Favorite baseball book? Card or historical focused.
 

I’m trying to compile a list of books to read in 2022. Would prefer them to be historically focused or about cards. Happy to hear all suggestions though! Thanks

I think the Jane Leavy biographies are excellent - she has ones on Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Sandy Koufax - Golenbock's oral history of the Brooklyn Dodgers, John Thorn's book on 19th century baseball. The best book on cards I've read is "The Card," although if you've been in the hobby a while you'll probably be familiar with most of it. Interested in others' recommendations.

Favorite baseball book? Card or historical focused.
 

This one is great!

The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book. 1973. Lots of little fun stories about marginal players and good ones too!

And on the downer side… Operation Bullpen…


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I would add Mark Peavey's book "A history of baseball in the dead ball era". He is a member here and his book is a really fun read. Amazon link below.
https://www.amazon.com/History-Baseb.../dp/B08NWQZTCW

As a collector, this is the one that set me off after classic Topps cards as a kid.

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...20Williams.jpg

"In 1955, there were 77,263,127 male American human beings. And every one of them in his heart of hearts would have given two arms, a leg and his collection of Davy Crockett iron-ons to be Teddy Ballgame."

"The Iowa Baseball Confederacy" - W.P. Kinsella
I love Kinsella anyway but they are often, "shorts". I became totally immersed in this one and could not put it down; it helps to be a Cub fan and lover of baseball history but in spite of that, a beloved piece for me.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0618340807...v_ov_lig_dp_it

My favorite of all time is the New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. It's really good: very well written, and very well researched, with lots of interesting things that don't always get told.

The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book is a great one too. It and the Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract were the two books that introduced me to the older players. I've read both of them many times since I was nine or so.

Get your hands on: "Crazy '08" by Cait Murphy. It's all about the wild 1908 Baseball pennant race & features great stories on many of the faces you see on T206.

I like this book also

“Satchel” - Larry Tye
“Our Team” - Luke Epplin (covers the 48 Indians)
“The Glory of Their Times” - I assume this is a Net54 staple

The Curious Case of Sidd Finch.

These are all very cool...

Big Hair and Plastic Grass : a Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s - Dan Epstein

The Bronx Zoo - Sparky Lyle

Swinging '73: Baseball's Wildest Season - Matthew Silverman

Ballparks: Yesterday & Today - Phil Trexler (& Marty Strasen?)

If you enjoy baseball fiction "The Natural" by Bernard Malamud is excellent and Roy Hobbs is not quite the same guy Robert Redford played in the movie version.

Agree.
Also the book simply titled “Campy” is awesome as is his biography “It’s Good to be Alive”

I wrote a book about cards myself called “Buying Back Dad’s Cards” https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/dr-c...e=1&pageSize=4


https://www.net54baseball.com/pictur...ictureid=29990

'How Baseball Happened' by Tom Gilbert

'Baseball in the Garden of Eden' by John Thorn

And, while it a bare bones history and OLD, Peverelly's 'Book of American of Pastimes' published in 1866 is a must for researchers.

JP
www.dugouttreasures.com

The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs by Bill Jenkinson.
As long as there is an earth George Herman Ruth will still best the greatest.

I really loved Howard Bryant's "The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron" Very well written.

+1 . . . Good night, Sibbi Sisti, wherever you are.

The Year They Called Off The World Series

By Benton Stark

This book is an excellent read of a very significant year in Baseball History, for there was no Major League WORLD SERIES played in 1904.
Mgr. John McGraw of the NY Giants (NL Champs) refused to play Boston (AL Champs). Boston beat the NY Highlanders in a play-off series
at the end of the season. It appeared that the Highlanders would face the Giants in the 1st NY subway Series but a famous Pitcher blew it
in the 9th Inning of the last game of the season.

You T206 guys will really love this true-life story. Approx. 70 - T206 players come alive in your minds as you read this book's 217 pages.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Non Fiction

The Glory of Their Times, Ritter a prerequisite for even looking at this board
Basball When The Grass Was Real, Donald Honig a good followup to TGOTT
The Unforgetable Season, GH Fleming well written about 1908 pennant race
The Dizziest Season, GH Fleming about the 1934 pennant races
July 2, 1903, Mike Sowell Delehanty dies, origin of leagues and reserve clause
The Fix is In, Daniel Ginsburg MUST read to understand
The Pitch That Killed, Mike Sowell need to read this to understand Chapman Mays
Now Wait A Minute Casey, Allen Maury the 1962 Mets, and their troubles
Ball Four, Jim Bouton everyone here's read it

those are a good start


Fiction

The Celebrant, Eric Greensberg

Non Fiction

The Glory of Their Times, Ritter a prerequisite for even looking at this board
Basball When The Grass Was Real, Donald Honig a good followup to TGOTT
The Unforgetable Season, GH Fleming well written about 1908 pennant race
The Dizziest Season, GH Fleming about the 1934 pennant races
July 2, 1903, Mike Sowell Delehanty dies, origin of leagues and reserve clause
The Fix is In, Daniel Ginsburg MUST read to understand
The Pitch That Killed, Mike Sowell need to read this to understand Chapman Mays
Now Wait A Minute Casey, Allen Maury the 1962 Mets, and their troubles
Ball Four, Jim Bouton everyone here's read it

those are a good start


Fiction

The Celebrant, Eric Greensberg

This book is the most enchanting, enjoyable fiction book anyone could find to read, especially if they're a fan of baseball circa 1910ish... an amazing book. If you think I'm wrong, read it, then explain to me what fiction book is better.

This is awesome. Thanks everyone and looking forward to any additions!

Strong lists Frank and core baseball knowledge. Thank you for the suggestions.

That was a great Sports Illustrated article! I remember when it came out. Just awesome.

My pick for a book is Ball Four, however if we wanna get traditional, it's The Glory of Their Times.

Lot's of great books out there. The first baseball book I read was about the first 5 inductees to the Baseball HOF. That sealed it for me - VINTAGE!

Another vote for the Year They Called Off The World Series. Also, Pride Of The Yankees is a great book.

Bill

+1. I'll add "The Catcher was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg" and "Hal Chase: The Defiant Life and Turbulent Times of Baseball's Biggest Crook".

Sitting here next to my bookshelves and there are just so many great baseball books to recommend....these jumped out at me:

Only the Ball Was White, by Robert Peterson This is the best book about the Negro Leagues that I've read.

The Long Season, by Jim Brosnan His diary of the 1959 season. If you want baseball history this one will really show you what it was like late in that decade.

You Gotta Have Wa, by Robert Whiting-great book about baseball in japan

The Catcher Was a Spy, by Nicholas Dawidoff, Moe Berg's story

Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?, by Jimmy Breslin 1962 Mets, Breslin was a terrific writer

Babe: The Legend Comes to Life, by Robert W. Creamer

Ball Four by Jim Bouton

The Curse of Rocky Colavito, by Terry Pluto

Eight Men Out, by Eliot Asinof

The Echoing Green, by Joshua Prager Bobby Thomson and Ralph Branca, etc. Really a neat book.

Dollar Sign on the Muscle, by Kevin Kerrane A great look at baseball scouting. Lots of fun stories about the profession. Not a new book but still a great read.

Crazy '08, by Cait Murphy

Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty, by Charles Leerhsen

Sayonara Home Run!, by John Gall and Gary Engel this one is about Japanese baseball cards. Highly recommended

Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy, by Jane Leavy My favorite baseball biography. All of her three baseball bios are worth reading but I'm partial to this one.

A False Spring, by Pat Jordan Jordan was a writer for SI (and a curmudgeon) but in high school, he was a pitching phenom signed by the Braves. This is my favorite book of them all. It's not uplifting to read about how his career in baseball went south but it's so well written! I pull it out every few years and re-read it.

Seasons in Hell, by Mike Shropshire, may be the funniest baseball book I've ever read. It's about Whitey Herzog's awful Rangers teams in the early 70s.


I have Dock Ellis and the Country of baseball cued up to read, and it's gotten lots of good reviews, but I haven't gotten to it yet. I'm still working on Joe Posnanski's The Baseball's 100

Echo the recommendation for The Celebrant.

Historical and card related
 

A Whole Different Ball Game by Marvin Miller

How the Players Association was started and everything that happened during Marvin Miller's tenure. Lockouts, Curt Flood, Catfish Hunter......

There's a chapter about Topps and the Players Association.

As mentioned above, "The Bronx Zoo" is tremendously entertaining recounting a wacky time.

I didn't see it while scanning other replies, so I'll throw out a classic in "The Boys of Summer".

About once a year re-read Bill Veeck’s classic “Veeck as in Wreck”

" Miracle Ball " by Brian Bigel

Documents the search for the baseball that Bobby Thomson hit off of Ralph Branca.

Excellent reading. There is a DVD, but I can't find it.

I like Frank Deford's work for personal reasons; he was the father-in-law of my eldest daughter Lauren who married his son Chris. Sadly Frank left us about four years ago and is sadly missed by many. He wrote across many spectrums, including fiction. My favorite two books about baseball he wrote were "Matty and McGraw" and the hilarious "Casey at the Bat".

Ol' Henry
 

"I Had A Hammer" by Hank Aaron

Your post gave me a big smile, Adam. When I purchased and read that book around 1980, I also just HAD to get THAT card. So many great cards in the book but that one stood out to me. So I sent $20 away for one listed in a hobby publication (don't recall which one). And the '55 design is still my favorite by Topps from that decade.

I don't think I've seen it mentioned yet, so I'll throw out "Wait 'Till Next Year", by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

My selections would go something like this:

59 in '84 by Ed Achorn - Hoss Radbourn's incredible 1884 season plus lots of detail on baseball in that era in general

The Pitch That Killed by Mike Sowell - tremendous book on the death of Ray Chapman

Crazy '08 by Cait Murphy - Wonderful book on the 1908 season. A must-read.

The Bird by Doug Wilson - Incredible biography of Mark Fidrych that captures the essence of Mark and the undying love that Detroit fans have for him. If you are a Tigers fan, this should be #1 on your list, it's that good.

Never Give Up by Ruppert Jones - Powerful autobiography by Jones about dealing with a traumatic brain injury. It's harrowing, powerful, and uplifting all at once.

Any books by Tim Hornbaker. Tim's baseball books are all top-shelf, best-in-class: War on the Basepaths (Ty Cobb), Fall From Grace (Joe Jackson), and Turning the Black Sox White.



If you're not already a member, I highly recommend joining the "Baseball Books" group on Facebook. 10k members and lots of discussion about many books.

The past few months I've had recurring thoughts about that thread about who was the best / greatest left handed pitcher ever. Most of the discussion was about Koufax and Spahn. I saw Spahn pitch, once, as a kid. And Koufax, once. When I saw them I had no sense of past seasons and all time records. Spahn seemed to labor on the mound, Koufax flowed with power. As a kid I thought Koufax the best.

Then Bill James' Historical Baseball Abstract comes along, an enlightening book, even for folks that think they know about old ball players. It was then that I decided that the best left hander I saw pitch wasn't S Carlton, R Johnson, T Glavine, Jim Kaat, Andy Pettite, nor Mr. Koufax... it was Warren Spahn.

Here's why. If I owned a MLB franchise and could pick any one left handed pitcher to win one game for my team, Sandy Koufax may well be that guy. But if I owned a MLB franchise and I could pick any left handed pitcher to play not just one game, nor a season, but instead an entire career for my franchise, that left hander would by Warren Spahn. (And with that said, you should be able to see why Kaat was in my little list above.)

With all of that said, (and no, this isn't in the wrong thread, I'm just tying them together) I have found myself wanting to read a book about Sandy Koufax.

So Dan, thank you for starting this thread. Jeremy, Bob, and anyone else who recommended Jane Leavy's book about Koufax, thank you; I've placed an order for that book (although I think I have a copy in a box in an upstairs closet). When this one arrives, I'll read it before I misplace it!

Happy to have started this thread! Most fun one I've done in awhile.

One Shot At Forever by Chris Ballard, love love love this story. I've bought several copies to give to people.

The Final Season: Fathers, Sons, and One Last Season in a Classic American Ballpark (Honoring a Detroit Legend) by Tom Stanton

The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America by Joe Posnanski

Ya Gotta Have Heart by Ned Colletti

The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship by David Halberstam

Having only gotten back into cards within the last year, I certainly don't have the depth as the above posts.

I will say that I recently enjoyed reading the articles at historythroughcards.com. Some articles are lengthy, and at times he dives into tangents while exploring various facets, but I enjoyed the research.

Also, I just ordered the new book "Spotting Fakes: Examining the Top 50 Fake Sports Cards", knowing I still have a lot to learn.

There's a lot of good books in this thread, and also a lot I have never read. I might have some books to get through inter-library loan.

I don't know how that one slipped my mind, as a Red Sox fan. He had a couple of other good sports ones; October, 1964 and The Summer of '49, and in football, The Education of a Coach.

A couple by Roger Kahn -

"The Boys of Summer" about the Brooklyn Dodgers
"Good Enough to Dream" about minor league baseball

Just ordered three of Ron Luciano's books off of eBay. Should be some entertaining stuff.

David Nemec's books, The Beer and Whiskey League and The Great Encyclopedia of 19th Century Major League Baseball, are required reading for 19th century aficionados. I have them to thank for being addicted to Old Judge cards! :D

Dan Gutman's A Baseball Card Series is phenomenal for kids. Got me into older cards years ago.

Frank, agree with your assessment. And lest us not forget that Spahn was the winningest left handed pitcher of all time, surpassing Eddie Plank.

All Net54-ers should have this book for a fun lighthearted read.

The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book