{"product_id":"starting-and-closing-perseverance-faith-and-one-more-year-a-cy-young-winners-memoir-on-trusting-gods-plan","title":"Starting and Closing: Perseverance, Faith, and One More Year – A Cy Young Winner's Memoir on Trusting God's Plan","description":"From John Smoltz - one of the best Major League pitchers of the last 25 years, lead baseball analyst of Fox Sports, and all-around stellar guy - comes Starting and Closing, a powerful memoir illustrating what he loves about playing baseball, the strength of his faith, and the changes baseball needs to become great again.\nAs a seven-year-old kid pitching a ball against a brick wall, John Smoltz decided to be a professional baseball player when he grew up. And from that simple decision until his last season on the mound in the major leagues, it was his faith, work ethic, and love for the game that propelled him through challenges that would have ruined other athletes.\nStarting and Closing chronicles the final season in a legendary career that included fourteen years in one of the most dominant rotations in baseball, a Cy Young Award, and a World Series title—all while battling and overcoming \"career-ending\" injuries. Recounting a season that tested his perseverance and deepened his faith, Smoltz flashes back to watershed moments in the skeptic-defying journey from being one of the best starting pitchers of all time, to closer, to starter again. What emerges is an inspirational story from a man who believed not just in himself but in God's plan for him—and one more year.\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 0062120565\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: BVV.0062120565.A\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Acceptable\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Smoltz, John|Yaeger, Don\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: The item is very worn but is perfectly usable. Signs of wear can include aesthetic issues such as scratches, dents, worn and creased covers, folded page corners and minor liquid stains. All pages and the cover are intact, but the dust cover may be missing. Pages may include moderate to heavy amount of notes and highlighting, but the text is not obscured or unreadable. Page edges may have foxing  age related spots and browning . May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Blue Vase Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43089879793725,"sku":"BVV.0062120565.A","price":5.87,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0589\/4225\/9261\/files\/0062120565-0.jpg?v=1775595657","url":"https:\/\/www.bluevasebooks.com\/products\/starting-and-closing-perseverance-faith-and-one-more-year-a-cy-young-winners-memoir-on-trusting-gods-plan","provider":"Blue Vase Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}