Throwback Thursday: Remembering Mel Stottlemyre

September 17, 2026 · 0 comments

It’s hard to find any description of modern pitchers as “throwbacks.”

No one is throwing 300 innings any more. No one is tossing 20 complete games in a single season. Heck, no league is compiling that many in a season.

So when I came across this video by accident, it made me nostalgic for the time I was becoming a baseball fan. Although I’m a Mets devotee, my first game was at Yankee Stadium. Don’t worry, I’m not going to get all sappy talking about my first view of the huge expanse of green as I walked into the legendary ballpark.

One of my first baseball cards was this one:

https://sabr.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Stottlemyre-Mel-NYY.png

So it somehow seemed appropriate to pay tribute to  Mel Stottlemyre. The video is quite complete so I won’t go into all the highlights of his career, cut short by injury after just 11 seasons. But in his prime he was considered in the same category as Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson.

After calling it quits at the age of 32, he became a standout pitching coach for the Mets, Astros, and Yankees, with whom he’d had an contentious relationship when his career was winding down and beyond; kind of like Yogi Berra. But, like Yog, Mel reconciled, as you will see in the video.

Stottlemyre passed away in 2019 at the age of 77 after battling cancer for many years.

He published his memoirs, Pride and Pinstripes: The Yankees, Mets, and Surviving Life’s Challenges, written with John Harper, in 2007.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/BW_MEDIAX_AVIF_MEASUREMENT_1306696-T3/images/I/61wnxdu7GYL._SL1024_.jpg

 

Tagged as: Mel Stottlemyre

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Baseball Best-Sellers, September 11, 2026

September 11, 2026 · 0 comments

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not.

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 had with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a “Ω” means it’s an award winner, almost always in the print version.

PRINT

  1. Touching All the Bases: A Story of Power, Purpose, and Surviving the Bronx, by Dave Winfield with Alan Maimon
  2. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω
  3. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski (my review on Bookreporter) Ω
  4. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
  5. The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller. (My review on Bookreporter) Ω
  6. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
  7. Crossroads: A Memoir in Baseball and Life, by Dusty Baker
  8. Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole
  9. The Ultimate Baseball Trivia Challenge: Over 600 Quiz Questions for Die-Hard Baseball Fans, by Hank Patton
  10. The First All-Star Game: Babe Ruth, FDR and America at the Crossroads, by Randall Sullivan

KINDLE

  1. Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original, by Tim Brown (my review on Bookreporter)
  2. Bottom of the 33rd: Hope and Redemption in Baseball’s Longest Game, by Dan Barry (see note)
  3. The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson, by Jeff Pearlman
  4. The Boys of Summer, by Roger Kahn
  5. The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform – and Maybe the Best, by Pearlman (read by the author)
  6. No Crying in Baseball: The Inside Story of A League of Their Own: Big Stars, Dugout Drama, and a Home Run for Hollywood, by Erin Carlson
  7. Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero – A Nuanced Biography of Baseball’s Celebrated, Controversial Icon, by Perlman
  8. The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports, by Jeff Passan (see note)
  9. The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, by Lawrence Ritter (narrated by the author)
  10. How Baseball Happened: Outrageous Lies Exposed! The True Story Revealed, by Thomas Gilbert

AUDIO BOOKS

  1. The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
  2. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (read by the author)
  3. Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien
  4. Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series, by Eliot Asinof
  5. The Methany Manifesto, by Mike Methany with Jerry B. Jenkins
  6. Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats that are Ruining the Game, the New Ones that are Running it, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball, by Keith Law
  7. The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter, by Ian O’Connor
  8. Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession, by David Jamieson
  9. Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original, by Howard Bryant

Note: These books are included as Kindle Unlimited titles. See the books’ pages for details.

I’m a bit surprised there are no books about baseball and 9/11. Patrick Carney released Baseball After 9/11: Six Nights That Helped Heal Americaas a Kindle book in 2013. Here’s a piece The New York Times ran in today’s print edition on the topic.

The Winfield memoir tops the list for the first time.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,894,923 in books overall; last time, 2,763,100.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,399,887; last time, 3,390,469.

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.

BUT…

Some exciting news (now we’ll see who’s paying attention and reading down this far).

Necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks to emergency surgery in which I said goodbye to a recalcitrant gallbladder, I have a couple off months for recuperation during which time I will be working on a revision of 501.

The new version will include all the original stuff but as you know if you’re a baseball reading fool, there have been a lot of great books published since 501 came out a dozen years ago. So since this isn’t a ranking where one title might be pushed off the list, the new material will appear as an added chapter.

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.

 

Tagged as: Dave Winfield

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Throwback Thursday: The Sporting News 1943 Baseball Guide

September 10, 2026 · 0 comments

So right now I’m reading Peter Gammons’ new book, It’s All About the Players: What I’ve Learned from Baseball’s Best, for a review for Bookreporter.com, which of course led me down another rabbit hole.

Gammons is one of those special writers — I’m thinking here of Thomas Boswell, Tom Verducci, Roger Angell, and the like — but before them were legends like Damon Runyon, Shirley Povich, Red Smith, Ring Lardner. They had a style that you don’t see much any more. Florid, descriptive. I guess people don’t read like they used to. TLDR (too long, didn’t read) is the watchword (or watch acronym) of the day.

All this brings me to today’s TT entry: The Sporting News’ 1943 Baseball Guide.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Aq8AAOSwOYBm-yEf/s-l1600.jpg

I purchased this, along with several other old reference books, when I was in a “phase,” working on a presentation about TSN‘s Daguerreotypes, the precursor to the Baseball Register. Unlike its descendant, the Daguerreotypes did not include all the players, just the ones who were considered at the top of the game.

But I digress…

As you can tell from the cover, this came out in the middle of World War II. The very first pages carry a cartoon rendering of Hank Gowdy, the first active major leaguer to enlist for service in World War I, juxtaposed with a photo of him in uniform in 1943. Deeper into the volume, we have a group shot of more than 30 players “in their service raiment.” Now there’s a word you don’t come across much these days.

The Guide includes the same type of statistical information found in subsequent editions but there are a few fun features, such as “Diamond Definitions.” Unlike various baseball dictionaries, these phrases are fairly unique to the times. For example, “April Cobb” was a “spring whirlwind,” supposedly someone who performed well in the preseason. “Coffee and cake” meant low pay. “Eagle claw” was a glove.

There are dozens of brief items to fill out the pages. Here are a couple that caught my eye:

  • “Eight 100-game players hit no home runs.” Ouch.
  • “Debuts — Successful and Otherwise.” Ditto.

But it’s not all fun and games. A somber filler about the Hall of Fame notes “15 Members of Hall of Fame Dead.” Jolly.

A list of World Series results fills a single page. It reminds me how far down I have to scroll on Baseball-Reference.com to find teams from as recently as the 1970s (which, shockingly, is 50 years ago).

You can pick up books like this for a good price on e-Bay; I was surprised how good a condition mine was in. Well worth the research for fans of the game.

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Bits and Pieces

September 9, 2026 · 0 comments

From the Spokesman-Review, “[I]n his recent book titled “Before They Wore Dodger Blue,” Port Townsend, Washington, baseball historian Eric Vickrey concludes that the [1970 Spokane Indians] was the sport’s best one-team draft class that brought this city another championship.

Here’s another Dodgers-centric piece: From Ballparkdigest.com, “We’re proud to announce Steve Dittmore’s Jim Gilliam: The Forgotten Dodger won SABR’s Ron Gabriel Award for best research, published or unpublished, about the Brooklyn Dodgers.”

From LaughingPlace.com, this review of David Eckstein’s new memoir, Just Enough. And another from BookTrib.com.And to keep it all in the family, from Stlmag.com, “David and Ashley Eckstein to celebrate the release of their new books at the St. Louis County Library.”

And when is enough, enough? From The Emporia Gazette, “Former Emporian adds to legacy of baseball in Emporia as his book, ‘Brown Enough‘, garners interest as a movie.”

From the San Diego Union-Tribune, “No apology coming to families of San Diego’s Black baseball pioneers.”

I stay away from betting and fantasy sports sites, but this article on Rotowire.com caught my eye: “Most Superstitious MLB Fanbases: 2026 Superstition Index Ranks All 30 Teams.” Care to guess who leads the pack?

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Random bio of the day: Zoilo Versalles

September 8, 2026 · 0 comments

I find it amusing that I can rattle off the starting lineups for teams of 50 years ago, but can’t tell you who’s on the current rosters.

I’m in the midst of building a TV-center/bookcase in my office and during the cleanup process I came across this:

If ever there was a head-scratcher about a player who was the subject of a biography, it has to be Zoilo Versalles.

Versalles made his debut as a 19-year-old in 1959 with the Washington Senators, which two years later relocated to Minnesota to become the Twins.

He was a serviceable player, lasting for 13 seasons, mostly with the Twins but winding up his career with Dodgers, Indians, Senators (a new version joined the American League as an expansion team in 1961), and Braves. He was a two-time All Star and won a Gold Glove. But overall, Versalles had a WAR of -1.7. That’s right — negative 1.7. I haven’t done the research but I’m willing to wager that this is the lowest WAR for any player with a book written by or about him.

But in 1965, the year the Twins won the AL pennant before losing in seven games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series — where he went 8-28 with a double, triple, home run, and four RBI —  Versalles was voted as the league’s MVP. He led the junior circuit in plate appearances, at-bats, runs scored, doubles, triples, total bases, and, surprisingly, WAR; he also struck out more than anyone else. But the writers nevertheless rewarded him the the MVP, giving him 19 of 20 first-place votes. He finished more than 100 points higher than his teammate, Tony Oliva. Looking at the list of all players receiving votes, it looked like relatively slim pickings. Other notable names who finished in the top ten included Brooks Robinson (the 1964 selection), Rocky Colavito, and Mudcat Grant.

As was the norm for many sports biographies before Ball Four, The Kid from Cuba, written by James Terzian and published in 1967, was devoted to Versalles’ challenging travel to pro baseball.

Terzian, who was born in Turkey in 1915 but moved to the U.S. as a child, wrote a few other sports titles but spent most of his career a journalist.

If you can’t find the book, you can read more about Versalles on the SABR Bio Project site.

What other players have received the “book treatment,” despite their relative mediocrity (said with all dues respect)?

 

Tagged as: Zoilo Versalles

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Baseball Best-Sellers, September 4, 2026

September 4, 2026 · 0 comments

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not.

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 had with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a “Ω” means it’s an award winner, almost always in the print version.

PRINT

  1. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω
  2. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
  3. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski (my review on Bookreporter)
  4. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
  5. Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole
  6. No Crying in Baseball: The Inside Story of A League of Their Own: Big Stars, Dugout Drama, and a Home Run for Hollywood, by Erin Carlson
  7. The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller. (My review on Bookreporter) Ω
  8. Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original, by Tim Brown (my review on Bookreporter)
  9. Crossroads: A Memoir in Baseball and Life, by Dusty Baker
  10. Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir, by Doris Kearns Goodwin

KINDLE

  1. The Longest Walk: “Could a Babe Ruth Home Run Really Save a Life?”, by Kirk Marty
  2. The Book of Joe: Trying Not to Suck at Baseball and Life, by Joe Maddon and Tom Verducci
  3. Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series, by David Pietrusza
  4. Lessons in Life I Learned from My Baseball Cards, by Patrick Caraher *
  5. The 1998 Yankees: The Inside Story of the Greatest Baseball Team Ever, by Jack Curry
  6. The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America, by Posnanski
  7. The Roger Angell Baseball Collection
  8. The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, by Lawrence Ritter (narrated by the author)
  9. Down to the Last Pitch: How the 1991 Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves Gave Us the Best World Series of All Time, by Tim Wendel *
  10. The Physics of Baseball: Third Edition, Revised, Updated, and Expanded, by Robert Adair

AUDIO BOOKS

  1. The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
  2. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (read by the author)The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
  3. The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform – and Maybe the Best, by Pearlman (read by the author)
  4. The Methany Manifesto, by Mike Methany with Jerry B. Jenkins
  5. Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien
  6. Francona: The Red Sox Years, by Terry Francona and Dan Shaugnessy
  7. Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats that are Ruining the Game, the New Ones that are Running it, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball, by Keith Law
  8. Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series, by Eliot Asinof

No new titles, but a few oldies, relatively speaking, on the Kindle side.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,763,100 in books overall; last time, 2,550,473.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,390,469; last time, 3,443,248.

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.

BUT…

Some exciting news (now we’ll see who’s paying attention and reading down this far).

Necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks to emergency surgery in which I said goodbye to a recalcitrant gallbladder, I have a couple off months for recuperation during which time I will be working on a revision of 501.

The new version will include all the original stuff but as you know if you’re a baseball reading fool, there have been a lot of great books published since 501 came out a dozen years ago. So since this isn’t a ranking where one title might be pushed off the list, the new material will appear as an added chapter.

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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Throwback Thursday: Good Will Hunting

September 3, 2026 · 0 comments

I was flipping through the dial yesterday and came across Good Will Hunting, one of my favorite Matt Damon movies.

There’s a famous scene (famous to me, anyway), in which Will, an unassuming genius, is in a session with his therapist Sean, played by Robin Williams, and the subject of regrets comes up. What Sean didn’t regret? See below. (Warning: explicit language.)

You’re welcome.

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Bits and Pieces, August 28, 2026

September 2, 2026 · 0 comments

David Eckstein, who enjoyed a ten-year career that included a World Series MVP award, has a new book out (made its debut on the BBS list last week) which he discusses here. Meanwhile, Hall of Famer Dave Winfield also has a new book out (official release date Sept. 15), which he discusses here.

I miss titles like The Bill James Handbook and Hardball Times, collections of stats and analysis. I would say I’m sure there will be one soon regarding ABS challenges, but given the cost of hard-copy publishing, that might not be the case. In the meantime, check out this article — “All the ABS lessons we’ve learned after 2,000 games of challenges” — by the New York Post’s Mike Vacarro. (Baseball Savant offers this interesting page.)

From the Houston Defender, “In 2027, the 100-year connection between Negro League baseball and Japan will be celebrated through the Centennial Tokyo Tour, commemorating the historic 1927 Philadelphia Royal Giants (PRG) tour of Japan.”

Another book about baseball and life lessons? Why not?

And another list of top ten baseball books, which, according to the writer, is “a provisional list, which, like the game itself, is ever subject to debate and interpretation.”

Finally, lest we forget, Dolly Parton and a connection to baseball. There’s even a sandlot team that bears her name and likeness. From their website, “The Nashville Dollys are a sandlot baseball club based in Nashville, TN. When they are not working their 9 to 5’s, you can find them on the diamond or helping out in their community. Inspired by the humanitarian legacy of Dolly Parton, the Dollys have raised money for various charitable causes and aim to leave a positive impact on the youth of Middle Tennessee.”

Scoreboard pays tribute to music legend

Tagged as: Dave Eckstein, Dave Winfield, Dolly Parton

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Baseball Best-Sellers, August 28, 2026

August 28, 2026 · 0 comments

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not.

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 had with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a “Ω” means it’s an award winner, almost always in the print version.

PRINT

  1. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω
  2. Metropolitans: New York Baseball, Class Struggle, and the People’s Team, by A.M. Gittlitz
  3. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski (my review on Bookreporter)
  4. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
  5. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
  6. Crossroads: A Memoir in Baseball and Life, by Dusty Baker
  7. No Crying in Baseball: The Inside Story of A League of Their Own: Big Stars, Dugout Drama, and a Home Run for Hollywood, by Erin Carlson
  8. Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America, by Howard Bryant
  9. The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller. (My review on Bookreporter) Ω
  10. The Boys of Summer, by Roger Kahn

KINDLE

  1. Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong with Baseball and How to Fix It, by Jane Leavy
  2. The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America, by Posnanski
  3. The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players, by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchick
  4. The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter, by Ian O’Connor
  5. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
  6. Just Enough, David Eckstein with Jake Gronsky *
  7. The 1998 Yankees: The Inside Story of the Greatest Baseball Team Ever, by Jacky Curry
  8. Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matter and Always Will, by Scott Miller

AUDIO BOOKS

  1. The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
  2. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (read by the author)The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
  3. Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original, by Tim Brown (my review on Bookreporter)
  4. The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform – and Maybe the Best, by Pearlman (read by the author)
  5. Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah
  6. Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats that are Ruining the Game, the New Ones that are Running it, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball, by Keith Law
  7. Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy, by Jane Leavy
  8. Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original, by Howard Bryant
  9. The Methany Manifesto, by Mike Methany with Jerry B. Jenkins

A few oldies, relatively speaking, return to the lists, including Metropolitans and one of my favorite baseball/movie themed books, No Crying in Baseball.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,550,473 in books overall; last time, 2,249,022.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,443,248; last time, 3,408,202.

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.

BUT…

Some exciting news (now we’ll see who’s paying attention and reading down this far).

Necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks to emergency surgery in which I said goodbye to a recalcitrant gallbladder, I have a couple off months for recuperation during which time I will be working on a revision of 501.

The new version will include all the original stuff but as you know if you’re a baseball reading fool, there have been a lot of great books published since 501 came out a dozen years ago. So since this isn’t a ranking where one title might be pushed off the list, the new material will appear as an added chapter.

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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Throwback Thursday: Yoo-hoo, Youtube

August 27, 2026 · 0 comments

I was looking for a goofy British TV segment called “NumberWang” and of course fell down that ol’ Youtube rabbit hole.

BTW, “Julie from Summerset” if the renown actor, Olivia Coleman! Not sure if her opponent is similarly famous.

So I went through my Youtube history — which is considerable — and one of the fun things I rediscovered was this classic comedy piece, which is especially appropriate as we head into football season.

I wonder if George Carlin would change it up, given all the brain injury news associated with the gridiron.

 

Tagged as: George Carlin

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Cleaning Up: Neal McDonough Rabbit Hole Update

August 25, 2026 · 0 comments

Received a notice from my hosting company that I was over the limit on space, so now I have the odious chore of going back and deleting.

I had forgotten how far back this iteration of the Bookshelf went — more than 20 years (before that I used different services such as Blogspot and others).

So while I was doing that, I started going through a bunch of drafts I had never posted. Here’s one of them.

Back in 2024, I wrote about the actor Neal McDonough’s bona fides as an onscreen ballplayer.

One was as Lt. Buck Compton in Band of Brothers. Today I found this about the man he portrayed:

He also appeared as a pitcher in the remake of Angels in the Outfield  and an episode of Quantum Leap.

Tagged as: Neal McDonough

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Baseball Best-Sellers, August 21, 2026

August 21, 2026 · 0 comments

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not.

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 had with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a “Ω” means it’s an award winner, almost always in the print version.

PRINT

  1. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
  2. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω
  3. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski (my review on Bookreporter)
  4. The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
  5. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
  6. Heads-Up Baseball : Playing the Game One Pitch at a Time, by Tom Hanson and Ken Ravizza 
  7. Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original, by Tim Brown (my review on Bookreporter)
  8. Crossroads: A Memoir in Baseball and Life, by Dusty Baker
  9. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton
  10. Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole

KINDLE

  1. The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players, by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchick
  2. Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong with Baseball and How to Fix It, by Jane Leavy
  3. Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between, by Eric Nussbaum (my review on Bookreporter.com)
  4. Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball, by George F. Will
  5. The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America, by Posnanski
  6. Nice Guys Finish Last, by Leo Durocher and Ed Linn
  7. Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matter and Always Will, by Scott Miller
  8. Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy, by Jane Leavy
  9. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City, by Jonathan Mahler
  10. The Phenomenon: Pressure, the Yips, and the Pitch that Changed My Life, by Rick Ankiel and Tim Brown

AUDIO BOOKS

  1. The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform – and Maybe the Best, by Pearlman (read by the author)
  2. 72 Stories: From the Baseball Collection of Geddy Lee, by Lee (read by the author)
  3. Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats that are Ruining the Game, the New Ones that are Running it, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball, by Keith Law
  4. Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah
  5. Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien
  6. The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, by Lawrence Ritter (narrated by the author)
  7. The Methany Manifesto, by Mike Methany with Jerry B. Jenkins
  8. Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty, by Charles Leerhsen
  9. The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy

I always get a vicarious thrill when an “old” books grabs the Number One spot. In this case, it’s The Science of Hitting. It reminded me of an episode of M*A*S*H — “Mad Dogs and Servicemen” — in which Trapper John tries to counsel an injured soldier who is suffering from hysterical paralysis. The young man is a fan of the Red Sox so Trapper chats about Ted Williams, one of several references to baseball made by the long-running show. IMO, the writing is a bit forced with the gist being that the kid thinks it wasn’t fair to have the Splendid Splinter back in military service.

Otherwise, nothing new to say.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,249,022 in books overall; last time, 1,864,003.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,408,202; last time, 3,463,656.

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.

BUT…

Some exciting news (now we’ll see who’s paying attention and reading down this far).

Necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks to emergency surgery in which I said goodbye to a recalcitrant gallbladder, I have a couple off months for recuperation during which time I will be working on a revision of 501.

The new version will include all the original stuff but as you know if you’re a baseball reading fool, there have been a lot of great books published since 501 came out a dozen years ago. So since this isn’t a ranking where one title might be pushed off the list, the new material will appear as an added chapter.

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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Throwback Thursday: The Stratton Story

Baseball movies

A while back I did a review of Death by Data, which include a “requiem” for the old-fashioned baseball scout. I went looking for a very specific scene from The Stratton Story in which a bird-dog scout player by Frank “The Wizard” Morgan discovers the titular pitcher. I failed in that search, but I did come across […]

Tagged as: Jimmy Stewart, The Stratton Story

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Lest We Forget: Tommy John

Books about pitching

Years ago, I asked Richard Sandomir how The New York Times decides on who gets the “honor” of an obituary in the “paper of record.” His exact answer escapes me but the gist of it was that they had some kind of impact on society. Tommy John had such an impact, albeit as an unwitting […]

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Baseball Best-Sellers, August 14, 2026

2025 title

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not. 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 […]

Read the full article →

Throwback Thursday: Movie time

Baseball in movies

If you wanted to describe my main interests with a Venn diagram, there would be one circle for movies and one for baseball, so the intersection would be baseball movies. Add a sliver of one of my favorite authors, Joe Posnanski, and you come up with this series of his blog posts counting down his […]

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Bookshelf Review: Death by Data

2025 title

ESPN used to have a simulcast for its Sunday Night Baseball that was full of data, and not your grandad’s batting average, ERA, or even OBP. These were the new generation of stats: launch angle, bat speed, pitch revolution, et al ad nauseam. All the numbers you could possibly want, but was it too much of […]

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Baseball Best-Sellers, August 7, 2026

2025 title

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not. 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 […]

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Throwback Thursday, August 6, 2026: “Brown-Eyed Handsome Man”

Music

I wrote about this back in 2018 but when I heard “Brown-Eyed Handsome Man” on the radio yesterday, it reminded how much I was bothered by one particular verse. The classic Chuck Berry song has been recorded by numerous artists over the years including Buddy Holly, Wanda Jackson, and Sir Paul McCartney. Now I wouldn’t […]

Tagged as: Chuck Berry

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Bits and Pieces, August 5, 2026

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

History is Now Magazine posted this piece about “George Rawlings and the Glove That Helped Change Baseball.” Thankfully, the author didn’t use my bugaboo word, “forever,” in the title. If you’re a subscriber to The Wall Street Journal, you will be able to read their review of Integration at Second Base: Jackie Robinson and the Quest […]

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