: A Long Journey to Finding the Champion Within by Mike Lowell (NAL/Celebra, May)
"This is the story of how Lowell overcame numerous obstacles including a harrowing bout with testicular cancer and the ups and downs of his baseball career, and how he drew inspiration from the extraordinary perseverance of his Cuban family."—Mark Chait, senior editor
75,000-copy first printing; Boston media
The Last Real Season: A Hilarious Look Back at 1975 by Mike Shropshire (Grand Central, May)
"Shropshire has provided an absolutely laugh-out-loud diary of what the game was truly like."—Rick Wolff, v-p/executive editor
50,000-copy first printing
Paul Brown: The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of Football's Most Innovative Coach by Andrew O'Toole (Clerisy, July)
The definitive biography of one of pro football's greatest coaches: "The book provides a fascinating look at postwar pro football, the NFL and the upstart AAFL, which the Cleveland Browns dominated."—Howard Cohen, marketing/publicity director
10,000-copy first printing; 6-city author tour
Chief Bender's Burden by Tom Swift (Univ. of Nebraska, Apr.)
"Bender was arguably the best clutch pitcher in his era and more remarkably, played in the face of immeasurable prejudice."—Rob Taylor, senior editor
5,000-copy first printing; print ads
Rome1960: The Olympics That Changed the World by David Maraniss (S&S, July)
"The book evokes the drama of brilliant Olympic performances by legendary athletes—Wilma Rudolph, Rafer Johnson, Cassius Clay, Abeba Bikila—at a moment of profound political and cultural change."—Alice Mayhew, v-p/editorial director
200,000-copy first printing; 16-city national tour
An American Journey: My Life on the Field, in the Air, and on the Air by Jerry Coleman and Richard Goldstein (Triumph, Apr.)
Patriot, Yankee infielder, Hall of Fame announcer: "Coleman's perspective is a refreshing antidote as he reflects on the strengths of both the game and the country he loves."—Mitch Rogatz, publisher
16,000-copy first printing; coast-to-coast publicity
Going, Going, Gone!: The Art of the Trade in Major League Baseball by Fran Zimniuch (Taylor, Apr.)
"Zimniuch draws on vast research and insider access to profile many infamous players that teams regrettably traded, and shares fascinating perspectives from the general managers and the players themselves."—Meghan Devine, marketing director
10,000-copy first printing; national radio/bookstore tour
Working at the Ballpark: The Fascinating Lives of Baseball People from Peanut Vendors and Broadcasters to Players and Managers by Tom Jones and Nolan Ryan (Skyhorse, Apr.)
"This book takes 50 interviews of baseball insiders to show what it's really like to make a life in baseball. It's a little like Bill James meets Studs Terkel."—Bill Wolfsthal, associate publisher
10,000-copy first printing; author interviews
Iceman: My Fighting Life by Chuck Liddell with Chad Millman (Dutton, Jan.)
"The book spans Liddell's life and tells the amazing story of how he fought his way to become the best mixed martial artist in the world."—Erika Imranyi, associate editor
80,000-copy first printing; 11-city author tour
Cardboard Gems: A Century of Baseball Cards & Their Stories, 1869-1969 by Khyber Oser, Mark Friedland and Ron Oser (Mastro Auctions/ACC Dist., Apr.)
"The author covers a wide variety of players and card issues while simultaneously weaving in the history of baseball cards and the game itself."—Karen Lunstead, marketing manager
The Best Game Ever by Mark Bowden (Grove/Atlantic, June)
"Bowden delivers a brilliant narrative on the 1958 NFL Championship game and the effect the contest had on the modern game of football and today's NFL."—Morgan Entrekin, publisher
100,000-copy first printing; 10-city author tour
X-Guard: For Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, No Gi Grappling, and Mixed Martial Arts by Marcelo Garcia, Erich Krauss and Glen Cordoza (Tuttle, Apr.)
"The X-Guard system is unique because it is attainable from every position, even against a standing opponent."—Rowan Muelling-Auer, publicist
Magazine ads
Hammerin' Hank, George Almighty and the Say Hey Kid: The Year That Changed Baseball Forever by John Rosengren (Sourcebooks, Apr.)
"The 1973 baseball season [was] a tipping point that changed the dimensions of our national pastime and made it the modern-day game it has become."—Hillel Black, executive editor
15,000-copy first printing; 60-city radio tour
The Ballad of Billy & George: The Tempestuous Baseball Marriage of Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner by Phil Pepe (Lyons, Mar.)
"Pepe has a unique perspective on one of the oddest relationships in professional sports."—Tom McCarthy, executive editor
25,000-copy first printing; publicity
