Alan D. Gaff

What Baseball Books are You Reading Now?
Baseball
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1rocketjk
Feb 11, 2008, 12:24pm Top
I thought it would be fun to see if we could get this off the ground . . . stealing the idea from the What Are You Reading Now? group, a simple thread where people talk about the baseball books, either fiction or non-fiction they're currently reading (or, to start off, that they've recently read).

OK, so, so far this year I've read Baseball for British Youth, (see the Baseball in England thread) and Felipe Alou . . . My Life and Baseball, which was written in 1967 and gives a good picture of Alou's childhood in the Dominican Republic and his early career with the Giants and Braves, as well as his active religious life.

I'm also going through the New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract a little at a time.

What is everybody else reading?
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2DaynaRT
Feb 11, 2008, 12:29pm Top
I just read The Joy of Keeping Score, a short history of scorekeeping in baseball with lots of interesting photos of old scorecards. My next baseball related book will probably be Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong.
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3dchaikin
Feb 11, 2008, 1:01pm Top
Well, I'm waiting for the season to start before I pick up a baseball book. But I have Late Innings by Roger Angell and Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life by Richard Ben Cramer in mind.
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4rocketjk
Feb 11, 2008, 7:21pm Top
> fleela, I have the Joy of Keeping Score but haven't read it yet. I've never heard of Baseball Between the Numbers. Who wrote that one?

> dhcaikin, I read the excerpts of the Creamer Dimaggio book in the New Yorker when the book first came out. It doesn't portray DiMaggio too flatteringly.
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5DaynaRT
Feb 11, 2008, 10:21pm Top
>4 rocketjk:
It's from The Baseball Prospectus.
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6TeacherDad
Feb 11, 2008, 11:08pm Top
I guess it is that time of year, need to pull out the Bill James and dust off the hardball books... I just picked up The Soul of Baseball about Buck O'Neil, and The Jackie Robinson Story usually get a spring-time read from me...
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7RonKaplanNJ
Feb 12, 2008, 11:33am Top
I'm usually reading 3-4 baseball books at any one time. Just finished Mets by the Numbers, The Harvard Boys, Willie Mays: Art in the Outfield, and Extra Innings (about amateur over-30 baseball). Right now I have Your Brain on Cubs, and Hammerin' Hank, George Almighty and the Say Hey Kid on my desk. FYI, I try to keep up with the most current baseball publishing info on my blog: rksbaseballbookshelf.wordpress.com.
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8rocketjk
Edited: Feb 12, 2008, 12:37pm Top
Ron, I will check out your blog. Thanks!

btw, I see you're in Montclair. I grew up in Maplewood and my wife's from Caldwell (although we met here in San Francisco. Go figure!)
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9keving1701 First Message
Edited: Feb 13, 2008, 6:44pm Top
Just finished A Game of Brawl and Tris Speaker:The Rough And Tumble Life Of A Baseball Legend. And I am currently reading a biography of Jimmie Foxx The Pride of Sudlersville

Kevin
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10rocketjk
Feb 14, 2008, 12:05pm Top
How was the Speaker book? The Foxx biography looks really interesting. I've got Hank Greenberg's autobiography on my short list.
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11keving1701
Feb 15, 2008, 12:47pm Top
The Speaker book was very good. He was a very good player that doesn't get a lot of mention.

I got the Foxx book because he has always been a favorite of mine. It goes into detail about his childhood, and progresses through his career, and life after baseball.

Both very good books.

Kevin
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12rocketjk
Edited: Jun 30, 2008, 11:30am Top
Over the weekend I began Frank Frisch: the Fordham Flash, an as-told-to autobiography (with J. Roy Stockton) published in 1962. It's engagingly written, if a little short, so far, in details. Still, some nice anecdotes and a great first-hand account of what it was like to play under John McGraw.
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13seki
Jun 30, 2008, 5:35pm Top
We (Cleveland, Ohio) just had the SABR conference. Looking from the outside has made renewed my reading of baseball books and all things baseball. I am starting with The Ultimate Baseball Book edited by Daniel Okrent and Harris Lewine. I can't wait to start reading it!!!
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14rocketjk
Jul 3, 2008, 1:04pm Top
Well, I finished Frank Frisch: the Fordham Flash last night and must report that all of my earlier reservations about the book melted away as I read. Lots of great stories and lots of great observations about baseball in the 20s, 30s and 40s. A great read, highly recommended for baseball fans if you can find it.
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15BaseballDiva
Aug 27, 2008, 5:14pm Top
I'm reading Jules Tygiel's Past Time: Baseball as History. It welds American cultural history and baseball together beautifully. It makes baseball accessible to those interested in history and it illuminates history for those interested in baseball. I'm considering it as a text for my course on baseball in American culture.
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16rocketjk
Edited: Aug 29, 2008, 1:50pm Top
BaseballDiva, I'm going to have to go looking for that one! Do you mind if I ask where you teach? (I'll understand entirely if you'd prefer not to answer that in public.) From the looks of your tags, it would appear you're either in NYC or have some New York roots. (I'm in California, but I, too, have a "Yankees" tag!) My sister-in-law teaches current politics and sociology (I'm being general; I'm not sure of the exact topics) at Fordham, and I'm going to tell her about the Tygiel book, as well.
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17rocketjk
Dec 7, 2008, 1:45pm Top
I'm now reading British Baseball and the West Ham Club, an interesting account of the attempts to get baseball started in England.
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18stuart75
Jan 14, 2009, 12:10pm Top
I'd like to suggest the baseball literary magazine Elysian Fields for anyone that loves to read baseball books. It's published in St. Paul and has been around for about 20 years. Great historical articles, literary fiction, essays, book reviews, etc.
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19rocketjk
Jan 14, 2009, 1:52pm Top
I'll second stuart's recommendation. I don't subscribe to Elysian Fields, but I do have a few copies in my library. They're full of great stories and articles.

Right now I am reading Designated Hebrew: the Ron Blomberg Story. It's Blomberg's own "as told to" account of his time as the first Jewish Yankee since the 1930s and the attention he's received from the stroke of dumb luck that made him the first player to come to the plate as a designated hitter. Not a great book, but interesting and fairly entertaining.
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20BaseballDiva
Jan 26, 2009, 12:37pm Top
I teach at a CNY community college. The course is a social science survey course that relates baseball to America's culture. Tygiel's book is wonderful at connecting what is happening in the US at a given time and how that is borne out in baseball. It does a better job that Ken Burns's documentary.
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21rocketjk
Jan 26, 2009, 2:00pm Top
# 20> Thanks! By the way, as I said I was going to, I did go looking for the Tygiel book. And I found it. On my baseball shelf (as in, I already own it)! Onto the short TBR list it goes!
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22lindapanzo
Jan 26, 2009, 6:20pm Top
Over the weekend, I finished Charles C. Alexander's book, Breaking the Slump: Baseball in the Depression Era. Really enjoyed it.

This time of year, up til the start of the baseball season, is prime baseball reading time for me.

I'd be curious to hear what other baseball books you're all reading.
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23jzerby
Feb 22, 2009, 10:05pm Top
Because I had enjoyed it so much myself, I used the Alexander book for my first baseball history and research class (2005) in a community education series sponsored by our local college. The book and class were well-received and have led to five more baseball classes, with another planned for this fall (2009).

Right now I'm reading "Baseball and the Baby Boomer" by Talmadge Boston. I had enjoyed his "1939: Baseball's Pivotal Year," published about ten years ago. I just finished "Chief Bender's Burden" by Tom Swift--well done and informative.

For a different take on the 1919 Series, I suggest "Red Legs & Black Sox" by Susan Dellinger.

In baseball fiction, most are familiar with W. P. Kinsella's "Shoeless Joe," from which the movie Field of Dreams was adapted. Less-well-known is Kinsella's "Iowa Baseball Confederacy." I enjoyed it more than "Shoeless." "Hanging Curve" by Troy Soos is another lesser-known but excellent piece of baseball fiction.

Bill Werber, who at 100+ was the oldest-living major leaguer until his death on January 22, 2009, self-published two books: "Circling the Bases" and "Hunting is for the Birds." They're hard to find but great reads. Bill's SABR collaboration with C. Paul Rogers ("Memories of a Ballplayer") was a worthwhile must-read for me--thankfully it was done before Bill passed on.

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24lindapanzo
Feb 23, 2009, 12:25pm Top
jzerby, I'm also reading Baseball and the Baby Boomer, though I'm not too far into it. Just read the first chapter about Mantle and Piersall.

How are you liking it?
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25jzerby
Feb 23, 2009, 10:01pm Top
It's excellent--I'm considering using it for my next baseball history and research class in Ocrober. The regulars there are all in the right age group . . .A nice tribute chapter to Bart Giamatti . . .

I just rediscovered this site last evening after happening upon it and and entering three books a couple years ago. It's amazing what it will do and how well-designed it is. I opted quickly today for a lifetime membership and have close to a hundred of my books catalogued now.

The feature allowing a member to browse others' collections is especially useful, and I see that you and I have several books in common just out of the ones I've entered so far. I had never found a way to discuss baseball books in any depth outside SABR, but this site certainly provides it. I also collect other sports books and books in several other areas, so the site opens that up as well.
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26lindapanzo
Feb 23, 2009, 11:35pm Top
I'm glad to hear the Baseball and Baby Boomers is good. I've also got another, more scholarly baseball book going right now. It's about the Cubs, Wrigley Field etc called Northsiders.

Two others I expect to read soon are El Birdos (about the Cardinals) and also the one about the history of baseball telecasts.
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27BaseballDiva
Apr 1, 2009, 4:58pm Top
I just read Josh Hamilton's Beyond Belief, an Early Reviewers book, posted my review here and at my blog.

I'm reading It Was Never About the Babe, which takes the Red Sox organization to task, blunders and stupidity from the start.

I did a course on Kinsella and agree that The Iowa Baseball Confederacy is superior to Shoeless Joe, which people who've only seen the movie will find it much different. Magic Time was another good Kinsella read.

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28rocketjk
Apr 8, 2009, 5:30pm Top
Sort of a baseball book . . .

I just started "Strat-O-Matic Fanatics: the Unlikely Success Story of a Game that Became an American Passion" by Glenn Guzzo. (touchstones don't seem to be working for this one)

It's the story of the inventor (and the invention and development) of Strat-O-Matic Baseball, a great baseball dice game I played as a kid and that I still love to play to this day. Any other Strat players around here?
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29BOB81
May 21, 2009, 1:19am Top
Just getting into The Wrong Season: memoir of a die-hard (Mets(ick)) fan living through a mediocre season; I can halfway relate.
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30lindapanzo
May 21, 2009, 9:46am Top
I have just started Jane Heller's new book, Confessions of a She-Fan. Heller, a Yankees fan, announced, in the NY Times, her decision to divorce the Yankees on grounds of mental cruelty.

After the hubbub died down, in an attempt to figure out whether she was a bandwagon fan or a true fan, Heller and her husband travelled with the Yankees and went to every game during the rest of the 2007 season.
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31abealy
Jun 16, 2009, 9:02am Top
Well I've just begun Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend by Larry Tye to try and rescue me from the depressing reality of 2009 baseball. I trust Satchel's stuff...
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32Mantra
Jun 16, 2009, 1:22pm Top
I just finished Alyssa Milano's Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic.
I really enjoyed it. If you're not familiar with Alyssa, she grew up on "Who's the Boss" and was a star of "Charmed". She's a HUGE baseball fan, VERY knowledgeable and writes a blog for MLB.
She really understands the game.

I highly recommend it to any new fans of the game, but even long-time fans will get something out of it.

I say we elect her Commissioner!
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33rocketjk
Aug 8, 2009, 1:05pm Top
Last night I started The Kid from Tomkinsville by John R. Tunis. This is a reread from my junior high days. I guess the Tunis books are considered YA literature, but the first few pages are so well and evocatively written, there's no compromise in quality. A bonus is the fact that the book is written in 1940, so it gives a picture of the U.S and of baseball, on the eve of our involvement in World War II.
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34languagehat
Aug 8, 2009, 5:14pm Top
I just read If I Never Get Back, by Darryl Brock, about a guy who goes back to 1869 and hangs out with the original Cincinnati Red Stockings. If you have any interest in 19th-century baseball and/or enjoy time travel stories, it's a must-read.
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35rocketjk
Aug 17, 2009, 1:40pm Top
I finished The Kid from Tomkinsville last week and, unusually for me, jumped immediately into another baseball book. I've just started Satchel: the Life and Times of an American Legend, the new biography of Satchel Paige written by Larry Tye. The first 50 pages are quite good, giving, in addition to a good, brief picture of Paige's childhood, also an overview of Jim Crow conditions in Mobile, Alabama, in the first decades of the 20th century and a quick history of the development of the Negro Leagues. Good stuff.
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36rolandperkins
Aug 17, 2009, 9:45pm Top
To rocketjk et al. :

The Kid from Tomkinsville and its sequel ",,,in the World Series" are perhaps the best sports books, fiction or non-fiction that I have read at any age. My age at that reading happened to be pre-high school, an age at which I had read many other sports novels (mostly baseball and football) and very little of introductions to "good" lliterature.

Tunis's books were so realistic that a very rare slip stood out. The only sllip I can think of, in fact, is that the Dodgers, the protagonist team, seemed to always have the same umpire in every game that was described. Whihc, of course is possible, but highly improbable, as teams of umpires were rotated then, as now. (usually with no 2nd base umpire --just 3 umpires altogether for games import ant in the standings, and 2 for less important ones.
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37rocketjk
Aug 18, 2009, 12:39am Top
Hey, Roland, Thanks for the comment. I never noticed the point about the umpire. Interesting! By the way, there's also a third Roy Tucker book, The Kid Comes Back. If I remember correctly from my junior high days, the place he "comes back" from is combat in Europe during World War II. Anyway, I'm going to be re-reading World Series and The Kid Comes Back sometime over the next few months, I think.
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38rolandperkins
Aug 18, 2009, 4:45pm Top
To Rocketjk:

The funny thing is that I do remember the umpire's (nick)name: "Old Stubblebeard" -- and the names of a few other characters. Eddie Davis was the 2b
that the Kid's brother replaced. Gene Miller (?) was the Indians pitcher, based on BobFeller. Carey Thomas was a relief pitcher, based on someone of that era,, probably not an Indian. (Managers ;just sent in whomever they thought was most needed at the time; there were no closers or set-up men.
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39TeacherDad
Aug 20, 2009, 3:58pm Top
just read Steve Garvey's childhood baseball memoir/life lessons book, My Bat Boy Days, and now I'd like to find a good book on Al Kaline -- any suggestions?
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40rolandperkins
Aug 20, 2009, 4:50pm Top
To Teacher Dad (#39)

I haven't read any book on Al Kaline, or even known that there were any until looking at this thread.

But I notice, as you may have, too, that Al Hershberg wrote a book on Kaline (as well as books on several others, mostly American Leaguers: Frank Howard, Jackie Jensen, and Frank Robinson.

When high school age, I read, or at least scanned his The (Boston) Braves: the Pick and the Shovel
and The Red Sox: the Bean and the Cod (terrible title!) The former picks up the story of the Braves about 1946 when new ownership under Lou Perini et al. made a contender out of a perennial "2nd division" team. Perini & Co. brought a NL pennant to Boston, but also, only 4 years later took the Braves away to Milwaukee.
A pretty good writer, as I remember it.
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41Capybara_99
Edited: Dec 18, 2009, 9:31pm Top
Just finished As They See 'Em: A Fan's Travels In The Land Of Umpires by Ny Times reporter Bruce Weber. I recommend it. It isn't quite what I'd expect in some ways -- the beginning is concerned with Weber's time as a student in umpire school (for the book) and the book seems to wander a bit from chapter to chapter. Nonetheless, it is engaging, and is rather amusingly sympathetic to the umpires (who it must be said have a tough lot, especially as so very few professional umpires make it to the majors) while never going too far overboard.
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42rocketjk
Oct 22, 2009, 6:18pm Top
I just started the second book in John R. Tunis' Roy Tucker series, World Series. This is the sequal to The Kid from Tomkinsville (see above). So far it promises to be as good as the first book.
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43rocketjk
Nov 3, 2009, 1:46pm Top
Well, I enjoyed the first two Tunis books so much that now I'm reading the third Roy Tucker book, The Kid Comes Back and enjoying that one, too.
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44JerryGarcia
Edited: Jan 23, 2010, 8:11am Top
I just read The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds and thought it was fantastic. I'm not a Reds fan (actually I follow the Red Sox who lost to the Reds that year in a classic World Series) but I just couldn't put it down.
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45rolandperkins
Edited: Jan 23, 2010, 12:57am Top
"The Machine. . . the 1975 Cincinnati Reds..."
(#44)

The '75 WS was during my 2nd year in Hawai'i. My
brother-in-law knew I'm a Red Sox fan, and invited us to see TV for some of the games. I didn't see the whole series, but much more than I saw of the '74 Oakland A's: just heard the final result some hours after it ended. Disappointing result, the 1975--3rd of 4 20th c. WS losses by the Red Sox during my lifetime. They got off to a much better 21st c. start with sweeping the WS in '04 and '07 -- but I imagine a good book could be made of it.
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46lindapanzo
Jan 23, 2010, 11:27am Top
I'm looking forward to reading The Machine.

My current baseball book is Chasing Moonlight: The True Story of Field of Dreams' Doc Graham by Brett Friedlander.

Field of Dreams is my favorite baseball movie and Moonlight Graham was the most intriguing character in it.
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47rocketjk
Jan 27, 2010, 2:03pm Top
Last night I began The Incredible Mets by Maury Allen. This is the story of the Mets' 1969 Chamionship season, as told by Allen who was a beat writer following the team all season. The book came out only a month after the conclusion of the '69 Series, so the observations are first-hand and fresh. Happily, Allen is also a good writer.
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48Capybara_99
Jan 28, 2010, 2:03pm Top
@46

I hear Moonlight Graham only makes an appearance in half a page of Chasing Moonlight: The True Story of Field of Dreams' Doc Graham.
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49lindapanzo
Jan 28, 2010, 2:38pm Top
Huh? The whole book is about him.

A lot of the information is from other sources, though. Minor league baseball records. Remembrances from the town's newspaper editor who knew him personally. There are very few direct records from him. One or two letters. Maybe that's what they meant?

It's a fairly short bio. Less than 200 pages.
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50lindapanzo
Jan 28, 2010, 2:44pm Top
I love this time of year when I start hearing about the new crop of baseball books.

Three new ones I've heard about, so far, include:

Willie Mays: The Life, the Legend by James S. Hirsch.

A bio of Roger Maris called Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero by Tom Clavin.

Also, Fifty-Nine in '84 by Edward Achorn, about Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn's 1884 season when he won 59 games.

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51rocketjk
Jan 28, 2010, 2:51pm Top
#31> Well I am quite surprised to find that I never came on this thread and posted when I read Satchel: the Life and Times of an American Legend by Larry Tye last year. I thought it one of the best books of any sort that I read in 2009, and certainly one of the very best sports biographies I've ever read. A well-written, fascinating book.

#50> Linda, I would definitely add the Paige bio to any list of good new baseball books.
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52abealy
Feb 14, 2010, 6:19pm Top
51> Rocket, Satchel was wonderful and, as you say, deserves to be considered one of the best sports bios ever written.

I don't remember if I posted that I was reading Sixty Feet Six Inches by Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson (with Lonnie Wheeler). Great insight and a fun read from two masters of the art.
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53rocketjk
Feb 14, 2010, 7:49pm Top
#52> abealy, I heard Gibson and Jackson being interviewed together on NPR when Sixty Feet was first published. It does sound great.
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54rocketjk
Feb 21, 2010, 5:36pm Top
I am reading Say Hey: the Autobiography of Willie Mays. This is not the current bio that Mays is now being interviewed about, but one written in 1988. I'm about a quarter of the way through and enjoying it a great deal.
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55rocketjk
Mar 29, 2010, 1:01pm Top
I finished Say Hey a while back and my review remains the same as my initial impression. Good but not great. I'm assuming the more current Mays bio is better.

I just finished reading Top of the Heap: a Yankees Collection edited by Glenn Stout. This was a collection of newspaper articles and columns, presented chronologically, covering key moments in Yankees history, from the team's creation through their loss in the 2001 World Series (a touching article about Game 7 of that series being Paul O'Neill's final game).
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56zechola
Edited: Apr 3, 2010, 1:34am Top
Right now I'm reading Stump's Cobb and have been perusing the Literary Baseball Anthology, but I just ordered The Bullpen Gospels, which I'm excited to read once Amazon delivers it next week.
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57JerryGarcia
May 14, 2010, 11:36am Top
Wow, I just stayed up until 2 AM reading Cardboard Gods Just a fantastic read about a lonely kid growing up in the Seventies and the baseball cards that got him through.
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58TeacherDad
May 17, 2010, 9:03pm Top
Cardboard Gods def on my list; just picked up Honus and Me.
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59anotherboilingfrog
May 17, 2010, 10:15pm Top
my all time fav baseball book is SLICK, my life in and around baseball by Whitey Ford, and when it comes to fiction there are none better the WP Kinsella, there is the obvious "Shoeless Joe", by my fav is "The Iowa Baseball Confederacy"
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60rocketjk
May 18, 2010, 12:19am Top
Slick is on my baseball shelf, awaiting my attention, along with a couple dozen other books, I'm afraid.

I just finished Baseball's All-Time Greats: The Top Fifty Players by Mac Davis. The top 50 players were as of 1970, when the book was first published. Short and sweet bios of some of the greatest stars from the late 1800s through the 1960s. It was fun reading through those bios and being reminded of the lives of some of the early heroes. Also, the edition I have was republished in 1984 and included an addendum featuring the history and highlights of the All-Star Game. A quick and fun trip through time.
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61rocketjk
Aug 6, 2010, 3:11pm Top
I've finally gotten back to my baseball shelf, last night starting Diz: The Story of Dizzy Dean and Baseball During the Great Depression by Robert Gregory. The first 25 pages or so are very promising indeed, as the writing is very engaging.
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62rocketjk
Aug 15, 2010, 12:41pm Top
I finished Diz: The Story of Dizzy Dean and Baseball During the Great Depression last night. It was good but not great. My review is on the book's main page.
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63rolandperkins
Edited: Aug 16, 2010, 1:21am Top
Havenʻt gotten them yet--probably will be from the Public Library System, and thereʻs about a 50% chance it will have them-- but I have added to
my Wish List 2 Wes Singletary titles: Al Lopez
and The First Florida Big League baseball players.

Also Bill Jamesʻs compilation an big league managers.
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64MikeD
Aug 22, 2010, 2:32pm Top
fleeta, thanks for the info on The Joy of Keeping Score! I had no idea someone had written a book on that subject.

I learned to keep score many years ago, I must have been 10 or 11 and was and still am a LA Dodger fan. Kept it up for about 6 years or so then gave it up.

One of my treasures, now gone with my baseball card collection, was my scorecard of a Sandy Koufax no hitter in 1963. It was all the more special because it was my first time seeing a game in Dodger Stadium and we were playing the SF Giants... Juan Marichal was pitching for them.

Still a baseball fan today, and still a Dodger fan.... but don't think I'll ever see a pitcher as dominant as Sandy Koufax was in his short career.

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65MikeD
Aug 24, 2010, 9:26pm Top
Just finished 27 Men Out, Baseball's Perfect Games by Michael Coffey each chapter a nice story about the perfect games thrown by such pitchers like Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter, Don Larsen, Jim Bunning, etc. Not just a play by play of the game but describes how the pitcher got there and his teams season the year of that memorable game.
I'm now reading Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella
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66rocketjk
Mar 6, 2011, 9:28pm Top
Today I started The Empire Strikes Out: How Baseball Sold U.S. Foreign Policy and Promoted the American Way Abroad by Robert Elias.
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67tymfos
Mar 8, 2011, 3:37pm Top
Recently finished Satchel: the life and times of an American legend by Larry Tye.

Currently reading an Early Reviewer book, Summer of Shadows by Jonathan Knight, about the 1954 Cleveland Indians pennant drive, and the Dr. Sam Shepherd murder case which happened that same summer.

Also listening to the audio mystery novel, Murder at Wrigley Field by Troy Soos.
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68rocketjk
Mar 8, 2011, 9:21pm Top
#67> I loved that Satchel Paige bio.
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69Bigrider7
Mar 12, 2011, 9:58am Top
I have recently read Cardboard Gods by Josh Wilker, The Extra 2%: How Wall Street Took a Major League Baseball Team From Worst to First by Jonah Keri, and Nobody's Perfect by Armando Galarraga and Jim Joyce.

I have the Roy Campanella book, Campy, the recent book by John Thorn Baseball in the Garden of Eden and a book about the longest minor league game ever, Bottom of the 33rd, by Dan Barry.
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70TeacherDad
Mar 12, 2011, 12:02pm Top
How about baseball Stephen King style? Blockade Billy is a dark humor short story about a rookie of the year you've never heard of...
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71rocketjk
Edited: Mar 12, 2011, 3:22pm Top
btw, I gave up on The Empire Strikes Out after about 50 pages or so. Too much ax grinding, too little scholarship.
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72anotherboilingfrog
Mar 28, 2011, 10:19pm Top
I'm currently reading "Summerland" by Michael Chabon, not your typical baseball book, but baseball plays a huge role in this *adult/youth) fantasy novel
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73tymfos
Mar 29, 2011, 1:17am Top
Several baseball books read recently:

For Love of the Game, Michael Shaara's last novel.
Worth the Wait: Tales of the 2008 Phillies by Jayson Stark -- loved it!
Women at Play: the story of Women in Baseball by Barbara Gregorich.

Over on the 75 Challenge group, there's been a very active "Spring Training" thread of baseball reading going this month. If you want to check out the titles discussed there:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/108172
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74rocketjk
Jul 11, 2011, 4:27pm Top
Today I started A Whole Different Ball Game: the Sport and Business of Baseball by Marvin Miller. I'm very much looking forward to this.
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75browner56
Jul 25, 2011, 4:05pm Top
I just came back from the used bookstore with Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger and Sometimes You See It Coming by Kevin Baker. Any thoughts on either novel? I plan to read both, but which should I pick up first?
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76rocketjk
Jul 26, 2011, 3:54pm Top
#75> Sorry I can't help. I'm not familiar with either of those books. Hope they're both good!
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77lindapanzo
Jul 26, 2011, 5:25pm Top
#75 I haven't read either of those, sorry.

Today, I started reading an ER book, Before the Machine by Mark Schmetzer, which is about the 1961 pennant-winning Cincinnati Reds. Pretty good so far.

The first baseball card I ever got was of Gordy Coleman (1965 Topps) and I'm happy, at long last, to learn more about his career.
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78tymfos
Jul 27, 2011, 12:59am Top
I just finished Indian Summer: the forgotten story of Louis Sockalexis, the first Native American in Major League Baseball by Brian McDonald. I thought it was very good.
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79abealy
Aug 5, 2011, 3:56pm Top
I've been wandering through Baseball in the Garden of Eden by John Thorn. A very convincing read about the early days of baseball and how we've gotten so much of that history wrong.

I also just bought for my kindle Bottom of the 33rd by Dan Barry — the story about the longest game ever played. Anyone read it yet?
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80tymfos
Aug 9, 2011, 9:03am Top
I'm listening to the audio book of The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood.

(Don't know why I can't get the touchstone to work with the subtitle included in the brackets, since the subtitle is included in the touchstone. Go figure.)
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81KJacobi
Edited: Aug 10, 2011, 9:52pm Top
It is truly remarkable how many great baseball books are out there. I just read "Playing with the Enemy", a truly amazing book about playing baseball overseas during WWII. It is one of those stories after reading that totally blows you away and makes you wonder how it took this long to tell. I highly recommend this book!

Ken Jacobi

Author of “Going with the Pitch: Adjusting to Baseball, School, and Life as a Division I College Athlete”
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82abealy
Aug 22, 2011, 1:11pm Top
Read Iron Man McGinnity: A Baseball Biography by Don Doxsie a while ago. My review is here.

Continuing to work my way through Baseball in the Garden of Eden by John Thorn.
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83sipthereader
Edited: Sep 24, 2011, 7:58am Top
#79> abealy -- Reading Bottom of the 33rd right now (about two-thirds through......you're probably done by now). Very enjoyable read.......he spends more time on the back stories than the actual game, which keeps it interesting.
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84lindapanzo
Sep 24, 2011, 10:22am Top
I'm reading an advance copy (due out in Oct) about the building of Fenway Park 100 years ago, along with that first season there. Fenway 1912 by Glenn Stout.

Very interesting, especially as to how the Red Sox had to adapt to the new dimensions/features of their new ballpark. Then, right before the World Series, they changed the park, adding a lot of new seats. It'll be interesting to see whether/how they adapted to the changes.
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85sipthereader
Edited: Nov 21, 2011, 6:13pm Top
This message has been deleted by its author.
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86sipthereader
Edited: Nov 21, 2011, 6:13pm Top
This message has been deleted by its author.
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87sipthereader
Nov 21, 2011, 6:12pm Top
Just starting The Extra 2%: How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First. So far it's a very entertaining read.
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88tymfos
Dec 6, 2011, 7:54am Top
I'm reading Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero, by David Maraniss. It's one of the best baseball-related books I've read in a long time.
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89mysterymax
Edited: Dec 7, 2011, 9:19pm Top
Waiting for Teddy Williams by Howard Frank Mosher, its a coming-of-age story about a Vermont boy that becomes a baseball player. Something a little different from the bios, etc. The best one before this was The Bottom of the 33rd by Dan Berry.
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90tymfos
Dec 8, 2011, 12:34am Top
How did you like The Bottom of the 33rd? I've heard some good things about it.
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91mysterymax
Dec 8, 2011, 6:52am Top
I really enjoyed it. He ties in all the background with the actual game. My review is at librarything.com/work/10982137/book/75743877 It's one part of my review of two baseball books on my blog booksmoviesandgames.wordpress.com

Sorry, but I can't figure out how to do links in threads. But you can copy and paste if you want to see them.
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92tymfos
Dec 8, 2011, 10:44am Top
Nice review!
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93mysterymax
Dec 8, 2011, 10:06pm Top
Thanks! I wrote it first for our library's newsletter.
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94rocketjk
Feb 3, 2012, 4:04pm Top
I'm about a third of the way through Real Grass, Real Heroes: Baseball's Historic 1941 Season by Dom DiMaggio. So far it's rather ho hum. Lots of rhapsodizing about the beauty of the game and the simplicity of life, etc., in that era, but precious few interesting "insiders" details about being on the Red Sox that year.
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95mysterymax
Feb 4, 2012, 8:57am Top
Just starting Diamond Ruby by Joseph Wallace.
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96tymfos
Edited: Feb 19, 2012, 4:44pm Top
Pitchers and catchers are reporting this week!

I'm starting Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It's part of a "Spring Training" group read that's beginning over on the 75 Challenge group. All are welcome:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/132629
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97ReadHanded
Apr 2, 2012, 3:41pm Top
Last month, I read a couple of really good baseball novels: The Might Have Been and The Art of Fielding. Now, I'm on to some nonfiction stuff: Moneyball (finally) and The Extra 2%.
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98rocketjk
Apr 2, 2012, 4:06pm Top
I'm always interested to see what people think of Moneyball. Hope you'll stop back to let us know.
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99rocketjk
Apr 13, 2012, 11:03am Top
I just started The Yankee Years by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci. The opening 75 pages or so provide an excellent description of the leadership qualities that Derek Jeter (which I knew) and David Cone (which I never realized) brought to those powerful Yankee teams of the late '90s. Also a not too flattering picture of David Wells.
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100TeacherDad
Apr 17, 2012, 11:18am Top
>99 rocketjk: From what I understand "Boomer" Wells is one of those guys that never (had to? got to?) did grow up, in both good and not so good ways.

The Art of Fielding is on my tbr list, now enjoying Sixty Feet, Six Inches with Reggie and Bob Gibson. Even at their ages it's interesting to read into the competitiveness and confidence/cockiness that goes with being a great athlete.
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101rocketjk
Apr 24, 2012, 11:43am Top
I finished The Yankee Years. What a great and important (for baseball fans) book. The book is not just a description of the 12 seasons Joe Torre managed the Yankees, but also places those seasons strongly within the context of everything else that was happening in baseball over those years, including the effects of steroids, the "Moneyball" revolution in player evaluation and the effects of revenue sharing. This book is not just for Yankee fans, in other words, but for all baseball fans.
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102mysterymax
Apr 27, 2012, 1:51pm Top
My January ER book and my March ER book arrived on the same day. The January book was The Greatest Minor League by Dennis Snelling and the March book was Lefty: An American Odyssey by Vernona Gomez. The first is a history of the Pacific Coast league and the second is the story of Lefty Gomez. I enjoyed the latter the most.

The Greatest Minor League was divided into chapters set by time periods, often 2 to 5 years. Then in each chapter were events by team, so there were a lot of people to keep track of in a non-linear way. It was the type of book you could read a chapter of, put it down for a few days, or a week, before picking it back up again.

Lefty I read straight through.
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103sipthereader
Apr 29, 2012, 10:11pm Top
Now reading Stan Musial: An American Life by George Vecsey. As a lifelong Cardinal fan, I especially appreciate this one after the departure of Pujols, who I thought should have stayed in St Louis to be the "sequel" to Musial (although choosing who you work for is a personal choice I respect). I'm about 100 pages into it and enjoying it.
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104lindapanzo
May 8, 2012, 4:38pm Top
#103 I liked that one. I just finished the new John Grisham baseball novel, Calico Joe and really enjoyed that one, too. It's about a rookie phenom playing with the 1973 Cubs.

Next up, in terms of baseball books, for me probably will be the Roberto Clemente bio Clemente by David Maraniss.
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105SethAndrew
Edited: Jul 11, 2012, 12:59pm Top
I'm reading The Celebrant, by Eric Rolfe Greenberg, it's a classic fictionalized account of Christy Matthewson.
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106rocketjk
Jul 11, 2012, 2:23pm Top
Seth, I haven't read The Celebrant. I'll be interested to know how you like it. Of interest to you might be a non-fiction book that I found to be terrific: The Old Ball Game: How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball by Frank Deford. Cheers!
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107sipthereader
Jul 11, 2012, 10:48pm Top
Finished up Brothers K a few weeks ago. Although fictional, it has a great baseball-ish underlying theme.
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108rocketjk
Jul 11, 2012, 11:01pm Top
I read Brothers K several years ago and like it a lot.
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109SethAndrew
Jul 14, 2012, 1:16pm Top
Thank you for the tip rocketjk. I've seen The Old Ball Game at the store and it looks very interesting. I'll have to add it to my list.
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110rocketjk
Sep 3, 2012, 6:24pm Top
I just started The Pride and the Pressure: a Season Inside the New York Yankee Fishbowl by Michael Morrissey. The book tells the story of the 2006 season.
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111sipthereader
Sep 4, 2012, 2:05pm Top
Started on The Art of Fielding over the weekend.
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112rocketjk
Sep 10, 2012, 3:43pm Top
I finished The Pride and the Pressure (see above). The first half was actually a bit tedious (for me), as it went over a lot of information I already knew. The second half got more interesting, as it gave a different perspective on the Jeter/A-Rod relationship, at least as it pertained to the 2006 season, when Rodriguez struggled through most of the year. This perspective is somewhat critical of both Joe Torre and Derek Jeter for not supporting Rodriguez more during that year.
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113mreuther
Nov 19, 2012, 9:10am Top
Try "A Pitch for Justice," a book combining baseball and legal suspense. It's about a pitcher who goes to trial after one of his brushback pitches plunks an opposing player in the head and kills him. Raises a lot of questions about throwing at hitters from an ethical, legal, baseball perspective.
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114cdyankeefan
Nov 23, 2012, 12:15pm Top
I just finished Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger which was so wonderful I don't have the words to describe how wonderful it is. Mow I'm working on The Art of Fieldingby Chad Harbach which is very good
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115mreuther
Nov 24, 2012, 12:53pm Top
I read "Art of Fielding" this summer. Interesting characters. Good story. It might have been a tad long. I'd give it a big thumbs up.
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116mreuther
Nov 24, 2012, 12:54pm Top
I'll have to look up "Last Days of Summer" as I'm not familiar with it.
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117mreuther
Nov 28, 2012, 9:10am Top
Spitball Magazine is a great guide for finding baseball books. Check out their list for 2012 books.
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118sipthereader
Nov 28, 2012, 10:56am Top
> 117......I just checked out the Spitball Magazine web-site....looks good....thanks for the recomendation.
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119cdyankeefan
Nov 28, 2012, 8:19pm Top
#115 hi mreuther- I finished The Art of Fielding last week and really enjoyed it. I've recommended The Last Days of Summer to many friends including a member of Red Sox nation- I on the other hand am a card arrying member of the evil empire. Last days is just so wonderful it transcends all team loyalties and you just need a love of the game to enjoy it

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120mreuther
Nov 29, 2012, 9:56am Top
Glad to help. I used to have a small website for selling baseball books. Now, I just write them.
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121mreuther
Nov 29, 2012, 9:59am Top
Those are the kind of baseball books to read. But what the heck, I'll read any kind of book. Ever read any of Thomas Boswell or Roger Angell books?
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122cdyankeefan
Dec 7, 2012, 1:02pm Top
#121 I haven't read anything by either of these authors. What do you recommend?
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123mreuther
Dec 7, 2012, 3:59pm Top
Boswell's "Why Time Begins on Opening Day" is a good start. Angell's "Five Seasons" is excellent. "Money Ball" is a good book as are the Bill James books. Also, try "Boys of Summer" by Roger Kahn, a paean to the Brooklyn Dodgers of the early 1950s. One book I haven't read, but for which I've heard nothing but praise is "Bottom of the 33rd." It's about the longest ball game ever played between two minor league teams. But the story goes well beyond that single game, taking the reader into the lives of players and many other figures associated with the game etc. Hope that helps.
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124cdyankeefan
Dec 8, 2012, 10:28am Top
#123 thanks mreuther!! Ill check them out-I'm just waiting for opening day!!
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125mreuther
Dec 8, 2012, 11:13am Top
Yeah. Aren't we all. I almost forget. "A False Spring" by Pat Jordan is excellent.
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126cdyankeefan
Dec 10, 2012, 5:26pm Top
Thanks!
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127jzerby
Dec 24, 2012, 2:38pm Top
Yes, 123/124, "Bottom of the 33rd" is excellent--lots of baseball, but a lot more, and very well written.
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128mreuther
Dec 25, 2012, 12:30pm Top
I just finished Bottom of the 33rd last night. The author doesn't let the story run out of steam. The stuff about Pawtucket first baseman Dave Koza makes you want to cry. I like that the author catches up with some of these players and other personalities many years after that historic marathon game. He certainly did his research.
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129mysterymax
Dec 26, 2012, 6:27am Top
Recently finished John Tortes "Chief" Meyers. While it was written in a rather detached manner, it was very readable and very informative. Lots of interesting baseball history.

I also agree on The Bottom of the 33rd. THE most enjoyable baseball book I have read in the past couple of years.
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130mreuther
Dec 26, 2012, 11:11am Top
My wife threw a Willie Mays biography in my Christmas stocking this year. Rather than start at the beginning, I was delving into different sections of it last night. Did you know Willie earned $165,00 a year when he played for the Mets in his last two seasons? Apparently, his old team, the S.F. Giants, were dumping their high-salaried stars at the time. Willie was 41 when he got traded to the Mets in 1972 for pitcher Charlie Williams (good trivia question). In his first game for the Mets, he hit a game-winning home run. I remember watching that game on TV. The Mets made it to the World Series in '73, and the image many people have is of Willie falling down chasing that fly ball that he lost in the sun. I went to Shea Stadium in 1972 for a game, but Willie didn't play that day. Instead, I watched the Big Red Machine beat the Mets, 5-0. Johnny Bench hit a home run and Jack Billingham shut out the Metropolitians.
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131rolandperkins
Edited: Dec 28, 2012, 3:02pm Top
Another great who was dealt to New York(NL) (but Giants, not Mets) in his last year or two was Warren Spahn Boston Braves; then
Milwaukee Braves -- about a decade before Mays's last year.
In lifetime records,he turned out to be the winningest left-hander ever.
Hence the irony of a discussion I heard during 1947 between two fan/pundits, a Red Sox fan and a Braves fan: The Sox fan said "the Braves have no pitchers --except (Johnny) Sain". Sain, incidentally was finally dealt to New York (AL).)
The Braves fan said, "Well, I admit Sain is their best pitcher." The Red Sox fan insisted, "He's
not their "best" pitcher; he's their ONLY pitcher!" On the same staff was Warren Spahn, in his second full year with the Braves. Neither fan mentioned him.
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132rocketjk
Dec 26, 2012, 10:33pm Top
#131> Wow! That fan wasn't paying attention much. I believe the common expression in those days regarding the Braves pitching was, "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain!"
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133rolandperkins
Dec 26, 2012, 10:47pm Top
"the Braves pitching was, "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain.
Right. . (A variant version was: Spahn, Sain and 2 days of rain.* That may have started the following year, 1948, when the Braves won their first pennant since 1914.

*Of course, it didn't usually rain, and (in 1948) the rest of the starting rotation (4-man in those days not 5)
was: the long forgotten Bill Voiselle obtained from the NY Giants; and Vernon Bickford. The /manager was the great Billy Southworth. Voiselle was
outstanding in an unenviable
way: he was "by his own admission, the worst hitter in the National League." Bickford probably had the longest minor league term of any pitcher then active, and probably deserved some kind of "Most Improved" Award. He was said to have been in a Class D minor league for 8 years!
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134rocketjk
Dec 26, 2012, 10:59pm Top
The equivalent that I remember reading about for the Pirates of, I believe, a slightly later era was, "Friend and Law was all they saw" or "Law and Friend and that's the end."
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135rolandperkins
Edited: Dec 27, 2012, 1:20am Top
"Friend and Law was all they saw" (134)

I remember the 1--2 combination of pitchers, but not the rhyme. Thanks.

If Friend and Law were Pirates today, the chances
are they -- wouldn't BE Pirates for long. I remember a long sequence of Pirates of later decades being scooped up by richer teams -- beginning with Bobby Bonilla and Barry Bonds.
Later a batting champion
named Sanchez was lost.
Back in the '40s, the Browns and the Senators (I)* were the "Pirates" of that era, with the Red Sox often being the piratical beneficiaries of the deals.
I just read in the NYT that
an all-star relief pitcher has
been dealt to the Red Sox.
Not good for baseball, but, oh well, if you must lose your players, ,lose them to us.

*The franchise that became the Minnesota Twins.
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136mreuther
Dec 27, 2012, 12:15pm Top
Buccos just traded Hanrahan, their ace reliever.
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137rocketjk
Jul 29, 2013, 12:57am Top
I just started The Year the Mets Lost Last Place by Paul Zimmerman and Dick Schaap.
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138sipthereader
Apr 4, 2014, 10:53pm Top
Tales from a Cardinal Dugout........as told by Bob Forsch. A must for any Cardinal fan.
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139rocketjk
Apr 5, 2014, 3:47am Top
138> Bob Forsch . . . sounds very interesting.
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140tymfos
Edited: Apr 5, 2014, 9:41pm Top
I Was Right On Time by Buck O'Neil. He was the former player & manager that Ken Burns interviewed about Negro League baseball and the African-American experience of MLB as it was integrated.
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141rocketjk
May 28, 2014, 2:50pm Top
Today I started Black and Blue: the Golden Arm, the Robinson Boys and the 1966 World Series that Stunned America by Tom Adelman.
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142rocketjk
Jun 5, 2014, 5:31pm Top
I finished Black and Blue: the Golden Arm, the Robinson Boys and the 1966 World Series that Stunned America by Tom Adelman. An enjoyable and informative book. My review is on the book's work page and on my 50-Book Challenge thread.
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143rolandperkins
Edited: Jun 10, 2014, 6:19pm Top
Didn't get this from a book, but I learned
something about baseball stats today, from
the coverage* of Lonnie Chisenhall's
9 RBI of yesterday's Indians' game vs.
Texas:
I had never realized that the stat "RBI"
began to be kept only in 1920 --fairly
"recently" to someone of my age -- i.e.
only 21 years before I started
following baseball! It would leave out
the earlier years of Ty Cobb's career
and Babe Ruth's years as a hitting
pitcher. How, then do they know,
e.g., what was Ty Cobb's lifetime
RBI total? But I suppose there is a way,
on individual records, of going back
through the box scores of his games played
and picking the lifetime record out
of that. The same would apply to
the "Saves" stat for pitchers. (I don't remember
much ever being said about it before
the late 1950s.)
In number of hits, b t w, Chisenhall
had a perfect 5 for 5 night, with
3 of the 5 hits being home runs.
His exploit was compared with
a (1970s?) Red Sox game in which
Fred Lynn was the star.

*from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
They pick one game for a full write-up,
and give a short paragraph or so to all
the other games. Today';s full write-up,
of course, was the Indians/Rangers.
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144rocketjk
Jun 10, 2014, 6:36pm Top
I think you're right about baseball historians going back through boxscores and looking for things like RBIs and saves. Interestingly, the "win" stat for pitchers wasn't codified into today's terms until, I think, the 1950s. The official scorer used to have much more latitude in deciding who was awarded the win. I remember a few years back going through all of Dizzy Dean's wins in his 30-win season (I had just read a biography of him) and finding that there were some wins in relief in which he would not have received the win today.
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145rolandperkins
Edited: Jun 19, 2014, 3:43pm Top
"The official scorer used to have much more latitude in ...award(ing) the win. ..." (143>144)

I remember a Red Sox win, ca. 1957, in which the original winning pitcher was Bob Chakales, who was the pitcher of record. But giving him the win
was protested by another reliever, Murray Wall* who discovered in the "small print" of the scorerʻs formula for deciding the pitcher of record that the scorer could deny the win to the pitcher of record if that pitcher had pitched "briefly or ineffectively" (and yet without the other teamʻs having taken over the lead.)
As reported in Boston, it
seemed to be an anomaly --
not at all a turning point in
the matter of scorerʻs discretion versus formula. I donʻt mean that the media
were partial to either Chakales or Wall. They werenʻt either complaining about the denial, or boasting that justice was done by citing the exception.. They seemed to be just explaining it for people familiar with the usual formula for deciding the pitcher of record -- why this award was an exception.
But the situation did imply that there was, at that time, an almost-always followed formula.
So, I was surprised to hear that the 1930s -- and todayʻs usage - - must have been different from the 50s, and have affected Dizzy Deanʻs lifetime record.

*Wall and Chakales were both new to the team. Neither was a Papelbon or an Uehara
of a later era, so they both
needed wins desperately. There was no such thing as a holding anyone back to be a "Closer" or "Set-up man": whatever reliever the manager thought most necessary at the moment was the one used at the moment. As I remember it the "Save" stat was just beginning to be emphasized about the same time.
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146rocketjk
Jun 11, 2014, 1:05pm Top
Yes. In the old days, being a reliever just meant you were a washed up or injured reliever. There were very few relief specialists at all. Plus, often, starting pitchers would relieve between starts. That practice lasted up until about the mid-60s, I think.
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147rtttt01
Jun 17, 2014, 9:49am Top
> 143 & 144:
You can't really figure out who had the RBIs with a box score alone, because you need to know the play-by-play sequence of events. If Smith scored two runs, and behind him Jones went 2 for 4, and Johnson went 0 for 4, did Jones knock in 2, Johnson get 2 run-scoring grounders, or one each, or was one of the runs on a wild pitch, etc etc. For most sets of individual game stats, they could have been accrued several different ways. This unfortunate reality is why some bright folks started Project Scoresheet, which collects scoresheets going forward, and a spinoff, Retrosheet (http://retrosheet.org/), which tries to find old scoresheets. The earliest year for which there is a complete set of scoresheets is somewhere around 1952 if I recall correctly.
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148rocketjk
Jun 17, 2014, 6:43pm Top
#147> Good point about RBI history. I'm well familiar with Retrosheet, which is a fascinating resource.
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149rtttt01
Jun 19, 2014, 9:43am Top
148> It really is. It's really great too that people are willing to dedicate themselves to it. When Joe Schmo scored Reds vs. Cubs on June 11, 1951, or whatever, I'm pretty sure he would never have guessed that he was creating an indispensable historical document!
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150rocketjk
Jun 19, 2014, 12:32pm Top
#149> Yup. A few years back I did some research there to try to find the boxscore for the first baseball game I ever attended, which was at Yankee Stadium in 1961, with my father, when I was six years old. All I could remember about it was that the Yanks played the Tigers. I was pretty sure it was an early season game. I found several possibilities. I also used the site once to discover that some memories of mine about the 1970 season, something I'd actually included in a published article about a Yankees-Orioles game from that year, was wrong! (It was OK in terms of the piece, though, which was more of a memoir than anything else.)
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151rtttt01
Jun 19, 2014, 11:39pm Top
150> Done the same thing! And ended up with several possibilities too. Also, learned that at least one memory is impossible, just as you did. I would have sworn that it was Paul Casanova who grounded out to end the loss to the Tigers, because I was mad at him for a week (I was small). But there is no such game. We think we couldn't possibly have such a vivid memory wrong, but we do. Probably more than we ever imagine.
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152sipthereader
Jun 20, 2014, 10:46am Top
Last year I used retrosheet to find the first games I ever attended. I remembered I was 8 years old (1969), it was 2 games on a summer weekend and the Cardinals won on Saturday with Ray Washburn pitching and lost on Sunday, ironically with Bob Gibson pitching. Of note.....Gibson lost 3-0 on an 8th-inning 3-run homer by none other than Roberto Clemente. That was a detail that was completely lost on me at the time......but I do remember eating lots of peanuts and popcorn!
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153rtttt01
Jun 20, 2014, 1:54pm Top
152> Great to hear you found the games. Might have been easier if Retrosheet could track peanut and popcorn sales, but that will have to be Version 2.
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154rocketjk
Jun 20, 2014, 4:58pm Top
"Might have been easier if Retrosheet could track peanut and popcorn sales . . . "

Seems on odd oversight, though, doesn't it?
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155Schmerguls
Aug 11, 2014, 12:37pm Top
The first major league baseball game I ever saw was on July 20, 1953, in Ebbets Field. I have been an avid Cubs fan since 1938 and had the good fortune to see them triumph agains the league-leading Dodgers on July 20, 1953. Is the box score for that game findable?
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156lindapanzo
Aug 11, 2014, 1:17pm Top
This Retrosheet is great. Thanks!!

I have figured out that the first game I ever saw was on July 21, 1966 at Wrigley Field. The Cubs beat Cincy. I knew that Curt Simmons was the winning pitcher and I remembered that the Cubs won, beating the Reds. Attendance of only 7,533. Of course, that was back in the days when Wrigley Field would often close off the upper deck due to lack of attendance. George Altman went 3 for 4 for the Cubs and Don Kessinger had 3 RBIs.

Wow, they played the game in 2 hours and 12 minutes. Yesterday's game I was at, at Wrigley, was double that, though it was a 12 inning game.

I don't recall much of the game myself (I was only 5) but my father used to talk about how I didn't understand what a stolen base was and how I said that the Cubs man didn't steal a base, he was just standing on it. That would've been Adolfo Phillips' stolen base.

>153 rtttt01: Yes, Retrosheet has a box score for that game.

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157rolandperkins
Edited: Aug 13, 2014, 7:57pm Top
"(Cubs) triumph(ed) against the league-leading Dodgers
on July 2o, 1953. . ." (155)

I also saw the Cubs beat the league leader* -- summer
of 1973, I think, in the only game
I have ever seen at Wrigley Field (also the only game
where the Cubs were the home team; I did see them
vs. the Boston Braves at the old Braves Field in
Boston.) I entered the park thinking I didn't care
who won, but found myself "rooting for the home team" ,
as the song says. Some 25 years earlier that I saw
an earlier (Santo-less) team, managed by Charley Grimm,
one of the few ML managers who was ever re-hired
by the team that let him go.
He was the manager of the last Cubs pennant winner
(1945), and later was hired for a brief stint as
the Braves' manager.
As for the box score of the 08/20/53 Ebbets field
game, if I were looking for it, I would ffrst of all try
to find a library which could provide the NY Times
of 08/21/53 -- microfilm, or would it be some
part of the Internet now? Without LT, I wouldn't
have known of Retrosheet, but am glad to hear
of it.

*The league leader was the visiting Cincinnati Reds
one of the "Big Red Machine" teams.
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158rtttt01
Aug 13, 2014, 3:37pm Top
It's fun just hearing people discovering old games they saw, and filling in memories. I haven't thought of Adolfo Phillips in 30 years, probably.

July 20, 1953, was a Brooklyn victory, in Brooklyn.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1953/B07200BRO1953.htm

But could it have been July 20, 1954? Cubs beat Dodgers 3-2 in 10 innings in Chicago, Gene Baker has 4 hits and the winning run on an error.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1954/B07200CHN1954.htm
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159Schmerguls
Aug 13, 2014, 5:51pm Top
Oops! Checking my diary entry for July 20, 1953, I see I did not say that the Cubs won--only that i saw them play. Had they won I sure would have mentioned the score but since they did not, I only rejoiced in seeing them, for the first time in my life. But I did see them win at Wrigley Field, many years later I can count on one hand the major league games I have seen at the ball park--4 Cubs games, one other game
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160sipthereader
Oct 23, 2014, 5:08pm Top
Back to the baseball books we are reading. Just started The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood by Jane Leavy. I enjoyed her book on Koufax and this one on Mantle has me hooked 50 pages in.
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161rolandperkins
Edited: Oct 24, 2014, 3:49am Top
On a pub. lib. exchange table, I picked up Sports Illustratedʻs special issue
on the New York Yankees
1988 championship. If it had been the Red Sox, or even
the Dodgers, Angels or
Cincinnati Reds, I would have kept it.

If anybody wants it, send me a message, and, after browsing in it a little, Iʻll send it to you; you donʻt even have to re-imburse me for the postage.
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162rocketjk
Oct 24, 2014, 11:13am Top
I've started Murderers' Row, a collection of short stories with the dual themes of murder and baseball.
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163lindapanzo
Oct 24, 2014, 10:48pm Top
I'm reading John Feinstein's book about the minor leagues, Where Nobody Knows Your Name.
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164Gregg72340
Edited: Nov 4, 2014, 7:19pm Top
Does anyone have any suggestions for books to read and then review on my baseball book blog

http://greggsbaseballbookcase.mlblogs.com/

I am looking for some new books for the blog, so if anyone has anything they want to donate to the cause or make some room in your house for more books just send me a message.
Thanks for the suggestions
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165rocketjk
Nov 17, 2014, 3:59pm Top
I'm now reading The Joy of Keeping Score by Paul Dickson. There's not much new here for the experienced baseball fan, but I am picking up some fun historical tidbits, such as the fact the Dwight Eisenhower was a dedicated scorebook keeper, as was Calvin Coolidge's wife.
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166rolandperkins
Edited: Nov 18, 2014, 6:50pm Top
". . .Eisenhower was a dedicated scorebook keeper
as was Calvin Coolidgeʻs wife. . ." (165)

I was age 21 -- 29 during the Eisenhower administrations and was a
being forcibly turned from Boston Braves fan* to Boston Red Sox fan, which I remain. I didnʻt think Presidents Eisenhower or Truman had any interest in baseball; I know that FDR did, or claimed to. So thanks for the info, rocketjk.
As for Coolidge, once a MA governor, one of the legends about him, you may already know: He and his wife attended a Braves Field N. L. game, which was tied at the end of nine innings. Cal stolidly rose to depart, while Grace remained seated and asked "Where are going?" Cal said. " that was the end of the ninth. A baseball game is nine innings, isnʻt it?"
Grace told him to sit down, and had to explain that they donʻt let it stay tied.

*Because of the franchiseʻs shift to Milwaukee in 1953
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167rocketjk
Nov 19, 2014, 10:55am Top
Roland, That anecdote about Coolidge and is wife is, indeed, reported in the book, which also sports a nice photo of Eisenhower peering down at his scorecard, pencil in hand, at a Washington Senators game.
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168rocketjk
Apr 18, 2015, 1:18pm Top
I celebrated the beginning of baseball season by pulling Jimmy Breslin's wonderful Can't Anybody Here Play This Game? down off my shelf, where it had been waiting patiently for my attention for many years. This is Breslin's look at the very first season of the New York Mets. Those 1962 Mets set a record for futility, losing 120 of their 162 games. But in the process, they created a sensation, becoming much beloved in New York City, which had been starved for National League baseball since the Giants and Dodgers had left for California in 1957. Breslin has a breezy, Runyonesque writing style, and since the book was written and published in 1963, before the team even began their second season, it really is a time-piece.
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169languagehat
Apr 20, 2015, 10:33am Top
And the Metsies are on top of the NL East, with the best record in the league! (I know, it won't last, but I have to mention it while the thrill is there. I'll always have my memories of 1986...)
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170lindapanzo
Apr 20, 2015, 11:55am Top
I just finished the outstanding book about the fight between Juan Marichal and Johnny Roseboro (Marichal hit Roseboro over the head with a bat). The Fight of Their Lives by John Rosengren.

Next up, probably, is a book about the Kansas City A's. The Kansas City Athletics by John E. Peterson.
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171johnandlisa
Apr 21, 2015, 1:48pm Top
Thanks for the reference to the Rosengren book, which I hadn't heard of. I remember an article by Ron Fimrite in Sports Illustrated quite a few years ago that was very enlightening on that traumatic incident from my youth. I was a big SF Giants fan and loved Marichal but knew there was no excuse for assaulting opposing players with a bat.

I recently picked up an old used book by Tom Meany, Baseball's Greatest Teams from 1948. Sixteen chapters of the very best year for each of the franchises of the time listed in order from most wins to fewest. Yankees 1927 was the second chapter, after the Pirates' 1909 team. Good reminder of just how great Honus Wagner was.
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172rocketjk
Apr 21, 2015, 10:38pm Top
I remember when the Rosengren book was published. I believe I heard him interviewed on the radio. Evidently, Roseboro and Marichal became very good friends eventually. Will have to keep an eye out for the book.
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173lindapanzo
Apr 22, 2015, 11:56am Top
>172 rocketjk: Yes they did. Rosengren spent a lot of time leading up to the events, in both players' baseball careers and personal lives. I would've liked to see more information on the actual event but that was probably my only gripe. He also had quite a lot about the aftermath, includ… (mais)

A comprehensive narrative account that takes you from the demise of the ill-fated St. Claire expedition to the death of General Wayne. To a large degree the meat of this book is the documentation of the logistical and organizational struggles Wayne underwent to pull together the Legion of the United States, a matter not helped by James Wilkinson's feud with his commander. One point that particularly captured my attention is apparently how close the Fallen Timbers campaign came to provoking war with the British empire, as Gaff does take some pains to put this adventure in its international context.… (mais)