Good Baseball Books

[jerseygary]

I'll toot my own horn and recommend my book "The League of Outsider Baseball". I illustrated, wrote it and am proud as heck of it. Came out in May and received better reviews than I could have ever asked for, which you can read HERE. ESPN called it "The most beautiful baseball book of the summer" and I've gotten really great responses at all the book signings I've done this year. And I just found out it was selected as one of the nine best baseball books of the year nominated for the Casey Award...

[bobbvc]

Agree- Gary's book is Great. So is "Ball Four", "October 1964", and the oft mentioned classic "The Glory of Their Times". "Lords of the Realm" good as well as far as the Business of Baseball goes.

Originally Posted by jerseygary

I'll toot my own horn and recommend my book "The League of Outsider Baseball". I illustrated, wrote it and am proud as heck of it. Came out in May and received better reviews than I could have ever asked for, which you can read HERE. ESPN called it "The most beautiful baseball book of the summer" and I've gotten really great responses at all the book signings I've done this year. And I just found out it was selected as one of the nine best baseball books of the year nominated for the Casey Award...

[cool-vintage]

Not Ruth related but I would recommend Glory of Their Times. I recently picked up two baseball books, Eight Men Out and Turbulent Seasons.

[vthobby]

Originally Posted by jerseygary

I'll toot my own horn and recommend my book "The League of Outsider Baseball". I illustrated, wrote it and am proud as heck of it. Came out in May and received better reviews than I could have ever asked for, which you can read HERE. ESPN called it "The most beautiful baseball book of the summer" and I've gotten really great responses at all the book signings I've done this year. And I just found out it was selected as one of the nine best baseball books of the year nominated for the Casey Award...

Always looking for cool books. Just ordered this on Amazon! Thanks for the heads up!

Peace, Mike

[btcarfagno]

Ed Delahanty and the Emerald Age Of Baseball is a tremendous work. Also Color Blind. Story of interracial team from Bismarck ND (including Satchel Paige and Hilton Smith) playing in the first national semi-pro tournament.

Tom C

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by btcarfagno

Ed Delahanty and the Emerald Age Of Baseball is a tremendous work.

Agree with you completely. I read that Delahanty book a couple years ago, and really liked it. The author, Jerrold Casway, is a professor at Howard Community College in Maryland. I wrote him a short e-mail after I read the book saying how much I liked it, and he wrote me a nice e-mail back saying that the greatest feeling any author can ever have is being told by a reader that they enjoyed something he/she wrote.

For something different than a biography, Dave Jamieson's "Mint Condition" is a fabulous read. The book talks about the author's frustration and disappointment at realizing his cards from the 1980s and 1990s were worth nearly nothing. Jamieson wrote about calling card shops to see if they wanted his old cards, only to find out that he could literally not even give them away. The book also talks about the history of cards and why the bottom fell out on '80s and '90s cards.

[Snapolit1]

Me too. Looking forward to it Gary. Just ordered. Thanks everyone for all the good ideas and happy new year.

[bwbc917]

Got the "Outsiders of Baseball" for Christmas. Love it. Gotta recommend "Banzai Babe Ruth" by Fritts. Really enjoyable read.

[jerseygary]

Thanks to you guys who ordered my book, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing and illustrating it.

Rob Fitts' book Banzai Babe Ruth is really one of the best baseball books I've read. Although it's about the 1934 MLB tour of Japan it is also part spy book and he really gets into the personalities of the ball players and makes them come alive. A real great guy in person as well.

If you want one to really throw you through a loop, read "The Natural" - it ain't anything like the movie (I actually wish they had followed the book instead of re-writing it).

[pbspelly]

"Pure Baseball" by Keith Hernandez is a fascinating book. He dissects two games pitch by pitch. Sometimes a bit too in depth, but interesting nonetheless. You can't read it without realizing how smart a player the guy was.

[brian1961]

I was privileged to go to The Smithsonian Museum back in 1987. After my wife and I were done, I spent a few minutes browsing in their bookstore. Lo and behold, there was a Mickey Mantle book I'd never heard of, but had been just released that year. Entitled EXPLOSION!, by Paul Gallagher, it was a thorough, very well-researched treatment and analysis of each of Mickey Mantles home runs.

Gallagher did a fine job, and interviewed many of Mickey's teammates and pitchers he faced. In retrospect, his timing was pivotal, for many of them, including Mick, have now passed on. With Gallagher's enjoyable writing style, and all the pertinent aspects he covers, coupled with the kazillion memories from former players interviewed, Gallagher makes Mickey's home run action all come back fresh again. It became a very cherished read and a wonderful complement to my Mickey Mantle baseball card collection. I still enjoy it immensely whenever I pick it up.

---Brian Powell

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

Just discovered Glory of Their Times. What a fantastic book with chapters told by Marquard, Leach, Davey Jones, Sam Crawford, George Gibson, Jimmy Austin, Fred Snodgrass, Joe Wood, Chief Meyers and many more. If you love pre-war baseball this is amazing!

[VoodooChild]

+1 on Gary's book. I very much enjoyed it.

And while it's not pre-war, I would recommend "Big Hair and Plastic Grass". It's a real fun book about baseball in the '70's.

[53Browns]

Best baseball book I've ever read (and am re-reading now yet again) is Frank Deford's "The Old Ball Game, How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball." An unlikely pair you will be hard pressed to find. An amazing read of how the 20th century game took shape, largely in part to the influence of these two gentlemen and the Giants.

[tschock]

Some, if not all, already noted. But the more you see the names from more people, the more interest they might receive from those who haven't read them (sort of like HOF voting???). Just recent ones I've read that are worth keeping and/or re-reading.

Glory of Their Times (of course)
Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball
The Big Bam
Crazy '08
Harry Hooper - An Amazing Baseball Life
Blackball Stars
We Played the Game (I'm still working on this one)

And special mention to:
My Greatest Day In Baseball (c 1945) - As told by the players. This one for some of "greatest days" you might not expect, such as Satchel Paige's implication of having to win in San Domingo of face President Trujillo's wrath. Great little vignettes that aren't just distant memories for most of these players.

Special mention because the copy I have is weathered and has water damage, but I especially enjoy the inscription to the original owner (not me). "To Dad, From Jean, Merry Christmas 1945!... or ... To My Dad, May he not be so sarcastic, but sarcastic or not, my Dad Always!"

[jerseygary]

Originally Posted by VoodooChild

+1 on Gary's book. I very much enjoyed it.

Thanks and glad you liked it!

[Snapolit1]

Gary - I know it's a month after the fact, but I can't tell you how much I loved the book. The stories are incredible and the art work is really extraordinary. So much I learned. Some of the stories gave me the old proverbial lump in the throat. Moe Berg? Farmer Dean? You couldn't make these stories up. I plan to buy a bunch more on Amazon as gifts for family and friends. Thanks again.

[Snapolit1]

Gary - one complaint though. I grew up a Mets fan in the 70s too. How did you leave out George "The Stork" Theodore??????

[jerseygary]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Gary - I know it's a month after the fact, but I can't tell you how much I loved the book. The stories are incredible and the art work is really extraordinary. So much I learned. Some of the stories gave me the old proverbial lump in the throat. Moe Berg? Farmer Dean? You couldn't make these stories up. I plan to buy a bunch more on Amazon as gifts for family and friends. Thanks again.

Thanks Snapolit1! When I started working on it, my goal was to create the baseball book I always wanted to find in a book store. I am always hyper-critical of my work, thinking I could improve something. I thought it would be the same with my book, but it wasn't true. When I received the first copy from the publisher I sat down and read it cover-to-cover and realized that the book I had always wanted to find in book store I now held in hands. It was the most incredible feeling I'll never forget.

Hearing that others like the book means so much to me, and I am glad you are enjoying it. As for George "The Stork" Theodore - he may find himself in "The League of Outsider Baseball" Volume 2!