OT: Baseball Books (edited to include top recommendations)
I've become more interested in baseball this year, and I was wondering (for those people on the Board who are fans of baseball), what are your 2 or 3 favorite baseball books?
Also, when your teams is out of the running for the playoffs, what maintains your interest in the game? Do you follow individual players or have teams that you cheer for in the top tier? Or do you just somewhat stop watching all together until it gets closer to the playoffs?
Edit -- here are your top recommendations
Ball Four: My Life and Hard Times Throwing the Knuckleball In the Big Leagues by Jim Bouton and Leonard Shecter
The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn
Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball by George Will
The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It by Lawrence S Ritter
You Gotta Have Wa by Robert Whiting
Where Nobody Knows Your Name: Life in the Minor Leagues of Baseball by John Feinstein
Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty by Charles Leerhsen
Only the Ball Was White: A History of Legendary Black Players and All-Black Professional Teams by Robert Peterson
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (Fiction)
"The Kid Who Only Hit Homers" and "Catcher with a Glass Arm" both by Matt Christopher. Challenging reads, but very rewarding.
Hang Tough, Paul Mather and Tony and Me by Alfred Slote.
They are young adult books, but they are dear to my heart.
If going for more of a storytelling book, Teammates by David Halberstam and The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn are both great reads.
I've been playing Beat the Streak a bit this year
I second "Where Nobody Knows Your Name"
writings are the best of a strong genre.
Nothing beats Five Seasons or The Summer Game.
I'll second (or third) "Ball Four."
It will seem quaintly dated, but I understand it was a bombshell when it was released.
You'll get only Jim Bouton's views on everything, of course, but I often found myself taking his side.
reference in a book to "Beaver Shots". Nice choice, gentlemen!!!!
I'l fourth (?) Ball Four. Not nearly as bombshell now as it was then (given TMZ etc), but at the time it was somewhat ground-breaking in terms of 'not all of these baseball players are upstanding citizens' and whatnot.
If you like BIll Simmons, "Now I Can Die in Peace" is worth reading.
George Will's Men at Work is definitely on my radar
I read a book called "You gotta have Wah" (forget author's name) about the life of an American in the Japan League. Fascinating and funny. Also there are several books by Ernie Harwell that collect the hundreds of great baseball stories and anecdotes Ernie had catalogued in his brilliant baseball mind. As an English major who really appreciates great writing, I second the suggestion of Roger Angell. Writes very beautifully about the game.
Quick search: You Gotta Have Wa Paperback by Robert Whiting (Author)
Summer of 49 and October 1964. Both excellent narratives about incredible seasons.
Ditto on "Ball Four." Great inside look at MLB of the era - although I can easliy understand why Jim Bouton was persona non grata in baseball for a long time.
Two books by David Halberstam: "Summer of '49" and "October 1964," covering the pennant races and World Series of those two years.
"The Boys of Summer" by former New York Herald-Tribune sportswriter Roger Kahn, who covered the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952 and 1953. Really interesting were the follow-up profiles on several Brooklyn players from 15 years later.
"Nice Guys Finish Last," an autobiography of Leo Durocher written in the mid-70's. Although the book is a bit whitewashed, and gives only Leo's side to his many conflicts in his stormy career, it's still full of great stories, covering his beginning as a Yankee shortstop in the 1920's, and ending as Houston's manager in the early 70's.
I agree that watching a great starting pitcher makes it fun. I'm digging the Angels but the games start a bit late. Ohtani has been amazing.
It was mainly a joke based on the other suggestions, but it truly is one of those classics. I bought it for my oldest nephew when he was born, along with The Giving Tree and Goodnight Moon.
It might be hard for me to read that book because I read it as The Berenstein Bears (not The Berenstain Bears with an -ain at the end). Just one of those things....
we take what we can get.
The name of the toy store is F.A.O. Schwarz, not F.A.O. Schwartz. Also, it's Friz Freleng. Not Fritz. Look it up.
I've read a few from Tim Kurkjian. He's such a baseball nerd. They are fun reads.
I'm Fascinated by Sacrifice Flies - a collection of his stories over his lifetime. Was a lot of fun to read.
Can't believe no one has listed this yet!!!
Roger Kahn goes back some years later to interview the Dodgers from their golden teams in the 50s.
Two people above listed it, but I appreciate you highlighting it as well!
I've personally read every single one of the baseball books listed...yes, every single one! The best baseball book ever written (imo) is "Veeck-as in Wreck" by Hall of Fame owner Bill Veeck and Ed Linn.
Trust me on this.
By Bob Feller.
If they ever invent the time machine, I'm going back to the 40's and 50's to watch MLB.
by Robert Whiting is probably the best book on baseball, or maybe Japanese culture, I've ever read.
It's absolutely hilarious.
Japan Times agrees:
"Robert Whiting’s baseball classic, “You Gotta Have Wa,” (updated in 2009) remains the definitive text on Japanese culture seen through the lens of sport. Whiting has an engaging style, his research is exhaustive and his first-hand knowledge has ensured this book is just as entertaining now as it was when it was first published in 1989.
Examining the Japanese ideal of wa (harmony) through baseball, Whiting’s book is a must-read for anyone interested in Japan — even if you don’t know the difference between a balk and a base hit."
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2015/04/18/books/book-reviews/gott…
I didn't know You Gotta Have Wa was the basis of the Tom Selleck movie "Mr. Baseball"
but I never saw the movie.
Whiting has a bunch of great books -- all very quick reads. My favorite might be Tokyo Underworld which is a non-fiction account of Japanese gangs in Tokyo centered around an American mobster named Nick Zappetti. Funny as hell. It really hit home for me as I lived in Tokyo for the best part of a decade and the neighborhoods and establishments in the book were places we often frequented. It's one of the best books I've ever read.
The Chrysanthemum and the Bat is another great Whiting book.
but how was living in Japan? I've lived in Eastern Europe off and on for a few years and wanted to know what the similarities and differences are--outside of the obvious cultural ones.
My favorite baseball biographies, if I had to choose, are "Yaz: Baseball, The Wall And Me" and "Some Of My Best Friends Are Crazy", which is Jay Johnstone's book highlighting his career as more of a dugout prankster than a player of note.
The "Baseball Hall Of Shame" series is pretty funny and contains some of the more offbeat tales from the game, including things like trades that ended up being lopsided, umpire miscues, famous brawls, and so forth. "Baseball's Greatest Insults" (not sure if this one is still in print) has some of the more pointed things that have been said about various personalities and stadiums.
I will suggest Robert Creamer's biography of Babe Ruth. The guy was such a "larger than life" fascinating character.