OT?: Book recommendations?

[Ericc22]

Hopefully this is not too OT!

I am interested in books that give insight into baseball, pre WW 1. I got some good book recommendations from another thread including:
- Glory of their Times
- Crazy '08s
- America 1908 by Jim Rasenberger

I thought the first two were great and I am looking forward to reading the third.

I was wondering if anyone had any other recommendations? Favorite bios? History? Season recaps? Etc.!

All recommendations are most appreciated. Thanks!

Eric

[Delray Vintage]

I recommend several:

fifty nine in 84- the story of hoss radbourn, a great pitcher for boston in the 1880's who won 59 games that year for providence

1921- the story of the giants and yankees season and series

The Spalding Word Tour-the story of 1880's all stars going around the world to publicize baseball

A Clever Base-Ballist- story of john ward of the giants of the 1880's who was a union leader fighting for player rights

[Delray Vintage]

forgot to add some others;

The First Fall Classic-story of the 1912 series between Red Sox and Giants

Connie Mack and the early years of baseball- excellent biography

[mintacular]

Cold Mountain

[FrankWakefield]

A fiction book, that is about the best baseball fiction ever written, is The Celebrant. I've read You Know Me All, If I Never Get Back, Bang The Drum Slowly, Shoeless Joe... all good books. I think The Celebrant exceeds them, it covers Mathewson's time, I really enjoyed it.

To really understand why there are 2 leagues in the majors, and lots of good background stuff on why the game is as it is, read July 2, 1903: The Mysterious Death of Hall-Of-Famer Big Ed Delahanty, by Mike Sowell. He also wrote The Pitch That Killed, another good read. A fine author.

Mr. Ritter's book is tops. Fleming wrote a book (The Unforgettable Season) about the 1908 season that I thought better than Crazy '08's.

[Robextend]

I really enjoyed "The Old Ball Game" by Deford.

[ethicsprof]

i love a number of the books mentioned but i have to say that the one book that i never grow tired of and still read almost daily is Lew Lipset's 3 in 1
volume.

best,
barry

[AndyG09]

Fred Lieb's book "Baseball as I've Known It" is another great read. Fred is a member of the Hall of Fame's writer's wing. The book was published in 1977 and it was his memoir of his 70 years as a sportswriter (mostly for the Sporting News).

[celoknob]

This question comes up every few months but here is an underated book I never hear mentioned:

"Misfits! The Cleveland Spiders in 1899" by Hetrick

It is about what was probably the worst team ever. It is surprisingly very amusing, interesting and historical regarding turn of the century baseball.

I just noticed a new printing of this book has a slightly different name: "Misfits: Baseball's Worst Ever Team".

[Peter_Spaeth]

Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella.
Silent Season of a Hero (essay not book) by Gay Talese.
The opening chapter of Underworld by Don DeLillo, which may be separately available as Pafko at the Wall.

[Writehooks]

"Baseball: The Early Years" by Harold Seymour (Oxford University Press, 1959).

Traces the growth of the sport from the time of the first recorded game at Valley Forge during the Revolution to the formation of the two present major leagues in 1903. Besides meticulously chronicling the game's early development, Dr. Seymour details the influence of baseball on American business, manners, morals, social institutions ... and show business. 365 pages of terrific storytelling.

[btcarfagno]

"Ed Delahanty in the Emerald Age of Baseball" by Jerrold Casway

Great stuff not just on baseball of the time but the life of a star ballplayer of the time as well. Really great stuff.

Tom C

[wolterse]

This is my favorite topic to discuss. There are so many great books out there. Here are a couple that I recommend:

Chief Bender's Burden - Tom Swift
The black prince of baseball - Donald Dewey

[Old Hoss]

I second the recommendation of "Fifty-Nine in '84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had." An interesting, easy-to-read book that includes some nice photographs, baseball cards, and scorecard covers.

I also recommend anything by Peter Morris, who is the author of five great books. You can see what he has written by following this link: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Morris/e..._athr_dp_pel_1

Hope this helps,
Charles

[Kawika]

Both Peter Morris' The Catcher and Spalding's World Tour are in my on-deck circle. Have heard that they are great reads.

A couple of indispensable books are the SABR Deadball Players of the AL and NL volumes. They offer mini-bios (typically two or three pages) of the players who grace our vintage cards. Definitely desert island caliber. Similar territory and similarly wonderful would be They Played the Game: The Story of Baseball Greats by Harry Grayson (1945), copies to be had on Alibris.

Fleming's The Unforgettable Season is on my top shelf of baseball books. I disagree with Frank that it is better than Crazy '08. It is just different. Both are equally excellent and you will not be able to put either one down once you've started reading. You'll only regret that every baseball season didn't get the same treatment.

Baseball's Golden Age: The Photographs of Charles M. Conlon by Neal McCabe. Better than porn. 'Nuf ced.

[carrigansghost]

The Great Red Sox Spring Training Tour Of 1911: Bill Nowlin

Red Sox before the Babe: Donald Hubbard.

These are the next two on my trip to the bookstore.

Rawn

[vintagechris]

Deadball Stars of the American League and Deadball stars of the National League are must reads IMO. Hard to start reading them and not stop.

[DixieBaseball]

If you dig the minors, particulary the Southern League (Many future Major Leaguer's played here first), then I recommend The Greatest game ever played in Dixie. It is a nice historical account of the 1908 Southern League players, teams, and an in depth look at the Nashville Vols winning the championship on the last day of the season.

[FrankWakefield]

David, you have Fleming's other book, The Dizziest Season there on your shelf. I'm an Ed Reulbach fan, so any book that covers part of that season is a good one.

Maybe we should work on a list of books with one book for each season...

1903: July 2, 1903 The Mysterious Death of Hall-Of-Famer Big Ed Delahanty, by Mike Sowell.

1904: The Year They Called off the World Series

1908: The Unforgettable Season

1934: The Dizziest Season

1941: 1941

1946: The Year the Boys Came Back

1964: October 1964

That's just a starter.

And Jeremy, I'll get myself a copy of that Vols book. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Kawika]

Here's a few more, Frank.

1903 Autumn Glory: Baseball's First World Series by Louis Masur - read it several years ago and remember liking it. Haven't read either of the Delehanty books mentioned in this thread so can't compare.

1906 When Chicago Ruled Baseball: The Cubs-White Sox World Series of 1906 by Bernard Weisberger - read it last year and enjoyed it.

1912 The First Fall Classic: The Red Sox, Giants and the Cast of Players, Pugs and Politicos who Reinvented the World Series in 1912 (whew) by Mike Vaccaro - didn't like it as much as I wanted to, being a 1912 WS buff. Thought the author over-reached outside his story too much in his attempt to draw the WS into the context of the day. Terrific dust jacket photo of Joe Wood and Jeff Tesreau.

1919 - Gotta be a definitive book of the Black Sox story but don't know it. I liked Eight Men Out but understand it came under a lot of scrutiny for inaccuracies.

1927 - Likewise, gotta be something about the '27 Yankees and then they should make a Ben Hur epic of it. Billy Crystal, are you reading this?

1955 The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn - duh!

[Hot Springs Bathers]

David- Could you move the lamp so I read the other titles?

[Kawika]

Originally Posted by Hot Springs Bathers

David- Could you move the lamp so I read the other titles?

Sorry that the photo is in poor focus. I'm quite proud of my little baseball library (although it's strictly Single A bush league compared to Max Weder's Smithsonian North in Vancouver).

[Butch7999]

Preston Orem's Baseball 1845-1881 (1961, Preston Orem) and Primitive Baseball: The First Quarter-Century of the National Pastime by Harvey Frommer (1988, Atheneum) are a couple of worthwhile primers on the game's early days...

[bbcard1]

I think you would like Box Socials by Kinsella....underrated.

[Trl3789]

I'm apologize for bringing a book thread back up, but i was curious if anyone had suggestions for books specifically about Tris Speaker. I've read Tris Speaker: The Rough-and-Tumble Life and was just hoping to find more reading material on him.

Thanks
-Tucker

[baseballart]

Tucker

Unless there's some obscure bio circulating somewhere, that bio is the only one I've seen on Mr. Speaker

[Trl3789]

Thanks Max. I was afraid that might be the case. Well thanks anyway.

[Kawika]

Haven't read this book.

Spoke: A Biography of Tris Speaker (Southern Methodist University Press) – Hardcover (2007)
by Charles C Alexander, C Paul Rogers (Editor)

Hardcover, Southern Methodist University Press
2007
English
360 pages

ISBN: 0870745174
ISBN-13: 9780870745171

Charles C. Alexander's fact-filled biography of Tris Speaker chronicles the twenty-two-year career of arguably the greatest centerfielder ever to play the position. It follows the colorful ballplayer through his years with the Boston Red Sox, the Cleveland Indians, the Washington Senators, and the Philadelphia Athletics, and on into his later years as manager of a professional ball club and promoter of the national pastime. Alexander examines both the highs and lows of Speaker's illustrious career, including his bitter contract dispute with the Red Sox in 1915, the death of his close friend Ray Chapman from a pitched ball in 1920, and the game-fixing scandal Speaker found himself embroiled in, along with Ty Cobb, late in his playing career. Despite the fact that Speaker was in the inaugural induction class when the National Baseball Hall of Fame opened in 1939, compiled a lifetime .345 batting average, and accumulated more doubles than anyone in baseball history, he is today not a household name like Ty Cobb or Babe Ruth, both of whom were Speaker's peers. Renowned baseball historian Alexander makes the case that Speaker, a fiery competitor and an immensely popular figure in his day, deserves to be known to a wider audience. Alexander details not only every significant major league game in which Speaker played, but also describes the careers of his teammates and opponents, the baseball of their day, and the way it changed within the context of the larger world around them. Tris Speaker's reputation receives new luster in Charles C. Alexander's even-handed biography of one of baseball's greats.