Favorite baseball book? Card or historical focused.

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

I've read a lot of the books mentioned and don't really have anything new to add. Any time I buy a "big" card for my collection, I try to read a biography about the player (Ruth, Mays, Mantle, Jackie, etc.). I find that it brings greater enjoyment of the new card.

So along those lines, I think "The Big Fella" (Jane Levy's book about Babe Ruth) might have been my favorite. I read it once and now I'm halfway through it for a second read through. I think Jane's writing style might be polarizing...some like her books, some really seem to dislike them, but I like the way she tells a story (as another post or two above mention, she has written about Mantle and Koufax as well).

[orioles70]

Goodnight Sibby Sisti, wherever you are.

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[Tabe]

Originally Posted by thatkidfromjerrymaguire

So along those lines, I think "The Big Fella" (Jane Levy's book about Babe Ruth) might have been my favorite. I read it once and now I'm halfway through it for a second read through. I think Jane's writing style might be polarizing...some like her books, some really seem to dislike them, but I like the way she tells a story (as another post or two above mention, she has written about Mantle and Koufax as well).

Yeah, put me in the "dislike" category. It's been several years so I don't recall specifics but I remember hating her Koufax book.

[jgannon]

Mickey Mantle's, "The Education of a Baseball Player" is a great book...

[slipk1068]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

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

I never read The Dizziest Season or The Celebrant, but this is an awesome list. The best baseball reading list I ever saw

The only book(s) I would add is/are The Fireside Book of Baseball any volume they are all great. It is all short stories fiction and non-fiction from the time period. Some of my favorites are Casey Stengal's Testimony before The US Senate, Vin Scully's call of the Sandy Koufax perfect game, Fiction by Ring Lardner including Horseshoes and Alibi Ike, a Heywood Broun newspaper article from 1923 about Babe Ruth in the World Series, and biographies about Satchel Paige and Peter Reiser.

[peterb69]

I just read “ Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball” and enjoyed it.

[Bcwcardz]

The Card by Michael O’Keefe
Card Sharks by Pete Williams

The card is about the origins of the PSA 8 T206 Wagner and it’s journey.
Card Sharks is about the origins of Upper Deck.


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[Huck]

Originally Posted by commishbob

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

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.

I have some of the same books on my shelf. I really enjoyed "Dollar Sign on the Muscle". Follow that with "Prophet of the Sandlots". I did not see the ending coming.

Other good reads:

The Politics of Glory - about getting into the HOF by Bill James
Men at Work - by George Will
Nine Innings - by Okrent
The Fireside books of Baseball (three editions) are decent.

While reading the favorite reads of other members, I don't recall seeing anything by Roger Angell. What gives?

[Wanaselja]

Originally Posted by peterb69

I just read “ Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball” and enjoyed it.

It’s excellent. Sheds a lot of light on Doby’s experience which I’d never read about before.

[John1941]

Originally Posted by peterb69

I just read “ Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball” and enjoyed it.

I read it, and liked it a lot. I didn't know very much about the 1948 Indians before I read it, and it was a fun read.

[luciobar1980]

Originally Posted by campyfan39

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

Hmm, this looks cool! Do you happen to offer it in Kindle/Ebook format?

[FrankWakefield]

Alright,

As I read along, I see I forgot to mention Mr. Nemec's books, The Beer And Whiskey League and his encyclopedia on 19th century ball. Kevin is right about those.

I REALLY enjoyed October 1964, but I'm such a biased Cardinals fan that I didn't mention it initially.

Alibi Ike. David up there mentions Ring Lardner. The guys who wrote about baseball for the first 30 years of the 20th century were MASTER WORD SMITHS. A way to get a glimpse of this would be to read Ring Lardner. I suggest You Know Me Al as a starting point. It's funny! It's amazing, and it's educational. Alibi Ike is a joy in movie form. It's dated, but I really enjoy it. Joe E Brown stars. William Frawley plays the manager. Frawley was Fred Mertz in the old I Love Lucy shows, he was a huge baseball fan, he had a clause in his contract with I Love Lucy that allowed him to not have to show up at the studio to work on the show if the Yankees were in the World Series. And in the 1950's the Yankees were in it quite often. That's why Fred Mertz is occasionally absent from the script. But I digress, for those of you wanting to read fiction, read The Celebrant first, then find a Ring Lardner book. Hopefully it's You Know Me Al.

And I agree with Huck, above, about The Politics of Glory. I think the original version of that is best. Think about wondering how hot dogs and sausage is made, and what's in it. Then imagine that approach to how a HOF ball player got in. It's a bit ugly sometimes. As a Cardinals fan I'm a bit hurt over how is seems Frankie Frisch (great, smart ballplayer) put his finger on the scales, maybe, as some old ballplayers were considered or reconsidered.

[campyfan39]

No, sorry. Just paperback but it is in full color. God bless

Originally Posted by luciobar1980

Hmm, this looks cool! Do you happen to offer it in Kindle/Ebook format?

[topcat61]

Originally Posted by GrewUpWithJunkWax

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.

Thanks I appreciate you checking out my work. Cheers, -Ryan

[GrewUpWithJunkWax]

Originally Posted by topcat61

Thanks I appreciate you checking out my work. Cheers, -Ryan

Keep up the good work

[frankbmd]

My Word!!!

I never realized we had so many members who can read.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

My Word!!!

I never realized we had so many members who can read.

Read can yes do we.

Brian

[benge610]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

Read can yes do we.

Brian

Yeah, mun yah; read, er ... what?

Ben

[Tabe]

The members of the Baseball Books Facebook group recently completed their vote for the best baseball books of all-time and have published their results.

Spoiler: The #1 vote-getter was "The Glory of Their Times".

Members were asked to pick 20 titles and then the results compiled.

Here is the full spreadsheet of votes. If you're looking for books to read, this would be a great place to start.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...mQFUQ-yk#gid=0

[todeen]

Not sure this one has been mentioned or not. But I like the diversity of topics it covers.

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[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by Tabe

The members of the Baseball Books Facebook group recently completed their vote for the best baseball books of all-time and have published their results.

Spoiler: The #1 vote-getter was "The Glory of Their Times".

Members were asked to pick 20 titles and then the results compiled.

Here is the full spreadsheet of votes. If you're looking for books to read, this would be a great place to start.

Great list...I think one could work on reading the books on it for the rest of their lives. There are several hundred that I have never heard about. And I am glad that all types (fiction, biographical, history, etc.) are part of the list and identified as such.

Thanks! Time to start looking into some and creating my own future reading list.

Brian

Brian

[RCMcKenzie]

Did y'all ever see the Twilight Zone with Burgess Meredith where he dreamed of reading all the books he ever wanted to read, in a post-apocalyptic world, and then he broke his glasses, and they rolled the credits? I can only respond to excerpts, in that way, I've adjusted to modern times.

[John1941]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

Did y'all ever see the Twilight Zone with Burgess Meredith where he dreamed of reading all the books he ever wanted to read, in a post-apocalyptic world, and then he broke his glasses, and they rolled the credits? I can only respond to excerpts, in that way, I've adjusted to modern times.

I've never seen it, but as an introverted obsessive reader I've been told about it.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

Did y'all ever see the Twilight Zone with Burgess Meredith where he dreamed of reading all the books he ever wanted to read, in a post-apocalyptic world, and then he broke his glasses, and they rolled the credits? I can only respond to excerpts, in that way, I've adjusted to modern times.

Remember it vividly. Twilight Zone was must-see TV when I was a kid, very exciting when the family gathered for a new episode. Rod Serling was a genius, and he had the best sci-fi writers in the world. My dad knew Burgess Meredith in college, by the way.

[Misunderestimated]

Non-Fiction/History

Money Ball - Lewis
Historial Abstract - James
Big Hair & Plastic Grass Epstein

Fiction:

Universal Baseball Association --Coover
The Great American Novel - Roth

[michael3322]

The Zappalas' books are incredible and beautifully designed. Highly recommend.

https://tomzappalamedia.com

[cammb]

The Boys of Summer

[CobbSpikedMe]

Crazy '08 was fantastic and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in prewar baseball. It's been mentioned earlier in this thread, but I wanted to bring attention to it again.



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[botport]

Ordered a couple myself ... thanks to all that made recommendations