{"product_id":"swing-kings-the-inside-story-of-baseballs-home-run-revolution","title":"Swing Kings: The Inside Story of Baseball's Home Run Revolution","description":"\"The best baseball book I’ve read in years.\" — Sam Walker • \"An exhilarating story of innovation.\" — Ben Reiter • \"Swing Kings feels like a spiritual successor to Moneyball.\" — Baseball Prospectus\nFrom the Wall Street Journal’s national baseball\nwriter, the captivating story of the home run boom, following a group of\nplayers who rose from obscurity to stardom and the rogue swing coaches who\nhelped them usher the game into a new age.\n\nWe are in a historic era for the home run. The\n2019 season saw the most homers ever, obliterating a record set just two years\nbefore. It is a shift that has transformed the way the game is played,\ncontributing to more strikeouts, longer games, and what feels like the logical\nconclusion of the analytics era. In Swing\nKings, Wall Street Journal national baseball writer Jared\nDiamond reveals that the secret behind this unprecedented shift isn’t steroids\nor the stitching of the baseballs, it’s the most elemental explanation of all:\nthe swing. In this lively narrative romp, he tracks a group of baseball’s\nbiggest stars—including Aaron Judge, J.D. Martinez, and Justin Turner—who\nremade their swings under the tutelage of a band of renegade coaches, and\nremade the game in the process.\nThese\ncoaches, many of them baseball washouts who have reinvented themselves as\nswing gurus, for years were one of the game’s best-kept secrets. Among\ntheir ranks are a swimming pool contractor, the owner of a billiards hall, and\nan ex-hippie whose swing insights draw from surfing and the technique of\nJapanese samurai. Now, as Diamond artfully charts, this motley cast has moved\nfrom the baseball margins to its center of power. They are changing the way\nhitting is taught to players of all ages, and major league clubs are scrambling\nfor their services, hiring them in record numbers as coaches and consultants. And\nDiamond himself, whose baseball career ended in high school, enlists the\ntutelage of each swing coach he profiles, with an aim toward starring in the\nannual Boston-New York media game at Yankee Stadium.\n\nSwing Kings is\nboth a rollicking history of baseball’s recent past and a deeply reported,\ncharacter-driven account of a battle between opponents as old as time: old and\nnew, change and stasis, the establishment and those who break from it. Jared\nDiamond has written a masterful chronicle of America’s pastime at the\ncrossroads.\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 0062872109\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: BVV.0062872109.G\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Diamond, Jared\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Hardcover\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 shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. All pages and cover are intact  including the dust cover, if applicable . Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Blue Vase Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43558743375933,"sku":"BVV.0062872109.G","price":7.35,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0589\/4225\/9261\/files\/0062872109-0.jpg?v=1788384544","url":"https:\/\/www.bluevasebooks.com\/products\/swing-kings-the-inside-story-of-baseballs-home-run-revolution","provider":"Blue Vase Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}