What is your favorite book about baseball? Why?
Or, what book are you currently reading about baseball?
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What is your favorite book about baseball? Why?
Or, what book are you currently reading about baseball?
I collect them, have about 150 or so.
Currently my 10 faves are
Bill James Historical Abstract
Diamonds in the Rough
Creating the National Pastime
Past Time
The Cincinnati Reds - (Lee Allen)
Hot Stove League
Lords of the Realm
Ball Four
Men at Work
We Played the Game
Men at Work - George Will
I actually felt myself getting smarter just by reading it. Will did a fantastic job in describing the meticulous details of baseball - in pitching, hitting, fielding and managing. A must-read for any baseball fan, imo.
Although, it was a tad nauseating - all the love for LaRussa. As Marty says "he's got more bestsellers than World Series rings." :laugh:
Men at Work: Phenomenal book. 1st person point of view from some amazing players.
Scout's Honor: Tremendous insight into player evaluation. The Best Baseball Book I have EVER read.
Ball Four: What a scream!
BillyBall: Billy Martin's Autoboigraphy. Some behind the scenes looks and great stories.
If at First: Keith Hernandez autobiography. Read it when I was 12. I wanted to be a big leaguer the next day after reading the entire book.
3 Nights in August: LaRussa's insight into managing a series. Pretty sharp.
The classic baseball conterculture Jim Bouton's Ball Four.
It may be cliche - but mine is Moneyball.
I'd been a casual baseball fan up until then, always scoffing at advanced baseball stats, always watching but not quite as "informed" about the game I loved. I actually read about the book on here, Brian recommended that I should most definitely read it, and decided to bite the bullet and it opened my eyes.
Now I'm a feverent Baseball Prospectus/Hardball Times reader(books and websites), so I've done a 180.
For someone who wants an excellent different type of baseball book, I would recommend the "Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers." Excellent essays in there about different pitches, how they are thrown and the history invovled in the pitch. If you're the type who likes reading about the argument of whether the forkball and the split finger fastball are the same pitch that book is right up your alley.
I also really enjoyed "The Knucklebook" by Dave Clark. A 360 degree look at the knuckleball, who's thrown it, how to throw it, how to catch it, how to coach it, everything you could possibly want to know.
Great book, invaluable piece on a part of the game that nevers gets into too much detail, but that one does.Quote:
For someone who wants an excellent different type of baseball book, I would recommend the "Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers."
i tried to like moneyball, but felt there was too much filler in there and not enough meat and potatoes.
The Natural, in fiction, is the all-time great. Two Kiniella books-- The Iowa Baseball Confederacy and Shoeless Joe are exemplary as well.
I'll add Veeck As In Wreck and A False Spring by Pat Jordan.
The funniest book about baseball ever is The Great American Baseball Card Book, by Brendan C. Boyd and Fred Harris, but you probably have to go to E-Bay to get it. Has anyone else here read it?
I'm currently reading the book, "Baseball, LEdgends and Lore" bu David Cataneo. It's a collection of short stores and anecdotes about baseball. So far it's a nice read.
I just got done with David Halberstam's "The Summer of '49" about a week or so ago and really enjoyed it.
That was excellent, and so was October 1964 by Halberstam. I tried to follow up these two with Roger Kahn's "The Boys of Summer", but Halberstam's writing was superior and he probably wrote the two best baseball books I have ever read.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Schue
I couldn't get through "Men at Work" after about 100 pages. I tried to read Will's "Bunts" during bathroom breaks, but Baseball Weekly took it's place.
I read "Eight Men Out" before the movie came out, and enjoyed it.
Has anyone read "Pennant Race" by Jim Brosnan? It's a game by game chronicle of the Reds' 1961 season. I bought it one day and just haven't cracked it open yet.
"The Glory of Their Times" by Lawrence Ritter
Just finished it.Quote:
Has anyone read "Pennant Race" by Jim Brosnan? It's a game by game chronicle of the Reds' 1961 season. I bought it one day and just haven't cracked it open yet.
Redszone would eat Fred Hutchinson alive.