OT: Need some book suggestions
 

Comming up toward Christmas I always get the same question "What would you like for Christmas?". While my wife has learned to find what I like in collecting via ebay, I still have the question posed to me by others who aren't ebay (or even internet) savy.

I never ask for money to find the cards I look for because I know I wouldn't get it anyway.

I have really no other inteest than my baseball collection so I thought I could always use some books to add to my library.

My question is what could you recommend to tell someone as a good book about baseball, particalarly collecting cards or the history of? I have a few books but I know there are others out there and would like to know what might be recommended from those who are fellow collectors.

Any imput is appreciated.

Drew

I really enjoyed this one...

Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession

It's $10 on amazon now...can't go wrong.

Cardboard Gods
 

Take a look at Cardboard Gods, by Josh Wilker. If you're in your 40s, they are the cards you grew up with. Wilker weaves the cards into his life growing up in a very strange family environment. Despite the odd family, the cards (and the Red Sox) always gave him something to connect to. A great book...you won't go wrong with this one!

Take Care,
Geno

1- Mr. Lipset's Encyclopedia of Baseball Cards(about ball cards)
2- The Glory of Their Times (about turn of the century ball players)
3- the 4 cd set of The Glory of Their Times. (the interviews, not an audio book)
4- The Art of Fielding (a new novel, about much more than baseball)
5- The Celebrant (about the best baseball novel, Mathewson and the Giants)
6- The Ballplayers (an encyclopedia of sorts, more about deeds instead of numbers)
7- Historical Baseball Abstract
8- The Politics of Glory (for a true understanding of the Hall of Fame)
9- October, 1964 (about the end of the Yankee Dynasty, The Cardinals, social change)


A little bit of the stuff in Mint Condition isn't true. It is an interesting read.

+1

Thanks! I'll pass some of these suggestions along.

Drew

Frank pointed out a few nice suggestions. But if you want one baseball gift, get The Glory of Their Times audio CD set. As stated, this is not an audio book. These are actual interviews of players who played a century ago, Sam Crawford, Smokey Joe Wood, Rube Marquard and others. My two favorites are not Hall of Famers but Jimmy Austin and Hans Lobert are terrific interviews. These guys pull no punches. They tell you exactly what it was like and express their true feelings, in their own voices, nonetheless.

This is truly a great item to own.

Cy

+1 on this.

"Glory" was one of the first "adult" baseball books I ever read as a kid and I was fascinated by the stories and the writing. I think it had a lot to do with giving me my love of baseball.

But as Cy recommends, actually hearing the player interviews gives the book a whole new life.

Highly, highly recommended!

Absolutely cannot go wrong with the following book:

The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin and Company Book Hard Cover

At $26.95 delivered it is a steal.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Photographic...item4cfc3f022e

Also not mentioned yet, the Great American Flipping Trading and Bubble Gum book by Fred Harris and Brendan Boyd which quite simply might be the greatest book ever written...:)

Absolutely agree with Cy....hearing the actual interviews "live" really brought their stories to life. Also, I believe the audio contains some parts that were not in the printed book.

If you collect T206's and other sets from that era, I found SABR's Deadball Stars set of books really interesting. The books are separated into AL, NL and Negro Leagues with chapters from each team. Player profiles cover 3-6 pages. The player profiles from the lesser known players brought this set to life.

Zach Wheat

"Miracle Ball" The story of what happened to the Bobby Thomson HR ball. It was a page turner and I don't read many books.

Great recommendations. Lots of repeats, but there are other suggestions in this thread:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=131490

I really liked:
- Where They Ain't
- Crazy 08s
- Glory of their Times

Thanks to all for the additional recommendations!

Eric

Can this book be found for this price anywhere else? I would love to have a copy, but not at the $70 and above price I have seen elsewhere.