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westofyou
01-30-2004, 04:50 PM
Larry Dierker interview, touches on players mental game, and the Stros move to Enron and their adjustment to it after the Dome, managing a pitching team vs hitting team ect.

http://radio.baseballprospectus.com/

cincinnati chili
01-30-2004, 05:55 PM
I enjoyed that one. I wish Zumsteg would speak up, but it made me want to buy Larry's book.

westofyou
01-30-2004, 06:15 PM
I wish Zumsteg would speak up, but it made me want to buy Larry's book.

No doubt, mumble, mumble... FYI the dude is pretty large, at the BP Pizza feed i noted that as well as his loud gregaroius nature, he's probably a little microphone shy.

We should start a Redszone "Baseball" Book Club, we could list any books that we're looking to read without buying and then do the book rate ship, all the mail and stuff would be between posters and you could post what books you're looking for or what books you're willing to throw out in the fray, I have lots of books, some I wouldn't want to throw out there but others I wouldn't mind.

I ponder Larrys book at times, but I'm looking for it used first and foremost.

Rojo
01-30-2004, 06:24 PM
Excellent idea, woy. Unfortunately, I recently purged some books but I may one or two at home. I'm interested in Whitey Herzog's book and, believe it or not, I heard it was terrific, Keith Hernandez's.

westofyou
01-30-2004, 06:52 PM
I have Whiteys first book (White Rat) in paperback, I too am interested in Whiteys 2nd book

Rojo
01-30-2004, 07:57 PM
"You're Missing a Great Game" Is that it?

cincinnati chili
01-30-2004, 09:08 PM
The recently revised edition Dollar Sign on the Muscle is available used in paperback all over the internet. Perhaps my favorite baseball book ever. I'm not parting with my copy. It's marked up and dog-eared anyway.

Other favorites of mine "Prophet of the Sandlot" and of course "Moneyball" and anything by Bill James.

Anyone read "The Teammates" yet? That's supposed to be good.

If anyone wants a copy of "The Long Ball" (which has a lot of 1975 Reds stuff in it), I'd sell it for 1/2 of list price plus shipping. It's very compelling at times and slow in others.

Greg in Atlanta
01-30-2004, 09:24 PM
One of the better baseball books of last year was Paths to Glory by Mark Armour and Daniel Levitt. Excellent analysis on how several successful teams were built (big surprise, it wasn't by overpaying marginal veterans and trying a new pitching staff every year). I was disappointed by Long Ball. Anyone read Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville?

TeamBoone
01-30-2004, 11:18 PM
For those of us unfamiliar with some of the books, it would be extremely helpful to tag them as fiction or nonfiction.

cincinnati chili
01-31-2004, 12:04 AM
Originally posted by TeamBoone
For those of us unfamiliar with some of the books, it would be extremely helpful to tag them as fiction or nonfiction.

No problem. Everything I listed above was non-fiction. In terms of fiction, I've heard good things about "If I Never Get Back." I own in, and have never read it.

westofyou
01-31-2004, 12:29 AM
One of the better baseball books of last year was Paths to Glory by Mark Armour and Daniel Levitt
Mark Armor is the head of the SABR Bio project,

Rojo, that's the title.

Past Time - Baseball as History by Jules Tygiel is a great non fiction read.

TeamBoone
01-31-2004, 12:50 AM
Thanks, Chili. I own it too. You really should read it; it's a good book.

Greg in Atlanta
01-31-2004, 06:23 AM
If I Never Get Back is the best baseball fiction book I've ever read. I would also highly recommend another of Daryl Brock's books Havana Heat, which doesn't have the Reds focus of If I Never Get Back, but is a fascinating look at baseball in the deadball era through the eyes of Giants pitcher Luther "Dummy" Taylor".

SandyD
01-31-2004, 11:57 AM
chili, If I Never Get Back is a great novel with a little history, a little baseball, a little intrique, and a little romance. I smiled all the way through. Now, you have to "suspend you disbelief" since it involve time travel and all, but it's worth it.

There's a wonderful conversation between the narator Sam and Andy Leonard who befriends him about stats, sort of. I think Sam asks him about his BA and Andy is puzzled. He ends up saying something like "it's runs that count and not making outs."

I found it a great way to introduce the the differences in the game, then and now.

As for a RedsZone book club, I'd be willing to share, although I doubt I have much that others would be interested in.

woy, great idea.

cincinnati chili
01-31-2004, 10:19 PM
John Helyar's Lords of the Realm is outstanding.

Don't be scared away by the topic, but it's a history of the business of baseball. It's written by a Wall Street Journal Reporter.

It really does read like a novel, with great "characters" (Ted Turner, Bowie Kuhn, Charlie Finley), even though it's non-fiction.

traderumor
02-02-2004, 10:07 AM
An excellent book I just discovered, covering the period of 1972-1976 written by Roger Angell is Five Seasons: A Baseball Companion which I believe is being reprinted and due to release soon, but I found an original paperback for $3.50 on EBay. Not willing to part with, but wanted to recommend since it is probably not widely known. It is a baseball book that includes info obviously about BRM, but from a New York sportswriter's perspective. Flattery from an objective outsider is very interesting. It is a chronicle, but not simply a rehash of the seasons. An example is one story he tells of arriving late at Shea for Seaver vs. BRM and comes to find the Reds put a crooked number on him in the first, ruining his entire expectations of the game. Highly recommend.

cincinnati chili
02-02-2004, 10:30 AM
Recommendation:

There's already one thread in the archives about Recommended Reds books. After this runs its course, would the mods mind re-titlling this "Recommended Baseball Books - Reds and Non-Reds" or something like that, and then sticking it in the archives for safe keeping?

M2
02-02-2004, 11:50 AM
Anything by David Nemec is a good read. He does a great job of covering the sweep of baseball's history for foks with short attention spans.