{"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":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"The best baseball book I’ve read in years.\" — Sam Walker • \"An exhilarating story of innovation.\"  — Ben Reiter • \"\u003cem\u003eSwing Kings\u003c\/em\u003e feels like a spiritual successor to \u003cem\u003eMoneyball\u003c\/em\u003e.\" — \u003cem\u003eBaseball Prospectus\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the \u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/em\u003e’s national baseball\u003cp\u003ewriter, the captivating story of the home run boom, following a group of\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eplayers who rose from obscurity to stardom and the rogue swing coaches who\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ehelped them usher the game into a new age.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe are in a historic era for the home run. The\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2019 season saw the most homers ever, obliterating a record set just two years\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebefore. It is a shift that has transformed the way the game is played,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003econtributing to more strikeouts, longer games, and what feels like the logical\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003econclusion of the analytics era. In \u003cem\u003eSwing\u003cp\u003eKings\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/em\u003e national baseball writer Jared\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDiamond reveals that the secret behind this unprecedented shift isn’t steroids\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eor the stitching of the baseballs, it’s the most elemental explanation of all:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe swing. In this lively narrative romp, he tracks a group of baseball’s\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebiggest stars—including Aaron Judge, J.D. Martinez, and Justin Turner—who\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eremade their swings under the tutelage of a band of renegade coaches, and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eremade the game in the process. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecoaches, many of them baseball washouts who have reinvented themselves as\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eswing gurus, for years were one of the game’s best-kept secrets. Among\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003etheir ranks are a swimming pool contractor, the owner of a billiards hall, and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ean ex-hippie whose swing insights draw from surfing and the technique of\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJapanese samurai. Now, as Diamond artfully charts, this motley cast has moved\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efrom the baseball margins to its center of power. They are changing the way\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ehitting is taught to players of all ages, and major league clubs are scrambling\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efor their services, hiring them in record numbers as coaches and consultants. And\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDiamond himself, whose baseball career ended in high school, enlists the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003etutelage of each swing coach he profiles, with an aim toward starring in the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eannual Boston-New York media game at Yankee Stadium.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSwing Kings\u003c\/em\u003e is\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eboth a rollicking history of baseball’s recent past and a deeply reported,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003echaracter-driven account of a battle between opponents as old as time: old and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003enew, change and stasis, the establishment and those who break from it. Jared\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDiamond has written a masterful chronicle of America’s pastime at the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecrossroads.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jared Diamond","offers":[{"title":"Trade Paperback","offer_id":51671190176050,"sku":"9780062872111","price":15.19,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0988\/7934\/0850\/files\/9780062872111.jpg?v=1787960236","url":"https:\/\/53rdstreetbooks.com\/products\/swing-kings-the-inside-story-of-baseballs-home-run-revolution","provider":"53rd Street Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}