Philip Theibert hits a home run with his new baseball life lessons book

“Everything I Know I Learned From Baseball: 99 Life Lessons from the Ball Field” by Philip Theibert is the best baseball book that I’ve read in a long, long time.

Published on Dec. 15, 2017 by Summer Game Books, Theibert’s unique book purports to be the “first book ever to use the fundamentals of good baseball as building blocks for a life of happiness, fulfillment and success.”

The book is divided into nine chapters, like the nine innings of a baseball game, and each chapter focuses on a different area of life: attitude, preparation, focus, character, discipline, cooperation, courage, growth and independence. Each chapter includes 10 baseball-related essays that inspire, encourage and motivate.

Theibert’s name may sound familiar to some in the local reading audience. Theibert lives in Birmingham (where he pulls for the Birmingham Barons), and he frequently visits friends in Evergreen. He says he enjoys walking around town and reading about Evergreen’s rich historic past.

He even “loves” reading The Courant, so we here at the newspaper think he’s a pretty cool guy. During a recent visit to Evergreen, Theibert even dropped by the office to meet our staff, and he said that he has a fondness for small town newspapers like The Courant because his first job out of college was working for a small-town newspaper.

In addition to being an all-around good guy, Theibert is also a third-generation baseball coach. He got his start as the batboy for Chapman College in California, where his father was the head baseball coach. He went on to play catcher in college and later served as a summer league baseball coach for many years.

In addition to his love for baseball, Theibert is also an accomplished writer. He’s written two books of baseball poems, “Collisions at Home” and “Bunts,” and he’s also written for a number of national, well-known publications like the Wall Street Journal and Writer’s Digest. Theibert was also once nominated for the distinguished Pushcart Prize, which honors the best “poetry, short fiction, essays and literary whatnot” published by small presses.

Theibert’s writing talent shows in “Everything I Know I Learned From Baseball.” Each essay is full of good, common sense, down-to-earth wisdom gleaned from the world of baseball, and Theibert has the unique ability to apply baseball lessons to everyday life. The book also contains 40 inspiring quotes from famous baseball personalities, and some of those were very entertaining, thought-provoking and funny.

The book is also a quick and easy read. At just 148 pages, this is the type book you can pick up and read just about anywhere. From start to finish, I think it took me a couple of hours to read, and I’m a slow reader.

In the end, I highly recommend Theibert’s latest baseball book. Baseball season is right around the corner, and this book would make a great gift for young players or any baseball fans you might know. Hardback copies of the book are just $14.99 through major booksellers like Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.