Baseball Books

Delightful book in which the game's greatest pitchers, and some who yearn to be great, tell in their own words their memories of the game, still America's pasttime.

The first person, unedited memories make this book especially readable.

Anyone who questions why baseball is the great American game need only read this book to understand.

This book creates an air of baseball that few books allow. From star to skunk, it includes them all. But the stories from their own letters is all that surround baseball -- the aura itself. Great reading.

This book is great! It's a quick read but fascinating! The photographs are excellent and the handwritten replies give you a really cool perspective on the players. This book is one you will keep on the coffee table, so you can always pick it up and read a letter--especially the one regarding Shoeless Joe Jackson--it's touching.

I'm a huge baseball fan..I love anything and everything about it. I got this book for Christmas and I read it in less then a day. It was so addicting! I mean the stories in it are truely wonderful ( Turk Wendall...wild! lol ) I love to read stories of the greats and the players of today, the book has a great mixture of both! It's an awesome book and one you will cherish forever! I really recommend it ( A LOT! ) Baseball 4ever!

"EVERY PITCHER TELL A STORY"

Seth Swirsky is a Beverly Hills sports memorabilia collector who has spent a lifetime writing to baseball players and keeping the many letters and notes sent to him in return. "Every Pitcher Tells A Story" (1999, Time Books) is a compilation of those letters. While many of the athletes are not pitchers, Seth has a special fondness for moundsmen.
"But the tales that pitchers tell stand out above those told by all other players," Swirsky writes. "A pitcher stands alone on the mound..." Swirsky has compiled letters by pitchers in the Hall of Fame, and by pitchers the average baseball fan never heard of. His letters go back as far as Walter Johnson, but also includes such modern non-luminaries as Turk Wendell.
Superstar Steve Carlton writes that he went silent because the press was "breaking the trust that came with their access to the players." Roger Clemens refers to himself as "ROCKET". Cy Young's almost-indiscernible handwritten letter states that baseball cannot be learned "overnight." Cy spent about 30 years in the big leagues, so he ought to know. Bill "Spaceman" Lee probably sprinkled too much marijuana on his pancakes the day he wrote his chicken-scratch letter to Swirsky. Other letters of note include one from Dick Nixon on the Vice President's stationary; a once-classified order from O.S.S. boss "Wild Bill" Donavan directing catcher-turned-spy Moe Berg to capture a Nazi rocket scientist (Berg was later confused by a movie producer with the "Three Stooges" Moe); and self-publicity from "Ball Four" pitcher/author Jim Bouton.
Perhaps the most interesting is the1923 typed correspondence on letterhead saying "BASEBALL," in which Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis crushes banned "Black Sox" star "Shoeless Joe" Jackson's desperate hope for re-instatement.

In his usual, thorough and mesmerizing manner, Stanton takes us thru the times of one of baseball's true heroes. Aaron emerges at once a hero AND a normal man with wants, fears and determined expectations lived under the canopy of the race issue. This book is one that is easily read because Stanton makes the progression to the final home run go swiftly. But he includes statistics and surprises which make each page worth the close scruitiny required if a reader is to get the full meaning of Hank Aaron's life and his importance to America's Game. This is a book I'm saving for my young grandson to read and before he is old enough to appreciate it's impact, I'm going to enjoy reading it again!

Author Tom Stanton provides a straightforward account of Hank Aaron's chase of Babe Ruth's home run record during the 1973-74 seasons. The book is partly about baseball but more about Aaron the man, plus his life under pressure from a combination of fan adoration, media crush, and racist hate mail. Imagine being constantly surrounded by adoring fans, and even having tour busses stop in front of your house. Imagine facing hordes of reporters before and after every game, or playing the outfield after receiving death threats. Most fans supported Aaron, but some responded in a vile manner. Like millions of other kids I watched his record-breaking homer on TV, and then was surprised to hear Aaron say moments later, "Thank God it's over." After reading this book, one can see why Aaron said that.

The author might have given more attention to U.S. life circa 1973-1974, the coming of free agency, and how most of the sellout crowd that night left the ballpark not that long after Aaron's fourth-inning homer. Still, this is a very readable look at one of baseball's most famous moments, and one of the game's most inspiring stars.

Early last summer, I walked out of a Vermont bookstore with a copy of Hank Aaron and the Home Run that changed America by Tom Stanton. I wanted to learn about Aaron and his quest to break Babe Ruth's all-time career home run record. About nine months later, I picked the book up and began reading it. I learned more about those two heart wrenching years than I ever thought I could. I also realized that I had just read one of the greatest sports books ever.
There are three main reasons why I consider this book to be one of histories greatest. The first is that it only chronicled the two years Aaron was chasing Ruth's coveted record. Most other sports books I've read, including Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy by Jane Leavy and Derek Jeter: The Life You Imagine By Jack Curry and Jeter himself both told of the life stories of the athlete the book portrayed. This book is one of the only sports biographies that doesn't tell about an athletes entire life. Although it did tell of Aaron's personal life during those two years, including his marriage to wife Billye Williams, and his childhood inspirations from Jackie Robinson in the first chapter, it is almost entirely about "the chase".
Another reason I enjoyed this book so much, is that it kept interviewing and talking to the same characters, including teammate Dusty Baker and manager Eddie Mathews. With this, not only were you connecting with and watching Aaron grow, but also you saw what happened to his friends throughout all of the two years. With other books, you'll be lucky to hear about a sub-character, or read an interview from the same person mabey on two pages tops.
The third and final reason this is the best sports novel ever is because it showed how hard it was to mentally survive the two record breaking seasons. It told of all the death threats, hate mail, and concerns Aaron had for his family. It also told about kidnappings that were going on at the same time that made him so cautious.
I hope by posting this book review that I have intrigued some of you sports fans to pick up a copy of Hank Aaron and the Home Run that changed America. After reading it you all will agree that this book is not only one of the greatest sports books ever, but one of the greatest books in history as well.

Three-and-a-half stars, actually.

Tom Stanton takes us back to 1973 (with a little of '72 and '74 thrown in, of course) to tells us the story of Hank Aaron and his record-breaking 715th home run to break Babe Ruth's record. We follow Aaron through the '73 season, tracking his progress and following the reaction of everyone to his home run. For the most part, the reaction is favorable, but there are many examples of hateful sentiments in the form of letters and catcalls. We also read background on Aaron's career and life, with emphasis on the unfortunate impact of race on not only Aaron, but also baseball in general.

Stanton's book was quite good, and I enjoyed reading it, but I couldn't help feeling like there was something missing. A good baseball book presents the story in a straightforward, professional manner that tells you what you need to know. A great baseball book, though, does that and then gives you more, a little bit of heart, something that takes the story beyond just what happened and gives you a feeling for the subject matter. Stanton just couldn't get to the level of great, he created a skillful portrait of Aaron and he effectively captured the time, but there was still something more he left out. I felt like everything turned out too sunny in the end, that there was more to the bad side (as much as many would not want to dwell on that) that would be key to capturing the story.

Despite my complaints, though, this was a good book and well worth any baseball fan's time.

Like author Tom Stanton, I was a little boy when Henry Louis Aaron was closing in on baseball's crown jewel record: Babe Ruth's 714 home runs. I lived in Forest Park, Georgia, about 12 miles south of Atlanta Stadium, and I had the good fortune to be able to see about a half dozen of Mr. Aaron's home runs in person. I played with the other boys in our neighborhood, and when the Braves were playing we always had the radio on. We could talk and joke and laugh through the rest of the game, but our voices would hush when Milo Hamilton would tell us "Aaron is on deck". Hank would come to the plate and our room would erupt with joy if we got to hear Milo's typical home run call. "There's a long drive.... It's going back.... WAY back.... It's OUT of here! Home Run number 683 for Henry Aaron!"

Anyway - I had to begin this review by admitting what a HUGE hero Hank Aaron is in my life.

All that being said, this book is both very informative and disappointingly bland. It was good to hear the names of those Braves from the past - in particular Aaron progeny Dusty Baker and Ralph Garr. Darrell Evans and Davey Johnson who joined Aaron as the only 3 teammates in history to hit 40 home runs the same year. (1973, the year before historic #715). Eddie Matthews, who was once Hank's teammate, the two teammates with the most life-time home runs, then served as Hank's manager during the years that make up the bulk of the book. Hall of Fame teammates Phil Niekro and Warren Spahn. Hall of Fame opponents like Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver and Don Sutton.

Most enlightening were the details of the paths Hank followed behind Jackie Robinson as a ground-breaking African-American excelling in the National Pasttime. Most heart-breaking were the tales of hate mail and death threats that he received every day. To right-thinking people it is inconceivable that a man could receive death threats only because he was doing his job as well as any person had ever done it.

The four stars are because I didn't come close to receiving the same thrill that this same material could have given me if presented properly. Stanton is a terrific researcher, but his writing style feels clinically cold. If America is a country of "Tall Tales" and our best legends are the real living ones, then certainly Hank Aaron must be one of America's Greatest Heroes by any definition. Stanton says as much in this book, but there's what you say, then there's how you say it. Nonetheless, this is the best record I know of covering these events, and I'd call it "required reading" for anyone wanting to know about Hammering Hank.

This book honors in simple verse and vivid picture, the triumph of the underdog. For young and old, it celebrates that persistence can materialize and that "losers" can win and that even odd-balls can overcome poor odds. Give this as a gift of encouragement to those (male and female) that may "think" there is no hope and let them witness that even when they feel as though they may "standing out in the field, alone and hopeless" the power of BELIEF can, will and does manifest into a life victory. A sweet story of success against all odds.

My husband and I are expecting our first child in June. I bought this as a gift for my husband to read to the baby. He was so excited to receive this! He read the book and immediately declared it, "Wicked Awesome." Get it! Every other line rhymes, and they are are not simplistic. We both have our degrees in education and feel this a good book to help develop children's personal histories.
Get it!

Our small grandson received one as he joined his dad and grandfathers (yes, one lives near Denver) for the current World Series. In his Red Sox regalia, he wanted it read to him again and again. His great-grandfather had seen the last Series before this one, just like the book talks about, and anyone with children who need to be raised as True Believers should make sure they have a copy to pass on to their children in the future.

Although this is a children's book, people of all ages will delight in it. The illustrations are genuine masterpieces.

The book warms up with a Red Sox game in 1918. Somebody's Great-Grandfather watches that game and celebrates the Red Sox' 2004 victory, poignantly reminicing about that 1918 victory. At the time of this review, Boston is celebrating the 2007 Sweep in the World Series against the Colorado Rockies! Go Boston!

Dirty Water was the anthem of the 2007 World Series. The Standells' classic was very a propos!

The illustrations bring history into the picture, literally with the Duck Float Parade; the 1918 lineup and the excitement of the game! Varitek, who helped the Red Sox barrel into victory in 2004 was also part of the Victory Team in 2007! Go, Boston!

I recommend this book for everyone. If you like good baseball and you love Boston, then you want this book. It will hit a home run into the hearts of all readers, just as Lowell hit that winning home run in Game 4 of the 2007 World Series! Go Boston!

Excellent book for any Red Sox fan young or old. Great story for the young, great nostalgia for the not-so-young! A must for any Bostonian!

This volume is an absolute must for those interested in baseball history from 1900 to 1991 or fans who want to see how the uniforms of their favorite teams have changed over the years.

The book was recommended to me - when it was initially published - by an artist who was working at that time for a major trading card company. You will notice that most of the current uniforms borrow style points from years past. I guess the "retro" look of stadiums led to a "retro" look in the home garb.

Since its publication, teams have literally flooded the market with variations of their standard home and away uniforms. An update of the book may not be cost efficient due to this situation, but I hope at some point a companion volume will be published to chronicle the years starting from 1992.

Extremely comprehensive for any baseball historian. Very informative and extremely interesting. Much like everyone else who submitted a review, I would love to see a revised edition of this book - especially with the onslaught of alternate jerseys and sleeve patches.

Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century is THE definitive reference on baseball uniforms. Nowhere will you find a more complete list illustrating every major league uniform used every single year. Do you know when the Astros introduced their "rainbow" uniforms? What year did the White Sox sport Bermuda shorts? Did you know that the New York Giants once wore plaid uniforms? It's all in this book. I find it odd that this book was written to represent the uniforms of the 20th century seven years before the century's end. This book is crying out for a second edition. There have already been dozens of uniform changes since 1993. Marc Okkonen, I'm beggin' ya. PLEASE!

When I discovered BASEBALL UNIFORMS OF THE 20TH CENTURY, I was overjoyed. It is a true missing link of baseball information. Of all the pictures of ball players I poured over through the years, players who graced the diamonds during the first 50 years of this century, the one thing I could never discern was the COLOR of their uniforms. However hard you studied the permeations of gray and black in the photographs, you could not accurately guess the colors. Similarly, it was difficult to detect the exact year each major league uniform changed. This book solved those mysteries for me. I place it among my most valuable baseball books, a collection which encompasses maybe 80 books. I would love to see a similar book done on baseball uniforms of the 1870s-1890s, as well as a book on football uniforms of the 20th Century. Kudos to the author and publisher!

I have been collecting MLB replica/current baseball caps since the late sixties. I guess that makes me a fanatic. I received a postcard from Marc Okkonen a few years ago, and thought his 1991 volume was without sequel. Now I have heard that there is a 1993 revision of this fine book, with corrections. (Baseball lovers need this). I started getting serious about tracing the history of team caps in 1995, so I have a bit of a gap that a "new" Okkonen could help me fill. I have found a few errors in the book; in fact the author said there were some. Where can anyone go to improve and update Okkonen? Until further notice, he is my constant reference for cap styles, a monumental piece of research, which I use "for the love of the game."

The purpose of a book, in my opinion, is to take the reader away and allow him to experience what the author writes about. McGough has done an excellent job of doing this in his debut.

As a kid, I was obsessed with baseball. It was a rite of passage in our country for young boys to collect baseball cards and idolize the players on their faces. McGough was able to gain access to this world, which is a privilege most of us would have died for. He preserves that childlike wonder throughout this book. Rather than becoming annoying, this tone allows the reader to empathize with McGough's struggles and cheer at his triumphs.

The book also gives a fresh new look at the inner workings of a baseball team. Most sports books are written by players or journalists. Both groups have a certain detachment from society as a whole. McGough is an average kid from New York city with an average kid's problems. He writes about how his grades suffer, struggling to talk to girls, and other situations an adolescent male would find himself in. The difference is that most kids don't have millionaire pals who will lend a helping hand in impressing a young lady. McGough's description of his interactions with the players is very humanizing. In a way, McGough takes these players off the pedestal society has placed them on and shows the reader they are average guys.

This book is my favorite baseball book by far, even surpassing Jim Bouton's Ball Four. If you have a baseball fan in the family, get this book for them. You won't be sorry.

You don't need to be a Yankee fan or a baseball fan to enjoy this book. As a diehard Red Sox fan, I feel guilty that I've taken a liking to a Yankee's team written about in this book. Mr. Mcgough does an incredible job of making you feel that you're part of the locker room, in the dugout, and on the field with the team.

If you are a Yankee fan who remembers the team of the mid-80's era, this book is a nice walk down memory lane. It's a quick, easy read written in an enjoyable narrative style, and it provides the reader with an inside glimpse that most of us Yankee fans would have given our left foot to experience.

This was an amazing book and probably one of the best autobiographys I've ever read. Growing up in California I've been a hard core Oakland a's and San Fransico Giants fan. Reading this book makes you love the Yankees. Mr.Mcough's writing gives you the feeling that you're actually at the baseball game. Matt gives you a full on description of everything he does and if he does something bad or gets in trouble it makes you relate when something like that happened to you. It's great description and humor this definitely a must read for anyone.

I can't recommend this book enough for any Yankee fan who suffered through the '80's and early '90's. Perfect read for a day at the beach or a plane ride.

Pat Jordan wrote this book about his three years playing minor league baseball trying to live up to the giant bonus the Milwaukee Braves had given him to be a pitcher for them. He chronicles what days he can remember spent in small towns, meeting interesting people, and going through the struggles any 18 year old boy must go through with the extra added pressure of having to throw a small white ball past a professional athlete.

What makes this book stand out from other such books is that Jordan is an extremely strong writer. Some of his landscape descriptions bring back Steinbeck and his tales of dankness Dreiser. He is very talented and I finished the book in about four days because of its easy flow.

The biggest disappointment was that many parts of the story are left unresolved. About halfway through the book he drops a major bomb after calling an old girlfriend and yet nothing more about it is ever mentioned. The ending too is sort of dropped on us, almost as though there is was another chapter that got cut off. I know this is a non-fiction book and sometimes real life is unresolved, but it seems as though there are parts left out. I only hope some of the answers are contained in his sequel to the book written almost 30 years later entitled "A Nice Tuesday".

Like so many baseball books, this really isn't just about baseball. It's about a young mans' journey growing up. It's about what happens to a "can't miss" prospect when he does miss. Pat Jordan looks back 15 years after he threw his last pitch--trying to figure out what happened. He's still not sure-I got the feeling he wrote this book for theraputic reasons. But we learn a lot about Mr. Jordan, and some of it is not too flattering. It's obvious he's still searching for the answers, and that's what I like the most about the book-because YOU understand while reading that he just didn't have what it takes to be a big league pitcher. A wonderful peek inside Mr. Jordan's "coming of age." Highly recommended!

I first read excerpts from "A False Spring" about 30 years ago when they appeared in three consecutive issues of Sports Illustrated. From the moment I began reading that first installment, I was entranced. It is hard to describe exactly why, but I am sure that the baseball action in the book was not the reason. Instead, I remember Jordan's vivid portrayls of such seemingly mundane things as a prarie thunderstorm, an afternoon fishing in the swamplands of Florida and the glow of the instruments on his dashboard. These depictions riveted me, I'm convinced, because they put into words how I saw the world. As an 11 year-old, this was a unique and novel experience for me.

Jordan's portrayal of his own feelings of dissatisfaction, disappointment, anger, rage and finally resignation also resonated with me. Most of the reading I had done up to that point portrayed life's events in a linear fashion that was totally at odds with what I had already experienced. I was fascinated that Jordan could take an accessible subject matter and weave all of these other elements into it.

Mind you, all of this came to me from reading the three SI excerpts. I never did read the book until, by chance, I was searching on this site and came across a name I remembered. So, 30 years later, I got a copy and tried to find out whether this book would have meaning for me anything like what I experienced as an 11 year-old.

Some pompous windbag spoke at my college graduation ceremony about the test for what he called "clahsic stahtus." According to this guy, any writing qualified for that status if one could read the work at widely spaced intervals and still feel the same spark as in the previous readings. He assumed, I guess, that peoples' perceptions and interests change over the years and that only writing that had a certain breadth would be able to appeal to a reader who had undergone those changes.

"A False Spring" certainly passed the test. All of the vivid descriptions -- the hand-me-down uniforms, the barracks-like atmosphere of minor league spring training, the experience of pitching in frozen northern outposts-- remained as vital and gripping as before, as did Jordan's portrayal of the unravelling of his baseball career. With the benefit of 30 years' experience, I was able to understand the author's struggles in more than the visceral way I did as an 11 year-old. Further, I got the strong sense -- confirmed in Jordan's later memoir, "A Nice Tuesday" -- that Jordan himself had not figured out exactly why things had gone so wrong for him.

At times, reading this book was like watching someone reliving some horrible nightmare. At other times, it was simply a pleasant experience to read Jordan's description of day-to-day life in small town America in the late 50s. Throughout, the book was just as gripping as those SI excerpts that grabbed me 30 years ago.

I have read that Pat Jordan set about to create a persona in this book and that the portrayal of that persona was calculated and not always accurate. Even so, this book reveals enough of the real experiences of the man that it withstands the test of time. I'm not so interested in absolute historical accuracy when I come across a book that can hold my attention and bring me back for more 30 years after the first reading.

Those of us who are profesional sportswriters spend a lot of time in press boxes with other writers who criticize what they see on the field, but either never played the game or never played it well. "The Suitors of Spring" is brilliantly written by Pat Jordan, who did play the game. It also brings to mind some of the best sports books ever. "Ball Four's" Jim Bouton played the game. "North Dallas Forty's" Peter Gent played the game.

Having stood on the mound, facing down a hitter with the bases loaded, the crowd yelling, the opposition hurling insults, your future on the line and the hair standing up on the back of his neck, is an experience known by few. Jordan knows it.

Here he writes about pitchers, his specialty. He writes about superstars like Tom Seaver, playboys like Bo Belinsky, hardthrowing drunks like Steve Dalkowski, 6-6 lefties who never lived up their potential, like Sam McDowell, and prep phenoms from his home state of Connecticut who met the same fate as the author.

Jordan's talent is not one that can be learned in a literary class. He is of the school of hard knoocks, rough hewn, real, human. Bravo, Pat.

STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
STWRITES@AOL.COM

"A False Spring" is so good I cannot do it justice here. It is, along with "Ball Four", "The Suitors of Spring" (also by Pat Jordan) and "Bo: Pitching and Wooing" by Maury Allen, one of the best baseball books ever written. This book describes minor league baseball, the hopes and dreams of a young athlete, youthful sex, raunchiness, crushing disappointment, and Americana. I read this book and memorized it, then went off to play minor league ball myself and totally lived all of it. My experiences in the Cardinal and A's organization did not resemble Jordan's, they rhymed. This book tells the story of thousands of young hopefuls who live amongst us, and many more of us can relate to it than can relate to the superhuman life and accomplishments of Barry Bonds.

I thoroughly enjoyed GROWING UP BASEBALL. It was definitely a memorable reading experience. --David Dewse

A new book is out that takes an original approach to baseball. "Growing up baseball, an oral history," lets players tell their stories in their own words. Among those who write about their childhood baseball memories: Mark Grace, Bob Feller, Dom DiMaggio, Sam McDowell, Don Larsen and Mike Scioscia, manager of the Anaheim Angels, who vanquished the Giants in the World Series.

By Harvey and Frederic Frommer, the book is a quick and satisfying read about the innocent youth of baseball stars.

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The title and premise intrigued me. A series of mini-bios told in the first person by men who had actually made it to the "Big Leagues". I was looking for an answer, into my own psyche perhaps as to why the game is so compelling. Why do I stay up late for Opening Day and to watch every possible minute of the World Series? Why is Opening Day for my home team so important that I consider it a national holiday and have not missed an opening day game most of my adult life, even traveling over 300 miles to be there.

Why are celebrities like Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Kevin Kostner and Billy Crystal so obviously obsessed with the game. Even presidents are drawn to the game, our current president owned a team, Bill Clinton is said to be "bonkers about baseball". It is not just America that is taken with the game. The Japanese passion is well documented as well as Cuba and the Dominican Republic. I thought if I could hear in their own words what brought many major leaguers to the game I could find a commonality and understand why I am so gripped by the game.

In Growing Up Baseball players from the past and present, ones who had afleeting time in the major leagues to ones who are icons- discuss their intimate childhood memories of the game. Players who grew up with and without TV and /or in areas where there was no access to major or minor league teams and areas where cities have several major league teams all have the same passion for the game.

Chuck Stevens - Played three years for the St. Louis Browns. Grew up occasionally hearing games on the radio and reading ticker tape reports of World Series games. But spent 23 years in the Browns organization.

Scott Brosius - NY Yankees third baseman, knew he wanted to be a major leaguer from age three, but never saw a major league game until he was drafted by the Oakland A's at 22-years old.

Jose Cardenal -Native of Cuba whose whole family's life was devoted to baseball. His father played, his older brother played for the Army League, his cousin is Bert "Campy" Campaneris and his sister was the only female official scorer in Cuba. Signed by the Giants but couldn't get very much playing time due to the existing outfield of Mays, McCovey and the Alou brothers, was later traded and played 18 years in the majors.

The stories recount tales of parents who encouraged, parents who discouraged. Idols who became mentors. Boys who became men.

While Growing Up Baseball was not able to give me insight into my own obsession it does give intimate details and takes a peak into the childhood of majors leaguers who we love so much and always wanted to be.
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"Ambitious, very interesting. The wonderful oral histories humazine the players so much."

The title and premise intrigued me. A series of mini-bios told in the first person by men who had actually made it to the "Big Leagues." I was looking for an answer, into my own psyche perhaps as to why the game is so compelling. Why do I stay up late for Opening Day and to watch every possible minute of the World Series? Why is Opening Day for my home team so important that I consider it a national holiday and have not missed an opening day game most of my adult life, even traveling over 300 miles to be there?

Why are celebrities like Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Kevin Costner and Billy Crystal so obviously obsessed with the game? Even presidents are drawn to the game. Our current president owned a team. Bill Clinton is said to be "bonkers about baseball." It is not just America that is taken with the game. The Japanese passion is well documented as well as Cuba and the Dominican Republic. I thought if I could hear in their own words what brought many major leaguers to the game I could find a commonality and understand why I am so gripped by the game.

In Growing Up Baseball players from the past and present - ones who had a fleeting time in the major leagues to ones who are icons - discuss their intimate childhood memories of the game. Players who grew up with and without TV and/or in areas where there was no access to major or minor league teams and areas where cities have several major league teams all have the same passion for the game.

Chuck Stevens - Played three years for the St. Louis Browns. Grew up occasionally hearing games on the radio and reading ticker tape reports of World Series games. But spent 23 years in the Browns organization.

Scott Brosius - NY Yankees third baseman, knew he wanted to be a major leaguer from age three, but never saw a major league game until he was drafted by the Oakland A's at 22-years old.

Jose Cardenal - Native of Cuba whose whole family's life was devoted to baseball. His father played, his older brother played for the Army League, his cousin is Bert "Campy" Campaneris and his sister was the only female official scorer in Cuba. Signed by the Giants but couldn't get very much playing time due to the existing outfield of Mays, McCovey and the Alou brothers, was later traded and played 18 years in the majors.

The stories recount tales of parents who encouraged, parents who discouraged. Idols who became mentors. Boys who became men.

While Growing Up Baseball was not able to give me insight into my own obsession it does give intimate details and takes a peak into the childhood of major leaguers who we love so much and always wanted to be.

This is one of the best baseball books I have purchased-- and I have a library of them. No fluff here. Just good straightforward practical information.

I was a high school baseball coach and the first day of practice I brought this book. I told them I had read it every year before baseball season and it always seemed to help me. I had 6 of my players read this book and all of them agreed and had much better seasons that what I anticipated they would. Just like any self help book you have to have faith in it working but this book speaks for its self. With all of these positive reviews you can tell how many people it helped. I now coach football and have suggested this book to several players even thought it is not about football. I have read several books about sports psychology and self help type books. They are not my favorite and most of the time I found that they did not work for me but as a coach they were good to know for my players. This book did work for me and is the number one sports psychology book I have ever read. I highly recommend it.

The Mental Game of Baseball is an outstanding read. It is loaded with useful information. It is refered to as the "baseball bible". Anyone from little league coach, high school coach, college coach, player, or parent should take the time to read this book. It gave me (a college baseball coach) a new found respect and understanding for the mental side of baseball. I recommend this book to every baseball enthusist out there.

This book is as much about life as it is about baseball. The positive re-enforcement the book gives about accomplishing almost anything is the true message.
Whenever you or one of your players is struggling, go back to this book to refresh a slumping attitude.

A great tool for coaches & players at all levels. If you don't understand the mental part of the game, this is the book for you.

Chuck Schumacher
Owner -- Chucks Gym
Baseball & Martial arts
Training & Conditioning

"The fans and the fanfare, the talented stars and the unique rivalries, atmospheric stories and snappy prose.Vivid and evocative."

New York City Baseball tells about how the Dodgers, Giants and Yankees dominated the late 40's and early 50's baseball.
I really enjoyed the opening chapters discussing the reasons for the departure of the Giants and Dodgers to the west coast.
It made me feel really in on the move.
The rest of the books talks about the feuds, history and outcomes of the seasons metioned.
Frommer is a gifted writer and it was a pity that the book had to end.
There are some neat photos and I would reccommend this book right up there with Dynasty (about the Yankees).

Don't hesitate to buy this marvelous book. It told with an exact and actually atmosphere everything about NYC baseball... when the Giants were called 'Polo Grounders' and the Dodgers 'Da Bums'. The dramatic move also is well explained.

y Harvey Frommer, 1992, 219 pps, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. At one time New York had three major league teams: the Yankees, Giants and Dodgers. What a time! In the days after World War II, some of the most heady times ever in the city, there was one incredible Baseball Decade. From 1946-57 the New York teams owned baseball. Relive the golden days of the 1950s in this amazing account. And loaded with photos and stats that fans love. Here's to you, Jackie Robinson and Joe DiMaggio.

When the lights came on again after World War II, they illuminated a nation ready for heroes and a city --New York--eager for entertainment. Baseball provided the heroes, and the Yankees, the Giants, and the Dodgers--with their rivalries, their successes, their stars--provided the show. Oisk and Newk, Pee Wee and Skoonj, Ski, Campy, Preacher, Westy, Blacky, Whitey, Yogi, the Yankee Clipper, the Peepul's Cherce, the Old Reliable--New York City Baseball recaptures the golden decade of 1947-1957, when the three New York teams were the uncrowned kings of the city and the very embodiment of the national pastime for much of the U.S. In those ten years, Casey Stengel and his Bronx Bombers went to the World Series seven times; Joltin' Joe DiMaggio stepped gracefully aside to make room for a yong slugger named Mickey Mantle; one Bobby Thomson hit "the shot heard 'round the world"' and the Brooklyn (but not for much longer) Dodgers achieved the impossible by beating the Yankees in the 1955 World Series.

Robert Peterson (1925-2006) wrote this pioneering history in 1970 when many ex-players were living. Drawing on interviews, Peterson makes the Negro Leagues come to life. Readers learn of stars like Bullet Joe Rogan, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson ("the black Babe Ruth"), Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston, etc., and teams like the Kansas City Monarchs, Homestead Grays, Indianapolis Clowns, Chicago American Giants, etc. The Negro Leagues were one of the largest black-owned businesses, though a couple teams (Pittsburgh Crawfords) were run by racketeers. Readers learn about Rube Foster, who founded the Negro National League in 1920, the annual All-Star game in Chicago's Comiskey Park, barnstorming against white big leaguers, and travel conditions that ranged from decent to difficult and discriminatory. There is also an appendix with team rosters and yearly standings.

The Negro Leagues began to fade as Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers in 1947, and folded completely in 1960 - a sad day signalling a better era. Then this book arrived to bring attention to the Leagues and its players. One, Ted "Double-Duty" Radcliffe (1902-2005), became a fixture at White Sox games, signing autographs, and throwing out the first ball on his 101st and 102nd birthdays.

Today fans can visit The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, buy team merchandise, and enjoy several good books on the subject, including I WAS RIGHT ON TIME (by Buck O'Neil), BASEBALL'S GREAT EXPERIMENT and several others. Peterson deserves at least a little credit for this.

A scholarly effort by a great Negro Leagues historian, evidenced by Oxford University Press imprint. Highly informative, a tremendous read! Five-star plus*****

"Negro baseball," writes Robert W. Peterson, "was both a gladsome thing and a blot on America's conscience."

And in that one sentence, Peterson defines the glory of Negro Leagues baseball and how it also magnified the sordid race hatred of this nation, with the ramifications still being felt today.

When the book was published in 1970, the Negro Leagues was not really known by a whiter (oops, I mean "wider") audience. Peterson, who had a journalism background as an editor for the New York World-Telegram and The Sun, set out on this journey in 1966 by interviewing players, studying microfilm of black newspapers and delving into game accounts & features in sporting publications.

He traces the history of some of the greatest players and teams ever in the game from post-Civil War to 1947. Along with a history highlighted through extensive interviews are a recap of yearly standings and a register of players and league/team officials.

Names such as Cool Papa Bell, Judy Johnson, Buck Leonard and Rube Foster & teams like the Kansas City Monarchs, Cleveland Buckeyes and Pittsburgh Crawfords come to life and opened a door to a wealth of research into NLB that continues today.

Peterson, who passed away in February 2006 at the age of 80, was on a 2006 committee that selected players/executives from NLB and the pre-NLB era for baseball's Hall of Fame. His ballot was filled out before his death and used in the vote.

It can't be forgotten that NLB welcomed whites and women on the field of play, in the grandstands and in the front offices. Truly, Peterson shows in Only the Ball Was White that there were no rear entrances, separate facilities and racial hatred in Negro Leagues Baseball. The book will never lose its standing as a true beacon to a history that must never again be forgotten.

I consider myself a self-educated baseball historian, but had very little knowledge of the Negro Leagues - until I read this book. It's a wonderful introduction to the proud but sad history of the African American experience in baseball in the first half of the 20th century. I now have a strong working knowledge of the dominent personalities of the Negro Leagues and its many extraodinary athletes - many of whom would have been certain stars in the Majors.

As I read it, I kept thinking to myself what a tragedy it was that these great black ballplayers were barred from the Major Leagues. How different the game would have been. Cool Papa Bell - maybe the fastest man ever to play the game. Satchel Paige - one of the greatest pitchers of all time, black or white. Josh Gibson - the Babe Ruth of the Negro Leagues. Pop Lloyd - the Black Honus Wagner.

It's a overwhelmingly sad chapter in American history for sure; but it's also a compelling story of perseverence and dedication that allowed the Negro Leagues to succeed for so long in the face of incredible obstacles. If you love baseball history, do yourself a favor and read this book. Your baseball knowledge will not be complete without an understanding of the Negro Leagues.

Robert Peterson originally published this book in 1970 so it's really the original and standard history of the Negro Leagues. Peterson not only tells the history of these leagues and some of the great players, but also provides brief biographical sketches of dozens of players whose big league service would otherwise be lost to history. The book also has extensive appendices with annual standings and box scores of all-star games. The book gives us glimpses into Jim Crow America (and it was not just in the South).

Peterson portrays the often overlooked fact that the Negro Leagues were a business venture run almost exclusively by and for black people. And it was a tough business at that, but one that drew often sizeable crowds, especially on exciting and exhausting barnstorming tours. The Negro Leagues could not survive integration as its best players were siphoned off to the 'majors'. Despite the obvious benefits to those men who were finally broke through the wall of prejudice, the reader also understands that there was a sense of loss when the leagues shut down in 1960. More powerfully, the reader experiences the lost opportunities suffered by those players who never got the chance to play in the majors and make major league money, like Jimmie Crutchfield, the Black Lloyd Waner, who barely made a living on one side of Pittsburgh playing for the Crawfords while Waner hauled down $12,000 a year (a princely sum at the time) playing for the Pirates.

A must read for anyone interested in baseball, race relations, or American history.