The Cincinnati Game by Lonnie Wheeler
The Cincinnati Game by Lonnie Wheeler
Roy Tucker (04-16-2014),westofyou (04-16-2014)
I'll echo Ball Four and The Machine. I also really enjoyed Game Six by Mark Frost about maybe the most famous World Series game of all time.
"I never argue with people who say baseball is boring, because baseball is boring. And then, suddenly, it isn't. And that's what makes it great." - Joe Posnanski
Ball Four was only $1.99 for amazon kindle - I picked it up. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions - looks like I have a lot of summer (as in summer, fall, winter, spring - repeat) reading ahead of me for the next couple years!!
Please feel free to continue piling on, I am a pretty quick reader so I am sure I will blow through Ball Four pretty quickly and I will be ready for the next book. I am sure others are enjoying the suggestions as much as I am as well!
I read Ball Four when I was twelve. It made me feel like I had found some secret handbook to professional baseball.
I haven't read any baseball books in a while, but one that I will always like is Men at Work, by George Will. It's easy to forget how difficult it is to play baseball at the major league level and how razor thin the margins really are. If a team misses the post season by a game, it could be the result of the most minute thing- failure to move a guy to scoring position in an April game, one bad hop, one tiny footwork error, an extra out in the first inning that brings the 2-3-4 hitters up in the bottom of the ninth. That is the context of the entire book, which describes the intensity and dedication to routines and fundamentals that is necessary to be good at the job. It gave me a greater appreciation for what it takes to play 162 games and for guys like Scott Rolen, who seemed to have mastered the art of doing it well.
Next Reds manager, second shooter. --Confirmed on Redszone.
RadfordVA (04-17-2014),vaticanplum (05-08-2014),westofyou (04-17-2014)
Ball Four changed my life, I read all the diary books then... Joe Pepitone's, Graig Nettles, Sparky Lyle, Jay Johnstone, Alex Karras, Bill Freehan's... none topped Ball Four, the funniest baseball book ever and edited by a Chipmunk too
Not Reds related.
The Echoing Green about the Bobby Thompson home run and surrounding events and contentions.
Koufax, A Lefty's Legacy. Superb biography.
I'm currently reading Judge and Jury;The Life and Times of Kenesaw Mountain Landis. A really good biography of the first commisioner. Lots of stuff about him I never knew.
Reds Fan Since 1971
Currently I'm reading these baseball books
Up, Up, and Away: The Kid, the Hawk, Rock, Vladi, Pedro, le Grand Orange, Youppi!, the Crazy Business of Baseball, and the Ill-fated but Unforgettable Montreal Expos
Base Ball: A Journal of the Early Game, Vol. 7
The Era, 1947-1957: When the Yankees, the Giants, and the Dodgers Ruled the World
"Boys, I'm one of those umpires that misses 'em every once in a while so if it's close, you'd better hit it." Cal Hubbard
Periodically throughout the year, SABR.org publishes listings of new books that are received at the SABR office.
This feature is called The SABR Bookshelf, continuing a popular section from the old SABR Bulletin.
Here are The SABR Bookshelf listings for Spring 2014:
http://sabr.org/content/sabr-bookshelf-spring-2014
I am about a 1/3 of the way through Ball Four, it has been excellent.
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