The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Book Cover for: Got Your Number: The Greatest Sports Legends and the Numbers They Own, Mike Greenberg

Got Your Number: The Greatest Sports Legends and the Numbers They Own

Mike Greenberg

Reader Score

81%

81% of readers

recommend this book

The New York Times Best Seller
2023 The New York Times Best Seller
ESPN personality (Get Up and #Greeny) and New York Times bestselling author Mike Greenberg partners with mega-producer Hembo to settle once and for all which legends flat-out own which numbers. In short essays certain to provoke debate between and amongst all generations, Greeny uses his lifetime of sports knowledge to spin yarns of the legends among the legends and tell you why some have claimed their spot in the top 100 of all time.

Sports and numbers go hand in hand.
Sports and loud, assertive debate? Even better.

Cheering on, agonizing over, and being in plain awe of your favorite players has left you with a deep and intricate memory of their greatness, not to mention well-honed arguments as to why your favorites are really the best. In arenas, in front of your TV, and in bars, you've debated friends and strangers alike. You've joyfully mocked your friends' (sometimes laughable) favorites. You've spouted accomplishments, statistics: Yours won six titles, batted .350 in the clutch, or generated 82% of their team's scoring.

But not all numbers are created equal. Some are accomplishments. Others are identity.

Looming large over any image you have of an athlete: the number on their jersey. Numbers often provide the most visceral parts of any sports legend's identity. They are what people remember--worldwide. Jordan, Jeter, Brady--to fans, they are as much their number as they are anything else.

Sure, 1 through 100 might seem like a large range, but fierce competition across the ages has blessed only a lucky few to claim one of these as their own. For some, the victors may not be so obvious. That's why Greeny's here to help.

Ascend into discussion, fans of all stripes. Come away enlightened. Or maybe a little enraged. Either way, you are sure to be occasionally surprised--and endlessly entertained. Whatever your sport, welcome to the place where all the arguments are finally decided, once and for all.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Hyperion Avenue
  • Publish Date: Apr 4th, 2023
  • Pages: 320
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.40in - 5.60in - 1.20in - 1.05lb
  • EAN: 9781368073561
  • Categories: EssaysSportsHistory

More books to explore

Book Cover for: Bodies Built for Game: The Prairie Schooner Anthology of Contemporary Sports Writing, Natalie Diaz
Book Cover for: The Best American Sports Writing of the Century, David Halberstam
Book Cover for: Sidecountry: Tales of Death and Life from the Back Roads of Sports, John Branch
Book Cover for: The Summer Game, Roger Angell
Book Cover for: Got to Give the People What They Want: True Stories and Flagrant Opinions from Center Court, Jalen Rose
Book Cover for: The Last "True" Roller Derby: A Memoir, Larry Smith
Book Cover for: No Way But to Fight: George Foreman and the Business of Boxing, Andrew R. M. Smith
Book Cover for: The Tao of the Backup Catcher: Playing Baseball for the Love of the Game, Tim Brown
Book Cover for: Tiger & Phil: Golf's Most Fascinating Rivalry, Bob Harig
Book Cover for: The League: How Five Rivals Created the NFL and Launched a Sports Empire, John Eisenberg
Book Cover for: Fathers Playing Catch with Sons: Essays on Sport (Mostly Baseball), Donald Hall
Book Cover for: The Breaks of the Game, David Halberstam
Book Cover for: Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game, Rob Neyer
Book Cover for: Mad Ducks and Bears: Football Revisited, George Plimpton
Book Cover for: Gods at Play: An Eyewitness Account of Great Moments in American Sports, Tom Callahan

About the Author

Mike Greenberg has been among the signature faces, and voices, of ESPN for more than a quarter century. He is currently the host of ESPN's Get Up and Sunday NFL Countdown shows as well as the NFL Draft on ESPN. He previously co-hosted Mike and Mike with Mike Golic, for which the duo has been inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame and the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Mike is the author of several previous books, and multiple New York Times bestsellers. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and a member of the Medill Hall of Achievement. Mike and his wife, Stacy, have two children and reside in New York City.

Paul Hembekides is a content producer for ESPN's Get Up, and he partners with Mike Greenberg on ESPN Radio's #Greeny. He has become best known for his daily trivia question, which earned him the nickname "Sneaky Hembo." Paul began his career on Mike and Mike and is recognized as one of the premier researchers in the industry. He contrib­utes weekly to the Baseball Tonight podcast, and his research is regularly featured on ESPN.com. A graduate of Cedarville University (BA) and La Salle University (MA), Paul and his wife, Elizabeth, reside in New Jersey with their two daughters.

More books by Mike Greenberg

Book Cover for: Got Your Answers: The 100 Greatest Sports Arguments Settled, Mike Greenberg
Book Cover for: Got Your Legends: Ranking Americas Sports Franchises and Their Most Iconic Figures, Mike Greenberg
Book Cover for: My Father's Wives, Mike Greenberg
Book Cover for: Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot: The Life and Times of a Sportscaster Dad, Mike Greenberg
Book Cover for: MVP: Most Valuable Puppy, Mike Greenberg
Book Cover for: Poetics of Cities: Designing Neighborhoods That Work, Mike Greenberg

Praise for this book

"Greeny looks at sports history with the eye of a storyteller. I knew I cared about these athletes, but Got Your Number reminded me of why I should care about what they accomplished."
--Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Greeny's book isn't just a fun read. It's a guide to winning every sports debate for the rest of your life."
--Seth Wickersham, ESPN Senior Writer, New York Times bestselling author of It's Better to Be Feared

"The way Mike Greenberg lays things out is nothing short of spectacular. He's already in a couple of Halls of Fame, and after this book, I'm assuming another is on the way. A fantastic book with fabulous information."
--Pat McAfee, sports analyst and retired ball kicker

"Mike Greenberg and sports are synonymous--my favorite sports memories all have his voice attached."
--Emmanuel Acho, New York Times bestselling author of Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man

"In the introduction to this fabulous book, Mike wisely and wonderfully notes that sports can bring people together by fostering conversation, something he has done throughout his spectacular career and now does again with these terrific essays."
--Amy Trask, sports executive and Princess of Darkness

"A wonderfully inspiring book..."
--Booklist