BALLPARK GREATS: PRO BASEBALL'S BEST PLAYERS © 2020

by Donald Parker

Christian Yelich was a second-team All-American coming out of high school in Thousand Oaks, California. The Florida Marlins selected him with the 23rd selection in the 2010 baseball amateur draft. Yelich’s career took off when he was included in a four-player trade at the end of the 2017 season that sent him from the southern tip of Florida to the northern state of Wisconsin to play for the Milwaukee Brewers. Christian Yelich examines his early career as well as his first two All-Star seasons with the Brewers. He earned National League (NL) MVP honors for the 2018 MLB season and was also the NL batting champion. Each book in the Ballpark Greats: Pro Baseball’s Best Players series gives you the reader a close-up look at some of the very best of today’s Major League Baseball stars. The statistical leaders and championship winners go under the spotlight in a fun to read and visually interesting examination of the player’s outstanding career.

by Greg Bach

Justin Verlander has been tormenting hitters ever since his arrival in the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers in 2006. He won 17 games and snagged 2006 American League Rookie of the Year honors. In 2011 he produced one of the greatest seasons in baseball history, winning 24 games and both the Cy Young and American League MVP awards. Justin Verlander looks in-depth at his time in Detroit, and at his continued success following a 2017 trade to the Houston Astros. Verlander immediately led Houston to its first World Series title in franchise history. He has since won the 200th game, recorded the 2,500th strikeout, and thrown the third no-hitter of his spectacular career. Each book in the Ballpark Greats: Pro Baseball’s Best Players series gives you the reader a close-up look at some of the very best of today’s Major League Baseball stars. The statistical leaders and championship winners go under the spotlight in a fun to read and visually interesting examination of the player’s outstanding career.

by Donald Parker

Max Scherzer was the 10th selection of the 2008 amateur draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He is one of six pitchers who have been awarded with a Cy Young in both leagues and is a member of the exclusive 2,500-strikeouts club. Scherzer is also one of just six pitchers since 1990 to record 300 strikeouts in a single season. Max Scherzer will also look at the pitcher away from the diamond and tell you about his eye-popping unique physical characteristic that can make him seem even more intimidating than your average right-handed, strikeout-collecting, fastball-throwing pitcher. Each book in the Ballpark Greats: Pro Baseball’s Best Players series gives you the reader a close-up look at some of the best of today’s Major League Baseball stars. The statistical leaders and championship winners go under the spotlight in a fun-to-read and visually interesting examination of the player’s outstanding career.

by Greg Bach

Mike Trout, the super-talented centerfielder for the Los Angeles Angels, has emerged as arguably the greatest baseball player in the game today and is on pace to be labeled as one of the best ever. Winner of the 2012 American League Rookie of the Year Award, Trout has already gone on to win the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award twice while putting up never-before-seen numbers in the process. From his start at Millville High School in New Jersey to reaching the major leagues as a teenager, Mike Trout examines why he has become must-see viewing every time he steps to the plate. Each book in the Ballpark Greats: Pro Baseball’s Best Players series gives you the reader a close-up look at some of the best of today’s Major League Baseball stars. The statistical leaders and championship winners go under the spotlight in a fun-to-read and visually interesting examination of each player’s outstanding career.

by Greg Bach

Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies is the first player in National League history to snag a Gold Glove Award as a rookie third baseman, and his remarkable ability to make impossible-looking plays has earned him Gold Gloves in each of his first six seasons in the major leagues, a feat that has never been done before in the history of baseball. Nolan Arenado will look at Arenado’s marvelous fielding skills and examine the prowess with which he swings a powerful bat. On the field, and at the plate, Arenado has emerged as one of baseball’s top players. Each book in the Ballpark Greats: Pro Baseball’s Best Players series gives you the reader a close-up look at some of the very best of today’s Major League Baseball stars. The statistical leaders and championship winners go under the spotlight in a fun to read and visually interesting examination of the player’s outstanding career.