ukslamjam Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 Hi guys, Could anyone recommend a good historic book on Baseball, there seems to be lots around but I'm not sure which one to get? Any tips on what to choose or more importantly what to stay away from! Cheers UKSLAMJAM :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medric822 Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 They also served There's another one, written by the players themselfs, and once I remember it, I'll tell you. It has Babe Herman in it as well as Smokey joe Wood. Very Good Book. Also, summer of 46' and My favority year, 1956, or something like that, written by Mickey Mantle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyMcM93 Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 That Mickey Mantle book is excelent. I would recommend that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukslamjam Posted August 21, 2006 Author Share Posted August 21, 2006 Hey thanks guys, keep em coming. I live in England so I'll have to order the books over the net but I dont care what the price is. :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRog Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 pete rose my prison without bars is excellent i read it for school Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molitor Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 A really good baseball book is "Men at Work" by George Will. And I also really enjoyed "MoneyBall" by Billy Beane. Some historical baseball books that I enjoyed are "The Era" by Roger Kahn and "Summer of 49" by David Halberstam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HCaray Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 "Why Is The Foul Pole Fair" by Vince Staten. It interesting facts about why things in baseball are the way they are. Like the first player to where a glove and the origin of baseball cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DodgersFan64 Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 The three best I've read, and I've read nearly every BB book there is are: "The Boys of Summer" by Roger Kahn http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006095634...glance&n=283155 "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/002030665...3972708?ie=UTF8 and "Eight Men Out: The Black Socks and the 1919 World Series" by Eliot Asinof http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080506537...ie=UTF8&s=books Eight Men Out is much better than the movie, and is fascinating. Ball Four is a very funny book about a journeyman pitcher trying to make it back in the show, and The Boys of Summer is not just the best book ever about baseball, not just the best book about sports, but is one of the best books ever. It is the story of the 1955 Dodgers championship season and all that entailed, the first triumph of the hapless 'Bums. over the hated Yankees no less, plus the story of that famous team with Pee Wee Reese, Don Newcombe, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges and of course, Jackie Robinson. An incredibly beautifully written book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkB Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 UKSLAMJAM, here are a few results from home; play.com. They have a surprisingly large selection of baseball books there. Remember, play.com has free delivery to the U.K., so no need to worry about multiple packages or postage costs. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroEric Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 Ball Four is one of my favorite books in general, not just about baseball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfgiantsflgators Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 Also, summer of '46. i believe you mean "summer of '49, which is a fantastic book about the 1949 pennant race between the yanks and sox i also enjoy "baseball: a literary anthology" which is a compulation of various excerpts from articles and short stories written over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cash #25 Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 "Cobb" by Al Stump is a good one for covering baseball in the first quarter of the 20th century. Books by Roger Angell are usually good. "The Summer Game" covers the 60s and "Five Seasons" the 70s. I also heartily agree with recommendations for "Ball Four" and "Summer of '49." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myztery Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 A really good baseball book is "Men at Work" by George Will. And I also really enjoyed "MoneyBall" by Billy Beane. Some historical baseball books that I enjoyed are "The Era" by Roger Kahn and "Summer of 49" by David Halberstam. Moneyball was good, but it wasn't by Billy Beane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chwalton213 Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 "JOE DIMAGGIO" BY RICHARD BEN CREAMER "TED WILLIAMS" BY LEE MONTIVILLE "WALTER JOHNSON:BASEBALLS BIG TRAIN" BY HENRY THOMAS "LUCKIEST MAN: LIFE AND DEATH OF LOU GEHRIG" BY JOHNATHAN EIG "THE BIG BAM: THE LIFE & TIMES OF BABE RUTH" BY LEE MONTVILLE ALL THESE BOOKS ARE GREAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medric822 Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 Bronx Zoo is a very good book, as well as Pete's book, mentioned earlier. Also, a book by Whity Ford is great, but cant remember the name of it off hand. And, Me ans My Dad was good too, as well as Jeter's book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molitor Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 Moneyball was good, but it wasn't by Billy Beane. You are correct Michael Lewis is author its the story of Billy Beane.... Moneyball is a quest for the secret of success in baseball. Following the low-budget Oakland Athletics, their larger-than-life general manger, Billy Beane, and the strange brotherhood of amateur baseball enthusiasts, Michael Lewis has written not only "the single most influential baseball book ever" (Rob Neyer, Slate) but also what "may be the best book ever written on business" (Weekly Standard). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stecropper Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 I think the Whitey Ford book was named "Slick" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleMo Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 Moneyball is a THE book to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaptorQuiz Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 This one isn't so much "historical" - but I still find it to be a VERY good book concerning baseball strategy and the various things that go on during a single game and a 3-game series: 3 Nights in August by Buzz Bissinger (author of Friday Night Lights). It's about a 3-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. Bissinger eschews the usual method of writing about baseball in the context of a season or a career, choosing instead to dissect the game by carefully watching one three-game series between the Cardinals and Cubs in late 2003. The Pulitzer-winning journalist and author of Friday Night Lights had unprecedented access to Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, as well as his staff and team, and he used that entrée to pick La Russa's formidable baseball brain about everything from how he assembles a lineup to why he uses certain relievers. As the series unfolds, Bissinger reveals La Russa's history and personality, conveying the manager's intensity and his compulsive need to be prepared for any situation that might arise during " 'the war' of each at-bat." Typical characters—the gamer, the natural, the headcase, the crafty old timer—are present, but Bissinger gives new life to their familiar stories with his insider's view and cheeky descriptions (e.g., "Martinez's response to pressure has been like a 45-rpm record, a timeless hit on one side, and the flip side maybe best forgotten"). Bissinger analyzes each team's pitch-by-pitch strategy and gets the dirt on numerous enduring baseball questions: What does it feel like to have to close your first game in Yankee Stadium? Who knew about players using steroids before the current scandal hit? Do managers tell their pitchers to throw at hitters? Mixing classic baseball stories with little-known details and an exclusive perspective, this work should appeal to any baseball fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicagoCubs720 Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 This one isn't so much "historical" - but I still find it to be a VERY good book concerning baseball strategy and the various things that go on during a single game and a 3-game series: 3 Nights in August by Buzz Bissinger (author of Friday Night Lights). It's about a 3-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. I remember that series, August 26-28. Cubs lost 2 of 3 @ Busch. Kerry Robinson, of all people, hit a game-winning HR in the 9th during the last game of the series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bama Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 No one's said Game of Shadows Yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulw Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 Hi guys, Could anyone recommend a good historic book on Baseball, there seems to be lots around but I'm not sure which one to get? Any tips on what to choose or more importantly what to stay away from! Cheers UKSLAMJAM If you're looking for a book to learn baseball *history* one of the best is The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract All the books mentioned are great books but a little more focused. I'd also recommend as a companion "The Baseball Encyclopedia" - all the numbers you'd ever want to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronmexico Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 Moneyball is one of the best books I've ever read. It was so well written, it got me back into reading. It also taught me so much about baseball, I read it last year, and I have been following baseball since I was 3. It taught me to look at baseball a different way, and in general how to look for the uncommon solution as well as the common one. Also Game Of Shadows is a fine piece of investigational reporting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam2kennedy Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 yeah moneyball is VERY good, really makes you think. "last night of the yankee dynasty" by buster onley is outstanding, its about gm 7 in arizona and chronicles many of the different players and characters of those great yankee teams of the late 90's "a tale of two cities" by tony massarotti and john harper, about 2004 yanks/sox rivalry. very well written juiced by jose canseco. interesting...if u can figure out whats fact and whats fiction "perfect i'm not" david wells...im just starting this one but so far so good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddux31 Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 The original Ty Cobb with Al Stump book. The one written in Cobb's word before his passing. The only way Cobb agreed to do the bio on him was if he last word editing about what is and is not in the book. Hard to find, but very worth it, then read the one Al Stump released after Cobb passed away...Amazing how two totally different books, were about the same encounter. Another one that I just finished was called FAITHFUL. This is about the Red Sox 2004 season, seen through the eyes of one of the Red Sox biggest fan's Stephen KING. Yes Stephen King, very interesting and a great read, I would buy it and if you choose read it later, since it may get tough to find. Just some suggestions. But I would certainly look up the Ty Cobb book i mentioned earlier. I bought mine off the internet for around $100.00..It's a first edition and nearly impossible to find. THIS IS THE TY COBB EDITED VERSION. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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