Baseball Books You've read

[Myankee4life]

1. The Luckiest Man Jonathan Eig
2. Cobb Al Stump
3. Joe Dimaggio: The Hero's life Richard Ben Cramer
4. Jimmie Foxx: The life and time of a baseball HOF W. Harrison Daniel
5. The Mick: Mickey Mantle with Herb Gluck
6. Lefty Grove American Original ( just ordered)
7. The Science of Hitting Ted Williams
8. Few others which i forgot the names of

[Sultan_1895-1948]

100 Years of Baseball - Wisnia/Nemec
Babe (The Legend Comes to Life) - Robert Creamer
Babe Ruth (His Life and Legend) - Kal Wagenheim
Babe Ruth (The Big Moments of the Big Fellow) - Tom Meany
Babe Ruth Story - Auto w/Considine
Babe (Launching the Legend) - Reisler
Did Babe Ruth Call His Shot - Paul Aron
Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron - James Haskins
Curse of the Bambino - Shaughnessy
Babe and Me - Dan Gutman
Babe Ruth (People of Destiny) - Richards
Babe Ruth (A Daughter's Portrait) - Julia Ruth Stevens
Cobb - Al Stump
Luckiest Man - Jonathan Eig
Pete Rose (My Prison without Bars) - Rick Hill
Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball - Harvey Frommer
Joe DiMaggio (The Hero's Life) - Cramer
The Science of Hitting - Teddy Ballgame

Reading or in the process of getting:

Young Babe Ruth (His Early Life and Baseball Career, from the Memoirs of a Xaverian Brother) - Brother Gilbert/Harry Rothgerber
Babe in Red Stockings - Kerry Keene
Babe Ruth in Florida - Kevin McCarty
Babe Ruth (As I Knew Him) - Waite Hoyt
Burying the Black Sox (How Baseball's Cover-up of the 1919 World Series Fix Almost Succeeded) - Gene Carney

[julusnc]

I have over one hundred baseball books in my collection and it grows every month with a new addition or two.

I am currently reading the new Tris Speaker bio.I have enjoyed it very much.The next book I plan on reading is the Walter Johnson bio writen by his grandson.

[Erik Bedard]

1. Ball Four - Jim Bouton (not just the greatest baseball book, THE greatest book)
2. Red Sox Century
3. Red Sox Nation/Fenway (two titles, same book, but RSN has stuff added at the end that Fenway doesn't... namely the WORLD SERIES! and a quiz that is hilarious)

[wamby]

100 Years of Baseball - Wisnia/Nemec
Babe (The Legend Comes to Life) - Robert Creamer
Babe Ruth (His Life and Legend) - Kal Wagenheim
Babe Ruth (The Big Moments of the Big Fellow) - Tom Meany
Babe Ruth Story - Auto w/Considine
Babe (Launching the Legend) - Reisler
Did Babe Ruth Call His Shot - Paul Aron
Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron - James Haskins
Curse of the Bambino - Shaughnessy
Babe and Me - Dan Gutman
Babe Ruth (People of Destiny) - Richards
Babe Ruth (A Daughter's Portrait) - Julia Ruth Stevens
Cobb - Al Stump
Luckiest Man - Jonathan Eig
Pete Rose (My Prison without Bars) - Rick Hill
Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball - Harvey Frommer
Joe DiMaggio (The Hero's Life) - Cramer
The Science of Hitting - Teddy Ballgame

Reading or in the process of getting:

Young Babe Ruth (His Early Life and Baseball Career, from the Memoirs of a Xaverian Brother) - Brother Gilbert/Harry Rothgerber
Babe in Red Stockings - Kerry Keene
Babe Ruth in Florida - Kevin McCarty
Babe Ruth (As I Knew Him) - Waite Hoyt
Burying the Black Sox (How Baseball's Cover-up of the 1919 World Series Fix Almost Succeeded) - Gene Carney

You should check out The Babe Chases Sixty by John Robertson. It details each of Babe's sixty homers, and also his two World Series homers in 1927.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

You should check out The Babe Chases Sixty by John Robertson. It details each of Babe's sixty homers, and also his two World Series homers in 1927.

Thanks for the tip, I'll check that out. How much detail does he go into? Do you have the book?

It would be nice to have stories behind each one, rather than just the raw data. :D



HR Date Game RuthInning Opposing Team, Pitcher Men Result
1 April 15 4 4 1 Philadelphia, Howard Ehmke 0 W 6-3
2 April 23 11 11 1 at Philadelphia, Rube Walberg* 0 L 3-4
3 April 24 12 12 6 at Washington, Hollis Thurston 0 W 6-2
4 April 29 14 14 5 at Boston, Slim Harriss 0 W 9-0
5 May 1 16 16 1 Philadelphia, Jack Quinn 1 W 7-3
6 May 1 16 16 8 Philadelphia, Rube Walberg* 1
7 May 10 24 24 1 at St. Louis, Milt Gaston 2 W 8-7
8 May 11 25 25 1 at St. Louis, Ernie Nevers 1 W 4-2
9 May 17 29 29 8 at Detroit, Harry Collins 0 W 9-2
10 May 22 33 33 6 at Cleveland, Benn Karr 1 W 7-2
11 May 23 34 34 1 at Washington, Hollis Thurston 0 L 2-3
12 May 28 (1) 37 37 7 Washington, Hollis Thurston 2 W 8-2
13 May 29 39 39 8 Boston, Danny MacFayden 0 W 15-7
14 May 30 41 41 11 at Philadelphia, Rube Walberg* 0 W 6-5 (11)
15 May 31 (1) 42 42 1 at Philadelphia, Jack Quinn 1 W 10-3
16 May 31 (2) 43 43 5 at Philadelphia, Howard Ehmke 1 W 18-5
17 June 5 47 47 6 Detroit, Earl Whitehill* 0 W 5-3
18 June 7 48 48 4 Chicago, Tommy Thomas 0 W 4-1
19 June 11 52 52 3 Cleveland, Garland Buckeye* 1 W 6-4
20 June 11 52 52 5 Cleveland, Garland Buckeye* 0 W 6-4
21 June 12 53 53 7 Cleveland, George Uhle 0 L 7-8
22 June 16 55 55 1 St. Louis, Tom Zachary* 1 W 8-1
23 June 22 (1) 60 60 5 at Boston, Hal Wiltse* 0 W 7-4
24 June 22 (1) 60 60 7 at Boston, Hal Wiltse* 1
25 June 30 70 66 4 Boston, Slim Harriss 1 W 13-6
26 July 3 73 69 1 at Washington, Hod Lisenbee 0 L 5-6
27 July 8 (2) 78 74 2 at Detroit, Don Hankins 2 W 10-8
28 July 9 (1) 79 75 1 at Detroit, Ken Holloway 1 W 19-7
29 July 9 (1) 79 75 4 at Detroit, Ken Holloway 2
30 July 12 83 79 9 at Cleveland, Joe Shaute* 1 W 7-0
31 July 24 94 90 3 at Chicago, Tommy Thomas 0 W 3-2
32 July 26 (1) 95 91 1 St. Louis, Milt Gaston 1 W 15-1
33 July 26 (1) 95 91 6 St. Louis, Milt Gaston 0
34 July 28 98 94 8 St. Louis, Walter Stewart* 1 W 9-4
35 August 5 106 102 8 Detroit, George Smith 0 W 5-2
36 August 10 110 106 3 at Washington, Tom Zachary* 2 W 4-3
37 August 16 114 110 5 at Chicago, Tommy Thomas 0 W 8-1
38 August 17 115 111 11 at Chicago, Sarge Connally 0 W 3-2 (11)
39 August 20 118 114 1 at Cleveland, Jake Miller* 1 L 8-14
40 August 22 120 116 6 at Cleveland, Joe Shaute* 0 L 4-9
41 August 27 124 120 8 at St. Louis, Ernie Nevers 1 W 14-4
42 August 28 125 121 1 at St. Louis, Ernie Wingard* 1 W 10-6
43 August 31 127 123 1 Boston, Tony Welzer 0 W 10-3
44 Sept 2 128 124 1 at Philadelphia, Rube Walberg* 0 W 12-2
45 Sept 6 (1) 132 128 6 at Boston, Tony Welzer 2 W 14-2
46 Sept 6 (1) 132 128 7 at Boston, Tony Welzer 1
47 Sept 6 133 129 9 at Boston, Jack Russell 1 L 2-5
48 Sept 7 134 130 1 at Boston, Danny MacFayden 0 W 12-10
49 Sept 7 134 130 8 at Boston, Slim Harriss 1
50 Sept 11 138 134 4 St. Louis, Milt Gaston 0 L 2-6
51 Sept 13 (1)139 135 7 Cleveland, Willis Hudlin 1 W 5-3
52 Sept 13 (2)140 136 4 Cleveland, Joe Shaute* 0 W 5-3
53 Sept 16 143 139 3 Chicago, Ted Blankenship 0 W 7-2
54 Sept 18 (2)147 143 5 Chicago, Ted Lyons 1 W 5-1
55 Sept 21 148 144 9 Detroit, Sam Gibson 0 L 1-6
56 Sept 22 149 145 9 Detroit, Ken Holloway 1 W 8-7
57 Sept 27 152 148 6 Philadelphia, Lefty Grove* 3 W 7-4
58 Sept 29 153 149 1 Washington, Hod Lisenbee 0 W 15-4
59 Sept 29 153 149 5 Washington, Paul Hopkins 3
60 Sept 30 154 150 8 Washington, Tom Zachary* 1 W 4-2

* lefthanded pitcher

Home Runs:

vs. Boston (11)
vs. Cleveland (9)
vs. Philadelphia (9)
vs. St. Louis (9)
vs. Detroit (8)
vs. Washington (8)
vs. Chicago (6)

Home Runs by Inning:

First (17)
Second (1)
Third (4)
Fourth (5)
Fifth (7)
Sixth (7)
Seventh (5)
Eighth (8)
Ninth (4)
Eleventh (2)


Yankees were 43-9 (.827) in games which Ruth homered
HR at Yankee Stadium: 28
HR on the road: 32
HR off righthanded pitchers: 41
HR off lefthanded pitchers: 19
Multiple HR games: 8
July 8th in Detroit was Ruth's only inside-the-park HR in 1927
Two Grand Slams: #57 and #59
27 Solo HR
His 60 HR drove in 102 RBI

[Ex-Expo fan]

Books I liked:

Ball Four
Only the Ball was white.
Cobb by Al Stump
The Natural
Ted Williams by Leigh Montville
Moneyball
I was right on time by Buck O'Neil
Josh gibson by William Brashler
Beyond the boys of Summer by Roger Kahn
I'm currently reading the Boys of Summer
Some Sammy Sosa biography: my first baseball book
Baseball's biggest bloopers
A 100 years in baseball

Books that could please others but didn't please me:
Walter Johnson
Ol'Pete both by Jack Kavanagh
Ted Williams by Leigh Montville

Books you should never buy:

Rookie: When Michael Jordan came to the Minor Leagues by Patton: the worst of the bunch, no baseball, no basketball just the writer trying to get an interview with Jordan he'll never get and writing about it.

Juiced, yeah I'm ashamed but here in Montreal in librarys you don't have access to that many baseball books and I was craving some baseball litterature. A piece of crap written by a narcissist idiot who trys to preach the good in Steroids.

[Brownie31]

Luckiest Man-Jonathan Eig; Birdie: Confessions of a Baseball Nomad-Birdie Tebbetts; The 1940 Cincinnati Reds-Brian Mulligan; Red Legs & Black Sox-Susan Dellinger; The Dodgers & Me-Leo Durocher; Joe McCarthy: Architect of the Yankee Dynasty-Alan Leavy; My War With Baseball-Rogers Hornsby; Baseball, I Love You-Charlie Grimm; You Can't Steal First-Jimmie Dykes; The Babe & I-Claire Ruth; My Luke & I-Eleanor Gehrig; The Great baseball Mystery-Victor Luhrs; The Lip-Gerald Eskenazi; A Legend In The Making-Richard Tofel (1939 Yankees); The Story of My Life-Hank Greenberg; Rogers Hornsby-Charles Alexander; Tris Speaker-Timothy M. Gay; & The Giants & The Dodgers-Andrew Goldblatt. Brownie31

[wamby]

Thanks for the tip, I'll check that out. How much detail does he go into? Do you have the book?

It would be nice to have stories behind each one, rather than just the raw data. :D



HR Date Game RuthInning Opposing Team, Pitcher Men Result
1 April 15 4 4 1 Philadelphia, Howard Ehmke 0 W 6-3
2 April 23 11 11 1 at Philadelphia, Rube Walberg* 0 L 3-4
3 April 24 12 12 6 at Washington, Hollis Thurston 0 W 6-2
4 April 29 14 14 5 at Boston, Slim Harriss 0 W 9-0
5 May 1 16 16 1 Philadelphia, Jack Quinn 1 W 7-3
6 May 1 16 16 8 Philadelphia, Rube Walberg* 1
7 May 10 24 24 1 at St. Louis, Milt Gaston 2 W 8-7
8 May 11 25 25 1 at St. Louis, Ernie Nevers 1 W 4-2
9 May 17 29 29 8 at Detroit, Harry Collins 0 W 9-2
10 May 22 33 33 6 at Cleveland, Benn Karr 1 W 7-2
11 May 23 34 34 1 at Washington, Hollis Thurston 0 L 2-3
12 May 28 (1) 37 37 7 Washington, Hollis Thurston 2 W 8-2
13 May 29 39 39 8 Boston, Danny MacFayden 0 W 15-7
14 May 30 41 41 11 at Philadelphia, Rube Walberg* 0 W 6-5 (11)
15 May 31 (1) 42 42 1 at Philadelphia, Jack Quinn 1 W 10-3
16 May 31 (2) 43 43 5 at Philadelphia, Howard Ehmke 1 W 18-5
17 June 5 47 47 6 Detroit, Earl Whitehill* 0 W 5-3
18 June 7 48 48 4 Chicago, Tommy Thomas 0 W 4-1
19 June 11 52 52 3 Cleveland, Garland Buckeye* 1 W 6-4
20 June 11 52 52 5 Cleveland, Garland Buckeye* 0 W 6-4
21 June 12 53 53 7 Cleveland, George Uhle 0 L 7-8
22 June 16 55 55 1 St. Louis, Tom Zachary* 1 W 8-1
23 June 22 (1) 60 60 5 at Boston, Hal Wiltse* 0 W 7-4
24 June 22 (1) 60 60 7 at Boston, Hal Wiltse* 1
25 June 30 70 66 4 Boston, Slim Harriss 1 W 13-6
26 July 3 73 69 1 at Washington, Hod Lisenbee 0 L 5-6
27 July 8 (2) 78 74 2 at Detroit, Don Hankins 2 W 10-8
28 July 9 (1) 79 75 1 at Detroit, Ken Holloway 1 W 19-7
29 July 9 (1) 79 75 4 at Detroit, Ken Holloway 2
30 July 12 83 79 9 at Cleveland, Joe Shaute* 1 W 7-0
31 July 24 94 90 3 at Chicago, Tommy Thomas 0 W 3-2
32 July 26 (1) 95 91 1 St. Louis, Milt Gaston 1 W 15-1
33 July 26 (1) 95 91 6 St. Louis, Milt Gaston 0
34 July 28 98 94 8 St. Louis, Walter Stewart* 1 W 9-4
35 August 5 106 102 8 Detroit, George Smith 0 W 5-2
36 August 10 110 106 3 at Washington, Tom Zachary* 2 W 4-3
37 August 16 114 110 5 at Chicago, Tommy Thomas 0 W 8-1
38 August 17 115 111 11 at Chicago, Sarge Connally 0 W 3-2 (11)
39 August 20 118 114 1 at Cleveland, Jake Miller* 1 L 8-14
40 August 22 120 116 6 at Cleveland, Joe Shaute* 0 L 4-9
41 August 27 124 120 8 at St. Louis, Ernie Nevers 1 W 14-4
42 August 28 125 121 1 at St. Louis, Ernie Wingard* 1 W 10-6
43 August 31 127 123 1 Boston, Tony Welzer 0 W 10-3
44 Sept 2 128 124 1 at Philadelphia, Rube Walberg* 0 W 12-2
45 Sept 6 (1) 132 128 6 at Boston, Tony Welzer 2 W 14-2
46 Sept 6 (1) 132 128 7 at Boston, Tony Welzer 1
47 Sept 6 133 129 9 at Boston, Jack Russell 1 L 2-5
48 Sept 7 134 130 1 at Boston, Danny MacFayden 0 W 12-10
49 Sept 7 134 130 8 at Boston, Slim Harriss 1
50 Sept 11 138 134 4 St. Louis, Milt Gaston 0 L 2-6
51 Sept 13 (1)139 135 7 Cleveland, Willis Hudlin 1 W 5-3
52 Sept 13 (2)140 136 4 Cleveland, Joe Shaute* 0 W 5-3
53 Sept 16 143 139 3 Chicago, Ted Blankenship 0 W 7-2
54 Sept 18 (2)147 143 5 Chicago, Ted Lyons 1 W 5-1
55 Sept 21 148 144 9 Detroit, Sam Gibson 0 L 1-6
56 Sept 22 149 145 9 Detroit, Ken Holloway 1 W 8-7
57 Sept 27 152 148 6 Philadelphia, Lefty Grove* 3 W 7-4
58 Sept 29 153 149 1 Washington, Hod Lisenbee 0 W 15-4
59 Sept 29 153 149 5 Washington, Paul Hopkins 3
60 Sept 30 154 150 8 Washington, Tom Zachary* 1 W 4-2

* lefthanded pitcher

Home Runs:

vs. Boston (11)
vs. Cleveland (9)
vs. Philadelphia (9)
vs. St. Louis (9)
vs. Detroit (8)
vs. Washington (8)
vs. Chicago (6)

Home Runs by Inning:

First (17)
Second (1)
Third (4)
Fourth (5)
Fifth (7)
Sixth (7)
Seventh (5)
Eighth (8)
Ninth (4)
Eleventh (2)


Yankees were 43-9 (.827) in games which Ruth homered
HR at Yankee Stadium: 28
HR on the road: 32
HR off righthanded pitchers: 41
HR off lefthanded pitchers: 19
Multiple HR games: 8
July 8th in Detroit was Ruth's only inside-the-park HR in 1927
Two Grand Slams: #57 and #59
27 Solo HR
His 60 HR drove in 102 RBI


I have the book. It gives accounts of each of the games and a lot of background of the 1927 season. It's good. Each HR is detailed. It's my favorite type of baseball because it was researched from contemporary sources. It's very similar to Streak, which was a game by game account of DiMaggio's hit streak in 1941.

[wamby]

Luckiest Man-Jonathan Eig; Birdie: Confessions of a Baseball Nomad-Birdie Tebbetts; The 1940 Cincinnati Reds-Brian Mulligan; Red Legs & Black Sox-Susan Dellinger; The Dodgers & Me-Leo Durocher; Joe McCarthy: Architect of the Yankee Dynasty-Alan Leavy; My War With Baseball-Rogers Hornsby; Baseball, I Love You-Charlie Grimm; You Can't Steal First-Jimmie Dykes; The Babe & I-Claire Ruth; My Luke & I-Eleanor Gehrig; The Great baseball Mystery-Victor Luhrs; The Lip-Gerald Eskenazi; A Legend In The Making-Richard Tofel (1939 Yankees); The Story of My Life-Hank Greenberg; Rogers Hornsby-Charles Alexander; Tris Speaker-Timothy M. Gay; & The Giants & The Dodgers-Andrew Goldblatt. Brownie31

How is Durocher's book? I've just read some reviews from May of 1948 and it was controversial in the baseball community.

[Brownie31]

How is Durocher's book? I've just read some reviews from May of 1948 and it was controversial in the baseball community.
It is an interesting read, but of course slightly after it came out Durocher skipped to the Giants knowing this made it somewhat hollow to me. Also, books in 1948 weren't as "tell all" as books in 1975 when Durocher wrote "Nice Guys Finish Last". Still, all in all, worth a read. Brownie31

[old school delaware]

1. Ball Four - Jim Bouton (not just the greatest baseball book, THE greatest book)
2. Red Sox Century
3. Red Sox Nation/Fenway (two titles, same book, but RSN has stuff added at the end that Fenway doesn't... namely the WORLD SERIES! and a quiz that is hilarious)
Read your post yesterday. Purchased Ball four. I am half way
through the book and agree that it is an excellent book.
thanks,

[Paulmcall]

Shadows of Summer- Donald Honig
Lost Ballparks- Lawrence Ritter
Brooklyn Dodgers- Frank Graham
Green Cathedrals- Philip Lowery
The Roaring Redhead- Don Warfield
New York City Baseball- Harvey Frommer
Take Me Out To the Ballpark- The Sporting News
Superstars and Screwballs- Richard Goldstein
Ebbets Field: Brooklyn's Baseball Shrine- Joseph McCauley
Thats just for starters.:clapping

[DTF955]

It's called, "How I Helped the Chicago Cubs (Finally!) Win the World Series " Guy travels back to 1908 to kidnap some of the players from then; couple Amazon reviews said it was funny.

[ElCaminoSS]

1. Joe Dimaggio: The Hero's life Richard Ben Cramer
2. Hustle:the life and lies of Pete Rose
3. Ball Four
4. Little League Confidential
5. The Game
6. Men at Work
7.And plenty of others I cant remember

[Old Hoss Radbourn]

Without a doubt, the best baseball book I've ever read was "The Boys of Summer," Roger Kahn's marvelous chronicle of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers and how the lives of the players had changed during the intervening 15 years.

I also highly recommend:

"Baseball and the Cold War" by Howard Senzel -- very funny and original book connecting baseball and Marxism.

"Veeck as In Wreck" by Vill Veeck and Edd Linn -- great memoir by the famously unconventional baseball owner.

"A Zen Way of Baseball" by Sadaharu Oh and David Falkner -- great baseball autobiography

"The Summer Game" by David Angell -- marvelous collection of the author's baseball pieces for The New Yorker.

"Summer of '49" by David Halberstam -- The famed historian's look at the 1949 pennant race between the Yankees and the Red Sox.

"October 1964" by David Halberstam -- Regarding the 1964 Yankees-Cardinals World Series.

And if you want to escape in some hilarious baseball fiction, then you might want to give Philip Roth's "The Great American Novel" a try. It's about the Ruppert Mundys, a baseball team in the old Patriot League that became homeless due to the WWII war effort and the narrator's efforts to expose a coverup of the entire league's history as the league's existence has been erased from the books and denied by the baseball powers that be. It includes a trip to the Mosquito Coast League for some winter ball and a rival team based at an insane asylum with a kleptomaniac shortstop who puts the ball in his pocket every time it's hit to him.
:p

[ElCaminoSS]

Oops i left out The Boys of Summer

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

- Illustrated history of baseball, published by Bison Books
- Baseball Hall of Shame 1.2 and 3

I have tried to read some wacky book, a present given by former colleagues, about the best player ever. The writer calculated this with some difficult forumulas. I have surrendered. I didn't understand anything of it.

[Mike D.]

I've recently read:

- Wild and Outside (About the Northern League) by Steven Fatsis

- Ball Four (a classic) by Jim Bouton

- Mind Game (about the 2004 Red Sox) by Baseball Prospectus

- My Turn at Bat by Ted Williams

- The Science of Hitting by Ted Williams

and I'm about half way through Moneyball.

After this, gonna probably re-read Bouton's other book, look into a couple by Bill Lee, and read some Bill James stuff.

[Mad Guru]

I have a mild (ok, severe) addiction to obtaining baseball books and I actually get to read some of them even. Here are a few I would recommend:

Any Charles Alexander biography, but especially the John McGraw one.
Pete Morris' Baseball Fever: Early Baseball in Michigan
William Ryczek's Blackguards and Redstockings
Any Frank Keetz book

I like baseball books that are well-researched. If they are well-written on top of that all the better.

[edsachs1]

3. Joe Dimaggio: The Hero's life Richard Ben Cramer


I was just thinking about getting this book. However I have a question. I really like Joltin Joe. He may be my favorite player I never got to see. As I looked at the Amazon's review I wasn't sure if I'd like this book or not. Does Cramer pretty much bash DiMaggio (as a person, I've heard Cramer says he was a very great player)? If so, is there another book that reflects more positively on DiMaggio's personality. I'd like to read a book that would not taint my view of him.

[Rennie Stennett]

The Second Fireside Book of Baseball (Simon & Schuster, 1958)

w/ How to Play the Outfield by Joe Dimaggio: Detailed advise form the master himself, and,

How To Pitch To Ted Williams by Pat Harmon, and,

The Rocky Road of Pistol Pete, by WC Heinz: an incredible story-and every wonderful word the truth, and many other great stories.

Just read: Baseball Hattie, by Damon Runyon (Penguin Books) 1991 a re-issue

Looking At: The Wisdom of Old-Time Baseball; Compiled and Edited by Criswell Freeman (Walnut Grove Press/Nashville,TN)

Coffee Table: 150 years of Baseball (1989/ Publications International, Lincolnwood, Ill.)

[Paulmcall]

I'm reading Bouton's Foul Ball right now and I like it much better than Ball Four.
I'm also partial to Ebbets Field: Brooklyn's Baseball Shrine because I wrote it. It's available from Authorhouse.com for $19.50

[Texas37]

Jim Bouton's Ball Four is on a lot of list, as well as mine, but has anyone ever read his fictional book called Strike Zone, told from the prespective of a pitcher and a umpire during a championship game.

Also, one of my top books was one I didn't see on anylist at all, The Seventh Babe.

Top five:
1. Ball Four
2. Cobb (Al Stump)
3. The Seventh Babe
4. When Only Ball was White
5. Strike Zone

[Sultan_1895-1948]

3. The Seventh Babe


Who's that about. Dahlgren?


I'm thinking about writing a book called, "the second greatest 6'2" lefty, who started his career as a pitcher, and hit .342 for his career. :D

[west coast orange and black]

sultan, did the babe ever get accused of hitting home runs when they *did not count*?

of the 60 listed, 28 were hit with no men on, and another two dozen with one man on.
it sounds pretty crazy to me, but some have the notion that players who hit many solo shots and 2-run homers do so because they do not feel the pressure of more runners on.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

sultan, did the babe ever get accused of hitting home runs when they *did not count*?


No, there was no reason for that accusation. He did have at least three that should have been dingers though.



of the 60 listed, 28 were hit with no men on, and another two dozen with one man on.
it sounds pretty crazy to me, but some have the notion that players who hit many solo shots and 2-run homers do so because they do not feel the pressure of more runners on.

Well, if I remember right, he his 16 or 17 in the first inning, so that explains some of those solo and 2 run shots. In the early innings, pitchers were very careful with him, but not as careful as they were in the late innings. If at all possible, he was the guy you weren't gonna let beat you.

Yeah, that is pretty crazy, I don't agree.

I honestly don't think Babe felt pressure, in life, or on the field. The Columbia tests proved that he was extremely unique in that sense physically, but just in general, it's like he didn't possess that gene which makes us worry or stress when conditions should call for it. Starting early on, his career was one big "should have been pressure" situation, yet he didn't perform like that. He knew he was the main reason fans were flocking, and he also knew those same fans would boo him if he hit 3 singles to left field.

[JohnGelnarFan]

"The Suitors of Spring"
"The Seattle Pilots Story"
"Can't Anybody Here Play This Game"
"Hawk"-The Ken Harrleson Story
"You Gotta Have Wa"(Japanese Baseball History)
"The 26th Man" -The Steve Fireovid Story
'Once Upon The Polo Grounds"- the 62' & 63 Mets
"Wait A Minute Casey"- The New York Mets 62-65
"Tales From The 1962 New York Mets"
"Cup Of Coffee- The Very Short Careers of 18 Major League Pitchers"
"Hey Kid,Just Get It Over The Plate"-The Russ Kemmerer Story
"My Time At Bat"-The Chuck Hinton Story
"BALL FOUR"

My Favorite is "Washington's EXpansion Senators(1961-1971) By James Hartley

[Astros4Life]

The Ballpark Book-the sporting news
Baseball Legends-Greg Garber
The Baseball Chronicle
Total Ballclubs-Donald Dewey and Nicholas Acocella
A Six Gun Salute: History of the Houston Colt .45s-Robert Reed
Currently reading:
This Ain't Brain Surgery-Larry Dierker

[JohnGelnarFan]

I read Jim Bouton's "Strike Zone" and enjoyed it very much.
For DiMaggio fans,There's a 2 volume Box set called "The DiMaggio Albums- Selections from public and private collections celebrating the career of Joe DiMaggio" with an Introduction and Commentaries By Joe D. himself. It's mostly actual newspaper clippings,ads or anything printed about Joe D.
Volume 1 covers 1932-1941 and volume 2 covers 1942-1951
It was compiled and edited by Richard Whittingham and published by G.P. Putnam's sons in 1989.

[tigers527]

"Minor Players Major Dreams" Brett Mandel...nice read about the lowest level of pro ball. Author actually joins the team.

"Cobb" Al Stump...Seems most of you already read this one.

"Perfect: I'm Not" David Wells...Pretty bawdy fellow. His comments on pitching, Sparky, Trammell, and Gibby are worth the read for Tigers fans.

"Fantasyland" Sam Walker...A journey through the seedy underbelly of the highest level of Roto-leagues.

That's all I really remember right now. With the exceptions of a few Yogi-isms books, a Mark Fydrich book,and a Babe Ruth book I read when I was like 9 yrs old, Baseball desk reference.

[skeletor]

year of the tiger 1968....

a couple of sparky anderson books..one from 1984, the other from
his reflection of his meltdown in 1989...

the denny mclain book by wxyz sports anchor, dave dials...

[JohnGelnarFan]

Any Idea what the Denny McLain book was called? I'm also going to look for the Houston Colt .45's history and "Minor Players,Major Dreams".Thanks for the info!

[Steven Bryant]

I'm currently reading "Baseball Before We Knew It" by David Block and would highly reccomend it for anyone wanting to read a well researched book on the origin of the game.

Steve

[elscorcho0682]

-Christy Mathewson - Pitching in a Pinch
-Tom Adelman - The Long Ball - The Summer of '75: Spaceman, Catfish, Charlie Hustle, and the Greatest World Series Ever Played
-Jules Tygiel - Past Time - Baseball As History
-Sports Illustrated - Great Baseball Writing
-Gene Wojciechowski - Cubs Nation
-Bill Simmons - Now I Can Die In Peace
-Buzz Bissinger - Three Nights in August
-Stewart Nan/Stephen King - Faithful
-Steven Jay Gould - Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville
-Lew Freedman - Cubs Essential
-Roger Kahn - The Head Game - Baseball Seen From The Pitcher's Mound
-WP Kinsella - The Iowa Baseball Confederacy (fiction)

[Mr. Boh]

I am like many of you with many, many baseball books. I have enjoyed quite a few about my favorite team the Orioles.

Brooks Robinson--Putting It All Together
Earl Weaver--It's What You Learn After You Know It All That Counts
Jim Palmer--Together We Were Eleven Foot Nine--About his escapades with Earl Weaver
Rex Barney---Thank Yoouuuu!
Chuck Thompson--Ain't The Beer Cold

All the Baseball Books by W.P. Kinsella
Shoeless Joe--the basis for the movie Field of Dreams
Shoeless Joe Comes to Iowa
Iowa Baseball Confederecy
The Thrill of the Grass
Box Socials

Frank Deford--Casey On The Loose, about what happened after the strikeout
Bob Uecker-The Catcher in the Rye
Where Have You Gone, Vince DiMaggio
Where The Ain't--The Life and Times of the Original Baltimore Orioles
and one of my all time favorites....

The New York Yankees Haters Handbook!

[bosoxfan33]

I recently finished Michael Coffey's "27 Men Out" about the 15 perfect games in MLB history and it was great, although it seemed that Coffey lost focus once he got to David Cone's PG.

I am in the process of reading Tony Massarotti and John Harper's "A Tale of Two Cities;" so far so good.

I started David Halberstam's "The Teammates" and I need to finish that one.

My favorites are probably (in no particular order)....
"The Science of Hitting" by Theodore S. WIlliams
"Snap Me Perfect; The Darrell Porter Story" by Darrell Porter
"Comeback" and "When You Can't Come Back" by Dave Dravecky

[Elysian Fields]

I picked up Leigh Monteville's "The Big Bam" about Babe Ruth yesterday. Anybody have any idea if it will be good or not? Anybody ever read anything by Monteville before?

[Sultan_1895-1948]

I picked up Leigh Monteville's "The Big Bam" about Babe Ruth yesterday. Anybody have any idea if it will be good or not? Anybody ever read anything by Monteville before?

Saw him on Outside The Lines last night. Can't imagine anything new being in the book, but gotta get it anyway ;)

Never heard of the author before.

[Brownie31]

I picked up Leigh Monteville's "The Big Bam" about Babe Ruth yesterday. Anybody have any idea if it will be good or not? Anybody ever read anything by Monteville before?

Elysian Fields:

A Google search on Monteville showed that he has also
penned biographies of Ted Williams, Dale Earnhardt and
Manute Bol. So he is certainly prolific if nothing else.

The Random House promo on the author and book
said he was a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and
also spent 21 years as a sports columnist for the
Boston Globe.

The promo also stated that the book made use of
new documentation and interviews.

Let us know how you liked it. Might get one myself.

Brownie31

[Elysian Fields]

Will do, will do... after the introduction and a bit of the first chapter it looks to be a good read. It's the first Babe Ruth book I will have read, so I won't be able to compare it to Creamer's book or any other books, but this guy tells you in the introduction that he had access to all of Creamer's information, along with all the other writers', who ever wrote about Ruth, documentation... or what stuff the other writers still have.

It looks to be a combination of all the biographies that came out in '73 or around then, and he says he's writing it for the Sports Center generation who take the homerun for granted today.

[Brownie31]

Will do, will do... after the introduction and a bit of the first chapter it looks to be a good read. It's the first Babe Ruth book I will have read, so I won't be able to compare it to Creamer's book or any other books, but this guy tells you in the introduction that he had access to all of Creamer's information, along with all the other writers', who ever wrote about Ruth, documentation... or what stuff the other writers still have.

It looks to be a combination of all the biographies that came out in '73 or around then, and he says he's writing it for the Sports Center generation who take the homerun for granted today.

Elysian Fields:

Thanks very much.

Brownie31

[TonyK]

I picked up Leigh Monteville's "The Big Bam" about Babe Ruth yesterday. Anybody have any idea if it will be good or not? Anybody ever read anything by Monteville before?

Leigh Montville was my favorite sports reporter back when he wrote for the Boston Globe I think it was. His columns were hilarious and not always about the actual game that he had just watched.

I read his book on Ted Williams and I think he did a fine job giving the reader a glimpse of who Ted really was. I will try and get his book on the Babe from the library when it comes out.

[wamby]

I picked up Leigh Monteville's "The Big Bam" about Babe Ruth yesterday. Anybody have any idea if it will be good or not? Anybody ever read anything by Monteville before?

Leigh Montville recently wrote a bio of Ted Williams.

[1905 Giants]

Boys of Summer
From Ghetto to Glory
The Head Game
Sandy Koufax
Clearing the Bases
Brushbacks and Knockdowns
Baseball stars of '71 '69 '68 '72, etc.
All-Time All-Star Baseball Book
Who's Better, Who's best in baseball

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Will do, will do... after the introduction and a bit of the first chapter it looks to be a good read. It's the first Babe Ruth book I will have read, so I won't be able to compare it to Creamer's book or any other books, but this guy tells you in the introduction that he had access to all of Creamer's information, along with all the other writers', who ever wrote about Ruth, documentation... or what stuff the other writers still have.

It looks to be a combination of all the biographies that came out in '73 or around then, and he says he's writing it for the Sports Center generation who take the homerun for granted today.

Gonna go out and get this tomorrow. Hard to believe you're popping your Babe cherry on this book, but gotta start somewhere ;)

Wagenheim and Creamer both came out with their bios at the same time. Unfortunate for Kal, because his book is only one notch below Creamer's imo. Got majorly overshadowed, and probably still is to this day because Creamer's is basically seen as the Babe Ruth bible. It was the first I read that told it like it is, pulling no punches and taking a stance which I agree with; that the myths do nothing more than take away from what he really was. Many of the recent bios have just rehashed the same information that those guys uncovered. Hopefully this Big Bam book will add something new.

On a side note; can anyone recommend a good Mays bio? Which one is the best out there?

[Elysian Fields]

Yeah, this is my first time I guess. Wasn't nervous though. :)

It's a really good read so far (he hasn't left St. Marys yet), but somehow the author makes you feel the Babe and the time period. As far as facts go, it probably won't bring up any new information, but I think it will make you think things about the Babe or ask questions about the Babe you might not have thought about or asked yourself before reading this book. He seems to be trying to fill in the blanks of the guys life by asking a lot of questions, which gives the kid and the times a lot of depth.

It's a better read so far than Alexander's "Ty Cobb" and Frank Deford's "The Old Ball Game", in my opinion. Mainly because it is just a better written tale... so far at least.

I'm also reading "When Chicago Ruled Baseball" right now, which isn't bad at all and I think similar in style to Deford's "The Old Ball Game" although maybe more revealing since Deford's characters aren't a baseball obscurity like the 'Hitless Wonders' of '06 are, but the "Big Bam" has drawn me in a lot more because of its readability.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Yeah, this is my first time I guess. Wasn't nervous though. :)

It's a really good read so far (he hasn't left St. Marys yet), but somehow the author makes you feel the Babe and the time period.

Right on. Looking forward to it.

Just two questions...Has he talked about that new kid who came in to St. Mary's and was told to go play with the other kids. Babe walks up to him, and asks him if he wants to play catch, and the kid punches Babe?

And has he mentioned the kid named Loads Clark and about the broken window? That's gotta be an all time name right there. You can nearly visualize exactly what that young lad looked like :D

Happy reading. Use protection :dance

[Mets2579]

I've probably read more, but the pretty recent baseball books have been:

1. Babe and Me - Dan Gutman
2. The Zen of Zim - Don Zimmer
3. Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy - Jane Leavy
4. Ya Gotta Believe - Tug McGraw

Babe and Me is more of a children's book, but still a good, quick read. The Zen of Zim is a book about what Don Zimmer thinks about what's happening to baseball. It's his view about mostly everything, including George Steinbrenner. Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy is a book about the career of Sandy Koufax and what he had to go through to make it successful. Ya Gotta Believe is the story of Tug McGraw from his messed up (sorry, couldn't think of a better phrase) childhood to his death. My favorite to my least favorite would be in this order:

1. Ya Gotta Believe (maybe I'm biased)
2. The Zen of Zim
3. Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy
4. Babe & Me

[Elysian Fields]

Right on. Looking forward to it.

Just two questions...Has he talked about that new kid who came in to St. Mary's and was told to go play with the other kids. Babe walks up to him, and asks him if he wants to play catch, and the kid punches Babe?

And has he mentioned the kid named Loads Clark and about the broken window? That's gotta be an all time name right there. You can nearly visualize exactly what that young lad looked like :D

Happy reading. Use protection :dance

He mentions Loads and all the other funny named kids. He actually refers to Ruth by his nickname "****** Lips" exlusively while he's writing about his time at St. Marys.

He doesn't mention the kid asking him to play and then punching him, although he mentions Babe got into at least one documented fight at St. Marys and maybe that was the one.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

He mentions Loads and all the other funny named kids. He actually refers to Ruth by his nickname "****** Lips" exlusively while he's writing about his time at St. Marys.

He doesn't mention the kid asking him to play and then punching him, although he mentions Babe got into at least one documented fight at St. Marys and maybe that was the one.

Yeah, the niggerlips thing was popular, as ****** would be during his playing days.

That was the only "fight" he got into. I believe the kids name was Jerry something. Can't really call it a fight though, Babe walked up and asked him to play catch and the kid told him to mind his own business before throwing a punch at Ruth. They went to the ground and a couple other kids jumped in, either to break it up, or to get in a cheap shot on the new troublemaker. Mathias did what he did best, and broke it up, apparently diving into the pile and carrying the Jerry dude off with one arm. After the boy was punished, a few days later him and Babe were seen out in the yard playing catch. Babe was never one to hold a grudge.

[redbuck]

"The Fenway Project" by SABR
"Shoeless Joe" by WP Kinsella
"The Iowa Baseball Confederacy" by WP Kinsella
"The Thrill of the Grass" by WP Kinsella
"Tales of the Ballpark" by M. Stanton (I think)
"Tales from the Dugout" by M. Stanton (I think)
Bill James' Baseball Abstract
Bill James annual baseball abstracts
"Blue Skies, Green Fields" by Ira Rosen
"The Ballpark Book" by The Sporting News
"Joe Mock's Ballpark Guide" by Joe Mock
Total Baseball 1994
Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball (annual, most recently 2006)
"Moneyball"
Van Riper's biographies: Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig
"Batting" by FC Lane
"A Life in Baseball" by Joe Morgan
"Treasures of the Baseball Hall of Fame"
"Baseball: The First 100 Years"
Two book set on "The National League" and "The American League"
"Jackie Robinson"
"Strange but true baseball stories"
"The USA Four Sport Stadium Guide 1996"
"The USA Four Sport Stadium Guide 1994"

Probably a few others that I can't remember right now

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Just ordered Big Bam, and picked up:

Barry Bonds and the Making of an Anti Hero

When Boston Won the World Series - A Chronicle of Boston's Remarkable Victory in the First Modern World Series of 1903.

FALL CLASSICS- THE BEST WRITING ABOUT THE WORLD SERIES' FIRST 100 YEARS.

[wamby]

Just ordered Big Bam, and picked up:

Barry Bonds and the Making of an Anti Hero

When Boston Won the World Series - A Chronicle of Boston's Remarkable Victory in the First Modern World Series of 1903.

FALL CLASSICS- THE BEST WRITING ABOUT THE WORLD SERIES' FIRST 100 YEARS.

I looked at Big Bam yesterday. One of the last pages said something that really surprised me. I'm wondering if it will surprise you also. It was something I never thought of before, but now...

[Yankwood]

Has anyone else read the book, "A Pennant For The Kremlin"? How about the most boring baseball book ever, "Percentage Baseball". Very dry. Written by Earnshaw Cook who I believe was a relative of George Earnshaw who pitched for the Philadelphia A's in the late 20's early 30's before playing with a few other teams.

[wamby]

It's a better read so far than Alexander's "Ty Cobb" and Frank Deford's "The Old Ball Game", in my opinion. Mainly because it is just a better written tale... so far at least.

.

I'm not sure how to take that. Ty Cobb by Charles Alwxander was one of the best baseball books I've ever read. The Old Ball Game by Frank Deford was probably the worst baseball book I've read in the last few years (unless you count Idiot, whch I have blocked from my mind).

[Sultan_1895-1948]

I looked at Big Bam yesterday. One of the last pages said something that really surprised me. I'm wondering if it will surprise you also. It was something I never thought of before, but now...

Dude, you can't do that ! Brutal !

PM me with it, will ya?

[Elysian Fields]

I'm not sure how to take that. Ty Cobb by Charles Alwxander was one of the best baseball books I've ever read. The Old Ball Game by Frank Deford was probably the worst baseball book I've read in the last few years (unless you count Idiot, whch I have blocked from my mind).

wamby,

it is a different kind of book than Alexander's "Ty Cobb". "Ty Cobb" is a great baseball book, but it is mostly scholarly... or leans that way. the "Big Bam" 'reads better'. it isn't just a "here's this guy's story" kind of book. there is something more fluid and thoughtful about how it is written. this is also only my opinion. the "Big Bam" also isn't trying to be the definitive biography of Ruth, like Alexander's book tries to be for Cobb.

deford's book also has nothing on "ty cobb".

if you're a dead ball fan or chicago fan, i definitely would pick up "When Chicago Ruled Baseball"... it's actually pretty good.

[Brownie31]

wamby,

it is a different kind of book than Alexander's "Ty Cobb". "Ty Cobb" is a great baseball book, but it is mostly scholarly... or leans that way. the "Big Bam" 'reads better'. it isn't just a "here's this guy's story" kind of book. there is something more fluid and thoughtful about how it is written. this is also only my opinion. the "Big Bam" also isn't trying to be the definitive biography of Ruth, like Alexander's book tries to be for Cobb.

deford's book also has nothing on "ty cobb".

if you're a dead ball fan or chicago fan, i definitely would pick up "When Chicago Ruled Baseball"... it's actually pretty good.

Elysian Fields: You have convinced me! I just ordered
a copy of "The Big Bam"!

Brownie31

[AndrewJ]

BASEBALL EXTRA -- A collection of newspaper sports pages from the 1850s to today

BASEBALL BEFORE WE KNEW IT by David Block -- Revisionist history of pre-1845 baseball, with a phenomenal bibliography

THE FIRESIDE BOOKS OF BASEBALL -- The best baseball anthologies. Too bad they've been out of print for decades

FIVE SEASONS -- The best of the Roger Angell collections

THE UNFORGETTABLE SEASON -- Annotated newspaper clippings from the 1908 NL pennant race

MEMORIES OF SUMMER -- My favorite Roger Kahn book (over THE BOYS OF SUMMER)

BALL FOUR -- Nuff said

O HOLY COW: THE VERSE OF PHIL RIZZUTO -- Phil Rizzuto's broadcast comments, set as poetry. More laughs per page than any other baseball book

THE ULTIMATE BASEBALL BOOK -- One of the first one-volume coffee-table baseball histories with guest contributors, and still the best

THE HOT STOVE LEAGUE -- Idiosyncratic history by Lee Allen, essentially the world's first sabermetrician

THE BARRY HALPER COLLECTION OF BASEBALL MEMORABILIA -- Two-volume catalog of Sotheby's auction. The most beautiful color baseball picture book(s) ever

THE NEW BILL JAMES HISTORICAL BASEBALL ABSTRACT -- Especially the 2003 paperback version

A GAME OF INCHES: THE STORIES BEHIND THE INNOVATIONS OF BASEBALL -- New book by SABR member Peter Morris

THE CELEBRANT by Eric Rolfe Greenberg -- My favorite baseball novel

[Elysian Fields]

Elysian Fields: You have convinced me! I just ordered
a copy of "The Big Bam"!

Brownie31

glad i can help the baseball publishing world. i'm definitely a sucker for a good baseball book.

[Jesse]

Have Glove Will Travel, Adventures of a Baseball Vagabond by Bill "Spaceman" Lee and Richard Lally.

Autobiographical account of Bill Lee's never ending search for a ball game after being kicked off the Expos and blacklisted from MLB. It rambles somewhat, but it's entertaining to say the least. He talks about getting to know Ted Williams, playing exhibition games in Russia and Cuba, running for President on the Rhinocerous Party ticket, and pitching all 18 innings of a double-header (for both teams) for $2500.

The Only Game In Town, Baseball Stars of the 1930s and 1940s Talk About the Game They Loved by Fay Vincent.

Interviews and monologues of Elden Auker, Bob Feller, Tommy Henrich, John "Buck" O'Neil, Dom Dimaggio, Johnny Pesky, Warren Spahn, Larry Doby, Ralph Kiner, and Monte Irvin. Great stuff. Almost every one of them has some kind of story about Ted Williams.

[Brownie31]

The Lords of Baseballby Harold Parrott.
A great book. See the Brooklyn Dodgers forum for
more.

Brownie31[/U][/U]

[wilkerson_rulz-06]

Luckiest Man (reading)
MLB Baseball, Top 10
Basebal for Dummies :D (long time ago)
Game of Shadows (reading)
Babe Ruth, lauching the legend (reading)

a couple more I've ordered.

[JohnGelnarFan]

For fans of the early Mets,"Backstage At The Mets" by Lindsey Nelson with Al Hirshberg(1966,Viking Press) is a good read. It's the view from the announcer's booth and Lindsey was a great play by play man from year one with Casey's Amazin' Mets!

[THE OX]

The Only Game In Town, Baseball Stars of the 1930s and 1940s Talk About the Game They Loved[/U] by Fay Vincent.

Interviews and monologues of Elden Auker, Bob Feller, Tommy Henrich, John "Buck" O'Neil, Dom Dimaggio, Johnny Pesky, Warren Spahn, Larry Doby, Ralph Kiner, and Monte Irvin. Great stuff. Almost every one of them has some kind of story about Ted Williams.

There's another book named The Only Game In Town about baseball. It's a 1955 (IIRC) novel by Charles Einstein about a minor league manager and his discovery that some of his players had been banned from Organized Baseball in the "game-fixing" scandals of the later 1940s. Very good read if you can find it!

[Tango Tiger]

Has anyone else read the book, "A Pennant For The Kremlin"? How about the most boring baseball book ever, "Percentage Baseball". Very dry.

Yes, I read Cook's book, as well as his followup. They are extremely dry reads. Watching someone paint is boring as well, but that doesn't mean that the result will not be worthwhile.

If you go in thinking that you will be reading an academic journal on baseball, Cook's books delivers.