This date in baseball books: June 10

June 10, 2025 · 0 comments

1892: Wilbert Robinson sets the record by going 7-for-7 and driving in 11 runs in a 25-4 beat down by the Baltimore Orioles vs. the St. Louis Browns.

1959: Rocky Colavito becomes the eighth player to hit four homers in one game in the Indians 11-8 win over the…Baltimore Orioles.

1981: Pete Rose ties Stan Musial for most hits in the National League with 3,630 in the Phillies 8-4 win over not the Baltimore Orioles (Houston Astros).

      Pete Rose: My Life in Baseball

 

Tagged as: Pete Rose, Rocky Colavito, Wilbert Robinson

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Baseball Best-Sellers, June 6, 2025

June 6, 2025 · 0 comments

A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“).

In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one by including a book in a category in which it should not be listed (in my opinion). For example, The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect has appeared on Amazon’s BBS list. “Why” is a good question. There might be a smattering of the national pastime in it, but not enough to make it a baseball book per se (again, IMO).

Finally, adults only here. That is, no books for younger readers (i.e., 12 and under). Also no “adult” adult books (romance/erotic fiction that features baseball as a theme although goodness knows there are a bunch of those out there).

So, with all that said…

The links under the authors’ names will take you to the Bookshelf Conversations I did with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a Ω (omega) means it’s an award winner.

The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted WilliamsPRINT

  1. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments (hardcover), by Joe Posnanski Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
  2. The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller. (My review on Bookreporter.com)
  3. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen (Paperback)
  4. Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America, by Will Bardenwerper (My review on Bookreporter.com)
  5. Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole
  6. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
  7. Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball (paperback), by Keith O’Brien Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
  8. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and Tom Underwood
  9. The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City, by Kevin Baker Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
  10. The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker

KINDLE

  1. Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game? by Jimmy Breslin
  2. Sho-Time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani, by Jeff Fletcher
  3. The New Bill James Historical Abstract

AUDIO

  1. Moneyball (unabridged, read by Scott Brick)
  2. The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
  3. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (narrated by the author)
  4. The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness, by Andy McCullough
  5. Fall from Grace: The Truth and Tragedy of “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, by Tim Hornblower
  6. Ninety Percent Mental, by Bob Tewksbury (narrated by the author)
  7. Calico Joe, by John Grisham (My review on Bookreporter.com)
  8. Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty, by Charles Leerhsen
  9. Where Nobody Knows Your Name: Life in the Minor Leagues of Baseball, by John Feinstein (narrated by the author)
  10. The Inside Game: Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves, by Keith Law

So in order to find the rankings of Kindle and audiobooks, I pretty much have to scroll through everything on Amazon’s “print” best-seller list. Problem is, Amazon only offers the top 100 titles in total, which is why there are only three Kindles. It’s hard work, so I hope you appreciate it, lol.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,936,089 overall in books; last time, 2,902,417.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,278,575; last time, 2,178,265.

Shameless self-promotion: if you’re looking for some good baseball reading during this down time, why not pick up a copy of 501? It’s like the dictionary; it has the other books in it, which reminds me of one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite shows.

A reminder: There’s an Excel “checklist” of the books list in 501. If you’re interested in keeping track of how many you have read or own, drop me a line.

If you have read either of my books, thanks, hope you enjoyed it, and please consider writing an Amazon review; it’s never too late.

 

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Don’t forget dad!

June 4, 2025 · 0 comments

Ballpark DigestI am one of those unfortunates whose birthday falls around the time of another traditional gift-giving holiday. We often get short-shrifted. Boo hoo, right?

Well, here’s a way to celebrate the baseball-loving pater: Ballpark Digest just announced a BOGO sale on books. See the details here.

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This date in baseball books: June 4

June 4, 2025 · 0 comments

1964: Sandy Koufax tosses his third no-hitter.

  • Koufax, by Koufax with Ed Linn (1966)

1968: Don Drysdale, Koufax’s long-time teammate, throws his sixth consecutive shutout, en route to 58 2/3 straight innings without allowing a run.

           

Tagged as: Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax

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This date in baseball books: June 1

June 1, 2025 · 0 comments

A couple of days ago was the anniversary of Cal Ripken Jr. beginning his iron man streak.

Lou Gehrig, Pride of the YankeesToday it’s Lou Gehrig, who played the first of 2,130 straight in 1925 when he flied out as a pinch-hitter against Walter Johnson in a 5-3 loss to the Washington Senators.

Tagged as: Lou Gehrig

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This date in baseball books: May 30

May 30, 2025 · 0 comments

In 1982, Cal Ripken Jr. begins his streak of 2,632 consecutive games, a record that will never be broken. He went 0-2 with a walk in a 6-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Tagged as: Cal Ripken Jr.

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Baseball Best-Sellers, May 30, 2025

May 30, 2025 · 0 comments

A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“).

In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one by including a book in a category in which it should not be listed (in my opinion). For example, The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect has appeared on Amazon’s BBS list. “Why” is a good question. There might be a smattering of the national pastime in it, but not enough to make it a baseball book per se (again, IMO).

Finally, adults only here. That is, no books for younger readers (i.e., 12 and under). Also no “adult” adult books (romance/erotic fiction that features baseball as a theme although goodness knows there are a bunch of those out there).

So, with all that said…

The links under the authors’ names will take you to the Bookshelf Conversations I did with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a Ω (omega) means it’s an award winner.

PRINT

  1. The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller. (My review on Bookreporter.com)
  2. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments (hardcover), by Joe Posnanski Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
  3. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen (Paperback)
  4. Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball (paperback), by Keith O’Brien Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
  5. Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America, by Will Bardenwerper (My review on Bookreporter.com)
  6. Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole
  7. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and Tom Underwood
  8. The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City, by Kevin Baker Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
  9. The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker
  10. Heads-Up Baseball : Playing the Game One Pitch at a Time, by Ken Ravizza and Tom Hanson

Once again, the Amazon charts have been changed, so no Kindle or audio book lists, according to ranking.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,902,417 (#70 in Literary Bibliographies & Indexes) overall in books; last time, 2,857,419.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 2,178,265; last time, 1,747,913.

Shameless self-promotion: if you’re looking for some good baseball reading during this down time, why not pick up a copy of 501? It’s like the dictionary; it has the other books in it, which reminds me of one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite shows.

A reminder: There’s an Excel “checklist” of the books list in 501. If you’re interested in keeping track of how many you have read or own, drop me a line.

If you have read either of my books, thanks, hope you enjoyed it, and please consider writing an Amazon review; it’s never too late.

 

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Roll ’em

May 29, 2025 · 0 comments

Those who have been following this blog for any length of time know about my love of the movies. So it was almost with a squeal of delight that I found this post on nofilmschool.com, “Read the Best baseball Movie: Inspire your sports movie with some of these wonderful scripts,” by Jason Hellerman.

Included in this collection are screenplays from such notable works as Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, Moneyball, A League of Their Own, Sugar, and Major League. Each film comes with an explanation of “Why it’s great” and the awards they’ve won. These are not just the scripts, but stage direction and settings as well. A real find.

 

25 Fun Facts About A League Of Their Own

Additional links at the end of the article take the cinephile to stories on

And as a bonus, the above image from the “There’s no crying in baseball” scene came from this article from Mental Floss, “25 Fun Facts about A League of Their Own.”

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Remembering Moe Berg

May 29, 2025 · 0 comments

See below for an update.

A post on Facebook reminded me that Moe Berg, one of the most interesting characters to ever don spikes, died on this date in 1972.

 

The number of languages Berg could speak varied. Casey Stengel once supposedly, “He can speak seven languages but can’t hit in any of ’em.”

There have been several books both non-fiction and novels, about Berg including

In addition, there was The Spy Behind Home Plate, a documentary by Aviva Kemper, as well as a feature film based on the Dawidoff book, incongruously starring Paul Rudd in the title role (Berg was 6’1″; Rudd is 5’10”).

Morris “Moe” Berg: How Baseball's Odd Man Out Became an American Spy  Moe Berg's Camera. Baseball in 25 Objects: seventh in this… | by John Thorn | Our Game

UPDATE: I have since been informed that ESPN aired Spyball, a 30/30 documentary about Berg, featuring a number of items of Berg memorabilia from the Steve Mandel collection. You can see the 18-plus minute program — narrated by Bill “The Spaceman” Lee — here, via Facebook Reels.

Tagged as: Moe Berg

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Who’s bringing the fruit plate and crackers?

May 28, 2025 · 0 comments

My wife has been in a number of book groups over the past twenty or so years. Once a year, the husbands are invited to participate. In all that time, we’ve only discussed one book about sports (if you consider Lance Armstrong’s It’s Not About the Bike a sports book).

So this story from the Washington Post — “The Nats’ clubhouse book club is on a journey to Middle-earth this season” — caught my eye. Even though their book of choice is part of the Lord of the Rings franchise, it still fits here because it’s “baseball” and “books.”

Fantasy All-Stars: Lord of the Rings Baseball | Stable Diffusion Online

 

Tagged as: Washington Nationals

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The Bookshelf Conversations #198: Rick Cerrone

May 27, 2025 · 0 comments

When I was about 10 years old, I got into a heap of trouble because I spent some of the change from an errand on a copy of The Sporting News and Baseball Digest. Total cost: $1. In retrospect, I understand the difficult financial situation my family was in at the time, but at that age, I didn’t.

The Sporting News is now longer with us in print form, but thankfully, Baseball Digest is, albeit not in its traditional “digest” trim.

But the essence of the oldest existing baseball publication — dating back to 1942 — remains the same and it was fun chatting about it with its current editor-in-chief, Rick Cerrone.

Any student of the game — as well as sports journalism — will enjoy BD. After a hiatus of several years, I recently resubscribed, primarily to get access to the wonderful archives, which offers every article since the magazine’s launch more than 80 years ago. To see — almost hear — the stories written in the style of the times, is especially fascinating to me. But then, I’m just a magazine nerd. The only thing I miss is the advertisements. How I wish I could go back in time and get a set of 1975 Topps for $13.90. Or an official MLB warmup jacket for $23.95 (plus $2 shipping; this prices appeared in the December 1977 issue featuring George Foster on the cover). Thankfully I still have dozens of hard copies of the Digest to remind me.

And here’s the audio version:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Tagged as: Baseball Digest

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This date in baseball history: May 28, 2025

May 27, 2025 · 0 comments

Editor’s note: In my haste, I posted this a day early, reinforcing the question, “Where does the time go?”

In 2006, Barry Bonds surpasses Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list as he blasts #715 in a 6-3 win over the visiting Colorado Rockies.

Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero, by Jeff Pearlman (2006)

Tagged as: Barry Bonds

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The Cooperstown Author Series

2025 title

In 2017, I had the pleasure of speaking at the Hall of Fame’s summer Author Series following the publication of Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War. I always love visiting Cooperstown. Many years ago, my wife — a veterinarian — had an interview with a practice up there. How […]

Read the full article →

Baseball Best-Sellers, May 23, 2025

"Bookshelf Conversations"

A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]

Read the full article →

Bits and Pieces, May 22, 2025

2025 title

From the latest Effectively Wild podcast: Ben Lindbergh rounds up the authors of three new baseball books for conversations about their work and our relationships with the past. First he talks to John W. Miller about his biography of Earl Weaver, The Last Manager, Weaver’s wiring and sabermetric intuition, and the diminished role and reputation […]

Read the full article →

This date in baseball books: May 22

2018 Title

In 1942, 23-year-old Ted Williams enlists in the Navy, en route to five-plus years spent in the service between World War 2 and Korea. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus (2023) The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That […]

Tagged as: Al Simmons, Ted Williams, Tommy John

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This date in baseball books: May 21

2009 title

On this date, in 1981, Ron Darling of Yale faced off against Frank Viola of St. John’s. Darling pitched 11 innings of no-hit ball, striking out 16, only to lose, 1-0, in the 12th. The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball, Pitching, and Life on the Mound, by Darling (2009) Game 7, 1986: Failure and Triumph […]

Tagged as: Ron Darling

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Lest we forget: George Wendt

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

“Norm” from Cheers passed away yesterday at the age of 76. Here’s his obit from The New York Times. Wendt, who was born in Chicago, was a hard-core White Sox fan, even if he did throw out a first pitch first-pitch came in a Rays jersey. He got to play some ball in the 1986 movie, […]

Tagged as: George Wendt

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This date in baseball books: May 20

2022 title

Rickey Henderson becomes the third player — joining Ted Williams and Willie McCovey — to hit home runs in four decades. Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original, by Howard Bryant (2022) Off Base: Confessions of a Thief, by Henderson with John Shea (1992)     Born this date: David Wells Perfect I’m […]

Tagged as: David Wells, Rickey Henderson

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This date in baseball books: May 19

2010 title

Stan Musial becomes the NL all-time hit leader in an 8-1 win over the LA Dodgers (1962) Stan Musial: An American Life, by George Vecsey (2011) Stan the Man: The Life and Times of Stan Musial, by Wayne Stewart (2010) Stan “The Man” Musial, by Irv Goodman (1961)    

Tagged as: Stan Musial

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