When Rich Cohen was eight years old, his father took him to see a Cubs game. On the way out of the park, his father asked him to make a promise. "Promise me you will never be a Cubs fan. The Cubs do not win,” he explained, “and because of that, a Cubs fan will have a diminished life determined by low expectations. That team will screw up your life.” As a result, Cohen became not just a Cubs fan but one of the biggest Cubs fans in the world. In this book, he captures the story of the team, its players and crazy days.

In 1968, two remarkable pitchers would dominate the game as well as the broadsheets. One was black, the other white. Bob Gibson, together with the St. Louis Cardinals, embodied an entire generation's hope for integration at a heated moment in American history. Denny McLain, his adversary, was a crass self-promoter who eschewed the team charter and his Detroit Tigers teammates to zip cross-country in his own plane. For one season, the nation watched as these two men and their teams swept their respective league championships to meet at the World Series.

When Cal Ripken Jr. began his career with the Baltimore Orioles at age 21, he had no idea he’d beat the historic record of playing 2,130 games in a row set by Lou Gehrig, the fabled “Iron Horse” of the New York Yankees. Was his streak or Gehrig’s the more difficult achievement? When did someone first think it was a good idea to play in so many games without taking a day off? THE STREAK delves into this impressive but controversial milestone, unraveling Gehrig’s at times unwitting pursuit of that goal and Ripken’s fierce determination to play the game his way. Along the way, John Eisenberg dives deep into the history of the record and offers a portrait of the pastime in different eras.

David “Big Papi” Ortiz is a baseball icon and one of the most popular figures ever to play the game. A key part of the Boston Red Sox for 15 years, Ortiz helped to win three World Series, bringing back a storied franchise from “never wins” to “always wins.” He helped upend the doubters, the naysayers and the nonbelievers, and, as he launched balls into the stands again and again and again, he captured the imagination of millions of fans. Ortiz made Boston and the Red Sox his home, his place of work and his legacy. In PAPI, his ultimate memoir, Ortiz opens up as never before.

For nearly five decades, Lou Piniella has been a fixture in Major League Baseball, as an outfielder with the legendary New York Yankees of the 1970s, and as a manager for five teams in both the American and National leagues. With respected veteran sportswriter Bill Madden, Piniella now reflects on his storied career, offering fans a glimpse of life on the field, in the dugout and inside the clubhouse.

It's one of the most revered movies of Hollywood's golden era. Starring screen legend Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly in her first significant film role, High Noon achieved instant box-office and critical success. Yet what has been often overlooked is that the movie was made during the height of the Hollywood blacklist, a time of political inquisition and personal betrayal. In the middle of the film shoot, screenwriter Carl Foreman was forced to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities about his former membership in the Communist Party. Examined in light of Foreman's testimony, High Noon's emphasis on courage and loyalty takes on deeper meaning and importance.

Television today is better than ever. From “The Sopranos” to “Breaking Bad,” “Sex and the City” to “Girls,” and “Modern Family” to “Louie,” never has so much quality programming dominated our screens. Exploring how we got here, acclaimed TV critic David Bianculli traces the evolution of the classic TV genres, among them the sitcom, the crime show, the miniseries, the soap opera, the Western, the animated series, the medical drama and the variety show. In each genre, he selects five key examples of the form to illustrate its continuities and its dramatic departures.

In Washington, DC, in late November 1941, admirals composed the most ominous message in Navy history to warn Hawaii of possible danger --- but they wrote it too vaguely. They thought precautions were being taken, but never checked to be sure. In a small office at Pearl Harbor, overlooking the battleships, the commander of the Pacific Fleet tried to assess whether the threat was real. There were false assumptions and racist ones, misunderstandings, infighting and clashes between egos. Steve Twomey shows how careless decisions and blinkered beliefs gave birth to colossal failure. But he tells the story with compassion and a wise understanding of why people --- even smart, experienced, talented people --- look down at their feet when they should be scanning the sky.

Though no generation believes there’s nothing left to learn, every generation unconsciously assumes that what has already been defined and accepted is (probably) pretty close to how reality will be viewed in perpetuity. And then, of course, time passes, ideas shift and opinions invert. What once seemed reasonable eventually becomes absurd, replaced by modern perspectives that feel even more irrefutable and secure --- until, of course, they don’t. BUT WHAT IF WE’RE WRONG? visualizes the contemporary world as it will appear to those who will perceive it as the distant past.

Legendary Dodgers Maury Wills, Sandy Koufax, Wes Parker, Jeff Torborg, Dick Tracewski, Lou Johnson and Tommy Davis encapsulated 1960s America: white and black, Jewish and Christian, wealthy and working class, pro-Vietnam and anti-war, golden boy and seasoned veteran. THE LAST INNOCENTS is a thoughtful, technicolor portrait of these six players and their storied team. Bringing into focus the high drama of their World Series appearances and pivotal games, Michael Leahy explores these men’s interpersonal relationships and illuminates the triumphs, agonies and challenges each faced individually.