Los Angeles Angels Titles

<p><strong>From World Series hero to prison inmate, Willie Mays Aikens&#39; story is one of tragedy, belief, and the ultimate comeback.</strong><br /><br />Willie Mays Aikens was ascendant in the 1980s, establishing himself as one of the top sluggers in Major League Baseball as a member of the Kansas City Royals, alongside George Brett and Hal McRae. But a promising career quickly turned disastrous when he fell into drug abuse and was ultimately sentenced to 20 years in prison, a reflection of the era&#39;s harsh federal sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine and a criminal legal system intent on punishment rather than rehabilitation.<br /><br /><em>Safe at Home</em> is an intimate portrait of a tortured player and a redemption story for the ages. Through extensive interviews with Alkens himself, his family, friends, teammates, cellmates, and dealers, Gregory Jordan has woven this comeback tale with compassion and unique intensity.<br /><br />Readers will gain unvarnished insight into Aikens&#39; impoverished childhood in a slow-to-desegregate South Carolina town, the rollicking Kansas City Royals&#39; locker room, the go-go drug culture of America in the 80s, behind the prison gates of Leavenworth, and the grace and stability Aikens has found as a coach and mentor.</p>

For a generation of American League baseball fans, Rod Carew was the definition of "batting champion." An insecure boy from Panama raised by a brutal father, Carew ascended to baseball stardom, tormenting pitchers with a smooth swing from a crouched stance and winning seven batting titles on his way to the Hall of Fame. It wasn't until he lost his beautiful 17-year-old daughter to an aggressive and rare form of leukemia that Carew had to re-gather himself and find new purpose outside of baseball. Then he was struck with a near-fatal heart attack and discovered that the heart transplant he received came from a 29-year-old pro football player whom he happened to have met years before. Now the parents of Konrad Reuland listen to their son's heart beating strong in Carew's chest, and Carew works to honor his daughter's wish that he "make a difference." Carew uses his own journey to show readers that regardless of what you may be facing–heart disease, cancer, divorce, an abusive relationship, premature retirement–you can persist and grow with the kind of grace, character, and determination that he learned to cultivate on the field and beyond.

To any baseball fan, Nolan Ryan’s name still conjures up images of blistering 100-mile-per-hour fastballs and knee-buckling curveballs. During his 27-year career, “The Ryan Express” was named an eight-time All-Star and amassed seven no-hitters and more than 5,700 strikeouts—more than any other pitcher in major-league history. This comprehensive biography of Nolan Ryan follows the baseball legend’s journey from the start of his professional career in 1965 to his retirement in 1993. Hall of Famers, journeymen, clubhouse workers, coaches, and trainers offer their own unique take on Ryan in this book filled with never-before-told anecdotes and personal recollections and peppered with eyewitness accounts of his greatest games. In the pages of this history, readers will discover what made Nolan Ryan one of the most revered and respected athletes and citizens of his time.

<P>Inspired by and written for the devout Angels fan, this lively and detailed book explores important facts and figures from the baseball team's storied history. Decades of tradition, victories and defeats, name revisions, and Hall of Fame inductions are distilled into an entertaining list that journeys from one to 100 into what makes a true fan of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. From the essentials, such as the Nolan Ryan era, to the lesser-known tidbits, including the team's origin and what started the Rally Monkey, this book is the ultimate resource to Angels knowledge and trivia and even suggests the best places to eat and drink before a game.

A one-stop record containing everything Angels fans want to know about their favorite baseball team, this resource is packed with anecdotes, history, explanations of traditions, statistics, trivia, and photos.