autobiography baseball books

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

The 100 Best Baseball Books Ever Written

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

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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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12 Best Baseball Books of All Time

February 7, 2024

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Swing off the field and into the stories where baseball’s legacy is deeply etched.

From epic contests to intimate journeys, our list is your ticket behind the scenes, to the heart and history that shaped America’s pastime.

Ready to pitch into the greatest baseball reads of all time?

Best Baseball Books:

The Boys of Summer – The Classic Narrative of Growing Up Within Shouting Distance of Ebbets Field
Ball Four – The Final Pitch
The Glory of Their Times – The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It
Moneyball – The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
The Soul of Baseball – A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America
The Art of Fielding – A Novel
Eight Men Out – The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series
October 1964 – The Fall Classic
The Last Hero – A Life of Henry Aaron
Summer of ’49 – The Yankees and the Red Sox in Postwar America
The Teammates – A Portrait of a Friendship
The Natural – A Novel

Table of Contents

#1 The Boys of Summer – The Classic Narrative of Growing Up Within Shouting Distance of Ebbets Field

#2 ball four – the final pitch, #3 the glory of their times – the story of the early days of baseball told by the men who played it, #4 moneyball – the art of winning an unfair game, #5 the soul of baseball – a road trip through buck o’neil’s america, #6 the art of fielding – a novel, #7 eight men out – the black sox and the 1919 world series, #8 october 1964 – the fall classic, #9 the last hero – a life of henry aaron, #10 summer of ’49 – the yankees and the red sox in postwar america, #11 the teammates – a portrait of a friendship, #12 the natural – a novel, what are the best baseball books of all time, what is the best baseball book for adults, what are the best books for baseball fundamentals and strategy.

✍️ Author : Roger Kahn
📆 Year Published : 1972
📘 Genre : History, Biographies and Autobiographies

“The Boys of Summer” transports readers back to the golden age of baseball, capturing the joy and nostalgia of the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1950s. Kahn’s memoir is not just a loving recollection of his experiences with the storied team but also a poignant exploration of youth and the bittersweet passage of time.

As he revisits the lives of the players years after their glory days on the field, readers are treated to heartfelt stories of triumph, adversity, and the enduring impact of America’s favorite pastime.

✍️ Author : Jim Bouton
📆 Year Published : 1970
📘 Genre : Biographies and Autobiographies

Jim Bouton’s “Ball Four” broke the silence on the reality of professional baseball, forever changing how the game was perceived by fans.

As a diary of his 1969 season with the Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros, this book candidly discusses the life of players on and off the field, with humor and insight that was unprecedented at its time of publication. Bouton’s frankness about the locker room, on-field performances, and management challenges offers a groundbreaking and unvarnished look at the world of Major League Baseball.

✍️ Author : Lawrence S. Ritter
📆 Year Published : 1966

Step into the shoes of the early baseball legends with “The Glory of Their Times.” Lawrence S. Ritter brings to life the dawn of America’s pastime through the voices of the men who played in the early 20th century.

This oral history compiles interviews and anecdotes, painting an evocative picture of the game’s rustic beginnings, the players’ lives, and the transformation of baseball into a professional sport. It’s an intimate and fascinating glimpse into the hearts and minds of those who laid the foundation for modern baseball.

✍️ Author : Michael Lewis
📆 Year Published : 2003
📘 Genre : Biographies and Autobiographies, Strategy and Coaching, History

“Moneyball” is a game-changing exploration of the innovative strategies employed by the Oakland Athletics and their general manager, Billy Beane. Michael Lewis unveils the art and science behind Beane’s use of sabermetrics to compete in a league with a significant economic disparity.

This book revolutionized how statistical analysis is viewed in sports, inspiring readers to look beyond traditional metrics and appreciate the underdogs of baseball who succeed against all odds through unconventional wisdom and perseverance.

✍️ Author : Joe Posnanski
📆 Year Published : 2007
📘 Genre : Biographies and Autobiographies, History

Journey across America with Buck O’Neil in “The Soul of Baseball,” a heartwarming tale of baseball’s enduring spirit, as told by one of its most beloved ambassadors.

Joe Posnanski captures the essence of the Negro Leagues and its impact on baseball and society through the eyes of O’Neil, whose love for the game transcended racial barriers. This moving account is a loving tribute to a bygone era and a testament to the ways baseball can connect generations and bring joy to people’s lives.

✍️ Author : Chad Harbach
📆 Year Published : 2011
📘 Genre : Fiction and Literature

“The Art of Fielding” crafts an unforgettable narrative that transcends the borders of the baseball diamond. Chad Harbach’s novel follows college shortstop Henry Skrimshander, whose life takes an unexpected turn following an errant throw.

This is a compelling tale about ambition, failure, and redemption, exploring themes of friendship, love, and the relentless pursuit of perfection. With its lyrical prose and intricate character relationships, the novel strikes a chord with not only sports enthusiasts but also anyone who appreciates the profound beauty of human struggle and connection.

✍️ Author : Eliot Asinof
📆 Year Published : 1963
📘 Genre : History

In “Eight Men Out,” Eliot Asinof meticulously recounts the infamous Black Sox Scandal, where eight Chicago White Sox players were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series for a gambler’s pay-off.

The narrative goes beyond mere reportage, delving into the human element of the scandal and the impact on the game’s integrity. Asinof’s investigative work exposes the darker side of America’s favorite pastime, in a tale of corruption, betrayal, and a sports world on the precipice of transformation.

✍️ Author : David Halberstam
📆 Year Published : 1994

“October 1964” chronicles the gripping story of the World Series clash between the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees. In this deeply researched narrative, David Halberstam takes readers back to a pivotal moment in baseball when issues of race and class were beginning to reshape the sport.

Halberstam’s eloquent storytelling captures the drama of the games and paints a vivid portrait of the societal changes that were playing out against the backdrop of America’s pastime.

✍️ Author : Howard Bryant
📆 Year Published : 2010

“The Last Hero” is a comprehensive biography of Henry “Hank” Aaron, one of baseball’s most iconic players. Howard Bryant delves into Aaron’s life and career, chronicling his journey from the Negro Leagues to breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record amid intense racism.

This authoritative biography is more than a sports story; it’s a reflection of the civil rights movement and the resilience of a man who stood strong in the face of adversity, becoming an enduring symbol of excellence and integrity in baseball.

📆 Year Published : 1989

In “Summer of ’49,” David Halberstam captures the intensity of one of baseball’s greatest pennant races, as the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox vied for dominance. Set against the backdrop of post-war America, this narrative envelops readers in the excitement and tension that defined that season.

Halberstam’s portrayal of iconic figures like Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams, along with the vibrant supporting cast, weaves a rich assortment of sportsmanship and Americana that’s as much about a country’s cultural identity as it is about baseball.

“The Teammates” is David Halberstam’s tender chronicle of friendship among four Boston Red Sox legends: Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky, and Dom DiMaggio. This touching story goes beyond their days on the diamond to explore the strength and loyalty that kept them close for more than 60 years.

As the four men journey to visit ailing Williams, the book becomes a poignant reflection on friendship, aging, and the legacies we leave behind. It’s an intimate look at sports heroes who defined a generation, reminding us that some bonds are as enduring as the love of the game.

✍️ Author : Bernard Malamud
📆 Year Published : 1952

“The Natural” is Bernard Malamud’s mythical tale of Roy Hobbs, a baseball prodigy whose career is derailed by a tragic event only to make a dramatic return years later. His journey to redeem his lost potential and achieve baseball glory is fraught with temptation and the human weakness that can be found even in heroes.

With its allegorical elements and rich storytelling, Malamud’s classic explores the darker aspects of the quest for greatness and the complexities of the human spirit. It’s a timeless narrative that speaks to the dreams and desires that lie at the heart of America’s favorite pastime.

Books offer a deep dive into the sport’s nuances, much like our baseball bat name generator can add a personalized touch to your gear.

“The Boys of Summer” by Roger Kahn, “Ball Four” by Jim Bouton, “The Art of Fielding” by Chad Harbach, “Moneyball” by Michael Lewis, and “The Glory of Their Times” by Lawrence S. Ritter are the best Baseball books of all time. They capture the essence of the sport, its history, and the personal stories that define its legacy.

“The Art of Fielding” by Chad Harbach is the best Baseball book for adults, combining literary fiction with the nuances of baseball and the complexities of adult life.

“The Science of Hitting” by Ted Williams and John Underwood, and “The Mental Game of Baseball: A Guide to Peak Performance” by H.A. Dorfman and Karl Kuehl are the best books for Baseball fundamentals and strategy, offering detailed insights into the technical and psychological aspects of the game.

Meet Rev, one of our dedicated team members who embodies the essence of sports passion. When he’s not immersed in the world of sports content creation, Rev is busy honing his skills in esports and exploring the great outdoors through activities like hiking and basketball.

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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.

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The Best Sports Memoirs, According to Sports Journalists

Whether you’re a sports fan or just a history buff, looking back at sporting events has produced some of the world’s finest journalism. But it could be argued that no outside observers’ perspective can compare to being inside the heads of those who scored that game-winning point, series-winning run, or tournament-winning goal (or coached any teams that did). Which is why, with so many of our favorite sports still on pause as their leagues figure out how to resume competition, we realized getting lost in a good sports memoir could be the next best thing to spending hours watching a game itself. But with so many sports memoirs ghostwritten or scribbled in a hurry as a valedictory rite of passage, which ones are actually up to snuff?

To find out, we asked 17 experts — including sportswriters, broadcasters, and professors — for their recommendations. While their responses included memoirs written by many athletes who are household names, we also learned about stories told by others that the spotlight may have missed, and a few written by coaches or superfans with perspectives that are just as gripping as those of athletes who actually took the field. Read on for their picks, which we’ve organized by sport. In the tradition of our other reading lists, we’ve named any books with two or more recommendations as best overall. But we’ve also included titles emphatically recommended by just one person, for those who may want to dive further into any category.

Best tennis memoirs

Best overall tennis memoir.

Three people raved about this memoir, which journalist Jonathan Eig, the author of Ali: A Life , says “may be the all-time best-written memoir by a major athlete.” All who recommended it praised the book’s “shockingly” candid nature, pointing out Agassi’s honesty is especially rare for an athlete who was one of the most popular of his generation. “Few autobiographies have dared to show athletes so naked,” writer Sam Diss, the head of content at London-based soccer magazine Mundial , says, adding that Agassi is “not writing this book to stick the boot into old foes or people who screwed him out of money.” Instead, Diss says he’s “passed over, gone clear, and reveals his trauma and grudges with equal parts pain and catharsis, in a way that doesn’t feel point-scoring, but freeing.”

More recommended tennis memoirs

According to Dr. Amira Rose Davis, a Penn State professor of history and African-American studies who also co-hosts the feminist sports podcast Burn It All Down , “the long history of black women in sport” is often obscured in sportswriting. But memoirs by black female athletes, which allow them to “narrate their own careers,” can “push us all to consider whose voices we are missing when we tell sports stories.” One of those women is tennis champion Althea Gibson, who wrote two memoirs that Davis recommends. “Gibson broke the color line at Wimbledon and was the first African-American Grand Slam champion,” she tells us. The first, I Always Wanted to Be Somebody, chronicles Gibson’s journey from childhood to the majors, while the follow-up, So Much to Live For, chronicles Gibson’s transition from the game to a golf career and beyond. Davis considers both essential reading, but notes that the details of Gibson’s post-career struggles in the latter work are especially poignant, and “serve as a reminder that being the queen of the tennis court is all well is good” but, as Gibson writes, “you can’t eat a crown.”

Editor’s note: These two books are now out of print and therefore priced higher than others on this list.

Another historic player, Arthur Ashe, remains the only black male tennis player to win Wimbledon (among other major titles). Marshall Jon Fisher, author of A Terrible Splendor says Ashe’s memoir has been one of his favorites since he was 12 years old. “Ashe told his life story in the context of a diary of one year on the tennis tour — Wimbledon 1973 to Wimbledon 1974,” Fisher tells us. “If only he’d known he would finally win the hallowed tournament in ’75, he might have waited a year. But then we wouldn’t have the same searching, melancholy masterpiece.”

This 1978 memoir of playing the world tennis circuit in the late 1950s and early 1960s is a “hilarious and poignant gem,” Fisher tells us. “In those days, the tour was more collegial, as well as more attainable for a cast of colorful characters more interested in seeking life experience than in becoming multimillion-dollar ground-stroke machines.” And lucky for readers, Forbes jotted down observations while he toured that “should entertain tennis fans forever,” according to Fisher.

Best baseball memoirs

Best overall baseball memoirs.

Three people told us about pitcher Jim Bouton’s book about his career with the New York Yankees and other teams in the ’60s. According to writer Daniel Okrent (who is credited with inventing the scoring system for fantasy baseball), it is “the memoir that broke the mold, earning Bouton the enmity of his fellow players and the applause of generations of fans” for its honest details of legendary players’ drunkenness, womanizing, and prodigious drug use (including some tales that, Okrent admits, “are less hilarious today”). Mark Kram, Jr., the author most recently of Smokin’ Joe: The Life of Joe Frazier , calls it a “bawdy tell-all” and an “instant sports literary classic.” Bouton was known for his wild knuckleballs, and Eig says that he “tossed the perfect knuckleball with this.”

This memoir by the one-time owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns, and Chicago White Sox was recommended to us by both Kram and former Grantland editor Rafe Bartholomew . “Baseball owners were a hidebound and altogether humorless bunch until Bill Veeck crashed the party,” according to Kram, who tells us that, “with a wooden leg, Veeck lugged home from the South Pacific in World War II, sent a dwarf to the plate, gave us the exploding scoreboard, and cooked up countless other promotional stunts that imbued a gray game with jump and color.” Kram says that Veeck’s memoir is “full of colorful tales and big ideas,” adding that he was fortunate enough to spend time with Veeck on a few occasions and that he “emerges in his book just as he was in person. One can almost hear his gravelly chuckle.”

More recommended baseball memoirs

Pitcher Jim Brosnan’s memoir focuses on his time playing for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds in 1959. Okrent says that the memoir about Brosnan’s “unexceptional season with two unexceptional teams remains the most honest — and, I suspect, most accurate — account of the daily life of a ballplayer that we’ve ever seen.” It wasn’t meant to be a book filled with shocking revelations, according to Okrent, but is now thought of as one thanks to Brosnan’s inclusion of the Cardinals’ trainer “distributing an early form of steroids and amphetamines to the players.”

This bittersweet memoir tells the story of Pat Jordan’s promising, yet unfulfilled career as a pitcher. According to Kram, it’s a “hall-of-fame, lyrical memoir of youth ascendant and the hard luck that spares only the fortunate few.” Jordan began his career as a highly regarded schoolboy pitcher in 1950s Connecticut before, as Kram tells it, “signing with the Milwaukee Braves and spending three years toiling in bush league outposts such as McCook, Davenport, Waycross, Eau Claire and Palatka.” Then, 13 years after the Braves handed him his unconditional release, he revisited that period to write this — and later become “one of our preeminent sports journalists.”

Dirk Hayhurst succeeded where Pat Jordan did not, according to Kram, who notes he actually pitched in the big leagues (albeit briefly). Kram calls this, his second memoir, a “small gem,” noting it unfolds around and during his 2008 season with the San Diego Padres and offers a “candid account of the obstacles that he faced during his climb to the highest league, including conflicts with his eccentric grandmother, alliances and tensions with teammates, and the jitters he overcame when he finally got the call and discovered he was indeed out of his league.”

Best basketball memoirs

Best overall basketball memoirs.

Seven people recommended basketball memoirs, with two directing us to this one by NBA great and former U.S. senator from New Jersey, Bill Bradley. Both Bartholomew and Mike Tollin , an executive producer of ESPN’s The Last Dance , recommend the 240-page book that chronicles just 20 days in the life of Bradley’s time as a professional basketball player. Tollin, who told us he first learned about Bradley’s prowess by reading John McPhee’s famous 1965 profile of Bradley’s college basketball career at Princeton, says that reading the memoir “gave me an even greater appreciation for his humanity, and rare insight.”

“This classic deserves a much wider audience,” Eig tells us (Bartholomew is also a fan, as is Barack Obama, who called it the “best basketball book I’ve ever read.”) At the time he wrote it, Rick Telander was a faded football prospect who spent his time freelance writing and playing pickup basketball games in New York City. The memoir tracks his time observing and playing games at Flatbush’s Foster Park in the mid-1970s, and Telander rotates between observer, player, and team coach, reflecting throughout on the darker reality his fellow players from low-income neighborhoods would return to once the sun went down. “I remember Telander’s beautiful sentences, which feature his keen eye for detail, and his effortless blend of sociology and sport,” Eig says.

More recommended basketball memoirs

New York Times basketball and culture writer Sopan Deb recommends this 1980 memoir by legendary Boston Celtics center Bill Russell (who is regarded as the NBA’s first black superstar). “ Second Wind , in which he famously refers to Boston as a ‘flea market’ of racism, is an honest accounting by one of the most important athletes in the history of mankind,” Deb says.

Editor’s note: Due to this book’s recent popularity and the fact that it hasn’t been reissued (yet), we’re seeing it priced higher than others on this list.

Northwestern University’s director of sports journalism , J.A. Adande (who also appears on ESPN as a contributor), told us this is not only his favorite sports memoir, but that Abdul-Jabbar’s “fascinating perspectives” on race, religion, love, and America itself from the 1950s through the 1980s make it one of his favorite books ever. According to Adande, even though Abdul-Jabbar is one of the greatest players of all time, “basketball feels almost like an afterthought” in this book, or “something he pursued because he was tall and suited for it, but not something he felt as passionately about as, say, jazz.” Adande notes that Abdul-Jabbar has gone on to write dozens of books and essays on timely topics, and that “you can see the genesis of those in Giant Steps .”

Sports journalist and broadcaster Taylor Rooks told us about this memoir written by Tim Grover, a basketball trainer. But she assures he’s not just any trainer: “Tim Grover is the legendary trainer to athletes like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Dwyane Wade.” The book, according to Rooks, focuses on the mental practices Grover taught these athletes (and others) to ensure they didn’t just have good seasons, but good careers. “It’s full of anecdotes and stories that make you feel closer to the players we all grew up watching,” she says, adding that it includes a favorite quote: “The only difference between feedback and criticism is the way you hear it.”

“My sports life has been consumed by two seminal NBA dynasties: the Michael Jordan Bulls and the Kobe-Shaq-Gasol Lakers,” sports and culture writer Dave Schilling says, adding that “those teams have one thing in common: head coach Phil Jackson.” According to him, anything Jackson wrote would have been a must-read given his shepherding of some of the greatest basketball players of all time, but Eleven Rings , which Schilling describes as memoir–cum–self-help book, goes the extra mile. “It gives an insight into how Jackson motivated his teams, which included a collection of massive egos, some of whom were not prone to taking orders,” he says. “It’s sort of a classic ‘Dad Lit’ book where the author delivers meme-able motivational insights.”

Best football memoirs

Best overall football memoir.

Four folks recommended books about American football, with three specifically highlighting George Plimpton’s memoir of his weeks-long athletic career (Plimpton, of course, is best known for helping to start the Paris Review). Diss describes the book as “the perfect encapsulation of a classic conversation starter: How long could you last in a match at professional level?” Spoiler alert: The answer, Diss points out (without giving the story away), is not long. “But Plimpton’s eloquence and brio propels this dive into American football in a way that’s both very funny and dredges up a newfound respect for even the lowliest pro athlete,” he explains. Okrent is also a fan, telling us “Plimpton’s weeks in uniform in the Detroit Lions’ training camp may have been a stunt, but the book is a gem. However bad Plimpton was as an NFL quarterback, he was that good as a writer — a truly winning combination.”

Another recommended football memoir

According to Rooks, this memoir, written by “one of the more polarizing figures in sports, forces us to ask many questions, especially ‘When does a person who did bad things qualify for the public’s forgiveness?’” Finally Free , Rooks says, tackles Vick’s search for that answer as he goes through his many controversies. “It stuck with me,” she says, “because it speaks to the idea that the bad things that happen to us shape us just as much as the good.”

Best soccer memoirs

Best overall soccer memoir.

While High Fidelity author Nick Hornby spent even less time playing professional sports than George Plimpton (a.k.a. no time at all), Fever Pitch was recommended to us as the ultimate fan’s memoir by three people, two of whom say they weren’t really fans of soccer before picking it up. The book “reads like a letter from a friend,” according to Diss, who describes the plot as “a fan in conversation with himself, in a doomed romance with his club, and asking what it all means to have those men chasing after a ball and those people standing there in the freezing cold and rain watching them do so.” Schilling says Fever Pitch was his entrée into the world of obsessive soccer fandom, telling us the prose “played right into my young-adult-male belief in intellectual and emotional purity. If you are going to love something — Arsenal, the Smiths, comic books, sketch comedy — you better love it to the point that it damages your ability to function in society or hold a job.” Sports journalist Sarah Baicker adds that you “probably don’t even have to care about sports to love the book, but if you do, as I do, you’ll recognize yourself in Hornby’s fandom.”

Another recommended soccer memoir

Wambach’s autobiography came recommended to us by sports reporter and commentator Kate Fagan . According to Fagan, the former star forward of the U.S. women’s national team “isn’t here to build her brand or make you love her, she’s here to be honest about her life, about her drinking, and about the inside workings about the peaks and valleys of being a professional athlete.” For that reason, she says that “if you want to really understand the grind of an athlete — read this.”

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Here are 24 of the best baseball books to read in 2024

A handful of the best books about baseball for young and adult readers in 2024, including new/modern reads & a few classics/all-time favorites.

Home / Baseball articles / **TITLE**

When I was an 11 year old I read like crazy. Everything I could find. Including this book called “ The Kid Who Only Hit Homers ” by Matt Christopher I read about a thousand times (that’s a great one for young readers). This other one called “Hatchet” by Gary Paulsen that made me very wary of small aircraft and wild berries. Then I grew up. Learned enough, got lazy. Got sleepy. Became aware of it. Forced myself to start reading again. Then wound up reading a whole lot about baseball.

I’d like to share some of my favorites with you. They are listed below. Broken up by new and classic. These weren’t all written within the last year or two. But you should read them if you haven’t already.

The best new / modern baseball books

All of these books have been published within the last 9 years (2015-2024).

1. The Baseball 100

Best Baseball Book 2021 Joe Posnanski The Baseball 100

Author : Joe Posnanski Published : September 2021

At 800+ pages, Posnanski’s The Baseball 100 bursts with baseball lore. This is Posnanski’s top 100 players of all time. Tip: don’t get too caught up with the order. The number next to the name represents much more than production, skill, or any other single attribute.

Of all the books on this list, this one might feel the most like a celebration . Those of us who love baseball love it for many reasons, and the several unforgettable characters Posnanski profiles in this volume reflect it.

Given the universality of the appeal and sheer breadth of content within, I’d struggle to find anyone who wouldn’t find something to love in this book.

This one is certainly one of the best baseball books published in 2021, and a great addition for your library.

Buy on Amazon Full review

2. The Cloudbuster Nine

Author : Anne R. Keene Published : April 2018

This is one of my favorite historical baseball books I’ve read, partially because baseball isn’t so central to the plot and narrative.

Keene’s Cloudbusters reads a bit different, like a snapshot of another place in time in which baseball was interwoven through it all, but was not sufficient to paint the picture.

The character study of players like Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, and an unexpected batboy earn much of the attention in this book. But the story really focuses on the V-5 Pre-Flight School, service, the “Old Leaguer,” and the role baseball played at the onset of World War II.

3. K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches

K History of Baseball 10 Pitches Books to Read 2020

Author : Tyler Kepner Published : April 2019

One of the best baseball books of 2019. Kepner weaves a joyous story of baseball through 10 chapters, each identified by a pitch: slider, fastball, curveball, knuckleball, splitter, screwball, sinker, changeup, spitball and cutter.

The book is littered with excellent testimony and quotes from legendary players and coaches. A treasure trove for enthusiasts of the baseball personality.

I was particularly drawn to the chapter on the screwball pitch given its murky history and its curious practitioners. Kepner dubs it the sasquatch of baseball . Accurate.

My favorite part of this book is the pure exuberance and passion for the game emanating from every page. You’ll have a smile on the whole way.

4. Future Value: The Battle for Baseball’s Soul and How Teams Will Find the Next Superstar

Author : Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel Published : May 2020

This book is truly unique, representing a niche subject I never realized I was missing: scouting.

Calling the title “misleading” is too aggressive, but I’ll admit the first-cover impression sent me down the wrong path. I have phases where I’m not really in the mood to read anything too analytically evangelist. Given Longenhagen’s work with FanGraphs and a phrase like “battle for baseball’s soul” – I assumed this would be in that “here’s 300+ of sabermetrics coursework” and admittedly put me off of this one for too long.

It’s a shame the word “scouting” doesn’t appear anywhere in the title. That’s really the heart of this book. And what makes it so compelling as a baseball fan. Especially one who occasionally dreams of a career in baseball.

There’s a lot of scouting lingo thrown around in broadcasts, forums, and arguments at the bar. Chances are you’re like me and only half-understand most of it. And maybe never consciously recognized how much you don’t know.

This book goes deep into the world of amateur and pro scouting and breaks down all the different ways all sorts of scouts and evaluators find and grade talent. It does a great job respectfully teaching you the language and culture of scouting like you’re an 8 year old without ever feeling like you are an 8 year old.

I wish I would have read this book sooner, as I can tell it’s already changing the way I watch baseball (for the better).

5. The Cup of Coffee Club: 11 Players and Their Brush with Baseball History

Authors : Jacob Kornhauser Published : 2020

I had to pick this one up right away. Loved this concept and how Kornhauser executes it.

This book tells the tale of 11+ ballplayers who only ever got one appearance in a big league ballgame. Every story is a little different and all of these guys come away from professional baseball with a unique perspective. Some of them openly relish their moment in the spotlight and wouldn’t change a thing. Others find much less solace in their momentary glory.

These guys aren’t all completely anonymous despite their very brief MLB careers as ballplayers. Jeff Banister managed the Texas Rangers from 2015-2018 and won AL Manager of the Year in 2015. Stephen Larkin and Larry Yount are brothers of a couple Hall of Famers.

The Cup of Coffee Club is one of those timeless baseball books that fits a perfect niche in your library.

6. Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series that Changed Baseball

Our Team Luke Epplin Best Nonfiction Baseball Book 2021

Authors : Luke Epplin Published : March 2021

I am a somewhat ashamed about how little of this story I was even marginally familiar with. But I’m sure glad I know now. This is a fantastic book.

Luke Epplin’s Our Team tells the story of the 1948 world champion Cleveland Indians, weaving together multiple micro-biographies of a few key figures: Bill Veeck, Bob Feller, Larry Doby, and Satchel Paige. Doby takes center stage as Major League Baseball’s second black player after Jackie Robinson to break the color barrier, and a legitimate prospect who played a pivotal role in helping the Indians win a championship. Veeck’s infectious presence as an innovative owner, marketer and businessman is larger than life. Feller and Paige bring their own interesting element to the text, painting a picture of the baseball industry in the mid-20th century – an industry that feels unrecognizable compared to today’s.

Loved this book. I learned a lot and enjoyed every page. Kudos to Epplin for packing so much into a single, consumable resource. Really highly recommend.

7. The MVP Machine

Authors : Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik Published : June 2019

The MVP Machine provides compelling examples of the way players are using data to help become better ballplayers.

Authors like Lindbergh and Sawchik historically lean heavy into the analytics side of baseball, but there is an effort here to respect the soft skills traditionalists hang their hat on. The human element of baseball is a primary focus in this book. This one isn’t just for the nerds.

…but nerds will love it, too.

Don’t read this if you’re a fan with minimal interest in 1) how baseball teams are made 2) larger trends in the game’s evolution and have no patience for the minutiae of how players and teams work to make the product better.

Absolutely read this if you are remotely curious about the inner workings of the modern game. This isn’t another cheap numbers are important, I swear preach-to-the-choir type books. It’s essential reading for any baseball fan who’s had an opinion about their favorite team’s roster construction.

8. The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife

Author : Brad Balukjian Published : June 2020

In The Wax Pack Brad Balukjian journeys across the U.S. to track down a handful of former ballplayers drawn from an old deck of Topps baseball cards. The list of players include mostly those from the 70’s through 90’s, journeymen and stars alike. This is not a recollection of great baseball stories. This book features character studies of ballplayers and how their relationship with the game (and their families) has evolved since leaving it. And it’s show , not tell.

This one is right in my wheelhouse.

I’m not a huge day-to-day baseball follower. Who wins or loses today isn’t that big of a deal.

My favorite part of the game is its aesthetic. Its permanence. How it interweaves with life happening around it. How it’s really hard to explain to people who don’t get it why it means so much to you.

This book speaks the language of baseball and strikes all the right chords. Balukjian’s conversational style with a natural storytelling acumen helps make this a lean, breezy read that sticks with you. Highly recommend.

9. Swing Kings: The Inside Story of Baseball’s Home Run Revolution

Swing Kings Jared Diamond Best Modern Baseball Book

Author : Jared Diamond Published : March 2020

The big story in baseball over the past few years is the explosion of the home run. Dingers are everywhere and everyone’s got an opinion about it. It’s not an accident.

There’s been a change in the way decision makers think about hitting, and Jared Diamond tells the story of the transformation. It emanates that Moneyball “it’s a revolution, man” energy. You may or may not like that. But Diamond does a really great job outlining the chronology compellingly, telling stories of people rather than raw concepts or statistics. You’ll learn a lot about some baseball outsiders who’ve made a huge unexpected impact on what’s happened to the game in the last 5 years or so.

By the end you might just have a little more perspective about why the Dodgers in particular have comfortably occupied the top of the standings – and now a World Series championship in 2020.

For anyone curious about why there are so many home runs these days, this is the book to read. It’s a fast reader – I finished it in only a couple days.

Buy on Amazon

10. Big Sexy: In His Own Words

Big Sexy Bartolo Colon Autobiography Best Baseball Book

Authors : Bartolo Colón and Michael Stahl Published : May 2020

I don’t often go for biographies/autobiographies but this one is something of a no-brainer.

Bartolo Colón is an all-time baseball personality, boasting a care-free disposition and a work ethic inspiring a career revival well into his 40’s. But like just about anyone else, his life has had its share of ups and downs.

This is an incredibly charming read you can take on in just a few hours. English isn’t Colón’s first language—the writing is simple and very readable.

Every now and again Colón does reveal some interesting behind-the-scenes happenings but you’ll be hard pressed to find any dirt slinging. Colón emanates positivity, grace and warmth on every page. He’s a man who truly appreciates the life he’s been given.

This one feels good and puts a smile on your face.

11. A Fan’s Guide to Baseball Analytics

A Fan's Guide to Baseball Analytics Best Modern Baseball Book 2020

Author : Anthony Castrovince Published : May 2020

There are many analytically-oriented books on this list, which may give off the impression I’m a stat nut who loves burying my face in calculators and spreadsheets. I sort of do. But when it comes to baseball I’m primarily a romantic who enjoys the escape, more inclined to embrace the beauty and spontaneity of the game without trying too hard to quantify it.

But the way baseball people think has changed too dramatically to ignore. The reason there are so many analytically-oriented books on this list? It’s impossible to ignore.

Anthony Castrovince’s book is a really good introduction to the concepts behind new baseball statistics you’re starting to see pop up more and more during baseball broadcasts. Like it or not, the acronyms are piling up and there’s good reason for it.

For those of you who read about baseball every day and consider yourself familiar with sabermetrics, this book isn’t really for you. It’s mostly review. It was for me, although Castrovince does cover a couple statistics I wasn’t all that familiar with, especially on the defensive side. It’s formatted really nicely with sections for each stat, so it’s easy to pluck off the shelf when you get that itch of wait, how is wRC+ calculated again ?

I’d say this is a great gift idea for your baseball fan friend who’s not a hardcore, but loves watching games and thinks critically about them. Or if you’re the crusader type, you can try it on a traditionalist baseball fan who scoffs at statistics and see if you can move the needle. Castrovince works hard to make this entry-level and non-condescending for people who really haven’t thought much about this stuff before.

12. The Baseball Book of Why: The Answers to Questions You’ve Always Wondered About from America’s National Pastime

Author : John McCollister Published : March 2020

A lot of books on this list can get on the heavy side. But sometimes deep dives into baseball history or statistics, as excellent as they can be, can get kind of exhausting.

A book like John McCollister’s The Baseball Book of Why can be a really nice change of pace. This book provides concise answers to all sorts of baseball questions, many of which you might have never thought to even ask. Like why there’s always a ceremonial first pitch, or why there’s a seventh inning stretch. Reasons for baseball teams names, reasons for weird rules, why certain changes happened, or why there’s ivy on the walls of Wrigley Field.

It’s not a knock to call this excellent toilet reading. Questions are usually answered in 1-2 pages, and it’s a great book to pick up for 5-10 minutes at a time for those oh, I didn’t know that moments. I really liked this one.

13. The Only Rule is it Has to Work

The Only Rule is it Has to Work Best 2020 Baseball Book for Fans

Authors : Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller Published : May 2016

My first thought whenever someone asks me what they should read next. This is a thrill whether you’re a baseball traditionalist who’s sick and tired of statistics or a child of the sabermetrics movement who loves a good case study.

Lindbergh and Miller, two “numbers guy” writers, earn the opportunity to run baseball operations for the Sonoma Stompers, an independent minor league baseball team featuring scraps for resources, a clash of memorable personalities and an unprecedented license to experiment.

The result is an ebbing and flowing story of a baseball team finding its way. It’s a timely look into the current state of baseball within its broader context. Lindbergh and Miller’s alternating perspectives keep things refreshing as the story develops. Not to mention they are both talented, seasoned writers with exceptional self-awareness and humility.

This book is a whole lot of fun.

14. Ahead of the Curve

Best Baseball Book to Read 2020 Ahead of the Curve

Author : Brian Kenny Published : July 2016

You won’t find this book on many lists like this.

But I love Brian Kenny’s voice. I love what he does with MLB Network. I love his perpetual audacious skepticism in the face of enormous pressure from extremely accomplished peers who see him as a threat.

This book is exactly what you’d expect from Kenny. He formalizes the terrific frustration in changing stubborn thinking in baseball, pointing out dozens of the clearest examples where baseball emotions trump reason. This is something of a compendium of all the ways thinking in baseball is either ignored or too willingly done wrong.

Being more frequently exposed to this culture than maybe anyone else, there’s no one better suited to write a book like this.

15. The Shift: The Next Evolution in Baseball Thinking

The Shift Best Psychology Book for Baseball Fans 2020

Author : Russell A. Carleton Published : April 2018

I’m a big fan of Carleton’s work. I’d hate for this book to fly under the radar. Too many “best baseball books” lists fail to mention The Shift .

Russell Carleton is smarter than you. He’s way smarter than me. This by itself means little. What makes Carleton brilliant is his ability to communicate complex ideas in a digestible way.

The Shift explores human condition in a baseball context, a highly personal volume featuring all sorts of wonderful nuggets of insights for intellectually curious baseball fans.

I’m happy to call it a must-read for the avid fan.

16. Big Data Baseball

Big Data Baseball Adult Book 2017 Best Analytics

Author : Travis Sawchik Published : May 2015

With most people still buzzing about the boom in defensive shifts in baseball in 2019 (and chatter about banning them), Sawchik’s Big Data Baseball remains prescient in 2021.

Sawchik explores the 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates – primarily their embracing of defensive shifts, to vault their way into serious contention after 20 consecutive losing seasons.

If Moneyball concerns a shift in evaluating players, Big Data Baseball concerns a shift in evaluating defensive positioning (there is more to each – but broad strokes here). To call it a poor man’s Moneyball sounds like a slight but it isn’t. This comes from the Moneyball tradition and it fits right in.

This is a fast read, the story of a surprising baseball team and their role in moving the needle across Major League Baseball. One of those books you’re well served reading every few years.

17. How Baseball Happened: Outrageous Lies Exposed! The True Story Revealed

Best Baseball Book How Baseball Happened

Author : Thomas W. Gilbert Published : September 2020

What a wonderful read.

Rejoice! those who cringe at the thought of a dry history lecture.

Chances are what you think you know about the history of baseball is nonsense. Thomas Gilbert’s How Baseball Happened is dense with detail yet light like a feather. He does you a favor and leads off with the most important stuff and provides all sorts of additional details for readers who get engrossed in the history of New York and the many circumstances and people instrumental in the creation of baseball.

Baseball is woven into the fabric of American culture, and there’s no easy answer to who invented baseball ? But Gilbert’s book is a great entry-level volume that succinctly describes the world in which baseball was born.

18. Cheated: The Inside Story of the Astros Scandal and a Colorful History of Sign Stealing

Author : Andy Martino Published : June 2021

Here’s the first book I’m aware of that really goes deep into the Astros sign stealing scandal and provides an inside look full of new perspectives, quotes and anecdotes from people, players and staff instrumental to the scheme.

I’ll be really transparent:

I didn’t personally love this book . The extremely reportorial and levity-starved writing style is not up my alley, and I felt sort of… left hanging in several spots. I wrote a full review with more explanation, if you care.
Despite this, this is probably required reading for modern baseball fans (who read books about it) . This Astros thing was enormous. Its ripple effect likely won’t be fully felt for several years. This is a huge story, and no resource tells it better and more comprehensively than this book. And my qualms are just mine.

Classics – some of the best baseball books of all time

If you haven’t read these yet, it’s time you do.

19. Moneyball

Author : Michael Lewis Published : June 2003

I can hear the duh s already. This baseball book might have more name recognition than any other. You might think by now “gosh, everyone’s read that” but it isn’t true. I’m slightly ashamed to say I didn’t read it until 2019.

It’s probably not what you think. That makes it worth reading.

“Moneyball” has evolved well beyond the book – it’s an idea that’s fundamentally changed the game of baseball. Some people are really bent out of shape about it.

Moneyball has proven to be one of the most influential books about sports ever written.

Maybe you’ve only seen the movie. It’s great. But you should read the source material.

20. The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract

Bill James Historical Abstract All Time Baseball Books 2020

Author : Bill James Published : 2001

One of the most comprehensive baseball volumes ever written.

Confession: I’ve never “finished” this book. It’s about a million pages. But this isn’t a book you finish. This is a book you keep on your shelf and pluck every couple days for a few minutes at a time.

This is the history of baseball before the 21 st century, including reviews of the game by decade and a list of hundreds and hundreds of player profiles with career cliffnotes for the curious baseball fan who wants bite-size answer to “who was that guy?”

Admittedly its encyclopedic format is slightly outdated. This volume is a search engine before Google. But this is a relic retaining objective value and worthy of reverence. A must-add for any baseball library.

21. Ball Four

Best Baseball Book Ever Written All Time Ball Four

Author : Jim Bouton Published : June 1970

Perhaps the best baseball book of all-time.

If Holden Caulfield was a pitcher for the Seattle Pilots. Anyone who has read Catcher in the Rye will pick up on it immediately. Jim Bouton documents his 1969 season with the curious short-lived expansion team; an uncensored story of the team featuring bits and pieces of Bouton’s past with the New York Yankees. He’s got a ne’er-do-well’s voice with devastating honesty.

You didn’t ask for it, but here’s an example of the type of passage that makes this book so special – and why you’ll see a lot of reviews hailing Ball Four as “not just a baseball book”:

The Yankees would divide the squad into morning and afternoon groups and they’d always say it didn’t mean a thing, just two groups for convenience. Except that the morning group always had Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Elston Howard, Whitey Ford and guys like that. The afternoon group would have a bunch of guys named Dick Berardino. I never saw a guy hit or pitch himself off the afternoon list.

The morning group / afternoon group dynamic is timeless and applicable everywhere. Brilliant.

This was a controversial book. Considering the age in which this book was published, the backlash is understandable. This is a tell-all in an incompatible time.

In the 2020s it might seem pretty innocent to some. But this was a huge game-changer back in 1970 and even in retrospect is compelling, daring and intermittently raucous. One of the best ever written.

22. The Science of Hitting

Ted Williams the Science of Hitting Best Baseball Books

Author : Ted Williams Published : 1968, revised in 1986

The best in the world at whatever they do don’t always want to reveal their secrets and share their expertise with anyone else. If Michael Jordan said “here’s how to play basketball,” you’d shut up and listen.

So when arguably the best hitter to ever play baseball writes a book about how to hit a baseball, you pass over the money without thinking about it.

Williams’ take on hitting is vigilantly scientific and blunt. There are a couple points he repeatedly hammers home that sound remarkably prescient given the current trends in the game:

Keeping your swing “level” or “down” is bad advice – your swing should angle slightly upward to meet the plane of the descending ball coming towards the plate.
Never swing at the first pitch and effort to see as many pitches as possible. You’ll learn more and wear him out.

For whatever reason it took 40+ years for baseball to really embrace this kind of thinking.

Bonus: Williams is clearly bent out of shape about comparisons to golf. His frustration and animosity towards golf is amusing.

This is a must-read for any baseball fan and belongs on your bookshelf.

23. The Kid Who Only Hit Homers

The Kid Who Only Hit Homers Baseball Book

Author : Matt Christopher Published : 1972

Disclaimer: heavy bias. This is one of those books I read over and over again as a kid. I read a lot of Matt Christopher books and this is one of those I remember really obsessing over. The nostalgia is palpable and I’m choosing to impose that on you, the reader. You are welcome.

I think what I like most about this book in the context of young readers is all the different ways Christopher describes the action. It sure seems like he went out of his way to create lots of different game scenarios, giving him an excuse to train readers in the language of baseball. It’s really addicting for kids who are really into learning about what the game is, what ballplayers say and how to describe things that happen on the field.

For the parents – the thought experiment is some silly fun and there’s a refreshing emphasis on humility throughout. There are several moments where you can stop and say OK now what can we learn from this? which is nice, if that’s your thing.

Admittedly, it’s dated. Sort of odd to read it again as a 31 year old. There are some themes in this book that stand out a lot more to me now than way back when. I’m not sure this is the best baseball book for kids, but it’s definitely a great way to help a 6-9 year fixated on baseball (ages may vary, obviously) exercise their reading muscles and have fun doing it.

24. The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It

The Glory of Their Times Best Baseball Book Ever

Author : Lawrence Ritter Published : 1966

Here’s an all-time great you’ll see on all sorts of lists like this. And it’s justified.

This book is a series of first-person perspectives of some of the biggest stars in baseball from the early 1900s. One of the interesting parts of the book is how baseball stars were regarded back then compared to what we’re used to now. Their stories intersect naturally with multiple impromptu perspectives on important events. What results is an immersive understated narrative constructing a living, breathing world illustrating the early days of baseball in the US.

Well-researched third-person historical reviews certainly have their place and purpose, but nothing I’ve read in that category puts me back in time to experience baseball history like this book does. Highly recommend.

2024/new-ish releases on my wish list:

(I’m slow and still haven’t caught up to much of anything in 2022. More to come.)

24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid – Willie Mays, John Shea, et al . Release: May 5, 2020. Ashamed to say I know little to nothing about Willie Mays. His upcoming memoir seems a good way to brush up.
Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original – Mitchell Nathanson . Release: May 1, 2020. Big fan of Ball Four . Looking forward to a new perspective on Bouton’s life that doesn’t come from Bouton himself or a bunch of random bloggers like yours truly.
Just Like Me: When the Pros Played on the Sandlot – Kelly Park . Release: August 27th, 2020. A bunch of professional baseball players tell their stories of playing baseball/softball as kids. These people look like superheroes on camera, but they’re just people. I like this idea.
Stealing First and Other Old-Time Baseball Stories – Chris Williams . Release: April 22, 2020. I like little stories about baseball curiosities.
Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask – Jon Pessah . Release: April 14, 2020. Baseball’s all-time personality. I have this on my shelf, but haven’t read it yet.

Happy reading.

These are good reads. If you’re feeling uninspired by run-of-the-mill fiction, biographies or heavy classic literature it’s always nice to have a baseball book to pluck off the shelf and revisit. Keep them in your rain delay arsenal.

If you’ve got any more suggestions please let me know on Twitter (@screwballtimes). I’m genuinely interested.

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Future Value: The Battle for Baseball's Soul and How Teams Will Find the Next Superstar Book

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.

Kid Wearing Baseball Cap While Running Bases

Jackie Robinson in a Dodgers uniform, 1954. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

American history has a relatively short timeline compared to almost any other nation. But one of the easiest and most accessible ways to immerse yourself into that history is by learning about baseball. If you don’t consider yourself a sports fan, there’s no need to worry; because whether we’re talking about using baseball as a cover to spy on Japan during WWII , the art of sports writing , or actually playing the game , there are plenty of ways to steep yourself in baseball culture, and therefore, American history.

Just because opening day was rained out this year doesn’t mean we’re going to have a bad season. That being said, if you happen to find yourself bored during a rain delay, or perhaps missing the smell of steaming ball park franks, here are 12 of the best baseball books to get you out of that slump. Let’s play ball!

Negro Leagues

By Matt Doeden

When sports were still segregated by race, the only option available to professional Black baseball players was to join the Negro Leagues. In a demonstration of respect for the accomplishments of these players, the MLB recently announced that it would add Negro League records to their own official statistics. This book packed full of facts, photos, and anecdotes sheds new light on “baseball's unsung heroes” and the people who worked tirelessly to integrate professional sports.

12 Baseball Books That Are Total Home Runs

By David Maraniss

If you’re looking for an incredible story about the life one of the most accomplished players in baseball written by an experienced author of important sports figures (including an acclaime d biography of Vince Lombardi ) then Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero is a fantastic pick. Roberto Clemente played 18 incredible major league seasons, ending with four batting titles, 3,000 hits, and an immediate Hall of Fame induction following his death.

Along with the artistry of his game, his dedication to an underdog team, and his determination to pave the way for future Latino baseball players in a time where people of color weren’t allowed to play baseball, Clemente had other ambitions. He was insistent that baseball wasn’t everything; if you had the means to help others and you didn’t, you were wasting your precious time on earth.

He died a hero’s death on New Year’s Eve in 1972 in a plane crash as he attempted to deliver food and medical supplies to Nicaragua following a devastating earthquake. David Maraniss tells the story of his life, and finishes by using newly uncovered documents to reveal the corruption and negligence that ultimately led to Clemente’s untimely death.

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Comeback Season: My Unlikely Story of Friendship with the Greatest Living Negro League Baseball Players

By Cam Perron

Cam Perron was a young, white, baseball fanatic from Boston when he first came across a set of Topps baseball cards featuring several players from the Negro Leagues. As his fascination grew, he began writing letters to former players in 2007, asking for autographs and a few words about their baseball careers. He was surprised by the detailed stories they told him; they ranged from their glory days, to run-ins with the KKK, to how racism prevailed and excluded them from the major leagues even after Jackie Robinson changed the game.

The letters turned into phone calls, and Cam discovered that most of the players had fallen out of contact with their teammates, and that their incredible careers had been largely unrecognized. So with the help of some fellow researchers, Cam and his team arranged a week-long reunion in Alabama in 2010. But it doesn’t end there—their unlikely friendship became so strong that Cam aided in the complicated journey to get the players the pensions they were owed from the MLB, and helped open and stock a Negro League museum in Birmingham.

Luckiest Man

By Jonathan Eig

A biography that is about much more than a legendary baseball career (though there is plenty of that too), Luckiest Man introduces us to Lou Gehrig’s life in a whole new light. The New York Yankee player was known for his first baseman capabilities, consecutive game streaks, and even for the fatal disease that now bears his name. But no one really knew how complicated his life was before Jonathan Eig wrote this biography.

Drawing on previously unpublished letters to and from Gehrig as well as new interview footage, Eig introduces us to Gehrig’s shy and awkward NYC adolescent experience, his unlikely and eventually tragic friendship with Babe Ruth, and his incredible baseball career with the Yankees before revealing how the symptoms of his illness presented in 1938, much earlier than originally thought. Aware that he was coming to the end of his short life, Gehrig lived with dignity and grace till the end—the same characteristics he exhibited when giving his famous “luckiest man” speech.

Game On: 10 Best Sports Books Ever Written

My Bat Boy Days

By Steve Garvey

My Bat Boy Days is an unlikely and inspiring story of a man who actually got to live his dream. A young baseball card collector and aspiring Little League player, Steve Garvey’s dreams began to cement themselves on the evening of March 28, 1956, when his father, a Greyhound bus driver, asked him if he’d like to accompany him while driving the Brooklyn Dodgers to a spring training game.

Garvey went on to be a bat boy for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Yankees, and Tigers over a five year span before becoming a first baseman for the LA Dodgers. An incredible story from one of the best of his era, Garvey shares memories, profiles, and lessons learned from baseball heroes like Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, and Mickey Mantle.

Opening Day

Another Jonathan Eig classic, Opening Day uses interviews with surviving players, sportswriters, and eyewitnesses, accompanied by newly discovered archival material to tell the story of Jackie Robinson in a whole new way. April 15, 1947 was a thr illing, postwar ope ning day; and perhaps the most important opening day in history. Jackie Robinson stepped onto the diamond, and the civil rights era instantly had a new hero. Combining baseball’s ultimate story with true facts and figures, readers get real insight into various legends surrounding Jackie Robinson.

The Pine Tar Game

By Filip Bondy

An enthralling account of the 1983 finale of a four-game series between the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals, The Pine Tar Game introduces the turning point from a game of talent and grit, to the modern world of soaring salaries, labor strikes, and performance-enhancing drugs.

Acclaimed sports writer Filip Bondy includes fresh commentary from players and club officials like Goose Gossage, Willie Randolph, Ron Guidry, Sparky Lyle, David Cone, and John Schuerholz that offer their takes on the postseason rivalry that came as a result of Yankees manager Billy Martin calling out George Brett’s illegal amount of pine tar on his bat, overturning a game-winning home run, causing chaos to ensue.

By Charles Leerhsen

Taking on the difficult job of debunking the myths to explain Ty Cobb’s true character, Charles Leerhsen traveled to Georgia and Detroit to retrace Cobb’s every step. Originally, Cobb was known for his record-holding lifetime batting average, 20-plus year dedication to the sport, and 90-plus record-holding career. But he was also known for being an overly aggressive fighter and fierce competitor. Somewhere along the way, this narrative transformed into a reputation of a violent racist who also hated women and children. So who was Ty Cobb really? Leerhsen is here to tell you.

Wait Till Next Year

By Doris Kearns Goodwin

An atmospheric memoir steeped in the culture of 1950’s New York baseball, Wait Till Next Year is a feisty yet uplifting memoir about a girl in a pre-feminist, postwar neighborhood whose coming-of-age experience is marked by her mother’s untimely death and the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn in 1957.

From Underdogs to Champions: Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers' Rise to Fame

We Would Have Played for Nothing

By Fay Vincent

Former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent features ballplayers from the 50’s and 60’s, including Whitey Ford, Duke Snider, Carl Erskine, Bill Rigney, Robin Roberts, Lew Burdette, Harmon Killebrew, Billy Williams, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, and Ralph Branca and their stories from playing the game in a time when players negotiated their own contracts and worked other jobs in the off-season. They share incredible stories about milestone events, like Jackie Robinson changing the game, teammates and opponents they admired, and the Dodgers and Giants moving to California.

Eight Men Out

By Eliot Asinof

A thrilling representation of American roots in baseball, Eight Men Out is a story about the World Series fix of 1919. Eliot Asinof describes scene-by-scene the tense meetings, hold-ups in the plan, the actual plays that threw the Series, the grand jury indictment, and the 1921 trial that arose as a result of eight White Sox players teaming up with the nation’s leading gamblers to throw the Series. Readers get an inside look into the motives and backgrounds of the players, as well as the conditions that made the fix so easy. Far more than just another baseball story, this view of the American underbelly, in a time in between war and the roaring 20’s, shows that not even baseball was a safe space for a nation that desperately needed somewhere to turn.

Split Season 1981

By Jeff Katz

Split Season 1981 is exactly as the title suggests: a detailed account of the split baseball season of 1981, the first time a season ever stopped in the middle, as MLB players went on strike for their right to free agency.

The season was heating up right before the strike ensued. After a 712-game absence, Pete Rose's attempt to set a new National League hit record, Reggie Jackson’s reappearance, the rise of the Montreal Expos, Nolan Ryan’s no-hitter, and the final Yankee-Dodger World Series matchup made for an incredible season. Not only were there first and second-half champions that season, but the two teams with best overall record in the National League were not allowed play-off berths for the first time in modern history.

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The best sports books and autobiographies

The best sports books and autobiographies

From gritty sports autobiographies by olympic athletes and a multiple ballon d’or winner to explorations of marathon running and the cultural impact of football, here is a trophy cabinet of some of the best sports books jostling for position on the shelves..

Determined, competitive and possessing an impressive capacity for mental endurance – the characteristics that make great athletes often lead them to live extraordinary lives. Sports autobiographies offer us the opportunity to get the full story behind the goals, records and medals, as well as help us understand the wider impact of the athletic world off the field.

Whether your favourite sport requires a ball, an engine or even a hoof, here is a compilation of the best sports books and autobiographies out there.

Running & athletics
Other sports

The best football books

By chris kamara.

One of the most well-known faces of the beautiful game, Chris ‘Kammy’ Kamara is a national treasure. Now, he’s sharing the story of his incredible life. From his days in the Royal Navy and a playing career that took him all over England to becoming one of the game’s best-loved commentators, Kammy lifts the lid on a career that he could never have dreamt of growing up in Middlesbrough. Told with unflinching honesty, but with his trademark humour and positivity, this is a must-read for any football fan.

The World's Biggest Cash Machine

In The World's Biggest Cash Machine , Chris Blackhurst meticulously unravels the controversial reign of the Glazers over Manchester United. Purchasing the club in 2005, they ignited global discontent, driving it into record debts and marking the fiscal transformation of football. Despite on-field declines, they flourished financially. Blackhurst probes their secretive lives and business acumen, while mapping the club’s captivating journey amidst the Premier League’s metamorphosis into a billionaires' haven.

On Days Like These

By martin o'neill.

With a career spanning over fifty years, Martin tells of his exhilarating highs and painful lows; from the joys of winning trophies, promotion and fighting for World Cups to being harangued by fans, boardroom drama, relegation scraps and being fired. Written with his trademark honesty and humour, On Days Like These is one of the most insightful and captivating sports autobiographies and a must-read for any fans of the beautiful game.

Cheers, Geoff!

By geoff shreeves.

Packed full of hilarious stories on and off the pitch – including trying to teach Sir Michael Caine how to act, a frightening encounter with Mike Tyson, as well as getting a lift home from the World Cup with Mick Jagger – Cheers, Geoff! is a must-read autobiography for any football fan. A natural storyteller, Geoff brings an astonishing catalogue of tales to life with his unique brand of experience, insight and humour.

The Age of Football

By david goldblatt.

For many people around the world, football is so much more than just a game. In The Age of Football , sport historian David Goldblatt widens the lens to trace how the game intersects politics, economics and wider culture. With focuses as diverse as prison football in Uganda, the presidency of Recep Erdogan and the importance of the beautiful game in the Arab Spring, David demonstrates the extent to which the sport impacts society today.

My Life in Football

By kevin keegan.

Whether it’s being the only Englishman to win the Ballon d’Or twice, achieving European glory with Liverpool or managing Newcastle from the bottom of the Second Division to the brink of winning the Premier League title, Kevin Keegan – known as ‘King Kev’ – has proven his pedigree both on the pitch and the touchline. His autobiography details the highs and lows of an illustrious career, including clashes with Sir Alex Ferguson and his return to Newcastle during the controversial Mike Ashley era.

The best rugby books

By rassie erasmus.

Rassie Erasmus, a rugby maverick, unfolds his unconventional journey from player to coach in the pinnacle of the sport. This candid account delves into his pivotal roles in iconic Springbok teams, grappling with injuries, and pioneering coaching methods. Most crucially, Rassie talks about his greatest contribution to South African rugby: appointing its first black captain, Siya Kolisi, without much fanfare or controversy. As his bold plans for effective racial transformation of the national team achieved immediate success, they culminated in glory at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Too Many Reasons to Live

By rob burrow.

The inspirational memoir from rugby league legend Rob Burrow on his extraordinary career and his battle with motor neurone disease.

This is the story of a tiny kid who adored rugby league but never should have made it – and ended up in the Leeds hall of fame. It's the story of a man who resolved to turn a terrible predicament into something positive – when he could have thrown the towel in. It's about the power of love, between Rob and his childhood sweetheart Lindsey; and of friendship, between Rob and his faithful teammates. Far more than a sports memoir, Too Many Reasons to Live is a story of boundless courage and infinite kindness.

‘ He is one in a million and his story is truly inspirational ’ Clare Balding on Rob Burrow

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Discover Rob Burrow & Kevin Sinfield's inspiring picture book

Belonging: the autobiography, by alun wyn jones.

Belonging is the story about how as a boy, Alun Wyn Jones left Mumbles and returned as the most capped rugby player of all time. It is the story of what it takes to become a player who is seen by many as one of the greatest Welsh players there has ever been. What it takes to go from sitting, crossed legged on the hall floor at school, watching the 1997 Lions Tour of South Africa to being named the 2021 Lions Captain.

But is it also about perthyn - belonging, playing for Wales, what it takes to earn the right to be there, and what it feels like to make the sacrifices along the way.

‘ Unbelievable player. Magnificent captain. One of the game’s greatest icons. ’ James Haskell on Alun Wyn Jones

by Eddie Jones

One of the most successful sports coaches ever, Eddie Jones took three separate nations to Rugby World Cup Finals, and enjoyed a success rate with the England team of almost eighty per cent. An expert in guiding and managing high-performing teams, Jones believes that his methods can be applied to many walks of life. From fostering ambition to following your curiosity, Jones shares his methodology, much of it learned through conversations with other successful managers and leaders, including Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola. Leadership is the ultimate guide to being your best, in rugby and in life.

The best running & athletics books

The running book, by john connell.

John Connell, award-winning author of The Cow Book, takes the reader on a marathon run of 42.2 kilometres through Ireland. Over 42 chapters and 42,000 words, John reflects on his life, Irish history and the stories of his greatest running heroes. Whether you’re a keen runner or you’d just like to read what it’s like to undertake a marathon, The Running Book is the perfect endorphin-filled sports book about the nature of happiness and how it can be found on foot.

Unbelievable - From My Childhood Dreams To Winning Olympic Gold

By jessica ennis.

Jessica Ennis-Hill has been one of the poster girls for women in sport for years. Indeed, arguably the greatest moment of the London 2012 games came when Jessica secured her heptathlon gold medal. But her rise was beset with challenges. From being bullied as a child for being small to her career-threatening injury on the eve of the 2008 Olympics, Jessica has had to show plenty of perseverance to prove her doubters wrong. This sports autobiography tells the full story behind the world’s greatest female all-rounder athlete.

The best tennis books

My life: queen of the court, by serena williams.

Book cover for My Life: Queen of the Court

Serena Williams needs little introduction, having won every major title going in tennis. From growing up playing on courts covered in broken glass in Compton to reaching the top of world tennis, all while being criticised for her unorthodox playing style and dealing with the tragic shooting of her older sister, Serena has proven herself an inspiration to her multitudes of fans. In My Life , she reflects on her extraordinary journey.

The Inner Game of Tennis

By w timothy gallwey.

Recently named by Bill Gates as one of his 'all-time favourite books', and described by Billie Jean King as her 'tennis bible', this bestseller has been a must-read for tennis players of all abilities for nearly fifty years. Rather than concentrating on how to improve technique, Gallwey deals with the 'inner game' within ourselves as we try to overcome doubt and maintain clarity of mind when playing. 'It’s the best book on tennis that I have ever read,' says Gates, 'and its profound advice applies to many other parts of life.'

‘ Groundbreaking . . . It’s the best book on tennis that I have ever read, and its profound advice applies to many other parts of life. I still give it to friends today. ’ Bill Gates

The best boxing books

When fury takes over, by john fury.

Born into a family of Irish traveller heritage, Big John Fury descends from a long line of bare-knuckle fighters. So it’s no surprise that he too found himself fighting outside the ring at a young age. From his early years in Manchester, John learned to box by practising fighting within the travelling community, before graduating into the sport professionally. The ring has never been far from his sights, and John has played a crucial role in coaching and being a cornerman for his two-time British heavyweight champion son, Tyson Fury. From Netflix's At Home With The Furys this is the Gypsy Warrior, Big John Fury, totally unfiltered and in his own words.

Believe: Boxing, Olympics and my life outside the ring

By nicola adams.

Nicola Adams famously changed the face of sport at London 2012 when she became the first woman ever to win an Olympic gold medal for boxing. Repeating her medal haul at Rio 2016 further cemented her place in the nation’s hearts, while she has also gone on to become a champion for LGBTQ+ rights and a contestant on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. Believe documents the grit and determination that got her to gold.

The best swimming books

By yusra mardini.

While Yusra Mardini was fleeing her native Syria for the Turkish coast in 2015, the small dingy she and many other refugees were on began to sink. Yusra, her sister and two others took to the water, pushing the boat for three and a half hours in open water until they arrived safely at Lesbos. Remarkably, Yusra went on to compete as a swimmer for the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team in the 2016 Rio Olympics, and also became a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. Her autobiography is for anyone who loves true-life stories of outstanding resilience.

by Diana Nyad

In the 1970s, Diana Nyad was widely regarded as the greatest long-distance swimmer in the world but one record continually eluded her: becoming the first woman to swim between Cuba and the Florida Keys. Finally, after four failed attempts and at the age of sixty-four, Diana completed the crossing. This memoir shows her unwavering belief in the face of overwhelming odds. Winner of the Cross Sports International Autobiography of the Year, this is a story of perseverance, tenacity and commitment on an epic scale.

The best books about other sports

Jan ullrich: the best there never was, by daniel friebe.

In 1997, Jan Ullrich obliterated his rivals in the first mountain stage of the Tour de France. So awesome was his display that it sent shockwaves throughout the world of cycling. Everyone agreed: Jan Ullrich was the future of cycling. He was also voted Germany’s most popular sportsperson of all time, and his rivalry with Lance Armstrong defined the most controversial years of the Tour de France. But just what did happen to the best who never was? This is an account of how unbearable expectation, mental and physical fragility, a complicated childhood, a morally corrupt sport and one individual – Lance Armstrong – can conspire to reroute destiny.

by Poorna Bell

Have you ever worried that you're not enough, or that, if you were stronger or more confident you would achieve more? In Stronger , award-winning journalist and competitive amateur powerlifter Poorna Bell investigates and unveils the potential that women can unlock when they realise their strength – both physical, and mental. Through examining her own experiences, as well as those of dozens of women, Bell shows how finding strength can work for you, regardless of your age, ability or background, and offers actionable ways for your to harness it in your life.

Lights Out, Full Throttle

By damon hill.

Amassing 261 Grand Prix appearances between them, Johnny Herbert and Damon Hill have experienced all the highs, lows and injury records associated with the greatest names in motorsport. In Lights Out, Full Throttle , Johnny and Damon take the reader on a tour around the high-octane world of F1 racing, from Silverstone and safety to Monaco and money, as well as looking at the future of racing in the light of Covid-19 and Black Lives Matter.

Discover our children's Racing Legends series for young F1 fans

Alone on the wall, by alex honnold.

Anyone who has seen the Oscar and BAFTA-winning documentary Free Solo will be familiar with Alex Honnold’s vertigo-inducing work. As one of the world’s best ‘free solo’ climbers, Alex tackles perilous rock faces without the use of any climbing gear. Free soloists undertake one of the deadliest sports on the planet – many have died in pursuit of their sport. Alone on the Wall is a pulse-raising account of some of Alex’s greatest climbs, told with Alex ‘No Big Deal’ Honnold’s trademark calm and collected humour in the face of mortal danger. A sports autobiography for adrenaline junkies.

Dream Horse

By janet vokes.

Janet Vokes dreamed of breeding a working-class horse to take on the wealthy high-flyers. To pursue this idea she bought a mare for £350, bred it with a pedigree stallion and encouraged her Welsh mining village to band together to raise the resulting foal, Dream Alliance. Despite being raised on an allotment, Dream went on to defy the odds at Ascot, Aintree and even Cheltenham Festival. Heart-warming reading for anyone who loves a true underhorse sports book.

Kamala Harris Wasn’t the First Veep to Experience a Major Vibe Shift

In “Making the Presidency,” Lindsay M. Chervinsky argues that John Adams established what it means to be America’s commander in chief.

John Adams in the early 1790s, when he was the first vice president of the United States. Credit... National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

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Ted Widmer is a distinguished lecturer at Macaulay Honors College of the City University of New York and the author of “Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington .”

Sept. 5, 2024
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MAKING THE PRESIDENCY: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic , by Lindsay M. Chervinsky

Given the excitement around Tim Walz and JD Vance , it is a useful corrective to remember how dismal the vice presidency has long felt to those saddled with the task. As John Adams, the very first veep, wrote to his wife, Abigail, in 1793, “My Country has in its Wisdom contrived for me, the most insignificant Office that ever the Invention of Man contrived or his Imagination conceived.”

Still, it mattered to be V.P., especially as George Washington’s presidency was winding down. By then, Adams had already done a great deal to will the United States into existence, helping Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence and arranging a loan from Europe to sustain the new republic.

But Adams seemed to shrink during his vice presidency. Washington paid him little mind and excluded him from cabinet meetings. Except for rare moments when he might break a tie in the Senate, he mostly languished on the periphery, unnoticed except by those who made fun of his pudgy frame. It was not a great time for “His Rotundity.”

All of that changed one night in March 1796, when Washington informed Adams that he would soon step down. It was their first real conversation in seven years. Suddenly, everything was up in the air, and Adams realized, as Kamala Harris recently did, that destiny had taken a hand.

The historian Lindsay M. Chervinsky revisits this moment in “Making the Presidency,” her timely account of how Adams ascended to the highest office in the land and transformed it. She does not offer a full biography of Adams — for that, David McCullough and Joseph J. Ellis remain essential — but she deftly probes the way the second American president wielded power in the final four years of the 18th century.

The cover of “Making the Presidency” shows a portrait of John Adams.

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Seattle Mariners Helped LA Angels Rookie Make Unfortunate Baseball History This Week

Brady farkas | sep 2, 2024.

Los Angeles Angels pitcher Samuel Aldegheri (66) throws against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning in his major league debut at Angel Stadium on Aug 30.

Seattle Mariners
Los Angeles Angels

The Seattle Mariners lost to the Los Angeles Angels, 5-4, on Saturday night at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. However before that, the M's won 9-5 on Friday night.

That Friday night game was a clunky affair, with the M's scoring five runs in the top of the first inning off rookie starter Samuel Aldegheri, only to allow the Angels back in the game before ultimately putting it away.

The Mariners' five runs off Aldegheri were all unearned, as the big inning was aided by a crucial Zach Neto error. Because of that fact, the M's helped Aldegheri make some unfortunate baseball history.

Per Mariners PR:

Seattle’s big inning off lefty Samuel Aldegheri marked the first time a pitcher allowed 5+ unearned runs in his first career Major League inning since Archie Campbell did it for the Yankees (6 unER) on April 21, 1928 in a game against the Philadelphia Athletics.

Highest batting average against the Angels among active players (min. 100 PA): 1️⃣ Julio Rodríguez (.341) 2. Manny Machado (.335) 3. Chas McCormick (.331) 4. J.D. Martinez (.329) 5. Brent Rooker (.320) Read more in today's Game Notes: — Mariners PR (@MarinersPR) August 31, 2024

The Neto error came off a dropped line drive off the bat of Jorge Polanco. Seattle continued to capitalize with a two-run double from Mitch Garver and a single from Victor Robles.

The Mariners are now 69-67 on the season and 5.0 games back of the Houston Astros in the American League West. They are also 4.5 games back of the Minnesota Twins in the battle for the third and final wild card spot.

The Mariners will be back in action on Sunday afternoon when they take on the Angels at 1:07 p.m. PT. Bryce Miller will take the ball on the mound against another rookie, Caden Dana.

Follow Inside the Mariners on social media

Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Teren Kowatsch and Brady Farkas on "X" @ Teren_Kowatsch and @ wdevradiobrady . You can subscribe to the "Refuse to Lose" podcast by clicking HERE:

BRADY FARKAS

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67 Best Baseball Biography Books of All Time
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The Autobiography of Baseball: The Inside Story from the Stars Who
Illustrated throughout, The Autobiography of Baseball lets fans "listen in" as more than 100 Hall of Famers and other greats, past and present, tell what it's really like to play in the major leagues. 160 illustrations, 9 x 11" Read more Report an issue with this product or seller. Previous slide of product details.
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A list of 20 new baseball biography books you should read in 2024, such as Big Cat, Edwin Diaz, Buster Posey and DANSBY SWANSON. Categories Experts Newsletter icon-search
Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original
2021 Seymour Medal Finalist Named a Best Baseball Book of 2020 by Sports Collectors Digest New York Times 2020 Summer Reading List From the day he first stepped into the Yankee clubhouse, Jim Bouton (1939-2019) was the sports world's deceptive revolutionary. Underneath the crew cut and behind the all-American boy-next-door good looks lurked a maverick with a signature style.
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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.
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24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid (Hardcover) by. Willie Mays. (shelved 1 time as baseball-autobiography) avg rating 4.20 — 1,016 ratings — published 2020. Want to Read. Rate this book. 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars.
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Those titles appear here, of course, along with our pick of 100 indispensable books no baseball fan should be without. In no particular order... $15 at Amazon. Mark Winegardner's book about Tony ...
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Pete Alonso: The Inspiring Story of One of Baseball's Rising All-Stars (Baseball Biography Books) Clayton Geoffreys. 8. Kindle Edition. 1 offer from $2.99. #32. Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy. Jane Leavy. 693.
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The Soul of Baseball - A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America. The Art of Fielding - A Novel. Eight Men Out - The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series. October 1964 - The Fall Classic. The Last Hero - A Life of Henry Aaron. Summer of '49 - The Yankees and the Red Sox in Postwar America.
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Baseball Autobiography genre: new releases and popular books, including My Thirty Years in Baseball by John Joseph McGraw, 24: Life Stories and Lessons f...
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avg rating 4.14 — 1,114 ratings — published 1991. Want to Read. Rate this book. 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars. Books shelved as baseball-biography: Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig by Jonathan Eig, Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last H...
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Satchel: The Life and Times of…. The Glory of Their Times: The…. The Last Folk Hero: The Life…. The Team That Changed Baseball…. The Captain: The Journey of…. The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle…. Mickey and Willie: Mantle and…. Explore our list of Baseball - Biography Books at Barnes & Noble®.
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3. K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches. Author: Tyler Kepner. Published: April 2019. One of the best baseball books of 2019. Kepner weaves a joyous story of baseball through 10 chapters, each identified by a pitch: slider, fastball, curveball, knuckleball, splitter, screwball, sinker, changeup, spitball and cutter.
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If you're looking for an incredible story about the life one of the most accomplished players in baseball written by an experienced author of important sports figures (including an acclaime d biography of Vince Lombardi) then Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero is a fantastic pick. Roberto Clemente played 18 incredible major league seasons, ending with four batting ...
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The Running Book. by John Connell. Buy the book. John Connell, award-winning author of The Cow Book, takes the reader on a marathon run of 42.2 kilometres through Ireland. Over 42 chapters and 42,000 words, John reflects on his life, Irish history and the stories of his greatest running heroes.
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1 offer from $28.95. #19. Leave While the Party's Good: The Life and Legacy of Baseball Executive Harry Dalton. Lee C. Kluck. Hardcover. 1 offer from $39.95. #20. Edwin Diaz: The Inspiring Story of One of Baseball's Star Pitchers (Baseball Biography Books) Clayton Geoffreys.
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Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero by David Maraniss (2006) Read More. Shop Now. 8. Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics by Jeremy Schaap (2007 ...
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Key career stats ― Each biography in this baseball history book includes the player's life story, as well as their major statistics like games played, ERA, hits, and more. Draft your own all-star team ― Fill out the included starting lineup sheet with your favorite picks for each position!
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Online shopping for Sports Biography Books in the Books Store. Skip to main content.us. ... Inspiring Baseball Stories for Kids: 14 Incredible Baseball Tales with Lessons in Courage & Mental Toughness for Young Sports Fans 5.0 out of 5 stars 85. Quick look. $10.74 $ 10. 74.
Best Biographies and Memoirs of 2023, as chosen by the Amazon editors
Al has spent more than ten years in the book industry, championing authors and their work—and can't get enough of it. She's never without a book or four in her bag and is happiest reading memoirs and literary fiction, especially sprawling stories that cross generations and countries. She lives in Brooklyn.