{"title":"Dirk Hayhurst","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"bigger-than-the-game-book-dirk-hayhurst-9780806534879","title":"Bigger Than the Game","description":"The best writer in a baseball uniform. --Tyler Kepner, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAfter nearly a decade in the minors, Dirk Hayhurst defied the odds to climb onto the pitcher's mound for the Toronto Blue Jays. Newly married, with a big league paycheck and a brand new house, Hayhurst was ready for a great season in the Bigs. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThen fate delivered a crushing hit. Hayhurst blew out his pitching shoulder in an insane off-season workout program. After surgery, rehab, and more rehab, his major-league dreams seemed more distant than ever. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom there things got worse, weirder, and funnier. In a crazy world of injured athletes, autograph-seeking nuns, angry wrestlers, and trainers with a taste for torture, Hayhurst learned lessons about the game--and himself--that were not in any rulebook. Honest, soul?searching, insightful, hilarious, and moving, Dirk Hayhurst's latest memoir is an indisputable baseball classic. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for The Bullpen Gospels and Out of My League\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDirk Hayhurst writes about baseball in a unique way. Observant, insightful, human, and hilarious. --Bob Costas \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A fun read. . .This book shows why baseball is so often used as a metaphor for life. --Keith Olbermann \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEntertaining and engaging. . .reminiscent of Jim Bouton's \u003ci\u003eBall Four\u003c\/i\u003e. --\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA rare gem of a baseball book. --Tom Verducci, \u003ci\u003eSports Illustrated\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA humorous, candid, and insightful memoir of Hayhurst's rookie season in the majors. . .Grade: Home Run. --\u003ci\u003eCleveland Plain Dealer\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49545681371409,"sku":"GOR008010896","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ LIKE_NEW \/ SBYB","offer_id":49773172785425,"sku":"CIN0806534877LN","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50367597740305,"sku":"CIN0806534877G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51007578833169,"sku":"NIN9780806534879","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":52981082947857,"sku":"CIN0806534877A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0806534877.jpg?v=1751264064"},{"product_id":"bullpen-gospels-book-dirk-hayhurst-9780806531434","title":"The Bullpen Gospels","description":"A true picture of baseball. -Tim McCarver From the humble heights of a Class-A pitcher's mound to the deflating lows of sleeping on his gun-toting grandmother's air mattress, veteran reliever Dirk Hayhurst steps out of the bullpen to deliver the best pitch of his career-a raw and unflinching account of his life in the minors. A rollicking good bus ride of a book. -Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated Funny and honest. I loved it. -Tim Kurkjian, senior writer, ESPN The Magazine, and analyst\/reporter, ESPN television Bull Durham meets Ball Four. -Rob Neyer, ESPN.com If Holden Caulfield could dial up his fastball to 90 mph, he might have written this funny, touching memoir. He might have called it 'Pitcher in the Rye.'  -King Kaufman, Salon Whether training tarantulas to protect his room from thieving employees in a backwater hotel or absorbing the gentle mockery of some not-quite-starstruck schoolchildren, Hayhurst reveals a side of baseball-and life-rarely seen on ESPN. Fascinating.a perspective that fans rarely see. -Trevor Hoffman","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49558848897297,"sku":"GOR004243414","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49641285845265,"sku":"CIN0806531436G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":49852274409745,"sku":"CIN0806531436A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49976404181265,"sku":"CIN0806531436VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50169041158417,"sku":"GOR004510599","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51008051740945,"sku":"NIN9780806531434","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0806531436.jpg?v=1750946626"},{"product_id":"out-of-my-league-book-dirk-hayhurst-9780806534862","title":"Out Of My League","description":"A humorous, candid and insightful memoir of Hayhurst's rookie season in the majors. . .Grade: Home Run. --Cleveland Plain Dealer \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAfter six years in the minors, pitcher Dirk Hayhurst hopes 2008 is the year he breaks into the big leagues. But every time Dirk looks up, the bases are loaded with challenges--a wedding balancing on a blind hope, a family in chaos, and paychecks that beg Dirk to answer, How long can I afford to keep doing this? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThen it finally happens--Dirk gets called up to the Majors, to play for the San Diego Padres. A dream comes true when he takes the mound against the San Francisco Giants, kicking off forty insane days and nights in the Bigs. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLike the classic games of baseball's history, \u003ci\u003eOut of My League\u003c\/i\u003e entertains from the first pitch to the last out, capturing the gritty realities of playing on the big stage, the comedy and camaraderie in the dugouts and locker rooms, and the hard-fought, personal journeys that drive our love of America's favorite pastime. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA rare gem of a baseball book. --Tom Verducci, \u003ci\u003eSports Illustrated\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA fun read. . .This book shows why baseball is so often used as a metaphor for life. --Keith Olbermann \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEntertaining and engaging. . .reminiscent of Jim Bouton's \u003ci\u003eBall Four\u003c\/i\u003e. --\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eObservant, insightful, human, and hilarious. --Bob Costas","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49590299132177,"sku":"GOR009648344","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50361911083281,"sku":"CIN0806534869A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50361915015441,"sku":"CIN0806534869G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51007749357841,"sku":"NIN9780806534862","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51804236775697,"sku":"CIN0806534869VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53389446021393,"sku":"GOR010737018","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0806534869.jpg?v=1751296854"},{"product_id":"out-of-my-league-book-dirk-hayhurst-9780806534855","title":"Out Of My League","description":"A humorous, candid and insightful memoir of Hayhurst's rookie season in the majors. . .Grade: Home Run. --Cleveland Plain Dealer \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAfter six years in the minors, pitcher Dirk Hayhurst hopes 2008 is the year he breaks into the big leagues. 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