Full Trial Audiobooks in Biography & Memoir, Sports

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/289592 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Seabiscuit: An American Legend Author: Laura Hillenbrand Narrator: George Newbern Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 13 hours 14 minutes Release date: November 16, 2010 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.46 of Total 54 Ratings of Narrator: 4.5 of Total 4 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of the runaway phenomenon Unbroken comes a universal underdog story about the horse who came out of nowhere to become a legend. Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. But his success was a surprise to the racing establishment, which had written off the crooked-legged racehorse with the sad tail. Three men changed Seabiscuit’s fortunes: Charles Howard was a onetime bicycle repairman who introduced the automobile to the western United States and became an overnight millionaire. When he needed a trainer for his new racehorses, he hired Tom Smith, a mysterious mustang breaker from the Colorado plains. Smith urged Howard to buy Seabiscuit for a bargain-basement price, then hired as his jockey Red Pollard, a failed boxer who was blind in one eye, half-crippled, and prone to quoting passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Over four years, these unlikely partners survived a phenomenal run of bad fortune, conspiracy, and severe injury to transform Seabiscuit from a neurotic, pathologically indolent also-ran into an American sports icon. Praise for Seabiscuit “Fascinating . . . Vivid . . . A first-rate piece of storytelling, leaving us not only with a vivid portrait of a horse but a fascinating slice of American history as well.”—The New York Times “Engrossing . . . Fast-moving . . . More than just a horse’s tale, because the humans who owned, trained, and rode Seabiscuit are equally fascinating. . . . [Laura Hillenbrand] shows an extraordinary talent for describing a horse race so vividly that the reader feels like the rider.”—Sports Illustrated “REMARKABLE . . . MEMORABLE . . . JUST AS COMPELLING TODAY AS IT WAS IN 1938.”—The Washington Post

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/83544 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Zero Regrets: Be Greater Than Yesterday Author: Apolo Ohno Narrator: Apolo Ohno Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 8 hours 30 minutes Release date: October 26, 2010 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 3.6 of Total 5 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: Gold medal-winning Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno shares the inspiring personal story behind his enduring success as an elite athlete and reveals the universal life lessons he has learned through his training and competition. “Zero regrets. It’s a philosophy not just about sport but about life. School, business, academics, love—anything and everything. It’s complicated and yet not. You have to figure out who it is you want to be. Not what you want to be—who. There has to be a vision, a dream, a plan. Then you chase that with everything you’ve got.” Over three consecutive Olympic games, Apolo Ohno has come to symbolize the very best of the competitive spirit—remaining equally gracious in victory and defeat, always striving to improve his performance, and appreciating the value of the hard work of training as much as any reward it might bring. In Zero Regrets, Apolo shares the inspiring personal story behind his remarkable success, as well as the hard-won truths and strategies he has discovered in good times and bad. Raised by his single father, an immigrant from Japan who often worked twelve-hour days, the young Apolo found it difficult to balance his enormous natural gifts as an athlete with an admittedly wild, rebellious streak. After making a name for himself as a promising young speed skater, his career was almost over before it began when his lack of preparation caused him to finish last at the U.S. Olympic trials in 1998. A life-changing week of solitary soul-searching at the age of fifteen led him to recommit himself to his training, and at the 1999 world junior championships he won first place overall—one of the most remarkable turnarounds in sports history. From that moment on, the world of speed skating had a new champion and Apolo was on his way to legendary status. Much more than an account of races won and lost, Zero Regrets is a compelling portrait of a father-and-son relationship that deepened over time and was based on respect, love, and unshakable faith in each other. For the first time, Apolo reveals what he knows about his long-absent mother; he makes us feel what it is like to face the best competitors on the planet with the eyes of millions of fans upon you; and he shares his secrets for achieving total focus and mental toughness, secrets that can be applied in situations well beyond sports. We learn the details of the unbelievably intense workout and diet that he endured while training for the 2010 Winter Olympics, a regime that literally reshaped his body and led to some of his most thrilling victories. In this deeply personal and entertaining book, Apolo shows how we can all come closer to living with zero regrets. While Apolo’s own journey may be unique, the insights he has gleaned along the way have the power to help us all feel like champions every day.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/83776 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Irish Thunder: The Hard Life & Times of Micky Ward Author: Bob Halloran Narrator: Bronson Pinchot Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 10 hours 44 minutes Release date: October 14, 2010 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: 'Irish' Micky Ward grew up in the 1970s and '80s as a tough kid from Lowell, Massachusetts—a town where young men became boxers as a means of survival. Ward participated in street fights from an early age and was forever known by his opponents and spectators as the underdog. But with his incredible ability to suddenly drop an opponent late in a fight with his trademark left hook, he kept proving everyone wrong. A hard worker who overcame bad luck, bad management, and chronic pain in his hands, he avoided the pitfall of poverty and dead-end work that plagued Lowell to become a Golden Gloves junior welterweight. After fifteen years of boxing, a string of defeats, and three years of retirement, Micky battled Arturo Gatti in 2002 in the battle that was later named 'Fight of the Year' by Ring magazine and dubbed 'Fight of the Century' by boxing writers and fans across the country. Ten rounds of brutal action ended with Micky winning by decision, and reviving enthusiasm for a sport that had been weighted down by years of showboating and corruption. In Irish Thunder, ESPN columnist and Boston television reporter Bob Halloran recounts Ward's rise to hero status, his rivalry with his imprisoned brother, and the negotiations, betrayals, and drugs that shaped a wild youth who ultimately became a nationally respected boxer. A wrenching account of life in blue-collar America, this is a story about a boxer from a boxing family and a boxing town—Ward's dramatic victories inside the ring are recounted in gripping detail, but it is his victory outside the ring that inspires.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/83375 to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Long Run: One Man's Attempt to Regain his Athletic Career-and His Life-by Running the New York City Marathon Author: Charles Butler, Matthew Long Narrator: Matthew Del Negro Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 8 hours 41 minutes Release date: October 12, 2010 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.6 of Total 5 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: On the morning of December 22, 2005, New York City firefighter Matt Long was cycling to work when he was struck by and sucked under a 20-ton bus making an illegal turn. The injuries he sustained pushed him within inches of death. Miraculously, after five months in the hospital and more than 40 operations, Matt was able to start his recovery. In addition to his physical injuries, Matt found the psychological consequences of the accident nearly as hard to process. In the 18 months before the accident, he had competed in more than 20 premier athletic events and had qualified for running’s most prestigious race, the Boston Marathon. After the accident, one doctor told him he’d be lucky if he could even walk without a cane. The Long Run is the emotional and incredibly honest story of Matt’s determination to fight through fear, despair, loneliness, and intense physical and psychological pain to regain the life he once had. It chronicles Matt’s road to recovery as he teaches himself to walk again and, a mere three years later, to run in the 2008 New York City Marathon.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/83415 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Play Their Hearts Out: A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine Author: George Dohrmann Narrator: Emily Rose Speer Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 15 hours 7 minutes Release date: October 5, 2010 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 1 Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 1 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: Eight years of unfettered access and a keen sense of a story's deepest truths allow Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist George Dohrmann to take readers inside the machine that produces America's basketball stars. Drawing on eight years of reporting and telling the very specific tale of one talented young recruit, his coach, and his teammates, Dohrmann immerses listeners in the world of grassroots basketball, where men hunt for future NBA stars and young boys and their parents navigate a tumultuous course in pursuit of basketball glory. At the book's heart are the personal stories of two compelling figures: Joe Keller, an ambitious coach with a master plan to find and promote 'the next LeBron,' and Demetrius Walker, a fatherless latchkey kid who falls under Keller's sway and struggles to live up to unrealistic expectations. In Play Their Hearts Out, Dohrmann presents a thoroughly compelling narrative, exposing the gritty reality beneath so many dreams of fame and glory.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/83145 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Cardboard Gods: An All-American Tale Told through Baseball Cards Author: Josh Wilker Narrator: Jim Meskimen Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 8 hours 29 minutes Release date: July 21, 2010 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.33 of Total 3 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: Cardboard Gods is the memoir of Josh Wilker, a brilliant writer who has marked the stages of his life through the baseball cards he collected as a child. It also captures the experience of growing up obsessed with baseball cards and explores what it means to be a fan of the game. Along the way, as we get to know Josh, his family, and his friends, we also get Josh's classic observations about the central artifacts from his life—the baseball cards themselves. Josh writes about an imagined correspondence with his favorite player, Carl Yastrzemski; he uses the magical bubble-blowing powers of journeyman Kurt Bevacqua to shed light on the weakening of the powerful childhood bond with his older brother; he considers the doomed utopian back-to-the-land dreams of his hippie parents against the backdrop of inimitable 1970s baseball figures such as pinch runner Herb Washington and Mark 'The Bird' Fidrych. Cardboard Gods is more than just the story of a man who can't let go of his past, it's proof that—to paraphrase Jim Bouton—as children we grow up holding baseball cards, but that in the end, we realize it's really the other way around.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/61915 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Moment of Glory: The Year Underdogs Ruled Golf Author: John Feinstein Narrator: L.J. Ganser Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 12 hours 0 minutes Release date: May 13, 2010 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 3 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: After winning 6 of the 12 Majors from 2000 to 2002, Tiger Woods struggled in 2003. Four unknown golf players -- Mike Weir, Jim Furyk, Ben Curtis, and Shaun Micheel -- would seize the day, rising to become champions in his wake. Mike Weir -- considered a good golfer but not a great one -- triumphed in The Masters, becoming the first Canadian to win a Major. Jim Furyk emerged victorious in the U.S. Open. In the British Open, Ben Curtis became the only player since Francis Ouimet in 1913 to prevail on his first time out, and Shaun Micheel came from nowhere to prevail at the PGA Championship. How does one moment of glory affect the unsung underdog for years to follow? In Moment of Glory, John Feinstein returns to the unlikely year of 2003 and chronicles the personal and professional struggles of these four players. With great affection for the underdog and extraordinary access to the players, he then looked to the 2008 season, giving readers an insider's look into how winning (and losing) major championships changes players' lives.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/61858 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball Author: Bill Madden Narrator: Kerin McCue Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 18 hours 38 minutes Release date: May 11, 2010 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.33 of Total 3 Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 1 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: No owner has changed the landscape of sports more than New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. From the moment he bought the team in 1973 for $10 million, Steinbrenner's monomaniacal pursuit was to restore the most fabled franchise in baseball history to its former glory. Today the New York Yankees are worth more than $1 billion and are once again world champions. Award-winning sportswriter Bill Madden traces Steinbrenner from his early days in Cleveland through his years as a shipping magnate, a Nixon fund-raiser, and a champion horse breeder to the fateful moment when he bought the Yankees, even though his father disparaged George's desire to own a professional sports team as a ''hobby.'' Over the next four decades, Steinbrenner's tumultuous reign included his epic battles with Billy Martin, Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, even beloved Yankee captain Derek Jeter. His ruthless and free-spending tactics made him a lightning rod for controversy but they also paid off: Steinbrenner's Yankees have won seven championships and remain the gold standard in all sports. In the last few years, with his health declining, the Boss ceded control of the team to his sons, but not before lording over the team's historic transition from the House That Ruth Built to the House That George Built. Throughout his three decades of covering the Yankees, Bill Madden has cultivated hundreds of sources at every level in the organization, from the many managers and front-office personnel Steinbrenner has fired to the bat boys who are ever present in the locker room. All of them have colorful stories about the man with whom they have enjoyed a love-hate relationship, but it is the Boss himself whose voice rises above the rest. And when Steinbrenner decided to give his final print interview, he spoke to Madden to set the record straight on his extraordinary life and career.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/283951 to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron Author: Howard Bryant Narrator: Dominic Hoffman Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 21 hours 50 minutes Release date: May 11, 2010 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 3 of Total 3 Ratings of Narrator: 3 of Total 2 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: In the thirty-four years since his retirement, Henry Aaron’s reputation has only grown in magnitude: he broke existing records (rbis, total bases, extra-base hits) and set new ones (hitting at least thirty home runs per season fifteen times, becoming the first player in history to hammer five hundred home runs and three thousand hits). But his influence extends beyond statistics, and at long last here is the first definitive biography of one of baseball’s immortal figures.   Based on meticulous research and interviews with former teammates, family, two former presidents, and Aaron himself, The Last Hero chronicles Aaron’s childhood in segregated Alabama, his brief stardom in the Negro Leagues, his complicated relationship with celebrity, and his historic rivalry with Willie Mays—all culminating in the defining event of his life: his shattering of Babe Ruth’s all-time home-run record.   Bryant also examines Aaron’s more complex second act: his quest to become an important voice beyond the ball field when his playing days had ended, his rediscovery by a public disillusioned with today’s tainted heroes, and his disappointment that his career home-run record was finally broken by Barry Bonds during the steroid era, baseball’s greatest scandal.   Bryant reveals how Aaron navigated the upheavals of his time—fighting against racism while at the same time benefiting from racial progress—and how he achieved his goal of continuing Jackie Robinson’s mission to obtain full equality for African-Americans, both in baseball and society, while he lived uncomfortably in the public spotlight. Eloquently written, detailed and penetrating, this is a revelatory portrait of a complicated, private man who through sports became an enduring American icon.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/61774 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story Author: Curt Smith Narrator: Don Leslie Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 11 hours 34 minutes Release date: April 5, 2010 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: Since 1950, the instantly recognizable voice of Vin Scully has invited listeners to “pull up a chair” for his peerless play-by-play sports reporting. Recruited and mentored by the legendary Red Barber, Scully has narrated NBC Television’s Game of the Week, twelve All-Star Games, eighteen no-hitters, and twenty-five World Series, describing players from Duke Snider to Orel Hershiser to Manny Ramirez, with hundreds in between. Scully has made every sportscasting Hall of Fame, received a Lifetime Emmy Achievement award, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and been named the Sportscaster of the Twentieth Century by the American Sportscasters Association. This long overdue first biography of Vin Scully is written by Curt Smith, called “the voice of authority on baseball broadcasting.” (USA Today)

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/59941 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Open: An Autobiography Author: Andre Agassi Narrator: Erik Davies Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 18 hours 5 minutes Release date: November 9, 2009 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.63 of Total 120 Ratings of Narrator: 4.33 of Total 27 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: From Andre Agassi, one of the most beloved athletes in history and one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court, a beautiful, haunting autobiography. Agassi’s incredibly rigorous training begins when he is just a child. By the age of thirteen, he is banished to a Florida tennis camp that feels like a prison camp. Lonely, scared, a ninth-grade dropout, he rebels in ways that will soon make him a 1980s icon. He dyes his hair, pierces his ears, dresses like a punk rocker. By the time he turns pro at sixteen, his new look promises to change tennis forever, as does his lightning-fast return. And yet, despite his raw talent, he struggles early on. We feel his confusion as he loses to the world’s best, his greater confusion as he starts to win. After stumbling in three Grand Slam finals, Agassi shocks the world, and himself, by capturing the 1992 Wimbledon. Overnight he becomes a fan favorite and a media target. Agassi brings a near-photographic memory to every pivotal match and every relationship. Never before has the inner game of tennis and the outer game of fame been so precisely limned. Alongside vivid portraits of rivals from several generations—Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer—Agassi gives unstinting accounts of his brief time with Barbra Streisand and his doomed marriage to Brooke Shields. He reveals a shattering loss of confidence. And he recounts his spectacular resurrection, a comeback climaxing with his epic run at the 1999 French Open and his march to become the oldest man ever ranked number one. In clear, taut prose, Agassi evokes his loyal brother, his wise coach, his gentle trainer, all the people who help him regain his balance and find love at last with Stefanie Graf. Inspired by her quiet strength, he fights through crippling pain from a deteriorating spine to remain a dangerous opponent in the twenty-first and final year of his career. Entering his last tournament in 2006, he’s hailed for completing a stunning metamorphosis, from nonconformist to elder statesman, from dropout to education advocate. And still he’s not done. At a U.S. Open for the ages, he makes a courageous last stand, then delivers one of the most stirring farewells ever heard in a sporting arena. With its breakneck tempo and raw candor, Open will be read and cherished for years. A treat for ardent fans, it will also captivate readers who know nothing about tennis. Like Agassi’s game, it sets a new standard for grace, style, speed, and power.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/59441 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & A Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the Game Is Played Author: Reggie Jackson, Lonnie Wheeler, Bob Gibson Narrator: Mirron Willis, Dominic Hoffman Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 9 hours 25 minutes Release date: September 22, 2009 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 3.5 of Total 6 Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 1 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: Reggie Jackson and Bob Gibson offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to understand America's pastime from their unique insider perspective.Legendary. Insightful. Uncompromising. Candid. Uncensored. Mr. October and Hoot Gibson unfortunately never faced each other on the field. But now, in Sixty Feet, Six Inches, these two legends open up in fascinating detail about the game they love and how it was, is, and should be played. Their one-of-a-kind insider stories recall a who's who of baseball nobility, including Willie Mays, Alex Rodriguez, Hank Aaron, Albert Pujols, Billy Martin, and Joe Torre. This is an unforgettable baseball history by two of its most influential superstars.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/58992 to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Long Snapper Author: Jeffrey Marx Narrator: Jeff Rechner Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 5 hours 30 minutes Release date: August 25, 2009 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 2 Genres: Counseling & Inspirational Publisher's Summary: Brian Kinchen was a thirty-eight-year-old husband, father of four, and seventh-grade Bible teacher whose professional football career had been over for three years when the New England Patriots called on December 15, 2003. With the Patriots riding a ten-game winning streak and the playoffs only a few weeks away, they needed a fill-in for the obscure but vital job of snapping the ball for their punter and kicker—a long snapper. Brian had received similar invitations to tryouts that yielded only disappointment—the teams always went with a younger guy. But could he really turn away from the chance of a lifetime? The Long Snapper chronicles Brian's remarkable journey as he and the Patriots seek the ultimate trophy. Unfortunately, the dream come true turns into a personal nightmare as Brian struggles both on and off the field, and the pressure to perform on the biggest stage in professional sports nearly causes him to walk away. Seven weeks after leaving the classroom, however, Brian overcomes his greatest fear and snaps the ball on the historic game-winning field goal with only seconds left in the Super Bowl. As told by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jeffrey Marx, The Long Snapper is the story of a man who finally achieves the success he has always wanted. Brian Kinchen's championship ring is a powerful status symbol for all to see. But his journey forces him to reexamine what really matters, and he realizes the true measure of a man has nothing to do with status: life is not about prestige; it is about passion and purpose. It is about impacting the lives of others.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/58483 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever: A Great Baseball Player Tells the Hilarious Story behind the Legend Author: Leroy “satchel” Paige Narrator: Edward Lewis Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 6 hours 50 minutes Release date: June 17, 2009 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 3 of Total 1 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: Leroy 'Satchel' Paige was forty-two years old when he became the first African American pitcher in the American League in 1948. Although he was the oldest rookie around, he had already become a legend. For twenty-two years, beginning in 1926, Paige dazzled fans with his performance in the Negro Major Leagues. He outlasted everyone by playing professional baseball, both in and out of the majors, until 1965. Struggle—against early poverty and racial discrimination—is an integral part of Paige's story, as are his fast living and humorous point of view. His immortal advice—one of the most famous quotes in baseball—was, 'Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.' Maybe I'll Pitch Forever is Paige's autobiography, as told to David Lipman.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/58369 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend Author: Larry Tye Narrator: Dominic Hoffman Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 13 hours 41 minutes Release date: June 9, 2009 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.5 of Total 4 Ratings of Narrator: 4.33 of Total 3 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The superbly researched, spellbindingly told story of athlete, showman, philosopher, and boundary breaker Leroy “Satchel” Paige “Among the rare biographies of an athlete that transcend sports . . . gives us the man as well as the myth.”—The Boston Globe Few reliable records or news reports survive about players in the Negro Leagues. Through dogged detective work, award-winning author and journalist Larry Tye has tracked down the truth about this majestic and enigmatic pitcher, interviewing more than two hundred Negro Leaguers and Major Leaguers, talking to family and friends who had never told their stories before, and retracing Paige’s steps across the continent. Here is the stirring account of the child born to an Alabama washerwoman with twelve young mouths to feed, the boy who earned the nickname “Satchel” from his enterprising work as a railroad porter, the young man who took up baseball on the streets and in reform school, inventing his trademark hesitation pitch while throwing bricks at rival gang members. Tye shows Paige barnstorming across America and growing into the superstar hurler of the Negro Leagues, a marvel who set records so eye-popping they seemed like misprints, spent as much money as he made, and left tickets for “Mrs. Paige” that were picked up by a different woman at each game. In unprecedented detail, Tye reveals how Paige, hurt and angry when Jackie Robinson beat him to the Majors, emerged at the age of forty-two to help propel the Cleveland Indians to the World Series. He threw his last pitch from a big-league mound at an improbable fifty-nine. (“Age is a case of mind over matter,” he said. “If you don’t mind, it don’t matter.”) More than a fascinating account of a baseball odyssey, Satchel rewrites our history of the integration of the sport, with Satchel Paige in a starring role. This is a powerful portrait of an American hero who employed a shuffling stereotype to disarm critics and racists, floated comical legends about himself–including about his own age–to deflect inquiry and remain elusive, and in the process methodically built his own myth. “Don’t look back,” he famously said. “Something might be gaining on you.” Separating the truth from the legend, Satchel is a remarkable accomplishment, as large as this larger-than-life man.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/46426 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Tales From Q School: Inside Golf's Fifth Major Author: John Feinstein Narrator: John Feinstein Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 6 hours 0 minutes Release date: May 2, 2007 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 3.73 of Total 11 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: From the author of Raise a Fist, Take a Knee and A Good Walk Spoiled, this "must-read" national bestseller takes you inside the dramatic world of the highest-pressure golf tournament in the world (Tampa Tribune).   It is the tournament that separates champions from mortals. It is the starting point for the careers of future legends and can be the final stop on the down escalator for fading stars. The annual PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament is one of the most grueling competitions in any sport. Every fall, veterans and talented hopefuls sweat through six rounds of hell at Q school, as the tournament is universally known, to get a shot at the PGA Tour, vying for the 30 slots available. The grim reality: If you don't make it through Q school, you're not on the PGA tour. You're out. And those who make it to the six-day finals are the lucky ones: hundreds more players fail to get through the equally grueling first two stages of the event. John Feinstein tells the story of the players who compete for these coveted positions in the 2005 Q school as only he can. With arresting accounts from the players, established winners, rising stars, the defeated, and the endlessly hopeful, America's favorite sportswriter unearths the inside story behind the PGA Tour's brutal all-or-nothing competition.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/44194 to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Smart Money: How the World's Best Sports Bettors Beat the Bookies Out of Millions Author: Michael Konik Narrator: Michael Konik Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 6 hours 9 minutes Release date: November 14, 2006 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.83 of Total 6 Ratings of Narrator: 4 of Total 1 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: An inside look at the high-stakes world of professional sports betting -- by a journalist who lived a secret life as a key gambling ring operative. 'Gamblers whisper about a legendary syndicate known as The Brain Trust because they seem to understand more about sports betting than anyone else. Though they operate in secret, everyone involved in sports gambling wants to know what The Brains are doing -- how they do what they do, and especially, what they'll do next. I'm one of the few people in the world who can tell you. Because for several years I was one of them.' -- from The Smart Money In The Smart Money, Michael Konik takes listeners behind the veil of secrecy shrouding the most successful sports gambling operation in America, to its innermost sanctum. He reveals how they -- and he -- got rich by beating the Vegas lines and, ultimately, the multi-million-dollar offshore betting circuit. He details the perks and perils of a lifestyle in which staking inordinate sums of money on the outcome of a game -- sometimes as much as $1 million on a single event -- is a normal part of doing business.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/34366 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero Author: David Maraniss Narrator: David Maraniss Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 5 hours 45 minutes Release date: April 25, 2006 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.16 of Total 19 Ratings of Narrator: 4.5 of Total 2 Genres: History & Culture Publisher's Summary: Discover the remarkable life of Roberto Clemente—one of the most accomplished—and beloved—baseball heroes of his generation from Pulitzer Prize winner David Maraniss. On New Year’s Eve 1972, following eighteen magnificent seasons in the major leagues, Roberto Clemente died a hero’s death, killed in a plane crash as he attempted to deliver food and medical supplies to Nicaragua after a devastating earthquake. David Maraniss now brings the great baseball player brilliantly back to life in Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero, a book destined to become a modern classic. Much like his acclaimed biography of Vince Lombardi, When Pride Still Mattered, Maraniss uses his narrative sweep and meticulous detail to capture the myth and a real man. Anyone who saw Clemente, as he played with a beautiful fury, will never forget him. He was a work of art in a game too often defined by statistics. During his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he won four batting titles and led his team to championships in 1960 and 1971, getting a hit in all fourteen World Series games in which he played. His career ended with three-thousand hits, the magical three-thousandth coming in his final at-bat, and he and the immortal Lou Gehrig are the only players to have the five-year waiting period waived so they could be enshrined in the Hall of Fame immediately after their deaths. There is delightful baseball here, including thrilling accounts of the two World Series victories of Clemente’s underdog Pittsburgh Pirates, but this is far more than just another baseball book. Roberto Clemente was that rare athlete who rose above sports to become a symbol of larger themes. Born near the canebrakes of rural Carolina, Puerto Rico, on August 18, 1934, at a time when there were no blacks or Puerto Ricans playing organized ball in the United States, Clemente went on to become the greatest Latino player in the major leagues. He was, in a sense, the Jackie Robinson of the Spanish-speaking world, a ballplayer of determination, grace, and dignity who paved the way and set the highest standard for waves of Latino players who followed in later generations and who now dominate the game. The Clemente that Maraniss evokes was an idiosyncratic character who, unlike so many modern athletes, insisted that his responsibilities extended beyond the playing field. In his final years, his motto was that if you have a chance to help others and fail to do so, you are wasting your time on this earth. Here, in the final chapters, after capturing Clemente’s life and times, Maraniss retraces his final days, from the earthquake to the accident, using newly uncovered documents to reveal the corruption and negligence that led the unwitting hero on a mission of mercy toward his untimely death as an uninspected, overloaded plane plunged into the sea.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/61768 to listen full audiobooks. Title: How I Play Golf Author: Tiger Woods Narrator: Walter Franks Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 3 hours 52 minutes Release date: November 1, 2005 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.5 of Total 12 Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 2 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: For the first time, champion Tiger Woods reveals the five secrets to his amazing success - a combination of physical, metaphysical and psychological practices he uses daily to keep his game in top shape.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/41863 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy: Inside the Mind of a Manager Author: Buzz Bissinger Narrator: Jeffrey Nordling Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 9 hours 53 minutes Release date: April 7, 2005 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.09 of Total 45 Ratings of Narrator: 4.75 of Total 4 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Friday Night Lights follows 2004 National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa through a three-game series with the arch-rival Chicago Cubs. Bissinger chronicles the process by which the manager leads his players to victory and distills the essence of the game from locker room and front office to dugout and field of play.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/33180 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig Author: Jonathan Eig Narrator: Edward Herrmann Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 5 hours 47 minutes Release date: April 6, 2005 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.49 of Total 55 Ratings of Narrator: 3.67 of Total 6 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: The definitive account of the life and tragic death of baseball legend Lou Gehrig. Lou Gehrig was a baseball legend—the Iron Horse, the stoic New York Yankee who was the greatest first baseman in history, a man whose consecutive-games streak was ended by a horrible disease that now bears his name. But as this definitive new biography makes clear, Gehrig’s life was more complicated—and, perhaps, even more heroic—than anyone really knew. Drawing on new interviews and more than two hundred pages of previously unpublished letters to and from Gehrig, Luckiest Man gives us an intimate portrait of the man who became an American hero: his life as a shy and awkward youth growing up in New York City, his unlikely friendship with Babe Ruth (a friendship that allegedly ended over rumors that Ruth had had an affair with Gehrig’s wife), and his stellar career with the Yankees, where his consecutive-games streak stood for more than half a century. What was not previously known, however, is that symptoms of Gehrig’s affliction began appearing in 1938, earlier than is commonly acknowledged. Later, aware that he was dying, Gehrig exhibited a perseverance that was truly inspiring; he lived the last two years of his short life with the same grace and dignity with which he gave his now-famous “luckiest man” speech. Meticulously researched and elegantly written, Jonathan Eig’s Luckiest Man shows us one of the greatest baseball players of all time as we’ve never seen him before.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/46406 to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Stone Cold Truth Author: Dennis Brent, J.R. Ross, Steve Austin Narrator: Steve Austin Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 2 hours 27 minutes Release date: October 28, 2003 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.37 of Total 19 Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 5 Genres: Arts & Entertainment Publisher's Summary: WWE Superstar Stone Cold Steve Austin shares an unvarnished take on his life and his days as a wrestler from growing up in small town Texas to his long-awaited return to the world of professional wrestling. He's wrestled under many names, but to the fans he is and will always be Stone Cold Steve Austin™. His quick wit and colorful use of language combined with his everyman character captured the hearts of fans worldwide and rewrote the dynamics of professional wrestling forever. Steve's ability inside the ring and his quick-witted responses lead to his becoming one of the most popular WWE© Superstars of all times. With the creation of the Stone Cold™ character, Steve's popularity expanded exponentially. It seemed nothing could stop the Texas Rattlesnake™, except himself.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/46411 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Lita: A less Travelled R.O.A.D.--The Reality of Amy Dumas Author: Amy Dumas, Michael Krugman Narrator: Amy Dumas Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 2 hours 0 minutes Release date: September 1, 2003 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 3 of Total 2 Ratings of Narrator: 1 of Total 1 Genres: Arts & Entertainment Publisher's Summary: Lita™ -- see her just once in the ring and you can never forget it. The breathtaking off-the-top-rope fearlessness that she shows keeps you on the edge of your seat. You simply can't believe she's going to be able to pull off the move, and then Lita™ takes it to the next level. That's her reality, that's why she is a WWE™ Superstar. Taking unexpected risks, daring to do what no one has done before, that's the reality of Amy Dumas, the remarkable woman behind Lita™. Amy found people who saw her determination and her heart, and agreed to train her. Among them were two local North Carolina stars who had just signed with WWE™ -- Matt and Jeff Hardy. Amy formed an instant bond with the dynamic Hardy Boyz™, whose spectacular style and high-flying bravado inspired her own bold in-ring style. It wasn't long before Amy -- now Lita™ -- joined Matt and Jeff in WWE™, and the three friends become international sensations as Team Extreme™. Lita™ proved a true pioneer in women's wrestling, daring to get in the ring with the boys -- including Triple H™, Stone Cold Steve Austin™ and The Rock® -- and never backing down. It took a broken neck suffered on the set of a television series to stop her...but only temporarily. Lita™: A Less Traveled R.O.A.D-The Reality of Amy Dumas is the stirring tale of one young woman's amazing journey to the top of the wild, wonderful world of WWE™.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/45209 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Be Quick - But Don't Hurry: Finding Success in the Teachings of a Lifetime Author: Andrew Hill Narrator: Andrew Hill Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 4 hours 30 minutes Release date: March 1, 2001 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 3.33 of Total 6 Ratings of Narrator: 4 of Total 1 Genres: Sports Publisher's Summary: Be Quick, But Don't Hurry presents the team-building management secrets of the greatest coach of the twentieth century, cloaked in the heartwarming tale of the reluctant protege who learned those secrets in spite of himself. Perhaps the least controversial sports honor in living memory was the selection of John Wooden as 'Coach of the Century' by ESPN, honoring his ten NCAA basketball championships in a twelve-year stretch. His UCLA teams won with great centers and with small lineups, with superstars and with team effort, always with quickness, always with class. Wooden was a teacher first and foremost, and his lessons -- taught on the basketball court, but applicable throughout one's life -- are summarized in his famed Pyramid of Success. Andrew Hill was one of the lucky young men who got to learn from Wooden in his favored classroom -- though that is hardly how Hill would have described it at the time. An all-city high school player in Los Angeles, Hill played -- a little -- on three national champions, from 1970 to 1972. Hill was left embittered by his experience at UCLA; he was upset at how unequally Wooden treated his starting players and his substitutes. Hill went on to a successful career in television, rising to the presidency of CBS Productions, where he was responsible for the success of such popular series as Touched by an Angel and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Hill's job required him to manage many creative people, with the egos and insecurities that usually go along with such talents. And one day, some twenty-five years after he graduated, he was hit with the realization that everything he knew about getting the best out of people he had learned directly from Coach John Wooden. With no small trepidation, Hill picked up the phone to call and thank his old coach and unexpected mentor. To his surprise, Wooden greeted him warmly and enthusiastically. A strong friendship, sealed in frequent visits and conversations, ensued, and endures. Be Quick -- But Don't Hurry! tells the story of that friendship. But it also shares the lessons and secrets that Hill learned from Coach Wooden, which hold the key to managing creatively in the idea-driven economy of the twenty-first century. Among those lessons are: -The team with the best players almost always wins -Be quick, but don't hurry: there is never enough time to be sure (and if you are sure, you're probably too late), but you must always keep your balance -Failing to prepare is preparing to fail -The team that makes the most mistakes...wins! Full of sound advice and warm reminiscence, Be Quick -- But Don't Hurry! is the management book of a lifetime.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/47387 to listen full audiobooks. Title: When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi Author: David Maraniss Narrator: David Maraniss Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 5 hours 0 minutes Release date: October 1, 1999 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.38 of Total 16 Ratings of Narrator: 4 of Total 7 Genres: History & Culture Publisher's Summary: In this groundbreaking biography, David Maraniss captures all of football great Vince Lombardi: the myth, the man, his game, and his God. More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor of the American experience. The son of an Italian immigrant butcher, Lombardi toiled for twenty frustrating years as a high school coach and then as an assistant at Fordham, West Point, and the New York Giants before his big break came at age forty-six with the chance to coach a struggling team in snowbound Wisconsin. His leadership of the Green Bay Packers to five world championships in nine seasons is the most storied period in NFL history. Lombardi became a living legend, a symbol to many of leadership, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and to others of an obsession with winning.