BOOKSHELF: Exciting Sports Books for Summer Reading

Compiled by Jamie H. Vaught

--The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football by Bill Belichick (Avid Reader Press, $35) is an essential guide to success from the one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. Belichick’s philosophy goes far beyond football. He presents a whole-year, whole-life, whole-mindset approach to greatness that encompasses preparation, motivation, confidence, and leadership. Drawing on decades of studying the greats of the game, handling colorful personalities and egos, and playing for the highest stakes in sports, Belichick, now the head coach at the University of North Carolina, shares inside stories, memorable examples and practical takeaways from his lived experience. Winning is not about being perfect — it’s about growth.

--The New Baseball Bible: Notes, Nuggets, Lists, and Legends from Our National Pastime by Dan Schlossberg (Sports Publishing, $29.99) is a remarkable and fun book for baseball fans to have in their library. The new 474-page paperback -- the third edition -- covers the following topics: beginnings of baseball, rules and records, umpires, how to play the game (i.e., strategy), equipment, ballparks, famous faces (i.e., Hank Aaron vs. Babe Ruth), managers, executives, trades, the media, big moments in history, the language of baseball, superstitions and traditions, spring training, today’s game, and much more. A veteran sportswriter, the author weaves in facts, figures, and famous quotes, discusses strategy, and provides stats and images — many of them never previously published elsewhere.

--Locker Room Talk: A Woman's Struggle to Get Inside by Melissa Ludtke (Rutgers University Press, $39.95) is both an inspiring story of one woman’s determination to do a job dominated by men and an illuminating portrait of a defining moment for women’s rights.  While sportswriters rushed into Major League Baseball locker rooms to talk with players, MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn barred the lone woman from entering along with them. The author was that 26-year-old female reporter for Sports Illustrated who charged Kuhn with gender discrimination, and after the lawyers argued Ludtke v. Kuhn in federal court, she won. Her 1978 groundbreaking case affirmed her equal rights, and the judge’s order opened the doors for several generations of women to be hired in sports media.

--The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball by John W. Miller (Avid Reader Press, $30) is the first major biography of legendary Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver. The 357-page hardcover is a wild, thrilling, and hilarious ride with one of baseball’s most colorful characters. Long before the Moneyball Era, Weaver transformed the sport by collecting and analyzing data in visionary ways, ultimately winning more games than anybody else during his time running the Orioles from 1968 to 1982. When he was hired by the Orioles, managers were still seen as coaches and inspirational leaders, more teachers of the game than strategists. Weaver invented new ways of building baseball teams, prioritizing on-base average, elite defense, and strike throwing. Beyond being a great baseball mind, Weaver, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of fame in 1996, was a rare baseball character.

--Drive: The Lasting Legacy of Tiger Woods by Bob Harig (St. Martin's Griffin, $20) is a captivating and emotional portrait of legendary Tiger Woods in the final years of his golf career. Plagued by marital scandal, a reckless driving arrest, and severe back injuries that resulted in what even he believed would be a career-ending spinal fusion surgery in 2017, Woods’ career finally seemed to be coming to an end. That all changed through 2018 and into 2019 as Woods returned slowly from the surgery. In 2019, on the same course where he won for the first time in 1997, Tiger Woods made history once again, winning the Masters one final time. He is the first African or Asian-American player to win a major tournament.

--On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women's Sports by Christine Brennan (Scribner, $29.99) is filled with behind-the-scenes reporting by veteran journalist Christine Brennan who writes about Clark’s rise — including the formative experiences that led to her scoring more points than any woman or man in major college basketball history — and delivers fascinating new details about Clark’s Olympic snub by USA Basketball, the safety concerns around her that led to charter flights for all players, the WNBA’s lack of preparation for heightened national scrutiny, and troubling outbreaks of jealousy and resentment as a white player became the top story in a predominantly Black league. Drawing on dozens of extensive interviews, the 250-page hardcover provides a electrifying portrait of Clark, a sports phenomenon that we perhaps haven't seen in our lifetime.