The Head Game: Baseball Seen from the Pitcher's Mound Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

The Head Game: Baseball Seen from the Pitcher's Mound Book

Inside the great expanse of a ballgame is the essential core of what Roger Kahn, one of the national pastime's most esteemed chroniclers, calls "chess at 90 miles per hour." That core, of course, is the duel between pitcher and hitter. At its best--which is where Kahn wants to play--it's as cerebral, complex, and psychological a contest as exists in sports, hence the title of this fascinating exploration of how baseball's basic confrontation, told from the pitcher's perspective, has evolved over time. Drawing from his vast knowledge and long experience, Kahn parses the battle from every angle, dissecting the wizardry of hurlers both ancient--Candy Cummings, Hoss Radbourn, Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson--and modern--Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Bruce Sutter, Tom Glavine. It is vintage Kahn--he manages to mix personal memoir with astute analysis. He examines tangibles, such as the height of the mound, and intangibles, such as the fear factor carried by every pitch, without ever taking his eye off the ball. And he's not above a few laughs and surprises. When he makes out his subjective list of the best pitchers of all time, he naturally includes Matty, Koufax, and Warren Spahn, but he also throws in a guy named Jerry Solovey. Jerry who? Kahn tells us he played in the low minors. So why's he here? "He could," Kahn admits, "almost always get me out." Like an able hurler, Kahn knows how to mix it up. He's got enough command as a writer to know how--and when--to bounce an occasional curveball or scroogie in the dirt for effect. --Jeff SilvermanRead More

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  • Product Description

    Beyond the techniques and training, baseball is essentially a pitcher and a batter and the psychological battle between them-the head game. Here for the first time is the story of that battle and the people who changed the course of baseball by throwing one. Roger Kahn investigates not only grips, speeds, and tactics, but also knowledge, maturity, and competitive fire. With the help of some of baseball's greatest pitchers and pitching minds-from Christy Mathewson, Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson, and Bruce Sutter to today's reigning pitching coach, Leo Mazzone-as well as his own deep knowledge of the game, Roger Kahn speaks with authority, and with the authorities, bringing new light to baseball's most pivotal contest. His acute sense of how people make history makes The Head Game a delightful and enlightening tour of baseball through the pitcher's eyes.

  • 0151004412
  • 9780151004416
  • Roger Kahn, Kahn
  • 1 September 2000
  • Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)
  • Hardcover (Book)
  • 336
  • 1
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