Dirk Hayhurst

A minor league pitcher deals with both the lighter and darker sides of a life at the edge of the pro ranks where he refuses to quit and eventually finds himself playing for the league championship.

Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran

The Bullpen Gospels

In a follow up to "The Bullpen Gospels," the author details his major league rookie season, revealing that for him, it isn't just about the game, but about the people and events in it.

A Rookie's Survival in the Bigs

Out of My League

Dirk's latest memoir about his sports injury, his rehab, and the lessons he learned outside of the game, will go down as yet another baseball classic.

A possibly career ending injury looks to knock Hayhurst out of baseball forever. Isolated from his family, broken, and branded a traitor by his teammates for writing inside the locker room, Hayhurst finds himself at a crossroads: should he continue down the spiral of depression and prescription drug abuse he's falling into, or seek psychological help at the risk of being labeled a "head case" by an industry biased against that which it cannot quantify? Or maybe Hayhurst just needs to show them all how much fun being a head case can be?

restitching a major league life

Bigger than the game

Out Of My League: A Rookie&#39;s Survival in the Bigs

"Dirk Hayhurst has done it again. . .Turns out he's a starter and a closer." —Tim Kurkjian, ESPN As a major and not-so-major league pitcher, Dirk Hayhurst has learned to master more than striking out batters. While waiting for his name to be called in the bullpen, he honed his gifts as a storyteller, one the New York Times calls the "best writer in a baseball uniform." In this often hilarious collection of adventures on and off the diamond, Dirk details the intricacies of pulling off an epic team prank, even if it's at his own expense; the art of creating the perfect professional baseball nickname; his comically ineffective attempts at writing romance novels; and the bizarre tale in which a bear gets punched in the face (yes, really). No matter how wild his story, Dirk proves once again he knows that it's all in the delivery. "I find his writing both entertaining and thought provoking. . .unlike his fastball." —Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay Rays All-Star "Dirk Hayhurst writes about baseball in a unique way. Observant, insightful, human, and hilarious." —Bob Costas "Hayhurst delivers an entertaining story for more than just sports fans." —Jordan Bastian, MLB.com "Hayhurst explains life in the minors and the major leagues like you've never read it before." —J. J. Cooper, Baseball America "Insight and humor from the pitcher's mound." —Businessweek 51,300 Words.

Extra Innings From Out of My League

Wild Pitches:

"The best writer in a baseball uniform." —Tyler Kepner, The New York Times After 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. Then 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. From 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. Praise for The Bullpen Gospels and Out of My League "Dirk Hayhurst writes about baseball in a unique way. Observant, insightful, human, and hilarious." —Bob Costas "A fun read. . .This book shows why baseball is so often used as a metaphor for life." —Keith Olbermann "Entertaining and engaging. . .reminiscent of Jim Bouton's Ball Four." —Booklist "A rare gem of a baseball book." —Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated "A humorous, candid, and insightful memoir of Hayhurst's rookie season in the majors. . .Grade: Home Run." —Cleveland Plain Dealer

Dirk Hayhurst

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