new baseball biographies

Book Review: Future Value - Eric Longenhagen & Kiley McDaniel

Discover how amateur and pro baseball scouting is done, how departments are built, and how organizations find talent in Future Value.

It can be hard to capture the man behind the on-field achievements, but three new books do just that for Rickey Henderson, Ken Caminiti and Jackie Robinson.

Baseball history is full of iconic figures, those whose achievements are so outsized that it is difficult to imagine them as mere humans. And yet they are people like you and I with their own particular struggles and aspirations and inner lives that an exclusive focus on their on-field achievements can ignore. In recent months, three new biographies on baseball icons have been released, and in their own way, each does a great job of capturing these icons in their fullness, showing not only what made them remarkable athletes, but fascinating people as well.

First is Dan Good’s biography of 1996 NL MVP Ken Caminiti, Playing Through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession That Changed Baseball Forever , a book Good spent a full decade researching and writing. Over the course of his research, Good spoke with practically everyone connected with Caminiti. Not only teammates and coaches, but also people he was in rehab with and the man who supplied him with his steroids, among dozens upon dozens of others. It is impossible to imagine a more thorough rendering of Caminiti’s life.

While Good certainly addresses all that made Caminiti a beloved player by fans in both Houston and San Diego — especially his often breathtaking fielding at the hot corner — he also focuses on the off-field challenges that haunted him throughout his life. Good reveals that Caminiti was a victim of childhood sexual abuse, adding a further sense of tragedy to an already-tragic life. Caminiti is also well-known for being among the first MLB players to publicly admit to using steroids, shining a light on something that few are still willing to speak openly about twenty years later.

Playing Through the Pain is a very well-researched and profoundly empathetic biography that looks at Caminiti’s life with rigor and compassion. Caminiti’s story is a sad one and Good consistently treats it with all the sensitivity necessary, capturing a man whose triumphs on the field were too often outweighed by his struggles off of it. Readers will find themselves cheering for Caminiti, despite already knowing how the story ends. It is a masterclass in how sports writers can treat sensitive subjects without condescending towards them or offering judgment, a work that reckons with a complicated, and almost mythic figure without ever losing sight of his humanity. It is a book that captures the ultimate highs and lows, not only of sports, but of life.

Rickey Henderson is one of the greatest characters in baseball history

Second is Howard Bryant’s new biography of Rickey Henderson, Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original . With Rickey, Bryant does more than write a biography of Rickey Henderson; he offers a cultural history of Oakland, explaining how the Great Migration and segregation in the East Bay created a world where many great athletes — Rickey Henderson, Curt Flood, Dave Stewart, Bill Russell, Frank Robinson, and Joe Morgan among others — rose to greatness in spite of a society that conspired to hold them back. It is tremendous, and impassioned, history writing.

Henderson is, of course, one of the great characters in baseball history. But Bryant avoids the too-common impulse to treat Rickey as a purely comic figure. Rickey is certainly entertaining and often funny, but many widely distributed Rickey anecdotes turned him into a stereotype instead of a person. As Bryant writes: “Rickey was a character. Rickey was unique. Rickey was bizarre and funny and aloof, but there was a difference between Rickey being on his own program and the fictionalized minstrel stories that diminished him and used him to reinforce the Black stereotypes so many had spent their careers trying to shed.” And peeling back these layers, showcasing the fascinating human behind the (often fictional or exaggerated) stories is a major part of what makes Bryant’s biography so great. What is revealed is a man more intelligent, driven, strong-willed, talented, and yes, funny, than any number of these alleged anecdotes could convey.

Bryant also does a great job of depicting what made Rickey such a thrilling player to watch. Seemingly, every few pages, I was going to YouTube in the hopes of finding footage of a play that Bryant had described. To read Rickey is to continually marvel at all that Henderson achieved, what a disruptive presence he was on the field, and how he dominated from the lead-off position in a way no other baseball player ever has – or is likely to again. And as modern as Rickey Henders will feel to readers – which is fitting in light of how much he did to usher in a new era of baseball – it is also a portrait of a type of player that no longer exists anymore. As Bryant notes in the epilogue, “During the 2019 season, 13 teams stole fewer bases than the 66 Rickey swiped in 1998 – when he was 39.”

To call Rickey a great biography is accurate, but it undersells the fullness of Bryant’s achievement. It is also a tribute to one of the greatest players in baseball history and to the particular abilities, spirit, and background that made him so special and unique. Few writers are better at blending sports history and cultural criticism than Howard Bryant and every page of Rickey contains a reminder of what makes his work so special.

Third is Kostya Kennedy’s new book on Jackie Robinson, True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson . In it, Kennedy writes about four different years in Robinson’s life, focusing on his specific struggles and triumphs during that time and what they reveal about the man he was. Kennedy covers his first year with the Montreal Royals in 1946, his MVP year with the Dodgers in 1949, his final season in 1956, and the year of his early death in 1972. It is a unique way to look at a man whose life and triumphs have been covered so many times that one would be justified in wondering if there are any new angles left to explore.

This strategy is similar to the one Kennedy took in an earlier book he wrote about Joe DiMaggio’s infamous 56-game hitting streak. By focusing exclusively on that brief period in DiMaggio’s life, he was able to cast new light on both that achievement and the man who did it. He does the same thing here. It allows him to linger on specific revealing moments, allowing the reader to spend time with Robinson, getting a feel for the man instead of just delivering them new facts and information.

And like Bryant does for Henderson, Kennedy also captures what made Robinson such an exciting player – the absolute terror he inspired on the basepaths, how he could even work his way out of a rundown through sheer speed and will, how he “could change the game with a feint.” Anyone reading will find themselves wishing for infinitely more footage of Robinson playing than there is.

At one point, while writing about how Robinson was perceived by the public during his time with the Dodgers Kennedy writes this: “He could be overlooked as an individual, unseen, and thus, for all his extraordinary fame and the familiarity of his name and figure, never truly seen at all. An outline of himself. Almost, in a certain sense, invisible.” In spite of how famous and revered he is today – in fact, because of these things – one could say the same about Robinson today. Many do not see him as a flesh and blood person, but as an abstract symbol of integration and Civil Rights. He can represent whatever one wants and in this sense remains “never truly seen at all.” True is a book that takes pains to undo this trend, to wrestle with a gifted athlete and a complex man who was even greater than his reputation would have one believe. It looks at Robinson as he was – as a man rather than an icon.

Next. An insider’s view of the process and person of Dirk Nowitzki. dark

Here's a list of our all-time favorite baseball books

In May 2020, we asked MLB.com reporters to name their favorite baseball book, and we broke them down in two sections below. Here is a look back at those picks.

The top section is for books that were picked by more than one reporter, and then a second section for books that got one vote each.

STAFF FAVORITES

"Catcher in the Wry" by Bob Uecker and Mickey Herskowitz It takes one turn of the page to find a laugh in Bob Uecker’s autobiography. We’re talking pre-table of contents.

Here’s how Uecker begins the acknowledgements of the book he co-wrote with columnist Mickey Herskowitz, which was released in August 1982 while the Brewers were on the way to their only World Series to date: “When people ask who made me a broadcaster, or a baseball humorist, I give them the names of a dozen pitchers in the National League.” Thus begins a self-deprecating journey through Uecker’s life in baseball, from a .200-hitting backup catcher to a beloved broadcaster and entertainer known as “Mr. Baseball.”

The story is told many of the hilarious -- and occasionally true! -- yarns that Uecker spun on stage as an opening act for trumpeter Al Hirt. Those performances caught the attention of Johnny Carson and led to more than 100 appearances on "The Tonight Show." The rest is history. -- Adam McCalvy

"Summer of '49" by David Halberstam "Summer of '49" presents the idea of baseball as a microcosm of society at the time. David Halberstam places the Yankees-Red Sox American League pennant race and the Joe DiMaggio-Ted Williams rivalry in the context of post-World War II America. Halberstam not only digs into the dichotomy between the grace of DiMaggio and the brusk, analytical approach of Williams, but he also delves into the difference between DiMaggio's public celebrity and private personality against the bright lights of New York, the difference in media coverage for each, a Red Sox club weighing expectations and disappointment and a Yankees team trying to overcome the idea that it’s a one-man band as DiMaggio deals all season with a nagging heel injury.

All of this plays out in a pennant race that goes to the final day of the regular season and a Yankees-Red Sox matchup in the Bronx, with a World Series berth and a batting title for Williams in the balance. You already know the ending, but how Halberstam brings you there is tremendous reading. -- Jason Beck

"The Only Rule Is It Has To Work" by Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller Baseball is at its best when it's innovating. Radical ideas have brought new life to the sport for a century-and-a-half. And yet, it's a lot easier to come up with those ideas than it is to implement them on an actual diamond with actual professional ballplayers.

Five years ago, Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller were given the chance to run the Sonoma Stompers, an independent Minor League team in California. The two analytically inclined writers were free to implement any strategy they wanted to -- as long it worked. That premise makes the book a haven for open-minded baseball fans. (Five-man infields! Bullpen optimization!) But the challenges Lindbergh and Miller face offer a wonderful reminder of the complexities of the sport. Baseball has always been partially defined by its numbers. But as the authors make clear, it is, first and foremost, a game about people. -- AJ Cassavell

"Ball Four" by Jim Bouton with Leonard Shecter Written by former big league pitcher Jim Bouton, this book stunned the sports world when it was released 50 years ago -- and it remains a must-read for any baseball fan. Though social media and the 24-hour news cycle have since changed the way fans interact with athletes, "Ball Four" provided a never-before-seen glimpse into the clubhouse and the lives of Major League Baseball players.

This irreverant diary of Bouton's 1969 season with the Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros pulled no punches, touching on everything from drinking and drug use among teammates (and himself) to contract disagreements between players and management at a time before free agency. Perhaps most controversial at the time was the way Bouton publicly shared stories about Mickey Mantle's drinking habits and off-field behavior. This first-of-its-kind look into the lives of some professional athletes has certainly stood the test of time. -- Paul Casella

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"Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig" by Jonathan Eig Many baseball fans -- and non-fans -- are familiar with Yankees great Lou Gehrig’s “luckiest man on the face of the Earth” speech in 1939, upon his retirement because of a then-unknown disease (ALS) that would eventually bear his name. Others might be familiar with the 1942 Gary Cooper movie, “Pride of the Yankees,” that romanticized Gehrig’s life with his team and his wife, Eleanor, and his once-record streak of 2,130 consecutive games played.

But what Jonathan Eig’s biography does -- in painfully vivid detail -- is describe what the two years were like after the Gehrig's speech as he sought direction for his life and a cure to his illness. In between trips to the Mayo Clinic, he worked as a probation officer, was often allowed to sit in the Yankees' dugout in street clothes and dealt with the day-to-day difficulties of a body betraying the man once lovingly known in baseball as "The Iron Horse." The book is also a full-life story about Gehrig’s younger years, his time with the Yankees, his relationship with Eleanor and his friendship with Babe Ruth. -- Mark Sheldon

"October 1964" by David Halberstam Written almost as a bookend to “Summer of ’49,” “October 1964” is an excellent read about the last hurrah of the dominant-but-aging Yankees, a team that relied on established order and power. The upstart and modernizing Cardinals, in contrast, built a team on strategy and speed, and Halberstam examines the differences between these two teams while putting the 1964 season in a proper historical context.

It’s much more than a baseball analysis of the season. Halberstam illustrates how changes in American society, particularly around race and civil rights, were playing out in baseball. This book is a powerful look at the forces that transformed baseball in a pivotal time period by weaving in the life stories of players, managers, coaches, scouts and team owners. You get a detailed and humanizing portrait of the faces of baseball, like Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Bob Gibson and Lou Brock. You get your baseball fix through the buildup of the season and the drama of the seven-game World Series at the end. And you can start to understand the important intersection of baseball and society, shown through the end of an older era and the beginning of a new era. -- Anne Rogers

"Moneyball" by Michael Lewis Years before legions of research-and-development staffers were hired around MLB to pore over TrackMan and Rapsodo tables and run complicated search-and-sort queries on mounds of data, conventional wisdom still largely prevailed in the decision-making of Major League front offices, thanks in large part to the well-established inertia of tradition in the game.

That’s the universe into which baseball outsider Michael Lewis, a finance and economics journalist, takes a deep dive in “Moneyball,” centered around the story of how Billy Beane, his staff and the financially limited Oakland A’s used contrarian thinking in player acquisition and evaluation in “The Art of Winning an Unfair Game,” as the title’s subhead declares. While the film adaptation took several liberties for Hollywood’s sake, the book itself weaves together the inner workings of baseball culture, recognizable names from around MLB and the dramatic story of the 2002 A’s and their legendary winning streak with a slightly more nuanced look at alternative ways of thinking about the game.

It’s a story that proved accessible and compelling for fans and outsiders alike -- and served as a first step to usher in a wave of people interested in thinking about baseball in a different way. -- Do-Hyoung Park

MORE GREAT READS

"The Arm" by Jeff Passan As well as the writing is done and the story is laid out, the major draw is the gravity of the subject matter: the prevention of UCL tears is arguably the biggest mystery in baseball. Has anyone solved it, is that even possible and why did it take so long to attempt to slow the rise in cases? -- Jake Crouse

"Beyond the Sixth Game" by Peter Gammons A fascinating, insightful and behind-the-scenes look at the colorful Red Sox teams of the mid 1970s, and the story behind their abrupt breakup in the early ‘80s. During that time period, no scribe was more plugged into the inner-workings of baseball -- and, in particular, the Red Sox -- than Peter Gammons. -- Ian Browne

"The Boys of Summer" by Roger Kahn An all-time classic. Roger Kahn, who lived in the shadows of Ebbets Field, covered the Brooklyn Dodgers in the early 1950s for the New York Herald Tribune. The book covers Jackie Robinson breaking MLB’s color barrier, along with the tales of Pee Wee Reese, Carl Erskine and the rest, as well as the baseball bond Kahn shared with his father. -- Joe Frisaro

"Wait Till Next Year" by Doris Kearns Goodwin This memoir, penned by one of our country's most celebrated historians, paints a vivid and heartwarming picture of what it was like to grow up as a Brooklyn Dodgers fan in the suburbs of New York in the 1950s, in a post-war era. Doris Kearns Goodwin fell in love with baseball at the age of 6, after scoring a game with her dad for the first time, and she's been hooked ever since. Who can't relate to that? -- Alyson Footer

"Veeck As In Wreck" by Bill Veeck with Ed Linn One of the most eccentric figures in baseball history, Bill Veeck recounts much of his storied tenure as a team owner and executive, including the promotional stunts that made him famous. Veeck was ahead of his time in many ways, and his wit and unique sense of humor shine through this iconic memoir. -- Sarah Wexler

"Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero" by David Maraniss This brilliant biography by David Maraniss captures the spirit of Roberto Clemente, a baseball legend and humanitarian. The book is loaded with previously unknown information and details that would satisfy the most ardent Clemente enthusiasts and captivate casual baseball fans. -- Jesse Sanchez

"Late Innings: A Baseball Companion" by Roger Angell In my early teen years, I drifted away from baseball and to football, but by college, I realized I’d turned my back on true love. This book reminded me of the personalities of the players, their attention to their craft, the often messy underbelly of labor and other situations -- and that a writer can remind you why you loved the sport unconditionally in the first place. -- Thomas Harding

"Baseball America’s UItimate Draft Book" by Allan Simpson Allan Simpson founded Baseball America in part because he loved the Draft, and that love shines through this 766-page tome. Anything anyone could ever want to know about the Draft is in this book, including fascinating stories about superstars and players you’ve never heard of, annotated Draft lists jammed with fun facts and signing bonus information that’s not available anywhere else. You don’t even have to be a draftnik to enjoy it. -- Jim Callis

"If I Never Get Back" by Darryl Brock This is a work of fiction about an emotionally battered man who steps off a train platform and mysteriously gets swept back in time to join up with the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first professional baseball team. He plays for them, gets caught up with Mark Twain and tries to figure out what is going on in his life as the Reds travel west to San Francisco. -- T.R. Sullivan

"Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning" by Jonathan Mahler The "Bronx Zoo" Yankees offer no shortage of storylines on their own, especially the dynamic clash of mega-egos featuring George Steinbrenner, Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson. But this work delves deeper and provides a vivid picture of New York City’s summer of 1977. Escalating crime, a maniac on the loose, racial tensions, a tense mayoral race and riots sparked by a blackout keep the drama at high levels as the Yankees fight toward the World Series title. -- Bryan Hoch

"Sandy Koufax, A Lefty’s Legacy" by Jane Leavy Of all the Sandy Koufax bios, none captures the magnificence and mystery of the legend better than Jane Leavy’s 2002 bestseller. From his religion to his toughness and unselfishness, the book captures the Koufax known only by his teammates and friends, through interviews with dozens of them, with Koufax’s blessing. It’s not an autobiography, but Koufax spoke regularly with the author throughout the process. Hank Aaron said the book “is as good as Koufax.” -- Ken Gurnick

"The Summer Game" by Roger Angell The first of several anthologies published by the esteemed fiction editor of The New Yorker magazine, this work demonstrates that writing well about baseball can be accomplished with elegance, emotion and introspection. Roger Angell speaks to the fan, capturing the beauty and the passion that make baseball the world’s greatest game. -- Chris Haft

"Weaver on Strategy" by Earl Weaver and Terry Pluto Orioles manager Earl Weaver was a master at exploiting matchups and finding a way to get the most out of his roster. He was ahead of his time with his use of statistics, and some of the truisms in the book still hold today, such as his admonition against relying too much on Spring Training statistics or September performance when making player evaluations. The book opened my eyes to baseball strategy as a high-schooler, and I’ve been fascinated ever since. -- Steve Gilbert

"Eight Men Out" by Eliot Asinof A vivid telling of the 1919 Black Sox and one of the most infamous cheating scandals in sports, one that -- a century later -- is still remembered among the mainstream and incredibly relevant. Beyond the intimate detail of the “fix,” this story delves into the player-owner relationship, the birth and role of the Commissioner and the lasting societal impact that the scandal left by the politics of it all. -- Daniel Kramer

"The Soul of Baseball" by Joe Posnanski “Soul” is a word that can be applied equally to describe what made the late Buck O’Neil special and what makes Joe Posnanski’s writing special. When you combine the two in this journal of a season through O'Neil's eyes, you have a document that teaches the reader not simply the history of the Negro Leagues, but a lesson in class, character, calm and kindness. -- Anthony Castrovince

"The Bronx Zoo" by Sparky Lyle and Peter Golenbock I read this book somewhere around the age of 13 and was intrigued by the behind-the-scenes look at baseball. Sparky Lyle and Peter Golenbock did a solid job of capturing life for the 1978 Yankees with a humorous edge in storytelling. -- Scott Merkin

"The Glory of Their Times" by Lawrence Ritter Originally published in 1966, this book provides a rare primary-source perspective on baseball in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Lawrence Ritter interviewed more than 25 players from baseball’s early years who were still alive in the 1960s, getting first-person accounts from “heroes of a bygone era,” as he calls them in the preface. -- Sarah Langs

"The Bad Guys Won" by Jeff Pearlman My 10th grade English teacher (hi, Mr. Queen) sent me to a writers' conference, and Jeff Pearlman was running a workshop on sportswriting. He gave me a copy of his book on the 1986 Mets and their escapades because I knew who Ed Hearn was. -- David Adler

"Leo Mazzone's Tales from the Mound" by Leo Mazzone and Scott Freeman As the former Braves pitching coach, Leo Mazzone was involved in standout performances by future Hall of Famers in a dominating era. This book recounts the memorable outings and the knowledge he gained from his experiences, which I enjoyed discussing with him years later when I became a reporter. -- Jessica Camerato

"Five Seasons: A Baseball Companion" by Roger Angell I have always enjoyed and admired Roger Angell’s literary style, the eloquent and lyrical way he describes the game. “Five Seasons” is the unofficial poet laureate of baseball at his best, spinning a narrative that glides us through the early-to-mid 1970s, perhaps the most significant half-decade in the history of the game. Angell writes about baseball like high art, which, of course, it often is. -- Joe Trezza

"Joe DiMaggio: The Hero’s Life" by Richard Ben Cramer Few people have lived a more interesting life than Joe DiMaggio, and it turns out, I only knew a small part of his amazing story. From his upbringing in the Bay Area to his remarkable career with the Yankees to the end of his life, I became more fascinated than ever by "Joltin’ Joe." -- Brian McTaggart

"The Iowa Baseball Confederacy" by W.P. Kinsella W.P. Kinsella’s more famous work is "Shoeless Joe" (better known to casual fans as “Field of Dreams”), but he also explored numerous themes (the impact of dreams and the role and influence of family, among other concepts) in this piece of fiction. In the novel, Gideon Clarke is consumed with proving that the 1908 Cubs played a game lasting thousands of innings against a small-town team from Iowa. A magical story unfolds from there. -- Jordan Bastian

"Playing America’s Game: Baseball, Latinos and the Color Line" by Adrian Burgos This is a thorough examination of Latino participation in organized baseball before and after Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947. A gifted historian, Adrian Burgos shows how Latinos blurred the line between inclusion and exclusion during baseball’s segregated era and were used by team and league officials to manipulate racial policies, altering the terms of who gained access to the Major Leagues and when. -- Maria Guardado

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The 25 best baseball books of all time, ranked

Another spring training is upon baseball fans. Many will be trekking to Florida or Arizona to take in games. For anyone en route to spring training or anyone else who’s even just at home, needing a diversion until the regular season begins in a few weeks, consider reading any of the following 25 books.

MORE: The best baseball movies of all time, ranked

For reasons difficult to pinpoint, baseball has inspired more great books than any other American sport, by a long shot. Hundreds of good books exist about the game, more than can be noted here. The following 25 represent the best of the best.

MORE: Hall of Fame should honor game's legendary authors

The Glory of Their Times, by Lawrence Ritter

In the mid-1960s, Columbia University professor Lawrence Ritter put 75,000 miles on his car driving around the United States, interviewing aging ballplayers. The result was the finest baseball book and one of the best oral histories for any subject. Long before ESPN or MLB Network, Ritter helped give a group of largely forgotten players new life. It’s valuable, historically important work. Oft imitated in the 50 years since publication, the book’s never been repeated.

Ball Four, by Jim Bouton

Jim Bouton’s playing diary of the 1969 season with the Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros seems a little tame by today’s standards. But revelations upon its 1970 debut that players popped pills and had affairs on the road caused a stir. The San Diego Padres burned a copy in the Astros’ locker room when Bouton came through town with the team. Bouton also wasn’t invited to Yankee Old Timer Days for years. But it helped make a declining relief pitcher immortal in the baseball literary world.

Lords of the Realm, by John Helyar

Anyone who wants a primer on baseball’s history of troubling labor relations should start with John Helyar’s master work. It lays out in superb detail how Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Marvin Miller led the successful fight in the 1960s and ‘70s to topple the Reserve Clause and bring about free agency. While Helyar published his book just before the 1994 strike, anyone who reads it should have a good idea why it happened and why labor strife might always threaten baseball.

Baseball, by Geoffrey C. Ward

Have a young fan around? Here’s the perfect book to introduce him or her to baseball. The accompanying book for Ken Burns’ miniseries that aired on PBS in September 1994, Baseball recounts 150 years of the game’s history. Factually, it isn’t perfect. It presents Alexander Cartwright as the true founder of baseball and relies on the now-suspect "Eight Men Out" by Eliot Asinof to tell the story of the 1919 World Series. All in all, though, the book is still Baseball History 101 for any reader.

The Numbers Game, by Alan Schwarz

Out of the many baseball books on advanced stats, Schwarz’s 2005 historical look reigns supreme. Schwarz offers a definitive history of stats in baseball, running from Henry Chadwick to Joe Sheehan. Somehow, Schwarz manages to pack in tons of information and weave a narrative that never becomes overly dry or academic. The vast majority of baseball books are lucky to do one of these things well.

The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, by Bill James

At his best, there’s been no baseball research topic too broad or ambitious for Bill James. In his 2001 masterwork on baseball history, he offered comments and ratings on 900 players, recounted 13 decades of baseball history, and introduced Win Shares, his metric for total player value. Win Shares has long since been supplanted WAR as baseball’s most prominent sabermetric stat, but the book otherwise still feels relevant 15 years after publication.

The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle, by Jane Leavy

Jane Leavy interviewed more than 600 people and recounted her own experiences with the famed New York Yankees slugger to create the best baseball biography anyone’s done. It will be interesting to see if Leavy can ever top this book. As of this writing, she has a Babe Ruth biography in the works.

The Boys of Summer, by Roger Kahn

A lot of people are potentially in the right place at the right time in life, but few turn it into a great book. Roger Kahn used his experiences and connections as a Brooklyn Dodger beat writer in the 1950s to offer a classic history of Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, and others. Better, Kahn had the literary chops to make his book more than just a jock hagiography.

Baseball in the Garden of Eden, by John Thorn

Major League Baseball official historian John Thorn spent nearly 30 years writing the signature history of the game’s origins. Among the 2011 book’s accomplishments, it helped debunk Alexander Cartwright as baseball’s founder and almost got Doc Adams, one of the game’s true pioneers, in the Hall of Fame this past year.

Cardboard Gods, by Josh Wilker

What makes Josh Wilker’s 2010 debut different from any of the scores of other books written about baseball card collecting? Cards are merely a segue for Wilker to weave an engrossing memoir about growing up in 1970s and ‘80s Vermont. "If you love the writing of Dave Eggers or Augusten Burroughs, you just may love Cardboard Gods,” reviewer Wally Lamb wrote. That doesn’t usually get written about baseball books.

Moneyball, by Michael Lewis

The Oakland Athletics’ bargain basement, “Let’s overflow the dugout sewers” approach to team-building has yet to win any championships. But it helped spur one of the more unique, compelling books in recent baseball history. It came from an unusual source, with author Michael Lewis having written primarily about Wall Street and never baseball before connecting with Billy Beane and company.

The Baseball Encyclopedia, by various authors

Baseball-Reference.com might not exist if a number of researchers hadn’t spent a few years traveling throughout the United States in the 1960s, assembling the true statistical record of the game. As recounted in The Numbers Game, the resulting The Baseball Encylopedia that debuted in 1969 was highly controversial, editing things like Christy Mathewson’s career wins total. Nonetheless, it raised important questions for a sport that continues to sometimes push myth over fact.

The Hidden Game of Baseball, by John Thorn and Pete Palmer

Bill James gets rightly celebrated as a pioneer of sabermetrics. But John Thorn and Pete Palmer are among many other less-touted individuals who played a big role in making the topic mainstream. Thorn and Palmer did so with their 1984 book, which introduced linear weights and offered other core concepts of sabermetrics.

Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty, by Charles Leerhsen

Al Stump, who collaborated with Ty Cobb near the end of his life on an autobiography, made him out as arguably the worst person in baseball history with a magazine article shortly after his 1961 death. This led to a book in 1994 and a movie that same year with Tommy Lee Jones. Charles Leerhsen’s landmark 2015 book showed Stump’s reporting for what it was: exaggerations and, in some cases, outright lies.

Baseball's Great Experiment, by Jules Tygiel

The breaking of baseball’s color barrier in 1947 was about more than just Jackie Robinson or Branch Rickey. It was about men like Roy Partlow and John Wright who signed at the same time as Robinson and never came close to starring in the majors. It was about players like Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella who forged equally perilous paths to baseball glory in the late 1940s. Tygiel captured all this and more in his definitive 1983 book on baseball’s integration.

Babe: The Legend Comes to Life, by Robert Creamer

As Hank Aaron chased Babe Ruth’s career home run record in the early 1970s, Sports Illustrated editor Robert Creamer tracked down many people connected to the Sultan of Swat, including former opponents, to create a biography long overdue. More impressive? Creamer did his work in an era long before online newspaper archives made information on Ruth easily accessible.

Baseball As I Have Known It, by Fred Lieb

This book is amazing just because it exists. Fred Lieb wrote about baseball from the early 1900s until his 1980 death. In the 1970s, he put everything down on paper for one of the most surreal memoirs in baseball history. It’s enchanting, like being able to travel through baseball history, to read Lieb’s words on everyone from Kenesaw Mountain Landis to Mike Schmidt.

Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life, by Richard Ben Cramer

Richard Ben Cramer pulled off a difficult feat, offering a warts and all portrayal of an aggressively hostile subject. Joe DiMaggio refused to even shake Cramer’s hand during the five years he spent working on the book. So Cramer dug in and went the long route to produce a previously unwritable book, speaking to every DiMaggio friend or associate he could find.

The Soul of Baseball, by Joe Posnanski

When Buck O’Neil highlighted Ken Burns’ PBS miniseries “Baseball” in 1994, his fame could have stopped there. A decade later, though, Joe Posnanski spent a year traveling around America with O’Neil. In the process, he captured more of O’Neil’s story and his role in preserving the legacy of Negro League baseball.

Total Baseball, by John Thorn and Pete Palmer

In a foreword to a 30th anniversary edition of The Hidden Game of Baseball, John Thorn wrote that a baseball encyclopedia had been the original idea. The publisher wanted a quick turnaround, though, as publishers often want, so Thorn and Pete Palmer went with a scaled back idea for their first book and took six years to execute their big idea. It proved worth the wait.

Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?, by Bill James

This isn’t a perfect book about the Hall of Fame. Such a book doesn’t exist. In writing about the Hall’s history, James misses some details that a hardcore Cooperstown researcher might know (such as when James writes that Lee Allen was responsible for the wave of oldtimer inductions in the early 1960s; longtime Sporting News publisher J.G. Taylor Spink deserves this credit .)

Overall, though, this is the best Hall of Fame book anyone’s done, an entertaining and influential work. Its chapter on George Davis might have helped get the Deadball Era star enshrined in 1998. An Expansion Era Committee member also told me recently that the committee looks in its voting at Hall of Fame metrics James introduced in his book, such as Similarity Scores.

The Summer Game, by Roger Angell

Really, anything Roger Angell’s written about baseball for The New Yorker since the 1960s could occupy this spot. Still writing for the publication at 95, Angell’s a treasure for the baseball world and got a well-deserved spot in the media exhibit at the Hall of Fame in 2014.

Only The Ball Was White, by Robert W. Peterson

As noted in a 1999 review , Robert W. Peterson interviewed Negro League players and scoured old newspapers to put together a 1970 book full of facts that might have otherwise been lost to history. Peterson also followed up on a plug Ted Williams made in his 1966 Hall of Fame induction speech for Satchel Paige and others to be admitted into Cooperstown, with Peterson including an epilogue with a similar plea. The following year, the Hall of Fame began enshrining Negro Leaguers in earnest.

The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball, by Tom Tango, Mitchel Lichtman, and Andrew Dolphin

Why is The Book ranked well below The Hidden Game of Baseball? It lacks a John Thorn to add finesse to its statistical geniuses (though Pete Palmer appropriately wrote the foreword for Tom Tango and company.) The result is a book packed with vital information for sabermetric research but one that struggles for readability at times. It’s an essential read for stat researchers, just not an easy one.

Summer of '49, by David Halberstam

A Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter during the Vietnam War, David Halberstam began writing baseball books in the 1980s partly to interview old players. Critics like Bill James slammed Halberstam for relying on their accounts and not following up with critical research. Every great baseball book need not be a scholarly tome, though. Halberstam's most entertaining baseball book brims with colorful anecdotes and recollections from old ballplayers like Ted Williams. It's a different kind of book than a lot of the others here, but a classic nonetheless.

The 100 Best Baseball Books Ever Written

Baseball is the writer's game, and these indispensable books prove it.

Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. We may earn a commission from these links. Here’s how we test products and why you should trust us.

There are more good books written about baseball than any other American team sport—and that’s not just because baseball has been around the longest. “This ain’t a football game,” manager Earl Weaver once said. “We do this every day.” Through baseball books, we’ve come to understand the game and its history. The sport is catnip for writers: a game of contemplation and strategy that lends itself beautifully to numbers and analysis as well as poetry.

As longtime Washington Post writer Tom Boswell once wrote, “Conversation is the blood of baseball. It flows through the game, an invigorating system of anecdotes. Ballplayers are tale tellers who have polished their malarky and winnowed their wisdom... this passion for language and the telling detail is what makes baseball the writer’s game.”

There are, of course, inner-circle Hall of Fame baseball books. On any self-respecting list, you’ll find The Glory of Their Times , The Summer Game , Eight Men Out , The Natural , Veeck as in Wreck , Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game? , Ball Four, The Boys of Summer , The Lords of the Realm , and Moneyball . Those titles appear here, of course, along with our pick of 100 indispensable books no baseball fan should be without. In no particular order...

Prophet of the Sandlots, by Mark Winegardner

Mark Winegardner’s book about Tony Lucadello, the successful baseball scout who scouted Mike Schmidt, is written in a clean, almost invisible prose style. Winegardner’s understated approach pays off when the story ends with an unexpected twist. Scouts, like trainers in boxing, often make rich characters, and Winegardner’s devotion to Lucadello pays off in one of the truest baseball stories you’ll ever read.

Da Capo Press A Day In The Bleachers, by Arnold Hano

One of the first baseball books for adults, A Day in the Bleachers is really a long magazine article made into a tidy book. It’s about how Hano took the subway uptown to the Polo Grounds one day and bought a bleacher ticket for a World Series game. It just so happened to be one of the most famous games in World Series history because of an amazing play Willie Mays made in centerfield. Hano had a perfect view of the catch, and the even more remarkable throw. He’d been going to the Polo Grounds alone since he was four-years-old, and he was most at home in the bleachers. This is a gem.

Oxford University Press Baseball: The Early Years, by Harold Seymour and Dorothy Seymour Mills

First of the seminal three-part history of the game by Harold Seymour and Dorothy Seymour Mills. Essential.

Brand: Little Brown n Co (T) The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading & Bubblegum Book, by Brendan Boyd

There might be funnier books—we can always argue—but you’d be hard-pressed to find a book that is more overall fun than this one. Boyd and co-author Fred C. Harris bring an infectious irreverence to their love of baseball cards from the 1950s. The digressions, such as a listing great baseball nicknames like Bow Wow Arft, Turkeyfoot Brower, Noodles Zupo, and Oyster Burns, are priceless. This great big smile of a book is a must for any baseball fan.

Oxford University Press Only the Ball Was White, by Robert Peterson

If you want to know the history of the Negro Leagues, you start with this book. Period.

W. W. Norton & Company Moneyball, by Michael Lewis

It's rare when a book, of all things, has an impact on a sport, but Moneyball is that book. The term, for better and worse, stuck inside baseball as a shorthand for the analytics revolution. But the reason Lewis’ book is so compelling is because Billy Beane is a wonderful character. In a master storyteller’s hands, that’s a powerful thing.

Southern Illinois University Press Man on Spikes, by Eliot Asinof

Eliot Asinof is best-known for Eight Men Out , his entertaining—if historically shaky—account of the Black Sox Scandal (he is less famous for once being married to Marlon Brando’s sister). But you don’t want to miss his 1955 novel about a minor league ball player. Asinof played minor league ball himself, and this novel is blunt, unsentimental, and modern in its depiction of professional sport. Writing in The New York Times , the great sports writer John Lardner called it “the first realistic baseball novel I can remember ever having read...it is the only novel, so far as I know, that gives a sharp, fair account—it’s an eloquent, moving account.”

Anchor The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron, by Howard Bryant

The definitive portrait of Hank Aaron, one of the greatest ballplayers ever, most famous for setting the all-time home run record. Aaron was hated and loved for surpassing Babe Ruth as the home run king—his performance, either way, obscured the man behind the athlete. “You what what the hardest thing is?” Aaron tells Bryant. “What nobody wants to understand—is me. People want their memories of me to be my memories of me. But you know what? They’re not.”

Soft Skull Press The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training, by Josh Wilker

It’s no secret that baseball movies are almost universally terrible. The original Bad News Bears is the exception, but you wouldn’t be wrong to roll your eyes at the 1977 sequel, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training . However, one person’s trash is another fan’s treasure, and nobody writes about the intersection of pop culture and personal history like Josh Wilker, who is always funny and often poignant.

Fantagraphics Books 21: The Story Of Roberto Clemente, by Wilfred Santiago

Not only was Roberto Clemente a fascinating man and a Hall of Fame player, but he had something even rarer than greatness: style. Sleek and lean with a powerful throwing arm, he was a beautiful fielder. Even the way he walked up the plate was stylish, which makes Clemente a good choice for a graphic novel. After Clemente’s command performance in the 1971 World Series, Roger Angell wrote: “And then, too, there was the shared experience, already permanently fixed in memory, of Robert Clemente playing a kind of baseball that none of us had ever seen before—throwing and running and hitting at something close to the level of absolute perfection, playing to win but also playing the game as if it were a form of punishment for everyone else on the field.” Santiago captures Clemente’s violence on the field, as well as his loneliness. It’s a beautiful evocation of an era and a life.

Philomel Books Singled Out: The True Story of Glenn Burke, by Andrew Maraniss

Glenn Burke was the first openly gay big leaguer, and he suffered accordingly. We are fortunate that his story is in the hands of a writer as talented as Maraniss.

Potomac Books Weaver on Strategy, by Earl Weaver

Before Bill James and the analytics revolution, the principles of sabermetrics were put into practice by longtime Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver. A baseball lifer, Weaver was infamous for yelling at umpires and frightening his own players. Beyond the cartoon-like demeanor, however, was a brilliant strategist ahead of his time.

The Baseball 100, by Joe Posnaski

Joe Posnanski is a true believer—and if you’ve never read his charming book about Buck O’Neil, or the spirited account of the Big Red Machine, they are juicy baseball books. The essays in this collection originally appeared online at The Athletic, but they gain heft compiled together. You always learn something reading Posnanski; he makes you a smarter, more well-informed fan, but the surprise here is how much storytelling and emotion fuel these essays. It is a big, fat orgy of baseball goodness.

Touchstone The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams

Ted Williams wanted to be the greatest hitter that ever lived, and if he wasn’t, he’s certainly in the conversation. Here is the classic picture book breaking down his method.

Touchstone The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers, by Bill James and Rob Neyer

Rob Neyer was Bill James’s protégé, but he was no imitator. Neyer is not only incredibly bright and funny, he’s got a knack for making numbers less intimidating to the average reader. When you put Neyer and James together on a project, you get baseball nirvana, like this excellent guide to pitching, pitches, and pitchers.

Willie's Time, by Charles Einstein

Einstein was a longtime sports writer stationed in the Bay Area. His 1979 remembrance of Willie Mays’s career is spot-on. Split into sections by presidents (Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon), Einstein quotes liberally from other writers and adds his own observations, including an abundance of personal time with Mays. The best way to think of Willie’s Time is as a literary mix-tape, and a damn good one at that.

Long Gone, by Paul Hemphill

Before it was a charmed mid-’80s HBO movie with William Peterson and Virginia Madsen, Long Gone was a charmed novel by Paul Hemphill. Once known as the Jimmy Breslin of the South, Hemphill made his bones as a newspaperman in the ’60s, then became a freelance magazine and book writer, including an indispensable history of country music, The Nashville Sound . Hemphill flirted with playing minor league ball as a young man, which provided the foundation for this slim but tasty novel. You can tell why movie people loved it. Jack Nicholson was rumored to play the hero for years; instead, it was Peterson, who gave the character the same kind of spark Paul Newman had in Slap Shot . He had a lot to work with, and you see it all on the page in Hemphill’s novel.

University of Pennsylvania Press God Almighty Hisself: The Life and Legacy of Dick Allen, by Mitchell Nathanson

Dick Allen was one of the great players of his generation though he didn’t enjoy a Hall of Fame career. He played in Philadelphia in the 1960s when it was exceedingly rough for Black players. The story of his career is fascinating. True, Allen wrote an engaging memoir, Crash , but we suggest Nathanson’s tremendous biography for an even fuller portrait of a legendary player.

Gray & Company Publishers The Curse of Rocky Colavito, by Terry Pluto

Every baseball fan knows about the collective misery of the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox in the 20th Century, and thanks to Terry Pluto—who had his hand in a number of really good sports books—we have a detailed appreciation of Cleveland Indians’ misery. The Rocky Colavito trade signaled the demise of the Indians’ ’40s and ’50s success; it also catalyzed a series of events that would cast the team into the baseball cellar for the better part of three decades. That's the conceit of Pluto’s breezy, informal, and affectionate history. Like its literary cousin, The Curse of the Bambino , Pluto’s book takes a symbolic moment—the trading of a beloved player—and uses it as the unwitting catalyst for the team’s subsequent misfortunes. The unwitting hero of the book—the heart and soul—is pitcher Herb Score. His story alone makes this worth reading.

Createspace Independent Publishing Platform Dollar Sign on the Muscle, by Kevin Kerrane

If we had to pick the five best baseball books, this would be one of them. Just get it, that’s all.

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SABR Baseball Biography Project

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Welcome to the Baseball Biography Project!

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All biographies are written by members of SABR and all have been peer-reviewed for style and accuracy.

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(L-R) Peter O’Malley; Rod Dedeaux, former USC baseball coach, in Moscow.

Rod Dedeaux

Rod Dedeaux was the legendary head baseball coach at the University of Southern California. The Trojans won 11 College World Series championships, including five straight titles from 1970-1974. Dedeaux was the USA baseball coach for the 1964 Olympic Games demonstration single game in Tokyo. The USA beat the Japan amateur all-star team, 6-2, before 50,000 fans. Dedeaux returned 20 years later to lead the USA baseball team when it was a demonstration sport and part of an eight-team exhibition tournament at Dodger Stadium during the 1984 Games of the XXIII Olympiad in Los Angeles. The USA team lost in the finals to Japan, 6-3, at Dodger Stadium. Dedeaux was co-founder of the Japan-U.S. College Baseball Championship Series, along with Renzo Ishii of prestigious Waseda University in Tokyo. Dedeaux served as Series chairman from 1972-1984 and then was chairman emeritus. Dodger President Peter O’Malley was an advocate of the Series and offered the use of Dodger Stadium as the host site in 1973, 1977, 1980 and 1982. Along with Peter, Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and International Baseball Association President Dr. Robert Smith, Dedeaux strongly supported baseball as a gold medal sport in the Olympic Games. Their tireless efforts, traveling around the world and holding meetings, eventually paid dividends as baseball became a medal sport in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

May 12, 1959 – Walter O’Malley with USC baseball coach Rod Dedeaux and two former USC star players seated (l-r) Bob Lillis and Ron Fairly, who were then with the Dodgers. Trojan Club honored the great record of Dedeaux with a plaque.

Courtesy of University of Southern California, on behalf of the USC Specialized Libraries and Archival Collections

Dedeaux was inducted into the College Baseball Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame in 1970 and retired after 45 seasons at USC as the winningest baseball coach in history with 1,332 victories. He was in the inaugural 1994 class of the USC Athletic Hall of Fame. Born in New Orleans, Dedeaux was the head coach for the 1964 and 1984 USA baseball teams when the sport was played as a demonstration in the Olympic Games in Tokyo and Los Angeles, respectively. A shortstop, Dedeaux played two games in the majors for the Dodgers in 1935 before a back injury curtailed his playing career. He was passionate about baseball and had an engaging and fun personality. Dedeaux regularly met with Peter O’Malley and was a frequent traveling companion to develop baseball in Japan, China, South Korea, Russia, Ireland, Spain, Taiwan and Australia. Dedeaux attended the opening of the baseball fields Peter privately built in Tianjin, China in 1986 and in Ireland in 1998. He was also with Peter for groundbreaking ceremonies for Matsumae Stadium in Moscow, Russia in 1988, the first baseball field in that country, as well as the Grand Opening of Matsumae Stadium on September 1, 1989. In 1992, they attended the first Olympic Baseball competition in Barcelona, Spain when baseball was a gold medal sport. In 2000, Peter and Dedeaux were in Sydney, Australia to watch the Olympic Baseball tournament, as their good friend Tommy Lasorda was USA team manager. Dedeaux founded and served as president of Dart Transportation, Inc., a trucking company that specializes in worldwide distribution and storage. He passed on January 5, 2006 at age 91.

Watch CBS News

Never-before-seen photos and details about the man accused of murdering four Idaho college students

By Peter Van Sant

January 7, 2023 / 11:02 PM EST / CBS News

Under a dark Idaho sky, investigators flew Bryan Kohberger to the college town of Moscow. Police delivered him to the Latah County Jail. On Jan. 5, in an orange jumpsuit, his face vacant, the 28-year-old made what will likely be his first of many appearances in this court.  

He stands charged with the murder of four students from the University of Idaho: Kaylee Goncalves, Madison "Maddie" Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle. Investigators say he stabbed them to death in the home the women shared. 

JUDGE: The maximum penalty for this offense, if you plead guilty or be found guilty is up to  death and imprisonment for life. Do you understand?  

BRYAN KOHBERGER: Yes.  

Kohberger has not yet entered a plea.

In an affidavit , investigators laid out their understanding of the grim details about the night of the killings:  They say the killer left his DNA on a "leather knife sheath" found on a bed next to Maddie Mogen. And, most hauntingly, they say a surviving roommate thought she heard crying and "saw a figure clad in black clothing and a mask."    

The man walked past, as she stood in "frozen shock."  She locked herself in her room.  

The investigation is fast-moving. Authorities have not disclosed a motive or if he had a connection to the students, but we are learning more about just who Bryan Kohberger is.   

WHO IS ACCUSED KILLER BRYAN KOHBERGER?

Just 15 days before his arrest, Bryan Kohberger and his father were driving home from Washington State University for winter break to the family's home in Pennsylvania.

OFFICER (body cam video): Hello MICHAEL KOHBERGER: How you doing? OFFICER: How ya'll doin today?

The journey interrupted by two traffic stops, almost 10 minutes apart, in Indiana for tailgating.

MICHAEL KOHBERGER (to officer): We're gonna be going to Pennsylvania, a couple more miles. OFFICER: Oh, OK. MICHAEL KOHBERGER: …to the Pocono Mountains. We're a little, we're slightly punchy. We've been driving for hours. 

Police body cam video shows Kohberger and his father talking calmly with an officer about the trip.

OFFICER: Hours? And days? BRYAN KOHBERGER: Hours. MICHAEL KOHBERGER: Hours. Well, we've been driving for almost a day. OFFICER: Do me a favor and don't follow too close, OK?  

Then they are released with a warning.

Kohberger had been at the university since August, studying to get his Ph.D. in criminology. He was also a teaching assistant in the Department of Criminal Justice. He lived in an apartment complex on campus and had an office there.

According to the newly released affidavit, Kohberger had applied for an internship with the Pullman Police Department in the fall. He wrote in his application essay that "he had interest in assisting rural law enforcement agencies with how to better collect and analyze technological data."

Benjamin Roberts took four classes with Kohberger.

Benjamin Roberts : He seemed very comfortable around other people. He was very quick to offer his opinion and thoughts. And he was always participating fairly eagerly in classroom discussions.

He says Kohberger appeared highly intelligent.

Peter Van Sant : Does anything else come to mind that Bryan said to you in the past that today you think might be of interest?

Benjamin Roberts : There was a comment that he made, and it was kind of a flippant guy talk thing. At one point, he just idly mentioned, you know, "I can go down to a bar or a club and pretty much have any lady I want."

Kohberger arrived at the university after earning his bachelor's in psychology and master's degree in criminal justice at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania.  

While at DeSales, authorities say Bryan Kohberger posted this survey, approved by the university, on the website Reddit asking ex-cons about the crimes they committed. One question he asked: "Before making your move, how did you approach the victim or target?

James Gagliano : This could be a piece of circumstantial evidence.

James Gagliano is a retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent and CBS News consultant.

James Gagliano: The fact that the suspect was interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in criminal justice and was especially interested in … the mental state that people who had committed murders in the past … yes, it could be interesting to note. But I know a lot of researchers that study those things, too, that would never commit a quadruple homicide.

And if Kohberger was involved in these murders, genetic genealogist CeCe Moore questions why he would be so careless as to allegedly leave his DNA at the crime scene. 

CeCe Moore : People are talking about how smart he supposedly is. And I just can't see how that could be true, because any student of forensic science or criminology would have to know that it's virtually impossible not to leave your DNA behind at a very violent, intimate crime scene like this.

CeCe Moore : You know, Ted Bundy thought he was smart. But he wasn't that smart, as it turns out.

After the murders, Roberts says Kohberger appeared disheveled, tired and chattier than usual.

But nothing could prepare Roberts for what he learned o f Kohberger's arrest.

Benjamin Roberts : Looking back over the last four months, I feel like there should have been signs that I should have seen. And I didn't ... I was blindsided.

Jason LaBar : This is out of character for Bryan, these allegations.

Monroe County public defender Jason LaBar represented Kohberger before he was extradited to Idaho.

Jason LaBar : The family would want the general public to know that Bryan is a caring son and brother —that's he's responsible, that he is devoted to them.

In a statement the family said, "we care deeply for the for the four families who have lost their precious children" ... and that they "seek the truth and promote his presumption of innocence rather than judge unknown facts and make erroneous assumptions."

Jason LaBar : He is innocent until proven otherwise.

LaBar says Kohberger came from a close-knit family. He grew up in eastern Pennsylvania in the Pocono Mountains. His father was as a maintenance worker and his mom worked in the school system. Bryan has two older sisters – one who works as a family therapist, and another sister who appeared in a 2011 low budget slasher film, "Two Days Back," about a group of young students viciously murdered by a serial killer. She now works as a school counselor. 

Bree : My heart goes out to Bryan's family.

Kohberger's friend, Bree, says she met Bryan at a party when they attended Pleasant Valley High School. She asked "48 Hours" not to use her last name.

Bree : Bryan was really funny. He wasn't outgoing at all. But he also wasn't shy.

She says they bonded over their love of the outdoors.

Bree : I don't necessarily remember the conversations, but you definitely remember how someone makes you feel. … I just remember feeling OK — I was just with a friend. … Just felt natural.

Bree recalls Kohberger was an average student with only a few close friends. In a yearbook photo, Kohberger's caption said he aspired to be an Army Ranger.

Casey Artnz also knew Kohberger from high school . She posted this Tik Tok following Bryan's arrest.

CASEY ARNTZ TIK TOK: "I used to be friends with Bryan Kohberger" ... "I'm in actual shock right now."

Casey Arntz : He was an overweight kid. … So, he did get bullied a lot.

But Arntz says people saw a change in Kohberger the beginning of senior year.

Casey Arntz : He lost like 100 pounds . … He was a rail. … It was after that weight loss that a lot of people noticed a huge switch in him.

Casey Arntz : My brother has since come out to say that even though they were friends, Bryan bullied him.

Casey Arntz : He had said that he would put him in like a chokeholds and stuff like that.

Bree says Kohberger started using heroin, which ended their friendship.

Bree : You just saw him becoming more self-destructive. … He really stayed secluded.

It's unclear when exactly Kohberger went into recovery, but both Bree and Casey say years after he graduated high school it appeared as if he was getting his life together. He was going to Northampton Community College and working security for Pleasant Valley School District.

Bree : He was telling me that he wanted to get sober, that he was getting sober. … And he wanted to let me know like, "I'm gonna do better. I'm gonna be better."

Bree : I'm sorry ... (emotional)

 Casey Arntz : The last time I saw Bryan was in 2017 at one of my friend's wedding. … And I gave him a hug and I said, "You look so good. Like I'm so proud of you."

And both Bree and Casey say it appeared that Kohberger had a new focus — his studies in criminology.

Bree : He wanted to do something that impacted people in a good way.

Bree: People were not his strong suit. And think through his criminology studies, he was really trying to understand humans and to try and understand himself.

Now Bree, like many who knew him, struggles to connect the person they once knew to this unspeakable crime.

Bree : I think a lot of people who were close to him are feeling this massive amount of guilt … "Why didn't I see it? Did I miss something? … Where did it go wrong?

THE YOUNG LIVES LOST

Before it was a crime scene, it was a home to five close friends. Maybe none closer than Maddie Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.

On TikTok, the 21-year-old seniors looked like they were enjoying their final school year.

In the early morning of November 13, the two friends headed to a food truck. But their seemingly carefree existence would come to an abrupt end just hours later. Kaylee and Maddie were stabbed to death in the upstairs part of the house. A hundred miles away in northern Idaho, Kaylee's father Steve got the news.

Peter Van Sant : Steve, give us a sense of the shock of that moment.

Steve Goncalves : You just feel like you're getting crushed by a thousand pounds of weight.

Peter Van Sant : What do you want the world to know about your daughter, Kaylee?

Steve Goncalves : I want the world to know, they — they got robbed. Somebody stole from you.

Steve Goncalves says his daughter Kaylee would have made the world a better place. A general studies major, she was the middle child of five siblings. Goncalves says Kaylee was always up for a challenge.

Steve Goncalves : She grew up around two boys that were, you know, older than her. And uh, she didn't see any reason why she couldn't be as quick and fast and as good as those two boys were.

Peter Van Sant : What did she want to do with her life?

Steve Goncalves : Like most young people, it changed. She was gonna be a teacher. … But once she found out how long it was gonna take to pay back her student loans, she — she said, "Dad, you know, this thing that you do with computers seems to work pretty well."

She reportedly had a job lined up in Austin but made it clear that one day she hoped to settle down somewhere near her dearest friend Maddie Mogen.  Maddie was a marketing major, and she and Kaylee had been inseparable since the sixth grade.

Steve Goncalves : I just felt like it was more of a sistership than it was a friendship ... And she was just one of our kids.

So, it perhaps did not come as a surprise when Steve revealed at a November memorial that Kaylee and Maddie died side-by-side.

STEVE GONCALVES (memorial service): They went to high school together. … They came here together. … And in the end, they died together. In the same room, in the same bed. It comforts us. It lets us know that they were with their best friends in the whole world.

It was a belief Maddie's stepfather, Scott Laramie, repeated to another packed memorial just days later.

SCOTT LARAMIE (memorial service): The two of 'em were a force to be reckoned with. They stuck together through everything.

Maddie had a boyfriend, Jake Schriger.

JAKE SCHRIGER (memorial service): She was the first person I talked to every morning and the last person I talked to before bed.

They had been together for more than a year. Schriger says Maddie had a talent for making people laugh.

JAKE SCHRIGER (memorial service): She was really funny. Her jokes really would come outta nowhere … And just be like, "Is that the — the cute little blonde girl that just said that?"

But Maddie and Kaylee weren't the only victims.  While two other roommates were in their rooms and unharmed during the attacks, on the second floor, the killer made his way to the room of Xana Kernodle.

JAZZMIN KERNODLE (memorial service): She was my baby sister, but she was so much wiser.

Xana's sister, Jazzmin.

JAZZMIN KERNODLE (memorial service): She would always tell me she wouldn't know what to do without me. And now I have to live this life without her.

A 20-year-old junior majoring in marketing, Xana was known for being focused on her studies. So focused, she didn't make much time for dating.

JAZZMIN KERNODLE (memorial service): Xana never had a boyfriend before, and my dad and I wondered if she was ever gonna get one (laughs).

That was until she met Ethan Chapin.

JAZZMIN KERNODLE (memorial service): The way she would talk and smile about him was something I've never seen her do before.

Ethan was a 20-year-old majoring in recreation and tourism management. Jazzmin says Xana and Ethan began dating in the spring of 2022.

JAZZMIN KERNODLE (memorial service): They had something so special and everyone around them knew.

Especially anyone who followed the pair on Instagram. For Ethan's birthday, Xana posted photos of them with the caption: "Life is so much better with you in it, love you!" It would be her last Instagram post. Just two weeks later, the young couple was found stabbed to death in Xana's bedroom.

At the University of Idaho, the pain of this tragedy is felt at the root and extends hundreds of miles away to a tulip farm in Skagit Valley, Washington. It's where Ethan worked before heading to college. His boss, Andrew Miller.

Andrew Miller : So, Ethan started – it was in the spring of — of '21. … It was the best Tulip Festival.

Miller says the annual tulip festival attracts close to half-a-million visitors, and Ethan stood out in the crowd.

Andrew Miller : Well, he's a big guy wearin' a big smile, right? I think that's the part that I – that kinda struck me right away.

Ethan – a triplet – worked there with his siblings, Maizie and Hunter, and lived in a rented house on the farm with their parents. The Chapin triplets were incredibly close says Reese Gardner.

Reese Gardner :  They were best friends. … If one did something, they all did something. … It was pretty cool to see.

Including attending the University of Idaho together.

Andrew Miller : And that was the funniest thing, it was like, of course it was a package deal. Like, all three of 'em were gonna go there.

Ariah Macagba : He was excited, I think, 'cause his siblings were going with him.

Ariah Macagba says Ethan's parents had decided to live in Idaho, too. Macagba says when she heard Ethan had been murdered, she couldn't believe it.  

Ariah Macagba : I think the first thing I did was message Ethan. I was like, "Hey, you're OK, right? Like, this isn't real." (crying) And — obviously, he didn't respond.

Reese Gardner scoured the internet for information.

Reese Gardner : And I just couldn't stop reading articles and … I just wanted to know what happened, and I wanted to know why.

But in lieu of answers, Gardner turned to tulips. He had an idea: name one after Ethan.

Reese Gardner : I thought, "There's — there's no better way … to remember someone who had such a big part, a big role in those farms."

Andrew Miller : Cause Reese called me … And it was, "Hey, can this be done, and are you interested in doing it?" And I was, "Yes, and hell yes."

But creating a new tulip is a long process, so instead, Miller suggested a mix of tulips that would be a perfect tribute to Ethan: yellow and white.

Andrew Miller : Yellow, of course, because Go Vandals. University of Idaho, right? That's significant. And then white is — is an eternal color, right? And tulips come up in the spring. It is a symbol of — of hope.

With his parents' blessing, they named the mix of tulips, "Ethan's Smile."

Andrew Miller : So, this will be a nice yellow or white tulip here in about four months.

The trio planted thousands of bulbs in the state of Washington and sent a couple thousand more to the University of Idaho.

Andrew Miller : And it really is our hope that we'll be able to continue to plant and that anybody that wants to remember him will be able to have their own Ethan's — Ethan's Smile Garden. …  It's a living legacy.

Now it is up to prosecutors to get justice for these young victims .

IN SEARCH OF ANSWERS

Forty-seven days after the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, and Xana Kernodle, authorities apprehended the man they believed was responsible.  We now know investigators had Bryan Kohberger in their sights early on but kept it close to the vest. So, in the early days, after the Nov. 13 murders, frustration swept over Moscow, Idaho.

James Gagliano : I think in this instance people were expecting a pretty quick arrest in this case, and it takes time.

Steve Goncalves, father of 21-year-old Kaylee, was trying as best he could to deal with news no one expects.

Steve Goncalves : Most things I'm prepared for. Most things as a dad, you can— you can handle. But somethin' like that, you just can't prepare for and you can't fix it.

Steve Goncalves : And, you know, just think if you do everything right, by the book, somethin' like this couldn't happen.

Peter Van Sant : Did you have any sense who might have done something like this?

Steve Goncalves : No … I didn't think anybody in her inner circles was — was capable of interacting and — and her doing something that could even deserve something like that.

As news spread of the murders, so did shock in the college community, which had not seen a homicide since 2015.

Matt Loveless : Parents drove hundreds of miles to pick up their kids to head home and stay home for the semester.

Matt Loveless is a journalism professor at nearby Washington State University.

Matt Loveless : At this point, we don't know if they're gonna come back for — the spring semester there on campus. And that same thing happened in both our communities.

James Gagliano: And, so, when parents send their kids off to school, for something to happen like this, I think it's a parent's worst nightmare

James Gagliano : And it's a place, Moscow, Idaho, where violent crime really is not an issue.

As police started their investigation, they traced the victims' final steps. The day before the murders seemed to start ordinarily. Kaylee Goncalves posted photos with her roommates and Ethan Chapin, to her Instagram account with the caption, "One lucky girl to be surrounded by these ppl everyday." That evening, Ethan and Xana attended a party at a fraternity house on campus.  Kaylee and Madison were at a bar between 10 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. They were then seen at a local food vendor, the "Grub Truck."  It is believed they all returned home by about 2 a.m. on Nov. 13.

James Gagliano : So, in examining the timeline , police know that the crime took place sometime in the early morning hours. There were also two other University of Idaho students who were inside the house when the murders took place.

It was later that morning that a call was made to 911 from one of the surviving roommate's phones to report an unconscious person.  Police arrived at the house at 11:58 a.m.

James Gagliano : Police find the victims on the second and third floor of the house in bedrooms — a horrific and a very large-scale crime scene 'cause you're gonna be dealing with a number of different floors that need to be processed, the bedrooms where the crimes actually occurred, and then ingress and egress points. How did the — how did the alleged killer get inside the house? Through a front door? Through a window? Those are all things police will be looking at.

CHIEF JAMES FRY (to reporters): No weapon has been located at this time. There was no sign of forced entry into the residence.

On Nov. 16, three days after the murders, the Moscow Police held their first press conference.

CHIEF JAMES FRY (to reporters): We believe this was an isolated, targeted attack on our victims. We do not have a suspect at this time and that individual is still out there.

Coroner Cathy Mabbutt issued her report on Nov. 17.

Coroner Cathy Mabbutt: They were all murdered through stabbing with some kind of a, probably a larger knife…

She told police some of the four victims had defensive wounds, but none had signs of sexual assault.  Police continued to work the case, aided by the Idaho State Police and the FBI.

James Gagliano : I just believe that the Moscow Police Department probably just didn't have a lot of experience in working a homicide, especially one as heinous as this one.  

After about three weeks with no arrests, and what, to the public, appeared to be no real suspects, Steve Goncalves grew more concerned that authorities weren't doing enough and that the murders would turn into a cold case. So, he says, he started working with his own team to investigate the murders.

Steve Goncalves : So, we just thought, "This is the time. Let's get it out there, and let's not let it get cold. Let's get as many resources as— as possible."

Peter Van Sant : And did you have any sense whatsoever as to what a motive … might have been for these murders?

Steve Goncalves : Pretty girls and a handsome guy. I thought, you know, that might be somethin' to do with their, you know, stalking them in the sense of that.

Meanwhile, names of possible people of interest were trickling out — including members of the community and acquaintances of the victims. But they all seemed to be part of an unfounded rumor mill, many from online sleuths.  Goncalves even had people come to him to prove they were not involved.

Steve Goncalves : We — had certain suspects take their shirts off in our kitchen to show if they had scratches. And we tried to do everything in — in our powers to make sure that if we thought somebody was ruled out, we truly — we truly felt like, you know, we — we looked at 'em.

Law enforcement would end up receiving thousands of tips, but the investigation, by outward appearances, seemed to be stalled.  Nearly a month after the murders, on Dec. 7, police were seen packing up the victims' belongings to return to the families, who had lost so much. It was the police chief behind the wheel of the U-Haul truck. That same day, a plea was made to the public.

Police were interested in speaking with the occupant(s) of a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra with an unknown license plate, spotted near the crime scene, around the time of the killings.

AMANDA ROLEY | KREM REPORTER: Today's update is the first descriptive tip that we have received in several days. Detectives now want to speak with anyone who was inside a white Hyundai Elantra that was near this home on King Road around Nov. 13th.  

Police released photos of similar makes to the vehicle they were looking for.

CHIEF JAMES FRY (to reporters): We still believe there is more information to be gathered.

James Gagliano : Pushing that out to the media. Pushing that out to people on the internet. Pushing that out so that people can look for either a potential suspect, person of interest, or a potential vehicle. That goes a long way towards running down leads.

INSIDE THE INVESTIGATION

It turns out that about two weeks before the police asked the public to be on the lookout for a white Hyundai Elantra , they had already shared that information with surrounding law enforcement. And on Nov. 29, 2022, a white Elantra was located by Washington State University Police. The car was registered to Bryan Kohberger.

CBS News learned, that in mid-December, the Hyundai Elantra was tracked for several days by the FBI, using E-ZPass monitoring, fixed wing aircraft and ground support, as it was driven by Kohberger, along with his father, from Pullman, Washington, on that cross-country trip to the family's home in Pennsylvania.

On Dec. 15, the car was stopped twice in Indiana for those driving violations, by the Indiana State Police and the Hancock Sheriff's Office.

OFFICER: So, you're coming from Washington State University? MICHAEL KOHBERGER: Yeah. BRYAN KOHBERGER: Yup OFFICER: And you're going where? MICHAEL KOHBERGER: We're gonna be going to Pennsylvania.

Both agencies said at the time of the stops, "there was no information available on a suspect for the crime in Idaho, to include identifying information or any specific information related to the license plate state or number of the white Hyundai Elantra …" 

Police did not ticket Kohberger; they gave a verbal warning and the trip continued home. And then, Kohberger's holiday came to an abrupt halt . 

CBS NEWS REPORT:  A suspect is under arrest for the quadruple murder of four Idaho college students.

On Dec. 30, 2022, police made that announcement that Bryan Kohberger was under arrest for the murders. He was arrested at his family's home in Albrightsville, Pa., at 3 a.m., with approximately 50 law enforcement officers on the scene. 

MAJ. CHRISTOPHER PARIS | PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: There were multiple windows that were broken I believe to gain access, as well as multiple doors.

Authorities believe Bryan Kohberger acted alone.

Jason LaBar : Bryan was very shocked by his arrest. … Bryan did not know why they were there, but he was aware of the case in Idaho.

Monroe County public defender Jason LaBar represented Kohberger in Pennsylvania as he was awaiting extradition to Idaho.

Jason LaBar : Bryan indicated to me that he was eager to be exonerated — that he was willing to go back to Idaho.

On Jan. 3, at a hearing in Pennsylvania, Kohberger signed his waiver of extradition. And on Jan. 4, was flown to Idaho, where he is in jail, charged with the four murders.

On Jan. 5, Kohberger appeared in court in Moscow with his new public defender to hear the charges read against him. He has yet to enter a plea.

JUDGE MEGAN MARSHALL:  The maximum penalty for this offense if you were to plead guilty or be found guilty is death or imprisonment for life. Do you understand?   

BRYAN KOHBERGER: Yes.

That same day, that affidavit was released that laid out startling new details about the murder investigation. According to the affidavit, one of the surviving roommates actually saw the murderer and stood in a "frozen shock phase."  She is referred to as DM in the affidavit, and told police that earlier, she heard a female voice say, 'something to the effect of  "there's someone here." And later, a male voice say, "something to the effect of "it's ok, I'm going to help you." Later she opened her door "… after she heard crying and saw a figure clad in black clothing and a mask..." She described the figure as "5'10'… with bushy eyebrows."

The affidavit states that, according to DM, the male walked toward the back sliding door and DM locked herself in her room. It was later in the morning when that call was made to 911 from one of the surviving roommate's phones, to report an unconscious person. It is unclear what occurred in the hours before police were called. It is believed the murders took place between 4 and 4:25 a.m. Police say they discovered, on the bed in Madison's room, a knife sheath with a Marine insignia.

James Gagliano : I would imagine that a — crime scene as — as grisly and ghastly as this one — that there would have been … DNA left by the perpetrator.

According to the affidavit, the knife sheath was processed and "the Idaho State Lab later located a single source of male DNA on the button snap."  They were able to link it to DNA recovered from the trash at the Pennsylvania Kohberger family home.

It is not clear, what, if any, connection Kohberger had with the victims. However, the affidavit states that by using cellular phone data, police were able to place Kohberger's cell phone near the crime scene "on at least twelve occasions before November 13, 2022. All of those occasions, except for one, occurred in the late evening and early morning hours …"

Even with these new details, many question remain. A newly issued gag order prohibits officials and others involved in the case from speaking about the murders. Also, authorities have sealed a search warrant that was carried out at Kohberger's home in Pullman, Washington.

Jim Gagliano : This is one where you don't want a mistake. You don't want something to happen during this process that's going to give the alleged suspect an opportunity to beat the case.

Now, the case will work its way through the court system as parents, who lost their children, will be looking for answers.

Steve Goncalves : We find the truth, you know. You get the truth, and then that — that'll — that'll be everything.

IN REMEMBRANCE

You can see it in the stunned, silent faces of the kids. Faces that ask "why?" without even speaking. 

Young eyes glisten, bathed in the glow of candlelight at a vigil held for the young lives lost.  A ritual all too familiar across America. The flowers, the prayers, the vows to carry on. In Idaho, they hold on tight to each other and to the memories of those loved and lost.

EMILY (memorial service): Life is so unfair and unpredictable (crying).

For Xana Kernodle's friend Emily, the wound remains raw.

EMILY (memorial service): And it tears me apart knowing I can't hug her. (Crying) So hold those you love closer. Hug them a little tighter and tell 'em you love them. We'll find justice for you, Ethan, Maddie, and Kaylee. We love you all so much.

And for Ashlin, Maddie Mogen's memory is still vibrant.

ASHLIN (memorial service): You truly will live on forever -- not only in my heart, but in the heart of so many people that were impacted by your beautiful smile, your grace, your patience, your open heart, and your craziness.

Hunter Johnson remembers a pal he could rely on — Ethan Chapin.

HUNTER JOHNSON (memorial service): Ethan was always someone you could count on to make you smile and — cheer up your mood. … And I — feel so lucky to have shared so many great memories with him (emotional).

But those who are older perhaps sense that pain that runs this deep, never goes away. Kaylee's father, Steve Goncalves.

Steve Goncalves : You don't heal from somethin' like this. … it's never gonna happen. You're never gonna be healed. You're never gonna get through this. And when they die, part of you dies.

Steve Goncalves : We're tired of all these types of crimes. We're tired of all this stuff. And — we can rally around these terrible tragedies, and … We're hopin' that as a society we come back stronger. And we — we decide to not let this be accepted anymore, you know. That's what I hope for.

Bryan Kohberger's next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 12.

He will have a chance to enter a plea at a later date.

• Bryan Kohberger

"48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant first joined CBS News in 1984.

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Baseball's Greatest Players: 10 Baseball Biographies for New Readers Paperback – February 8, 2022

Introduce kids ages 6 to 9 to a century of baseball's biggest stars

From legendary sluggers to civil rights heroes, the game of baseball has seen a lot of amazing players―and this book features 10 of the very best. Perfect for new fans or those who already know a thing or two about baseball, this kid-friendly guide is packed full of fun facts and essential stats that will teach them all about the incredible careers of these sports superstars.

What sets this collection of baseball biographies apart:

• 10 decades, 10 players ―Starting in the 1920s, this book shows the ways players like Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, and Mike Trout have made history.
• Runners up ―Each decade also includes a brief look at some of the other greats, including Bob Gibson, Ken Griffey Jr., and Ichiro Suzuki.
• A helpful glossary ―All of the terms kids need to know are highlighted and defined in the back of the book.
• Super stats ―Kids will see exactly how outstanding each player was with a quick breakdown of their career stats.

Delight young fans and get them interested in the history of the game with this standout among baseball books.

• Print length 76 pages
• Language English
• Grade level 3 - 4
• Lexile measure 1040L
• Dimensions 6 x 0.18 x 9 inches
• Publisher Callisto Kids
• Publication date February 8, 2022
• ISBN-10 1638782148
• ISBN-13 978-1638782148
• See all details

From the Publisher

Get kids excited about the history of baseball with short biographies packed full of fun facts. From Babe Ruth in the 1920s to Mike Trout in the 2010s, kids will discover the incredible story behind each decade’s greatest superstar.

Editorial Reviews

About the author.

ANDREW MARTIN, known as The Baseball Historian, has written about baseball, sports, and history for more than a decade. His work has been featured on the Yahoo! Contributor Network , Bleacher Report , Medium.com , and, of course, his own blog, The Baseball Historian .

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Callisto Kids (February 8, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 76 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1638782148
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1638782148
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 7 - 9 years, from customers
• Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1040L
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ 3 - 4
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.7 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.18 x 9 inches
• #48 in Children's Baseball Books (Books)
• #62 in Children's Sports Biographies (Books)
• #857 in Children's Beginner Readers

About the author

Andrew martin.

Baseball, history, and especially baseball history has fascinated me since as long as I can remember. From researching statistics to collecting stories, keeping the history of the game alive has become a very important part of me. My favorite team is the Boston Red Sox, which prompted me to write my graduate school Master's thesis about the cultural impact they have had on the regional community during their existence. Part of what makes writing about baseball history so great is that there is nothing better than sharing the stories and people of baseball with new audiences of all ages.

I have been writing for over a decade and my work has been published in Medium, Bleacher Report, Yahoo!, and a variety of newspapers, magazines and online publications.

You will find regular posts at my blog at https://historianandrew.medium.com/, which includes baseball history, history and investing.

Please follow me on Twitter- https://twitter.com/historianandrew or Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/Andrew-H-Martins-The-Baseball-Historian-138174109591660/

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