Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Nine Innings to Success"

My early look into the workings of Jim Palmer's "Nine innings to Success: A Hall of Famer's Approach to Achieving Excellence," released just last week, was when he asked me to do a personal written comment for one of the chapters: It was on "appreciation."

Reading the galleys, I found Jim had taken his baseball experiences and set them to a nine-chapter look at achieving excellence. He discusses learning, excelling, perseverance, appreciation and more.

In every chapter there are baseball stories, teammates, opponents and, of course, Earl Weaver.

Each chapter has a comment on the particular subject matter of that section by folks such as Buck Showalter, Tim McCarver, Dan Shaughnessy and Rick Dempsey.

At the end of each chapter, Jim writes a "Visit to the Mound" conclusion. There he integrates the context of the chapter with suggestions on integrating the discussion into day-to-day life.

Two major joys of this book are getting to read Jim's stories and meeting the people who made his career what it is. Keep in mind, his life is not just baseball, but also business, broadcasting and parenting. They are all present here.

How did the book come to be? Let's ask Jim.

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well." - Martin Luther King Jr.

The New York Times publishes a list of recommended sports and fitness books from time to time. Here is a sampling of their recent titles.

1. "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown, Penguin. A group of American rowers pursue gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.

2. "The Legends Club" 
by John Feinstein, Doubleday. A sportswriter's account of three famous basketball coaches and their rivalry.

3. 

"Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand, Random House, An Olympic runner's story of survival as a prisoner of the Japanese in World War II, made into a 2014 movie.

4. 

"Boys Among Men" 
by Jonathan Abrams, Crown/Archetype, The prep-to-pro generation of basketball prodigies of 1995 to 2005 and how they redefined the NBA.

5. 

"Life is Not an Accident" 
by Jay Williams, Harper. The ESPN commentator and former top draft pick of the Chicago Bulls tells how he overcame depression after a motorcycle crash that ended his basketball career.

6. 

"Back From the Dead" by Bill Walton, Simon & Schuster. An autobiography of the former basketball player (and Deadhead), who has struggled with injuries.

7. 

"Concussion" 
by Jeanne Marie Laskas, Random House. The story of Bennet Omalu (who inspired the 2015 movie), the forensic pathologist who found proof that blows to the head caused the extreme mental deterioration of a former professional football star.

8. 

"Devil at My Heels" 
by Louis Zamperini and David Rensin, Morrow. A heroic Olympian's story of wartime survival and the basis of Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken."

9. "Catch a Star" by Tamika Catchings with Ken Petersen, Revell. The story of three-time Olympic gold medalist basketball player and WNBA all-star.

10. 
"Indentured" 
by Joe Nocera and Ben Strauss, Portfolio. The inside story of the rebellion against the NCAA.

Gary Thorne is the play-by-play voice of the Orioles on MASN, and the 2016 season is his 10th with the club and 31st covering Major League Baseball. His blog will appear regularly throughout the season. The Orioles and Sarasota County have partnered on the Big League Reader Program, which rewarded kids who read three books in February with tickets to a Grapefruit League game at Ed Smith Stadium in March.

* Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne. © Copyright 2016 Gary F. Thorne. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Gary F. Thorne and MASNsports.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.