Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager

Buzz Bissinger reconstructs a three-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs from the perspective of Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. With close access to the manager and his clubhouse, he documents the preparation and decisions behind each game, from scouting reports and pitching matchups to the handling of individual players.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the author of Friday Night Lights, Bissinger examines how a manager weighs statistical evidence against experience and instinct. La Russa contributes a foreword, and an afterword addresses the debate over managerial style and strategy.