Baseball Bookshelf
BaseballLibrary.com presents the best in baseball literature
Get a jump start on your reading list with some choice selections from the best baseball books around. And be sure to check back often, since we'll continue to add great titles in the months to come.
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NEW BOOKS | |
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Perfect, Once Removed: When Baseball Was All The World To Me | 2006 / Don Larsen's cousin (once removed),Phillip Hoose, discusses his life as a baseball-obsessed child |
| By Phillip Hoose (2006) Buy the Book | Read | |
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Have Glove Will Travel: The Adventures of A Baseball Vagabond | 2005 / From the back cover, Jim Bouton writes, "Bill and I have agreed to blurb each other’s books, and assuming he keeps his end of the bargain, I’d like to say that Have Glove, Will Travel is marvelous. It’s Johnny Appleseed meets Hunter Thompson." |
| By Bill Lee and Richard Lally (2005) Buy the Book | Read | |
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New York Yankees: The First 25 Years | 2002 / Vincent Luisi presents twenty fascinating images of the Yankees' early days -- from Baltimore to the Babe |
| By Vincent Luisi (2002) Buy the Book | Read | |
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Growing Up Baseball: An Oral History | 2001 / Ten interviews from Harvey and Frederic J. Frommer's oral history of "the growing-up years" of some of baseball's greatest heroes |
| By Harvey and Frederic J. Frommer (2001) Buy the Book | Read | |
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Jocks and Socks: Inside Stories From A Major-League Locker Room | 2001 / Jim Ksicinski, the visitors' clubhouse manager at Milwaukee's County Stadium for over 30 years, remembers the managers he served |
| By Jim Ksicinski (2001) Buy the Book | Read | |
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Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Chicago Cubs | 2001 / Seven Cubs legends from the 1950s remember North Side baseball at its best ... at least, at its most entertaining |
| By Carrie Muskat (2001) Buy the Book | Read | |
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Bob Feller's Little Black Book of Baseball Wisdom | 2001 / Hall-of-Fame hurler Bob Feller shares his thoughts on the game he once dominated |
| By Bob Feller (2001) Buy the Book | Read | |
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The New York Mets Encyclopedia | 2001 / From Peter C. Bjarkman's definitive history of the Amazins, a survey of the most unforgettable events in franchise history |
| By Peter C. Bjarkman (2001) Buy the Book | Read | |
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Babe Ruth: Major-League Dad | 2001 / Julia Ruth Stevens -- the daughter of Babe Ruth -- shares 18 photos from her personal collection |
| By Julia Ruth Stevens (2001) Buy the Book | Read | |
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The Perfect Yankee: The Incredible Story of the Greatest Miracle in Baseball History | 2001 / Don Larsen remembers the last step to immortality -- the ninth inning of his World Series perfect game |
| By Don Larsen (2001) Buy the Book | Read | |
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Hank Greenberg: The Story of My Life | 2001 / From Hank Greenberg's autobiography -- edited by noted baseball scribe Ira Berkow -- a look back at 1935, Hank's best season |
| By Hank Greenberg (2001) Buy the Book | Read | |
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Black Baseball In Kansas City: Images of America Series | 2000 / Another fantastic series of classic images from Negro League experts Larry Lester and Sammy J. Miller |
| By Larry Lester (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
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BASEBALL HISTORY | |
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Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History | 2007 / Author Cait Murphy details the 1908 National League pennant race, a three-team dogfight between the Chicago Cubs, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Giants and the struggle between the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox for the American League championship. Ms. Murphy's revalatory, often rollicking book features a colorful cast of characters from baseball storied past including Ty Cobb, John McGraw, Three-Finger Brown, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and, of course, an ill-fated rookie named Fred Merkle. |
| By Cait Murphy (2007) Buy the Book | Read | |
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That One Glorious Season: Baseball Players With One Spectacular Year | 2007 / Author Richard Letarte chronicles the standout seasons of 21 players from the 1950's, among them Dusty Rhodes, Don Newcombe, Hank Sauer, Dick Groat, Bobby Shantz, Jackie Jensen and Del Ennis. That One Glorious Season explores the impact their performances had on their teams and their careers. With a wonderful eight-page, full-color insert depicting classic baseball cards. |
| By Richard H. Letarte (2007) Buy the Book | Read | |
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Heartbreakers: Baseball's Most Agonizing Defeats | 2001 / John Kuenster surveys the most depressing, sudden twists of fate in baseball history. In this excerpt, one errant pitch costs the Pirates the 1972 pennant |
| By John Kuenster (2001) Buy the Book | Read | |
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Land of the Giants: New York's Polo Grounds | 2001 / The last days of the Polo Grounds, from Stew Thornley's definitive history of the stadium. Also includes sixteen photos of the Polo Grounds through the years |
| By Stew Thornley (2001) Buy the Book | Read | |
| The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball 2001 | |
| By Neft, Cohen et al (2001) Buy the Book | Read | |
| The 100 Greatest Baseball Games | |
| By Joe Dittmar (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| The Green Mountain Boys of Summer | |
| By Tom Simon (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| All Roads Lead to October: Boss Steinbrenner's 25-Year Reign over the New York Yankees | |
| By Maury Allen (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Fenway: A Biography in Words and Pictures | |
| By Dan Shaughnessy and Stan Grossfeld (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Home of the Game: The Story of Camden Yards | |
| By Thom Loverro (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| 1960: The Last Pure Season | |
| By Kerry Keene (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Where They Ain't: ...The Original Baltimore Orioles | |
| By Burt Solomon (1999) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Baseball in World War II Europe | |
| By Gary Bedingfield (1999) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Once Around the Bases: Bittersweet Memories of Only One Game in the Majors | |
| By Richard Tellis (1998) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Baseball Records Registry | |
| By Joe Dittmar (1997) Buy the Book | Read | |
| The Curse of Rocky Colavito | |
| By Terry Pluto (1995) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Cobb Would Have Caught It: Golden Age of Baseball in Detroit | |
| By Richard Bak (1991) Buy the Book | Read | |
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BIOGRAPHIES | |
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Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero | 2006 / From Publishers Weekly: |
| By David Maraniss (2006) Buy the Book | Read | |
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Stepping Up: Curt Flood and His Fight for Baseball Players' Rights | 2006 / Alex Belth details the life of St. Louis Cardinals All-Star centerfielder Curt Flood and his legal battle against baseball's reserve clause. With a foreword by Flood's former teammate Tim McCarver |
| By Alex Belth (2006) Buy the Book | Read | |
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The Duke of Havana: Baseball, Cuba, and the Search for the American Dream | 2001 / From Steve Fainaru and Ray Sanchez, the inside story of Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez -- and a look at the original "El Duque," his father |
| By Steve Fainaru (2001) Buy the Book | Read | |
| The Man In The Dugout: Baseball's Top Managers and How They Got That Way | |
| By Leonard Koppett (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| The Golden Boy: A Biography of Jackie Jensen | |
| By George I. Martin (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Koufax | |
| By Edward Gruver (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Fouled Away: The Baseball Tragedy of Hack Wilson | |
| By hack_wilson.stm (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Me And Hank: A Boy and His Hero, Twenty-Five Years Later | |
| By Sandy Tolan (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| DiMaggio: An Illustrated Life | |
| By Dick Johnson and Glenn Stout (1995) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Josh Gibson: A Life in the Negro Leagues | |
| By William Brashler (1978) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Babe: The Legend Comes to Life | |
| By Robert Creamer (1974) Buy the Book | Read | |
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AUTOBIOGRAPHIES / MEMOIRS | |
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Sleeper Cars and Flannel Uniforms: A Lifetime of Memories from Striking out the Babe to Teeing It up with the President | 2001 / Elden Auker pitched to the Babe and putted with Presidents. In our two excerpts, he shares memories you have to read to believe |
| By Elden Auker (2001) Buy the Book | Read | |
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Veeck as in Wreck | 2001 / Legendary huckmeister Bill Veeck remembers his greatest stunt ever -- signing midget Eddie Gaedel as a pinch-hitter |
| By Bill Veeck (2001) Buy the Book | Read | |
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Baseball Days: Recollections of America's Favorite Pastime | 2000 / Memories of America's pastime from Dick Vitale, George Vecsey, Michael Dukakis, Ernie Harwell, Rick Dempsey, and Clive Cussler; compiled by Garret Mathews |
| By Garret Mathews (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Sosa: An Autobiography | |
| By Sammy Sosa with Marcos Bretón (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Things Happen For A Reason: The True Story of an Itinerant Life in Baseball | |
| By Terry Leach (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| You're Missin' A Great Game: From Casey to Ozzie, the Magic of Baseball and How to Get It Back | |
| By Whitey Herzog (1999) Buy the Book | Read | |
| The Ripken Way: A Manual For Baseball And Life | |
| By Cal Ripken, Sr. (1999) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Baby Bull: From Hardball to Hard Time and Back | |
| By Orlando Cepeda with Herb Fagen (1998) Buy the Book | Read | |
| I Was Right On Time: My Journey from Negro Leagues to the Majors | |
| By Buck O'Neil and Steve Wulf (1997) Buy the Book | Read | |
| My Turn at Bat: The Story of My Life | |
| By Ted Williams (1988) Buy the Book | Read | |
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ESSAYS / COLLECTIONS | |
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Carl Erskine's Tales from the Dodger Dugout | 2000 / Dodger great Carl Erskine remembers the joys of summer, The Boys of Summer, and a buttermilk cake that helped Brooklyn win it all in '55 |
| By Carl Erskine (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Red Smith on Baseball: The Game's Greatest Writer on the Game's Greatest Years | |
| By Red Smith (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Confessions Of A Baseball Purist: What's Right--and Wrong--with Baseball, as Seen from the Best Seat in the House | |
| By Mark Hyman and Jon Miller (1998) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Bunts: Curt Flood, Camden Yards, Pete Rose, and Other Reflections on Baseball | |
| By George Will (1998) Buy the Book | Read | |
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PHOTO COLLECTIONS | |
| Smithsonian Baseball: Inside the World's Finest Private Collections | |
| By Stephen Wong (2005) Buy the Book | Read | |
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The American League: The Early Years | 2000 / David Lee Poremba presents twenty classic images of the AL's early years, including what may be the first sports action shot ever |
| By David Lee Poremba (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
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The House of David Baseball Team | 2000 / Joel Hawkins and Terry Bertolino's impressive collection of House of David images, an overview of the bearded baseball sensations that took America by storm |
| By Joel Hawkins (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
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Once Upon a Diamond: When Baseball Came of Age | 2000 / From a new calendar featuring the baseball collections of the New York Public Library, images of forty-eight tobacco cards from 1909 |
| By New York Public Library (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Black Baseball in Chicago | |
| By Larry Lester, Sammy J. Miller and Dick Clark (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Black Baseball in Detroit | |
| By Larry Lester, Sammy J. Miller and Dick Clark (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| The Detroit Tigers: A Pictorial Celebration of the Greatest Players and Moments in Tigers History | |
| By William M. Anderson (1999) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Yankees Baseball: The Golden Age | |
| By Richard Bak (1999) Buy the Book | Read | |
| New York Giants: A Baseball Album | |
| By Richard Bak (1999) Buy the Book | Read | |
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RESEARCH / ANALYSIS | |
| The Juice: The Real Story of Baseball's Drug Problems | 2007 / Hailed as the most authoritative book on the drug problems infecting baseball, The Juice offers a wide-ranging investigation of the drugs now being used or contemplated, the athletes who use them, their scientific effects and side effects. |
| By r (2007) Buy the Book | Read | |
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Baseball Dynasties: The Greatest Teams of All Time | 2000 / From Rob Neyer and Eddie Epstein's examination of the top teams in baseball history, a look at some of the forgetten greats -- and some of the worst |
| By Rob Neyer and Eddie Epstein (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame? | |
| By Bill James (1995) Buy the Book | Read | |
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HOW-TOS / INSTRUCTION / EXPLANATION | |
| Spitters, Beanballs and the Incredible Shrinking Strike Zone: The Stories behind the Rules of Baseball | |
| By Waggoner et al (2000) Buy the Book | Read | |
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The Baseball Autograph Collector's Handbook | 1999 / Jack Smalling's primer on how to collect the autographs of baseball's greatest stars |
| By Jack Smalling (1999) Buy the Book | Read | |
| How To Snag Major League Baseballs: More that 100 Tested Tips That Really Work | |
| By Zachary Hample (1999) Buy the Book | Read | |
| The Way Baseball Works | |
| By Tim McCarver and Dan Gutman (1996) Buy the Book | Read | |
| Nolan Ryan's Pitcher's Bible: The Ultimate Guide to Power, Precision and Long-term Performance | |
| By Nolan Ryan (1991) Buy the Book | Read | |
| The Science Of Hitting | |
| By Ted Williams and John Underwood (1986) Buy the Book | Read | |
