Good Baseball Books

[GotMelk?]

I love the book Moneyball which is kind of ironic since I am a diehard Yankee fan. Are there any good books out there like moneyball or any good reads. Thanks.

[BoSoxNation]

I loved Pete Rose's " My Life with Bars" ot "Juiced" was very provacitive

[Captain Cold Nose]

If you treat it as simply a discussion about the Hall of Fame and its processes, Bill James's Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame (the revised edition of the earlier Politics of Glory) is a fascinating read. I'll leave the opinions about James's opinions on who should be in, who should vote, etc, up to you.

[Erik Bedard]

You can't have a discussion about baseball books without mentioning Ball Four.

[TheJourneyman]

Fair Ball by Bob Costas

This one may not get much pub but I am quickly becoming a fan.
Baseball: A History of America's Game by Benjamin G. Rader

[BallCoach06]

If you are into the Moneyball type books, I would recommend the following:

Baseball Between The Numbers
Baseball: The Numbers Game
Built To Win
Scouts Honor
3 Nights In August

The first two will give you more history and breakdown into statistics. The next three will give you insight into more GM and managerial approaches to compare with the Moneyball approach.

[Paulmcall]

Ebbets Field- Brooklyn's Baseball Shrine by Joseph McCauley:reporter:

[rugbyfreak]

You can't have a discussion about baseball books without mentioning Ball Four.

The baseball book that changed all baseball books, ironically by doing what is commonplace now, but still taboo then: showing players in their more human moments.

As a lifetime Yankee fan, I always thought it was shameful how the team shut him out of all future functions (most notably, Old Timers' Day) for who knows how many years, until finally that sore was healed--but only through some impassioned pleading by his daughter, unbeknownst to Bouton.

And here's another irony: One of the primary justifications the team always gave for decrying the book was that it soiled the innocent perceptions of their heroes sooner than was necessary.

I can tell you, I was Exhibit A of the kind of kid they were talking about. I read the book about a year or so after it came out, '71 or '72, when I was 12. I was two years into my Yankee fandom, and I can tell you it didn't hurt one bit. I remember not being surprised at all by the stories, and actually was very amused. At that point in my fan's life, I was ready to move on from the squeaky clean, Arrow Books-type sports bios I was getting, and being bored by.

[fenrir]

Leigh Montville's the big bam,

[JTADAMS]

I like this book, new for 2007.

Here's the description from the publisher's web site:

http://stores.lulu.com/neiljfarkas

The history of baseball in the actual words of Moe Berg, the CATCHER SPY! New e-book on DVD (Adobe Acrobat), by American artist and author, Neil J. Farkas, www.neiljfarkas.com. Based on an original hand written note book, as scribed by the iconic Jewish American hero, Morris 'Moe' Berg. Berg played 16 years of professional baseball, before becoming a spy for the United States during World War II. While Morris Berg never published a book during his lifetime, a note book has been discovered which provides evidence that the American hero had intended to write a book on the history of baseball. Author Neil Farkas offers Berg's original notes and outline. The book contains 164 pages, 66 color, high resolution plates (from the notebook), as well as portraits of Moe by Neil Farkas. The e-book on DVD can be printed, 8.5 x 11 inches. "My Time with the Catcher Spy," is available to the public, via this e-book/DVD, and soft cover.

[rugbyfreak]

I like this book, new for 2007.

Here's the description from the publisher's web site:

http://stores.lulu.com/neiljfarkas

The history of baseball in the actual words of Moe Berg, the CATCHER SPY! New e-book on DVD (Adobe Acrobat), by American artist and author, Neil J. Farkas, www.neiljfarkas.com. Based on an original hand written note book, as scribed by the iconic Jewish American hero, Morris 'Moe' Berg. Berg played 16 years of professional baseball, before becoming a spy for the United States during World War II. While Morris Berg never published a book during his lifetime, a note book has been discovered which provides evidence that the American hero had intended to write a book on the history of baseball. Author Neil Farkas offers Berg's original notes and outline. The book contains 164 pages, 66 color, high resolution plates (from the notebook), as well as portraits of Moe by Neil Farkas. The e-book on DVD can be printed, 8.5 x 11 inches. "My Time with the Catcher Spy," is available to the public, via this e-book/DVD, and soft cover.

Berg is one of those truly fascinating bb characters, a man of countless talents who happened to play bb (15 years, in fact) because, as he always said, simply because he loved it. The only book I've read about him is the Louis Kaufman study (1974, I believe), Moe Berg: Athlete, Scholar, Spy, which has generally been viewed as the definitive work on Moe.

The man was truly a scholar of the highest order--fluent in 10 languages ("but he couldn't hit in any of them", as the old joke went, and one that Moe readily told on himself with great relish). I grew up knowing about him way before I really became a ball fan, since he, like my father, went to Princeton, and he would appear regularly at the reunions. It was funny to hear all the old guys talk about him: The school being so replete with famous scholars, U.S. Presidents and world leaders in every field you can name, but possessing (in those days) somewhat of an inferiority complex about its athletic legacy, the first thing any of the alums would tell you about this scholar, war hero, you name it, was that he had played major league baseball! That was truly rare for Princeton (Chris Young is the only other one I can think of).

And, that crack about his hitting notwithstanding (.243/.278/.299 lifetime), Moe had to have had a little somethin' goin' on to have lasted 15 years ('23 thru '39, out during '24 and '25). Specifically, he was that underappreciated, but valuable, bb commodity: the solid, defensively strong backup catcher who didn't hurt you when he spelled your starter.

His only year as a regular (100+ games) was '29, and it turned out to be his best by far: 106g at C, .287/.323/.307, solid numbers for a receiver. The rest of his years, he caught between 30 and 76 games, filled the clubhouse with humour, wit and stories galore, and left a legacy, if you read interviews with peers and teammates, as one of the most popular players of his time, one who not only accepted his supporting role graciously, but counted himself blessed simply to be a major leaguer.

When you think about it, to exist that long in the decidedly undereducated atmosphere of major league baseball, when you yourself hold multiple PhD.'s and are, quite simply, one of the U.S. government's most valued minds on geopolitics and espionage, and come off as popular and "one of the guys", says even more, IMO, about the man than any of his degrees.

Being so long since I read that book, I can't remember how much his teammates knew about his role with the O.S.S. (probably not much), as our government spent the '30s gathering intelligence about the Axis powers in preparation for a war we knew was coming.

Certainly they knew nothing about his doings during the MLB tour of Japan of '34. It's my favorite story of the Moe legacy. There he was, a career backup, selected for perhaps the most star-studded MLB troupe in history, with, as he would joke after the war, "just a little help from Uncle Sam."

Indeed. I don't know how much he played on that tour--I'd like to take a closer look at those results--but he sure spent a lot of time at night, sneaking out of his room, photographing the Tokyo cityscape, information that would later prove invaluable for numerous bombings, including that early, strategically-nil, but morale-boosting, buzz-bombing made famous in "Twelve Seconds over Tokyo". It was a clever stroke for U.S. intelligence, since in those days Americans were rarely seen in Japan and would normally be conspicuous--unless they were part of a baseball touring party!

As he spent his later years as a can't-miss toastmaster (who else could possibly have his array of material to offer?!!), he would joke that his being placed on that team "was the only time in my career that my education got me anywhere!"). "Imagine," he would say, "me, this little New York Jew, playing alongside the likes of Hank Greenberg, another New York Jew. Of course, the only difference between us was we were from different neighborhoods!"

Well, I'll stop there, although I could go all night about Moe. But thanks to you, the issue is settled: I'm heading straight to my library and pulling out that book.

Thanks!

[GotMelk?]

I went on Amazon to look up baseball books and I made a list of books that I am intrested in. I want to learn more about Sabermetrics.
Here are the books:
-Baseball Between the Numbers
-Baseball Prospectus 2007: The Essential Guide to the 2007 Baseball Season
-Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders: A Complete Guide to the Worst Decisions and Stupidest Moments in Baseball History
-The Bill James Handbook 2007
-Baseball America 2007 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects

I am pretty much sold on the Blunders one, and Prospects one.

Tell me what you think.

[JTADAMS]

The Moe Berg book written by Louis Kaufman is very good, though the book written by Nicholas Dawidoff is even better, "The Catcher is a Spy, The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg," 1994. At the time, Dawidoff was a writer for Sports Illustrated.

The Kaufman book was 'negotiated' by Moe's brother, Dr. Sam Berg. Moe's sister, Ethel, threatened to sue Louis Kaufman if he mentioned her in the book. Consequently, Kaufman never interviewed Ethel Berg, with whom Moe Berg lived for 12 years (in Neward, NJ).

Ethel Berg wrote her own book on Moe, published in 1974. It is very diffcult to find this book (I have been looking for years!).

After Moe passed on, Ethel Berg petitioned the US Government to give her Moe's Medal of Freedom, which he was to have received in 1947, from than President Truman. Apparently, Moe refused the Medal, because he was upset the the Office of Strategic Services, asked for some accountability for his wartime expenses (approximately $19,000).

Ethel did receive the medal, and she donated it to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Moe Berg was an amazing character, but the details of his life are even more amazing (at least those details which we know).

Best Wishes!