Best Non-Fiction Reds and Non-Reds Baseball Books

[RedTeamGo!]

I am going on a trip to NYC (Brooklyn specifically) tomorrow night and will be flying standby. There is a chance I can get stranded for hours and need a new book to download to my kindle. I am an avid Sci Fi/Fantasy reader but after reading Moneyball last year I have become interested in books related to baseball and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what to download tonight? I do not know of any Reds related books, so if anyone has any good ones - please share.

I have heard "Ball Four" is an interesting read, and right now that is the frontrunner. Does anyone have any other suggestions I may not thinking of?

Thank you!

[Yachtzee]

The Long Season and Pennant Race, by Jim Brosnan.

[cumberlandreds]

The Pitch That Killed is very good. I just read that one recently. It's about the only player in MLB that was killed during a game and all the events and personalities that surrounded it.

[bigfunguy]

Game Six by Mark Frost

[RedFanAlways1966]

The Machine!

[Johnny Footstool]

I agree completely. The Machine is a fantastic book.

[Larkin88]

Reds-related, I don't know if you've read Joe Posnanski's "The Machine" but I thoroughly enjoyed that read. Awesome anecdotes from the clubhouse and even Sparky's life.

Non-Reds-related, I read "Odd Man Out" by Matt McCarthy last year and loved it. Follows a former pitching Angels prospect who never really made it through the low-minors, but was pretty eye-opening with how much of a day-to-day grind a lot of those career AAAA types put up with. Some funny stories about guys who definitely did make it, too. For instance, him and his team members busting Prince Fielder about his weight even back in the day.

EDIT: RedFanAlways1966 and Johnny Footstool beat me to it. That's three votes for The Machine.

[RadfordVA]

This season I have read Jonah Keri's book on Expos and John Feinstein book on life in Triple A. I recommend both but give nod to to Feinstein. Some really interesting life stories about those guys on the fringe. I think we forget sometime how deeply those little baseball moves affect peoples life. Some former Reds in the book are Dave Miley, Tomko and Chris Dickerson.

[George Anderson]

I really like a biography about Lou Gehrig called "Luckiest Man" by Jonathon Eig.

Also you can't go wrong with the "Boys of Summer" by Roger Kahn. It focuses on what the 1950 era Dodgers did after their playing careers.

Also "Joe DiMaggio....The Hero's Life" by Richard Ben Cramer. Good insight on an incredibly bizarre man.

All the above have a good NY theme with where you are going.

[Cant Touch This]

I know you asked for non-fiction, but I read this one last summer and loved it:

If I Never Get Back

It's a fiction work about a reporter who gets transported back to 1869 and joins the Cincinnati Red Stockings (not just as a player.) I didn't think it would pull me in the way it did - it was really a fun read. Apparently there is a sequel that I haven't yet read, but will.

[RedTeamGo!]

Reds-related, I don't know if you've read Joe Posnanski's "The Machine" but I thoroughly enjoyed that read. Awesome anecdotes from the clubhouse and even Sparky's life.

Non-Reds-related, I read "Odd Man Out" by Matt McCarthy last year and loved it. Follows a former pitching Angels prospect who never really made it through the low-minors, but was pretty eye-opening with how much of a day-to-day grind a lot of those career AAAA types put up with. Some funny stories about guys who definitely did make it, too. For instance, him and his team members busting Prince Fielder about his weight even back in the day.

EDIT: RedFanAlways1966 and Johnny Footstool beat me to it. That's three votes for The Machine.

I have read "Odd Man Out" - really fun read

[westofyou]

I collect them, have about 220 or so.

Currently my 12 faves are

Bill James Historical Abstract
Diamonds in the Rough
Creating the National Pastime
Past Time
The Cincinnati Reds - (Lee Allen)
Any Abstract by James
Lords of the Realm
Thinking Mans Guide to Baseball
Men at Work
James / Neyer Guide to Pitchers
Forging Genius The Casey Stengel Story
Five Seasons - Roger Angell

[Roy Tucker]

I've got this on my nightstand. Periodically, I open it to a random year and realize how much I know, how much I never knew, and what I've forgotten about the Reds. It goes up to 2000 and could probably stand an update, but man, what a rich history.


Redleg Journal: Year by Year and Day by Day With the Cincinnati Reds Since 1866 by Greg Rhodes (Author), John Snyder (Author)

http://www.amazon.com/Redleg-Journal...=cm_lmf_tit_18

[Chip R]

I know you asked for non-fiction, but I read this one last summer and loved it:

If I Never Get Back

It's a fiction work about a reporter who gets transported back to 1869 and joins the Cincinnati Red Stockings (not just as a player.) I didn't think it would pull me in the way it did - it was really a fun read. Apparently there is a sequel that I haven't yet read, but will.

This is my favorite book and coincidentally I'm re-reading it for the umpteenth time.

A book I picked up last summer was pretty good. "Making the Big Red Machine: Bob Howsam and the Cincinnati Reds of the 1970s" by Daryl Smith.

[Spitball]

I know you asked for non-fiction, but I read this one last summer and loved it:

If I Never Get Back

It's a fiction work about a reporter who gets transported back to 1869 and joins the Cincinnati Red Stockings (not just as a player.) I didn't think it would pull me in the way it did - it was really a fun read. Apparently there is a sequel that I haven't yet read, but will.

If I Never Get Back is my favorite baseball book. It is historical fiction and pretty accurate in its description of baseball in the 1869 era. Another favorite of mine is Down to the Wire by Jeff Miller. It is non-fiction about the 1967 American League pennant race with the Red Sox, Twins, Tigers, and White Sox fighting it out until the final game of the season. Ball Four is also a superior read.