Baseball Books for Christmas

[parkside21]

So, my mom recently asked me to make a Christmas list for this year because she doesn't want to do the whole gift card thing again this year. I'm normally the type of person that would rather just pick out things for myself so that I know I'll like it (aka, picky).

 

I'm really not much of a reader, but can anyone recommend any "light" baseball books I might enjoy? I know we've had book threads come up in the past and it lead me to "read" (listen to on CD) Manhunt by James Swanson and I really enjoyed it. I don't remember if we had a specific baseball book thread or not in the past, if so please feel free to delete this and point out a link to it.

 

This past summer I read Tim Kurkjians book A-Rod to Don Zimmer's Head: My 25 Years in Baseball (or something like that). I really enjoyed reading about the lighter side of baseball and side stories, and I really enjoy TK's work but I'm not sure he has any other books in print. I also enjoy his squeaky voice, but that's another topic. I also listened to Moneyball on cd (books on CD are way underrated), and while I realize it has it's flaws, I still really enjoyed it. Can anyone suggest any books similar to Kurkjians or something relating to baseball's lighter side of things? I tried reading Three Nights in August a couple months ago but couldn't stick with it. I often put a book down and won't pick it up again for a couple weeks, and that was too hard to do with that book because while interesting, it was too in depth to read casually.

 

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

 

Josh

[nate82]

Uecker's Catcher in the Wry if you haven't read that already is good. The Long Season by Jim Brosnan is also good. Planet of the Umps: A Baseball Life from Behind the Plate by Ken Kaiser and David Fischer is another good one. I know Uecker's book can be found in bookstores I'm not sure on the other two though.

 

The Long Season at Amazon. Planet of the Umps at Amazon.

[Tailgat0r76]

It sounds like the book Ball Four by Jim Bouton would be a perfect book for you. It's basically a journal written by Jim, a AAAA-type knuckleballer. He writes about the entire 1969 season that started with the Pilots. It's a lot about the personal side of baseball and a lot of humorous stuff that goes on in the bullpen and in the clubhouse and such. I would highly recommend it.

[Principessa21]

You should definitely pick up Pat Jordan's False Spring. The book's about his once promising career in the minors. He started in the Milwaukee Braves organization. I think he's a great writer, so if you like it I suggest picking up a collection of his sports writing. I also agree with Tailgat0r76 on Ball Four. This might be helpful to you. It's a list of essential baseball books voted on by other writers.

[RU Rah Rah]

I'd vote for Nine Innings,by Daniel Okrent. Attempts to tell the story of baseball through a 1982 game between the Brewers and Orioles. (Older book, but looks like it's back in print.) I'm not sure it qualifies as "light," but it's really compelling reading.

[hawing]

Before our train trip to Boston this spring, the S.O. surprised me with a couple of baseball books that we both really enjoyed:

 

Working at the Ballpark : the fascinating lives of baseball people - from peanut vendors and broadcasters to players and managers

 

In the Ballpark : the working lives of baseball people

 

Each is a collection of interviews with people who work or worked in baseball. I would classify each as 'light reading' because you can read one at a time or a bunch at a time, without there being a "plot" to follow. As a bonus to Brewerfan types, each book has a few interviews of particular interest to Brewers fans. Working at the Ballpark includes interviews with Derrick Turnbow, the guy who suits up as Bernie Brewer, a Miller Park beer vendor, Jeromy Burnitz (as a Pirate), and Doug Mansolino (as an Astro coach). In the Ballpark includes an interview with Dean Taylor (as a Braves GM). But I enjoyed most if not all of the other interviews too.

 

Both books were great choices to help us pass the time on the train, and get us in the mood for the baseball season (like that's hard to do in April, but you get the idea). And they're both in paperback, so whoever buys them for you isn't set back much. Win win! I recommend them both, and this is coming from a librarian who can't believe how many baseball books are out there.

[Weirdos19]

Mickey Mantle's biography is great. The Mick.

[JimH5]

The Big Bam is a GREAT biography of Babe Ruth by Leigh Montville. As much as has been written about Ruth over the years, Montville was able to unearth some new stuff.

 

Clemente by David Maraniss is awesome. Probably the best baseball biography I've read.

 

The Curt Flood book, A Well Paid Slave, by Brad Snyder is good--though it gets very deep into the legal process, in discussing Flood's case vs. MLB.

 

And I'm currently reading But Didn't We Have Fun, by Peter Morris. It's a very interesting history of baseball from its earliest days until 1870. I'm about halfway through it, and while it hits on the Eckfords and Knickerbockers and Atlantics and other east coast pioneers, there have been a number of Wisconsin references as well.

[Bikeage77]

Anyone read Dock Ellis: In the Country of Baseball? I'm just assuming it's a good read because he was such a character.

 

Ball Four rules, as does Moneyball. I have no opinion of books on cd, but there's a good amount of stats and what not that are better soaked up than hearing in passing by narration.

 

There's a great bathroom book available called "Baseball's Most Wanted" filled with top 10 lists of various stats, and great short stories about how people picked their numbers, superstitions, etc. I believe they've pressed two volumes, but I've seen them combined to one large volume.

[parkside21]

Thank you to everyone that has provided suggestions so far. I looked up some of the ones that I found most interesting and added them to my "list". I feel a little silly still making a list now that I'm well into my 20s, but I suppose getting presents are still fun, no matter how old.

 

Now I just have to convince my mom that yes, Amazon is a trusted website, and yes, it's okay to use the Wish List feature that I sent to her, and that she's actually buying gifts that I wanted, and not just some ideas from some "spammer" who stole my identity and created a wish list under my name. Old people are fun.

 

Keep the suggestions coming if anyone still has any, I'm sure they are helping more than just myself.

[buckingham94]

"The Umpire Strikes Back" by Ron Luciano. I think it's out of print, but you can get it used on Amazon, and it's hilarious. May beat out "Catcher in the Wry" as the funniest baseball book I've read.

 

I read "Crazy '08" recently and it was very good. Granted it's about the Cubs winning the World Series, but it does a great job giving an idea of what the game was like back then. I found it rather satisfying reading about how the Cubs last championship was so long ago that horse carriages were parked in fair territory in the outfield during the games.

 

"Ball Four" is a classic, though its significance is rooted in the fact that it was so shocking when it came out. It is hardly shocking at all anymore, but still an easy, enjoyable read.

[RU Rah Rah]

Anyone read Dock Ellis: In the Country of Baseball? I'm just assuming it's a good read because he was such a character.

I saw that on the list and wondered, too. I am assuming that he explains pitching a no-hitter on acid, and then hitting like 6 consecutive batters the next time he tried it.

[Bikeage77]

He actually hit all those Reds to fire up his team, cuz the Reds beat em out. Johnny Bench (I think), managed to draw a walk, when he then plunked Tony Perez and was kicked out of the game. The pirates won the pennant that year.

 

I asked for Catcher In The Wry, and my mom said she found it going for like 80 bucks?!?!?! I just wanted paperback, I don't know if it's even available in that format, but I'm outta college, I'll never go near an 80 dollar book again.

[BrewCrewForever]

"Moneyball"

[Brewtacular]

I pimped this guy a number of times but

 

two books by Robert Whitting that are wonderful

 

You Gotta Have Wa-----about Americans going to Japan in 80s/90s...

 

The Meaning of Ichiro Not just about Ichiro but chapters on all the players that have come to the US Nomo--Matsui and Bobb Vs time in Japan

 

Both are excellent books.

[Mike Felder]

I'd second the recommendation for Nine Innings. I read it for the first time this summer and it was great. Ron Luciano's second book, Strike Two, was very funny as well. Both of those books are 25 years old or so, but still make for good reading.

[Baldkin]

Joe Posnanski's book about his summer with Buck O'Neil, is great.... http://www.soulofbaseball.com/