The Best College Baseball eBooks of All Time

In the spirit of Three Nights in August and The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty, veteran sports writer Ryan McGee goes behind the scenes, into the stands, and onto the field to reveal an exciting yet personal look at one of the hottest sports championships in the country--the College World Series. Every summer, college baseball teams from around the nation come to Omaha, Nebraska, to play pure move-the-man-over, run-manufacturing baseball in a series that's part college bowl game, part county fair. In 2008, the ten-day, eight-team tournament was the scene of one of the greatest series in its illustrious history.

And Ryan McGee puts the reader behind closed doors with the underdog champs, the Fresno State Bulldogs, as well as with their seven opponents, from the first batting practice session, to bus rides to the ballpark, to the locker room and the dugout. It's the CWS as few ever see it. But The Road to Omaha goes far beyond the 2008 season. It's an in-depth look at the managing strategies and playing style of college baseball, as well as a series of profiles that examine the people behind and around the CWS--the players, coaches, and fans who keep that feeling of good-old-days innocence alive through their reverence for the Great American Pastime. McGee also takes up residence at Rosenblatt Stadium itself, reliving its rich history and tapping into the electricity around it, from the tailgating fans to the surrounding neighborhoods. "The Blatt" is America's last real connection to the baseball belief that Field of Dreams can actually happen: a wooden-framed ballpark with cramped concourses where teams share locker rooms, change clothes in the parking lot, and sign autographs for kids until their fingers cramp. "The Blatt" is a monument to tradition--and the last of its kind to keep that tradition alive. Thanks to Ryan McGee's quick eye for play-by-play action, as well as his deep love for sports, The Road to Omaha is a rare glimpse into the kind of baseball our grandfather's knew--a snapshot of the one of the last remaining vestiges of pure Americana: a hometown, baseball, and the people who shape it and are shaped by it in turn.

No one changed the landscape of college baseball like Ron Fraser. The sport enjoyed little national interest until Fraser arrived at the University of Miami in 1963 and built his program into an entertainment empire and a national champion. Nationally televised college baseball games on ESPN can be traced back to Fraser’s lobbying work in the network’s early days. His efforts resulted in coverage growth and paved the way to making the College World Series one of ESPN’s marquee events.

He created zany, one‑of‑a‑kind promotions, such as an open-heart surgery for one “lucky” fan (redeemable in a five‑year window) and the first mascot devoted to a college baseball team (the Miami Maniac). Aimed at gaining attention for his program and putting fans in the seats, his innovations achieved desired results on both fronts. Miami Hurricanes baseball became widely popular as the sport’s main draw in South Florida long before Major League Baseball expanded to the market full time. Fraser’s biggest impact was on the field. Before the Miami Hurricanes football program became a household name, he put the school’s athletics program on the map by winning its first national championship. Fraser inherited a floundering baseball program that had no equipment or following and could pay him only as a part-time employee; he built that program into a perennial national power that made regular appearances at the College World Series. Along the way, he developed countless players into All‑Americans, MLB Draft picks, and eventual Major Leaguers. While some coaches have matched his wins and championships, none compare to his trailblazing and impact on an entire sport. David Brauer traces the roots of modern-day college baseball’s success to Fraser’s work at Miami. The Wizard of College Baseball is an inspirational and entertaining reflection on how one man forever changed college baseball—accelerating the sport’s growth and setting a new standard for modern college baseball well ahead of his time.

For over a decade, head coach Rob Childress has built Texas A&M into one of the elite college baseball programs in the country. All It Takes Is Everything You’ve Got takes you behind the scenes of the Aggie baseball program, allowing you to meet the players, coaches, and others responsible for that success. Given unrestricted access to the inner workings of Texas A&M Baseball, Heath Clary takes you into the dugout, the coaches’ offices, and inside the locker room to chronicle one season of big-time college baseball.

This book combines personal profiles with coaching decisions, baseball strategy, and much more to show fans what it’s like to go through the ups and downs of a 56-game schedule. "Few have taken an inside look at a major college baseball program like Heath has in this book. He does a terrific job showing readers the ups and downs and everyday life of a major program." - Kendall Rogers, Managing Editor, D1Baseball.com. "Heath does an outstanding job of taking you inside the Texas A&M program and along for the roller coaster ride of a college baseball season." - Ross Stripling, Los Angeles Dodgers. "All It Takes is Everything You've Got is an up close and personal look inside one of the most consistent and successful college baseball programs over the last 15 years. Heath Clary does an amazing job of taking the reader all the way through the 2019 Texas A&M baseball season - the highs, the lows, and everything in between...You won't be disappointed!" - Matt Deggs, Head Baseball Coach, Louisiana-Lafayette and Author of 15 to 28: A Story of God's Love, Power, and Redemption.