How wonderful it is to have "The Baseball Encyclopedia" edited by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette (Barnes and Noble Books, $24.95, 1,692 pages) back on the scene. The book was and is a mother lode of information, stats, oddities, arcane knowledge, charts - just about everything anyone would want to know about the reference points of the game of baseball.
There is former and current ballpark info, complete awards and Hall of Fame info, stats complete for every player, manger and team, a list of blown saves, 1969-2003, fielding range and catcher defense. I don't know if Pete Palmer is the real guru of Sabermetrics as Peter Gammons claims. But Pete is way up there atop the heap as is "The Baseball Encyclopedia.
Red Sox Nation is in all its glory as April turns into May. All kinds of exciting things have been happening with the franchise. There are even a few books out with the old warhorse Johnny Pesky as the focus. The best of the bunch is "Mr. Red Sox: The Johnny Pesky Story" by Bill Nowlin (Rounder Books, $24.95, 282 pages). Nowlin has been writing about things Red Sox since he was 12 years old in 1957 so he knows his way around the subject. He spins a lively narrative about the kid in his phrase, "said to bleed Red Sox crimson, who was born to Croatian immigrants" who is now in his eighth decade in baseball. It is a highly insightful and entertaining read.
From Sports Publishing comes three books focused on very different major league franchises: "Tales From the Royals Dugout" by Denny Matthews with Matt Fulks, ($19.95, 239 pages), "Tales From the 1962 Mets" by Janet Paskin ($19.95, 202 pages) and "Tales From the Dodger Dugout Extra Innings" by Carl Erskine ($19.95, 219 pages). All carefully edited and packaged with zeal, each book has special appeal for fans of the specific franchise and much to offer, too, for general fans of the national pastime. All three books definitely belong on your sports bookshelf containing as they do so many tales that have never appeared in print before.
The sports book publishing phenomenon of the 2003 season is now available for the 2004 campaign. "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis (Norton, $13.95, 288 pages) is out in paperback. The book is a chronicle of the business model of the Oakland A's - and shows how the biggest payroll doesn't guarantee a Word Series winner. Highly recommended reading for baseball and business fans.
Also by Harvey Frommer
» Sports Profile: Joe DiMaggio
» Joe McCarthy: Sports Profile
» The Worst (Best for the Yankees) Deal in Baseball History: Harry Frazee Sells Babe Ruth to New York
» The Worst (Best for the Yankees) Deal in Baseball History: Harry Frazee Sells Babe Ruth to New York
» Allie Reynolds' Two No Hitters, 1951
» Reaching for the Stars: Sports Book Review
» Mickey Mantle: The Sports Profile
» Don Mattingly: Sports Profile
» Jim Leyritz and the Great World Series Comeback: October 23, 1996
» Red Sox-Yankees, One More Time!
» Bevens' Lost No-Hitter: October 3, 1947
» The Called Shot: October 1, 1932
» World Series: An Opinionated Chronicle: Sports Book Review
» The Eleven-Walk Inning: September 11, 1949
» Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville: Sports Book Review
» Albert Pujols, Meet Joe DiMaggio!
» "Moneyball" and Other Worthy Baseball Books: Sports Book Review
» Something to Write Home About : Sports Book Review
» The Double No-Hitter: Vandy's Masterpiece
» Me and My Dad: A Baseball Memoir: Sports Book Review
» Bucky Dent's Home Run: October 2, 1978
» The Ballpark Book : Sports Book Review
» "Pride of October", Bill Madden's Gem: Sports Book Review
» The Two Rogers: Kahn and Angell on Baseball : Sports Book Review
» "Baseball Timeline" and "Baseball Desk Reference": Sports Book Review
» Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston: Sports Book Review
» Al Gionfriddo's Catch
» David Wells' Perfect Game: May 17, 1998
» Yankee Talk: A Sampler
» "Spring Training" is Here: Sports Book Review
» The Men who Broke Baseball's Color Line: Excerpt from Harvey Frommer's "Rickey and Robinson"
» Books on Ballparks and other Baseball Matters: Sports Book Review
» The Golden Voices of Baseball: Sports Book Review
» By The Numbers: A New York Yankees Sampler
» Super Hot Stove League Reading: Sports Book Review
» The First Yankee Home Game: April 30, 1903
» The Most Memorable Moments in Major League Baseball History: Sports Book Review
» Bravo, Nolan Ryan!
» Johnny Vander Meer's Back-to-Back No-Hitters
» October's Baseball Books: Sports Book Review
» New York City Baseball: Once Upon A Time
» The Big Train: Walter Johnson, Baseball Immortal
» Baseball's Best Shots: Sports Book Review
» Wee Willie Keeler: Good Things Come in Small Packages
» Let's Play Two
» The First World Series
» Sandy Koufax, Out of Brooklyn: Sports Book Review
» The 1919 Black Sox (Part II)
» The 1919 Black Sox (Part I)
» Baseball Books On Parade: Sports Book Review
» Yankee Doodle Dandies: Yankee Books: Sports Book Review
» The Harmonica Incident: August 20, 1964
» "Fenway: A Biography in Words and Pictures": Sports Book Review
» Baseball's Mecca: The Hall of Fame in Cooperstown
» Trade a Player a Year Too Early, Not a Year Too Late
» The Yankee Mystique
» Satchel Paige: World's Greatest Pitcher
» "Red Smith on Baseball": Sports Book Review
» The Barry Halper Collection of Baseball Memorabilia: Sports Book Review
» Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson
» Remembering Irving Rudd
» Subway Series
» Midsummer Classic: Midsummer Mockery
» Yankee Stadium's First Opening Day
» The Birth of Baseball's First Professional Team
» Yankee Stadium's First Opening Day
» Gehrig's Streak
» Willie Mays and the Month of May
» Reese was no Pee Wee
» Yankees vs. Red Sox: Baseball's Greatest Rivalry
» Celebrating Hank Greenberg
» Bobby Thomson's Famous Homer Lives On
» Remembering the Yankee Clipper: Joe DiMaggio
» Shoeless Joe Remains a Scapegoat
» The Mets Have Always Been Amazing
» More submissions
Copyright © 2004 by Harvey Frommer. Posted June 18, 2004.
