Miscellaneous Reviews of Baseball Books

THE POLITICS OF GLORY (a.k.a. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE HALL OF FAME?): Very good book written by Bill James describing the Baseball Hall of Fame controversies and snubs, as well as some suggestions, opinions, and history. I would like it better if it was chronological (the book is very scattershot--one chapter is about Pete Rose, the next comparing Phil Rizzuto and Jerry Priddy, followed by just some random comments about players snubbed by the Hall), but that makes the book more attune to skimming. Some remarkable sections (a very good analysis of Don Drysdale) with also some prescient comments (correctly predicting Nellie Fox and Richie Ashburn's election) and some not-so-prescient (Brett Butler to the Hall? Whoops).

THE ROAD TO COOPERSTOWN: I don't remember who wrote it or even if you can find it. This is a VERY in-depth book on how people are elected into the Hall. The only problem? It's written for stat geeks (and I don't mean Rob Neyer stat geeks, I mean STAT geeks) that are gigantic baseball fans. Now don't get me wrong: There are some great sections (analyzing the various reasons WHY people are elected is fabulous), but page after page of tables and stats just wears you down after a while.

100 YEARS OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: This was produced in 2000, doing basically a rundown of every year in baseball since 1901. Good, solid intro-level history. Lots of neat pictures, plus some great descriptions of pennant races. Recommended for the casual ball fan.

THE BASEBALL TIMELINE: This was produced by DK Publishing. Very comprehensive tome that runs through EVERY year that baseball has been in existence, telling what happened when with quotes and pictures and interesting stories. The only problem I have with it is that the editing is bonkers (there are pictures with the caption "Insert Caption") and the entries with nothing more than facts are dull (I mean, how interesting is it to read about a Rockies/Giants game when Andres Galarraga goes 3 for 4 with 2 HR...and that's it).

THE NEW BILL JAMES HISTORICAL BASEBALL ABSTRACT: Wonderfully comprehensive tome. Many interesting stories and articles about each historical period, plus rankings of the Top 100 Players at Each Position. Recommended for the extreme ball fan. Problems? James did write a small article at the end relating how his rankings have changed since 2003, but I still wish he would have updated his rankings more (how can Javy Lopez still not be in the Top 100 Catchers?). Also, what James writes in each entry can get on someone's nerves. For Jeff Bagwell, all he writes is "Pass." For Cecil Fielder, it's just "a big fat guy that hit a lot of home runs." Sometimes, he's just nasty, like a paragraph on why Jim Rice is overrated. However, for players he adores (like Catfish Hunter or Dan Quisenberry), they get big warm bios. And I really have a problem with calling players ugly or airheads.

THE SPORTING NEWS 100 GREATEST BASEBALL PLAYERS: The hardcore fan will undoubtedly disagree, but it's a fine coffee table book with some glamorous pictures. The "commentary" is gibberish, but there are some neat quotes from living and dead ball players.

BIG BOOK OF BASEBALL LINEUPS: Rob Neyer's book is great fun for the obsessive fan, like me, probably deathly dull for the casual fan. He ranks the top lineups of each (that's EACH) team in various categories--All-Around, Gold Glove, Iron Glove, etc. Rob's something of a kindler, gentler Bill James, but he's pretty funny too, and there are some great stories here.

BASEBALL DYNASTIES: Interesting book. A take at the best ball dynasties of all time with neat stories about each team (and not just "Boy, Joe DiMaggio was a great player," but NEAT insights). Sometimes gets a little too stat geeky (you'll get sick of hearing SD Scores), and I don't understand some of the end rankings (the '53 Yankees are the WORST of all the dynasties?), but good book.

Is there a book about the late Harry "Holy Cow" Carey?

The Bob & Tom radio show has a guy that does a really good and very funny impersonation of Carey.

Also, Will Farrell did one on SNL. "What's your point?!"

The best sports book I've ever read is, alas, no longer in print.

It's called "Walk in the Spirit", and was written by the late Red Barber (former Dodgers broadcaster).

It's essentially a collection of mini-bios of players from baseball's Golden Age, but has athletes from other sports as well, notably Ben Hogan, and a few football ones too.

It may be available in your local library.

My favorite baseball memior of all time is "Ball Four". I read it again every few years or so.