What's Your Favorite Baseball Book

[Tbadder]

Just got done reading Cait Murphy's CRAZY 08, an excellent page turner. I'd recommend it highly if history is your thing. Really well researched, literary without being burdensome, and an excellent sense of humor. I'd give anything to experience baseball in the dead ball era. I think I would've liked it better. I've always been fairly anti-AL, the home run being kinda boring to me. The ball in play is more exciting because it creates relationships on the field. But I digress...

 

Some observations from the book:

 

1) Cubs were known to be a competent organization

2) Cheating was rampant, not just on a daily basis but on a play by play basis

3) Fans were violent, unruly, ridiculous

4) Injuries were more severe

5) It's always been about rich guys making money

6) Baseball is an urban sport, not a rural cliche

7) The most incompetent organization was the Cardinals, not the Browns

8) Honus Wagner was easily the most admired man in baseball

9) Honus was more slick than his image

10) Pittsburgh and Detroit were definitely not baseball towns

11) The beginnings of the Yankees is ironic and more than just a little interesting (I won't wreck it for you)

12) Pitching and Defense were even more important than today

13) Batting average was more important then

14) Baseball has always been about immigration and Race

15) Owners sometimes had financial stakes in more than one team

16) Umpiring truly was an awful profession

 

There's a lot more.

 

Anyways, my favorite baseball book of all time is Iowa Baseball Confedracy

[jschris]

Lots of books are close, but my favorite is "Prophet of the Sandlots". The author rode around with a scout named Tony Lucadello for a couple of seasons and chronicled the life of the aging scout as he wondered if the baseball world was slipping away from him.

 

I got a copy of it probably ten years ago but made the mistake of immediately reading the last few pages for who-knows-what reason, and I figured that since I knew the somewhat surprising ending that the book was spoiled. Not even close. I picked it up again this summer after "The Pitch That Killed" (also a good read) and still wonder just how any book will top it.

[Brewtacular]

Plugged him before but Robert Whiting has some great books relating Japanese and American baseball.

 

You Gotta Have Wa- about Americans going to Japan in the 80s

The Meaning of Ichiro- Not just about Ichiro....chapters on Nomo, Irabu,Matsui, Bobby V,

 

Both are great, insightful, and very well written.

[Tbadder]

Awesome book! It's really tough on American players. I wonder if we can't learn something from their training techniques, etc. I also like their dedication to small ball.

[Oldcity]

I probably haven't read enough to truly qualify, but I really liked Ball Four.

[wisconsinfan47]

I haven't read too many, but Moneyball was really good.

 

Also, Game of Shadows, while not being entirely about baseball, is certainly a necessary read for any baseball / sports fan.

[SmartBall]

I know its boring, but Moneyball really opened up baseball to me. I always loved the game and played it ever since I was little, but I read Moneyball as a freshman in high school and it has pushed me to look deeper into the game. Every time I arrogantly argue against a Joe Morgan rant or debate my friends on the value of a SB it goes back to Moneyball. I have since moved past it, but it was definitely the start.

[crewcrazy]

Even if you aren't into all the stats, Moneyball is a good read if you're looking for a behind-the-scenes look at a Major League club. It was interesting to see how one team goes about the draft, free agent signings and trades, and in the A's case that year, a historic winning streak.

 

 

 

I have Sports Illustrated's "Great Baseball Writing" anthology which has a lot of good stuff from different eras of the game. Some of the articles are funny, some are serious, and some are legendary in the journalism world (Peter Gammons' story about Carlton Fisk waving the home run fair back when he was a beat writer is arguably the greatest baseball story ever written). It's a pretty gaudy book, but there's a lot of good stuff in there.

[gypcasino]

I'm a big fan of books like this one-

The Boys Who Would Be Cubs: A Year in the Heart of Baseball's Minor Leagues.

It's probably not my favorite but I like reading baseball books that are about more than just baseball.

[dvoiss]

Moneyball was an excellent read, There was a book written in the 80s called "Dollar Sign on the Muscle" which examined the way scouts evaluated amateur players. The term "Dollar sign on the muscle" was the phrase they used for assigning a dollar value to a player. It has been a while since I've read it but I remember they looked closely at the scouting of Darryl Strawberry. The author also leaned heavily on Harry Dalton and his scouts for a lot of the stuff in the book. I don't know how relevant it would be to today's scoutiong practices but it is the best baseball book I have ever read.

[GAME05]

I've always been interested in getting Uecker's book "Catcher in the Wry." anybody read that and have a review? No doubt I've already heard half the book already just from listening to him call games.

 

 

 

also, there was a AAA catcher the Brewers signed maybe 3-4 years ago, a guy who'd spent a lot of years in the minors bouncing from team to team just waiting for his call, and he wrote what was said to be a good book about life in the minors. i know it's not a whole lot of information to go on, but anyone remember the name of that?

[TerraceReserved]

Catcher in the Wry is a good book. It's true that a lot of his material is used in it, but theres a lot more funny stuff in there I never knew. Definitely worth a read.

[Tbadder]

I know its boring, but Moneyball really opened up baseball to me. I always loved the game and played it ever since I was little, but I read Moneyball as a freshman in high school and it has pushed me to look deeper into the game. Every time I arrogantly argue against a Joe Morgan rant or debate my friends on the value of a SB it goes back to Moneyball. I have since moved past it, but it was definitely the start.

Moneyball is a great book. The author really captured personalities and the nuances of the inner game. I also appreciate it because it shows how plan-based teams/organizations tend to be. Beane's got a plan and he sticks to it. I always thought that was a double-edged sword as is witnessed by the saga of Brown/Swisher. I really learned that teams need to employee a flexible strategy as much as possible--of course money often precludes this. Fascinating book.

[joepepsi]

Every Brewers fan should read Daniel Okrent's "Nine Innings". It's my favorite baseball book, partly because I am an Oriole and Brewer fan. The book centers around one game in 1982 between those two teams. The background on how those teams were built and the interrelationship between the organinzations is fascinating. The central part of the book is an inning by inniing recount of a single game. It's great to read all the names and helps recapture the spirit of that wonderful season.

 

 

 

Eight Men Out is also a fantastic baseball book.

 

 

 

The 2000 version of the Bill James Historical Abstract should be on every baseball fan's bookshelf. Fascinating facts, history, and analysis. Bill James is the most important baseball writer of all time. What's more, he's a great read; funny, straight forward, intelligent writing.

 

 

 

Any old Bill James Annual Abstract is worth reading. I miss these essays. I have no interest in books today that carry his name but a nothing more than a collection of stats.

 

 

 

The Neyer/James Guide to pitchers is a wonderful, but little know book.

 

 

 

I have read several Kinsella's book and enjoyed them all. The Iowa Baseball Confederacy is the best baseball fiction I have ever read.

 

 

 

I'd like to find a good book on the history of the Negro leagues.

[gregmag]

My personal favorite is the 1983 Bill James Baseball Abstract, because I got it when I was 15 and it opened my eyes to so much about baseball that I had never thought about. Also, of course, it was the edition that looked back on the Brewers' only pennant-winning team. James is by far my favorite baseball writer, because he writes so well in addition to thinking so well. I'd nominate his Historical Baseball Abstract as the best baseball book ever, and his The Politics of Glory (a.k.a. Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame) as the best cover-to-cover read. I got that thing and literally didn't put it down until I finished it.

 

 

 

My two favorite Brewers-focused books also came out in the 1980s. Dan Okrent wrote a book called Nine Innings that closely analyzed a single game between the Brewers and Orioles in 1982, going off on all kinds of interesting tangents. More obscure and possibly even more fun is Bambi's Bombers: The First Time Around by Don Olson, which follows the team through the pivotal 1978 season.

 

 

 

Greg.

[Brewtacular]

This is a bit off topic but with the mention of Bill James some people may be interested. Sunday at 8am The Science Channel is airing a program called Baseballs Secret Formula. It includes interviews with James, stats, etc. Im gonna record it and see if its any good.

[gregmag]

Joepepsi -- that's just eerie timing.

 

 

 

Greg.

[joepepsi]

Yikes! Sure was. Great minds think alike you know.

 

 

 

So do sociopaths, I suppose.....

[billyhallfan]

i don't know if this qualifies as a book, but it is just a collection of stories.

 

 

 

Mike Shannon's Tales from the Ballpark is very funny and interesting...

[Tbadder]

I didn't know anyone knew Mike Shannon. Spitball magazine has been a true gem for years! There's so much good basball literature out there it's scary. Compare the sheer volume of it to football or basketball or hockey literature. Combined those three don't equal 10% of baseball literature.

[drezdn]

I'll nth Nine Innings...

 

 

 

I just finished "The Cheater's Guide to Baseball" and loved it. The author can be a bit too tongue-in-cheek at times, but otherwise it's a great guide to the subtle and not so subtle ways the outcome of a game can be changed.

 

 

 

Recently I read "The Hidden Language of Baseball" which is solely about the use of signs (and stealing of signs). My only complaint is that it doesn't really cover modern baseball, saying that sign stealing probably doesn't happen much anymore.

[YoGo24]

Feeding the Monster is a great book. Its how the Red Sox built their organization starting with the 2002 season. It was just a terrific book. Another one that I liked was Built To Win by John Schuerholtz. Similar to the Red Sox one but its about how he went about winning all those division championships and how he acquired some of the players and the moves he did not make.

[pogokat]

"I was right on Time" by Buck O'Neill

 

 

 

here's a book on the negro leagues for you guys...it's fantastic...o'neill had a rhetorical air that many lack...he's a great read, and he speaks with such humilty that you'll wish you could hug him (note: don't attempt to hug him, as grave robbing is a serious crime)

[Shootkick1000]

Sparky Lyle's "The Bronx Zoo". The first book I'd ever read with real, live swear words in it.

 

Seriously, I'm a big fan of the whole "seemy underbelly of the game, drama in the clubhouse" genre of baseball books, and there's no shortage of it with the late-70's Yankee teams.

 

I SINCERELY wish someone would write a book on the Royster-era Brewers. Battling wives, grumpy veterans, and big, fat Ruben Quevedo. I can smell the epic all over it.

[CaptainSpeedLimit]

If you're into baseball history I'd suggest "The Glory of Their Times" by Lawrence Ritter it's just around 25 old players from the 1900's to the 40's telling stories of their playing days. My favorite story is Rube Marquard turning down a 100 dollar a month contract from Cleveland because he already made 100 a month working at an ice cream factory and he got all the free ice cream he could eat.