[FrankWakefield]

Non-Fiction

The Glory of Their Times
Baseball When the Grass was Real
The Fix is In
October 1964 - David Halberstam
July 2, 1903, The Mysterious Death of Hall of Famer Big Ed Delehanty - Sowell
The Unforgetable Season - Gordon Fleming (best book about the 1908 Cubs, and the truth about the Merkle play)
The Dizziest Season - Gordon Fleming (the 1934 path for the Tigers and Cardinals to meet in that 1934 World Series)
Baseball in '41 - Robert Creamer
Stengel, His Life and Times - Robert Creamer
Babe: The Legend Comes to Life - Robert Creamer
Walter Johnson: Baseball's Big Train - Henry Thomas


Fiction

The Celebrant (without a doubt, anyone collecting old cards who's read this would agree, it's THE BEST)


I've read almost everything read in this thread so far... these I've mentioned I stand behind. Sowell's book July 2, 1903 is about so MUCH MORE than Delehanty... it covers the contract jumping between the leargues and the Genises of the current 2 league system we have today; the book gives the reader a foundation for baseball as it was just before the days of the T206 cards. If you think Rose and Jackson belong in the Hall and you're close-minded certain about that, then don't bother with The Fix is In. It is only for truth seekers who want to understand what happened; about the early day efforts to rid the sport of gamblers, and segments about most of the various gambling scandals of the sport. (Although for a quick fix on understanding why Jackson stays out, read Bill Lamb's article on Jackson, see SABR's Baseball Research Journal, 2019, Vol 48, #1.)