Baseball Books

One cannot help but be moved by this little book of various sayings of and articles about Satchel Paige. Yet this is one of the most delightful reads I have experienced in quite a while. David Sterry and Arielle Eckstut have put together a collection of witicisms and rare articles that will delight the baseball fan and history buff.

Beautifully illustrated with vintage photographs and pictures, this book is a gem. A reader will learn about the spirit of a man who looked Jim Crow in the face and won!

I'm not much of a baseball fan, and Satchel Paige has always just been a name to me, but a friend showed me this book and I couldn't resist reading it. I do like history, philosophy, and stories about people with integrity who overcome obstacles to do what they love and live by their own standards, and Satchel Sez pleased me on all of those levels. For those of you who are as uninformed as I was before I read this book, Leroy "Satchel" Paige started out with a job carrying suitcases at the age of seven and went on to become the greatest pitcher baseball has ever known, with stats that far outshine the records set by white players who were allowed careers in the big leagues. Satchel played in the Negro Leagues for almost his entire career - he spent a few years in the Major Leagues. He was eventually named the oldest rookie when he was in his sixties. "Age is a question of mind over matter," he said. "If you don't mind, it don't matter." The book is colorful, fun, and easy to read, pairing quotes and anecdotes by and about Satchel with lots of photographs of the man himself. Satchel's humor and easy-going nature are captured here, but at the same time the book portrays his grace and dignity, a side of him that has often been overlooked due to racial stereotypes. Satchel has lots of advice to give on everything from baseball to aging to women to stomach trouble. Some examples are: "Slow down, you last longer," "Be satisfied in your own world," and "Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Home plate don't move." He also offers inspiration, such as, "You have to believe in yourself. When you believe, you do." One of my favorite quotes could be applied to the racism he faced: "It's not what you don't know that hurts you. It's what you know that just ain't so." I'm also impressed by Satchel's goodwill. For sure, he trash-talked and was never modest about his genius, but he was generous at the same time. Once he didn't show up to the Negro League equivalent of an All-Star game because the owners of the teams refused to donated all of the proceeds to returning wounded GIs. When he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame (Negro League players were supposed to be recognized separately), he said, "There were many Satchels." I am simultaneously impressed, informed, and inspired by Satchel Sez, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Satchel Paige. Just saying the name brings to mind a personality as vibrant and singular as any seen in the world of baseball. This short, effective book presents a glimpse into the truly marvelous wit and wisdom of the pitcher who seemed terminally young, throwing baseballs with purpose and precision into his 60s. A pitcher who once struck out 24 batters in one game. A player many claim was the ultimate master of the pitched ball. A competitor with constant chatter and quips. A man who was relegated to second-class citizenship because he was African-American, yet with whom all the white teams of the 1930s wanted to play against in the barn-storming games because he was such a draw. Take a peak at this book and you'll glean a new insight into the man who became a legend. The authors have captured the essence of Satchel via quotes about and by Paige, lots of photographs, stats, stories, and memorabilia all wrapped in a wildly successful graphic design.

This could've been featured in our collector's section or even our sports section, but is presented here for its powerful artistic survey of Japanese sports through its lovely baseball card art. SAYONARA HOME RUN! THE ART OF THE JAPANESE BASEBALL CARD features player history, card art, and loved and hated baseball teams alike. It will attract any with an interest in world baseball or in collectible ballgame cards - and many a browser with an interest in neither!

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch

This could've been featured in our collector's section or even our sports section, but is presented here for its powerful artistic survey of Japanese sports through its lovely baseball card art. SAYONARA HOME RUN! THE ART OF THE JAPANESE BASEBALL CARD features player history, card art, and loved and hated baseball teams alike. It will attract any with an interest in world baseball or in collectible ballgame cards - and many a browser with an interest in neither!

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch

Vinatge Japanese baseball cards are among the most beautiful baseball collectibles in the world. I discovered these treasures over ten years ago during a trip to Japan and became an avid collector. My passion for the cards eventually led to a on-line card business and a career as a baseball writer. John Gall and Gary Engel's new book Sayanara Homerun! depicts hundreds, if not thousands, of theese beautiful cards. The book's presentation is wonderful. Cards are gracefully portrayed as art but the accompanying text will statisfy both baseball card collectors and fans of Japanese baseball.

If you are an American baseball cards collector, come see what you are missing. If you a fan of Japanese baseball, come see great pictures of your favorite stars.

I spend hours paging through this book and expect that you will enjoy it as much as I have.

It's remarkable how years where America has witnessed monumental events and occurrences have been paralleled with some of the most memorable baseball seasons in the history of the game. Bill Gilman examines ten seasons where baseball and current events caught the attention of more than just the casual sports fan and the casual newspaper reader. These are years where on any given day, baseball and world events shared the front page of major newspapers.

What any reader will enjoy about this book is that though one may not remember or have been alive during a particular year, there is surely at least one year the reader remembers vividly and can conjure up memories and images of that unforgettable time in the history of baseball and America.

I was born in 1985, and yet there were facts about three years Gilman writes about that I lived through--1995, 1998, and 2001--that I had not realized before. Though I am a Yankee fan, 2001 is probably the season I will remember most, both for what happened on and off the field of play.

Gilman proves tenfold that in times where America has witnessed war, terror, economic trouble, or some other malady, baseball rose to the forefront to capture the consciousness of the American public and invigorate their lives with a burst of optimism, both in the game and in the country.

I recommend this book to any fan of baseball, young or old, or any fan of contemporary American history. There is definitely something in this book for both.

This is a book that should be receiving more accolades and publicity than it has. Any serious baseball lover will get a lot out of reading it. It is much more than just a sports book.

Through the prism of 10 selected seasons Gilbert hits many of the touchstone moments of the game: Greenberg's grand slam in 1945, Spahn and Sain in 48 ,Thompson's shot heard round the world in 51 , Mantle and Maris's homerun chase in 1961, 1969's Amazing Mets, Fisk's dramatic homer in the 75 Series, Mcqwire and Sosa's homer duel, Barry Bonds 73 homer season, and the emotional Yankees and Diamondbacks World Series in the shadow of Sept. 11.
He ties these special seasons together tightly and seamlessly with the fabric of the surrounding daily life and the profound historical times that provided the settings for them, moving effortlessly through a half century of American History. In "Nine Innings" filmaker Ken Burns made a comprehensive if overlong case for the historical and social importance of baseball. Seasons is more confortable, coherent, and concise. An affectionate and patriotic reminiscence. There are enough new factual nuggets, anecdotes, and insights to reward the more than avid longtime fan who will be familiar much of the material. But the story of these ten seasons deserves to be retold. Especially by a good story teller.

What a great stocking stuffer for parents and grandparents of budding baseball stars, or for anone who wants to understand the sport better! If you're not sure you know everthing about baseball, take the inside cover quiz under Editorial Review - "Take me out the the ball game - and then what?" This pocket or purse-sized handbook not only defines and illustrates the terms you need to know, but uses stories with humorous comments to explain the strategies used by coaches to call certain plays and how they affect the game. End tabs on pages make sections fast & easy to find, while "Sport", the mascot, accompanies you with not a patronizing bone in his body (unlike many "all you want to know about..." books). So that all members of the family can feel involved whether playing the sport or not, toys and t-shirts are also available online from the book's author.

This is an excellent guide for casual spectators. I like going to baseball games and have a basic understanding, but feel lost during certain plays and calls. This book has definitely helped me with the rules and strategies of the game. I can't wait to throw it in my purse and take it with me to some games next season! Highly recommend!

I have just finished reading one of the most enjoyble and educational books about the game of baseball that i have read in a long long time. Everyone that has ever watched a game of baseball with a person, that didnt understand the game and jargon of baseball, will wonder where this book has been and why no one had the intellengence to write such a simple explain all book. The writer must have lived with a person who had a vast knowledge of the game and musthave spent a lot of time in a ball park as a kid to have gained all the inside knowledge that is explained in See Sport Run a Spectators Guide to Baseball, It is a wonderfulChristmas gift for the person that just doesnt understand the game of baseball and has that wonderful sense of humor you get only from reading a great book written by a real sports fan.

What if the White Sox had been the first major league team to field a black player? Rutkoff imagines it, populating his rich story with people both real and imagined. Among the real: An imperious, double-dealing Chuck Comiskey, owner of the White Sox. Among the imagined: The Negro League hero who makes the leap into the majors a black blues singer from Memphis whose heartbreaking tragedy is a riveting subplot and the Jewish fixer who finds himself in the middle. Full of fascinating historical detail (the author is a noted historian at Kenyon College). You've never heard of this small-press novel, and what a pity: It deserves an audience among baseball fans, Chicagoans, history buffs, blacks, whites, and just about and anyone else who cares about why America is the way it is today.

Full disclosure: If you read and love "Shadow Ball" as I did, you may also enjoy my novel "To Love Mercy" -- because it's a virtual sequel to "Shadow Ball." "To Love Mercy" takes the story forward three decades, to 1948. It's a tale of blacks and whites, Christians and Jews, how children see the world, conflict and forgiveness ... and the White Sox!

This is a beautifully written and imaginatively conceived historical novel. Its author is a well-published academic historian who teaches at Kenyon College. This is his first novel. Peter Rutkoff brings together several strands of American history (e.g., baseball, race, and Chicago.) Real people--Rube Foster, Charles Comiskey, and Shoeless Joe Jackson--encounter the author's wonderfully-drawn fictional characters. Rutkoff's evocation of Chicago is also as superb as it is knowledgeable. And the storyline--which I won't reveal--is most compelling. This is, as they say, a page turner. If your literary appetite combines baseball and American history, read this book!

I came to this book through my interest in social history. I came away from the book a fan of baseball as well. The author drops you into 1919 Chicago and into the heads of all those involved in a high-stakes and incendiary decision to bring a Negro player to the Chicago White Sox. Despite a new appreciation for baseball, for me the highlight of the book is the portrayal of "small" lives. The tragedy that racial prejudice brings to a young, poor woman coming to Chicago from the South makes this book resonate much longer than any game-winning home run.

This book is a tender look at the quiet heroes who made baseball an all-American sport. The players Doug Williams introduces are noble men who made difficult choices--men who lived with integrity, diligence, and perseverance. In addition, the book is about living in joyous gratitude. Finally, with each chapter, the reader is aware that often there are no coincidences in our lives, only new paths to different adventures.

This is an outstanding piece of work. Williams does a great job of contextualizing these former players for novel and avid sports readers. His accurate knowledge of the game, the times, and the people involved make this a must read for anyone who has ever enjoyed the game of baseball. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

OK, I am a friend of Doug Williams, and we have been encouraging him to write a book like this for years. I'm not really a baseball fan, but I really liked this book. It is not only about baseball, but also about friendship, values, and family relationships. I told Doug that I took it on a business trip to read at bedtime, but it was so good that I stayed up two extra hours to finish it. The book is very well written and I recommend it highly.

Perhaps the best thing about the book is not the writing itself, but how the writing freezes teams, players, and moments in time to allow the reader to sense and experience the emotion of the past. Obviously, in a collection of works that spans 50+ years and is entitled "Great Baseball Writing," the reader is treated to some of the best work ever penned about America's Pastime.

Whether the focal point is Ted Williams' post-baseball fishing prowess, Billy Martin, Stan Musial in decline, Vin Scully on the rise, the Philadelphia A's of the 20s or the Oakland A's of the 70s, each of the dozens of stories are tough to set aside and, if age allows, recall some wonderful memories about the game.

The book is divided into sections covering individual players, teams, other figures and events, and all-time greats. No matter your rooting interests, favorite players or most hated rivals, each story from beginning to end succeeds in getting that internal clock started -- the one that counts down each winter to pitchers and catchers.

The book contains just over 50 essays collected from the 50+ years of Sports Illustrated. I own several hundred baseball books and this one slides safely (without a throw)into the top ten.

The writing is generally top notch - truly an honor role of the best: Roger Kahn, Frank DeFord, Peter Gammons, Robert Creamer, George Plimpton - and so many others.

What I loved about this book is that it makes history come alive. Roy Blount's essay isn't about how great Reggie Jackson was, Blount writes about how great he IS. Kahn's essay on Stan the Man Musial captures the essence of a Hall of Famer who somehow is an underrated superstar. Red Sox diehard Johnathan Schwartz crafts a vivid, yet heartbreaking account of the 1978 playoff game.

My favorites? Creamer's essay on Vin Scully which includes a brilliant account of Scully broadcasting from a stadium roof during a freezing winter. Dan Okrent's gem revealing the statistical genius of Bill James years before he hit the mainstream.

Oddly, a couple of the more famous pieces, Rick Rilley's "Heaven Help Marge Schott" really does come off as a hatchet-job on a old lady. Bouton's "Son of Ball Four" is a whiney diatribe. However, those are just two clunkers compared with the 50 that are really good.

A great book, up there with "Veeck as Wreck", "Babe", and "Glory of Their Times". A great gift for baseball fans of all ages and at $17 for 500+ pages - a true bargain.

As a fan of the game and of Sports Illustrated I was pleasantly suprised by the content and the writing style of the book. Some of the stories brought back memories and others were new to me. I would recommend this book to anyone even, non-lovers of the game.

It's not easy to track minor league baseball cards.

If you are a serious collector, you may recall several years ago the good people at "Beckett" published a monthly called "Future Stars" where cards for minor league baseball players, and various other college athletes, from all sports, were being tracked.

Then, the cardmaker "Classic" (producing massive amounts of ONLY cards featuring minor leaguers, and college athletes) went out of business, and so accordingly "Future Stars" went away.

But there was still a demand to know what the various Classic cards/sets were doing in the market, so Beckett made something called "Vintage" -- a monthly publication that combined listings for cards from the 50s/60s/70s with newer baseball cards from baseball's minor leagues.

So, you had a 1960 Johnny Unitas card tracked in the same magazine with a 1995 Andruw Jones (Macon Braves) card. Strange -- but it worked for me.

Anyway, this guide represents the best overall checklist I've ever seen regarding minor league cards, which is all I collect now. There's just too much product out there once the guys hit the majors.

In any case, the book came out priot to the 2000 season, so values are mostly obsolete. But that doesn't mean you don't still get an accurate checklist for every significant minor league set ever made.

Hope these guys make a new one soon. I'm there.

I collect all of the Red Sox minor league teams, and this book helped me identify all of those team sets, plus provided a name-by-name breakdown of players on all of the prospects and all-star sets. If you are a team collector, you will love this book!

Sports Collectors Digest follows up their 1,664-page "Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards" with another informative price guide, this 480-page guide specifically covers minor league cards. SCD has done their homework with this guide as well, publishing more information on more sets than any other price guides available. I highly recommend this book!

This book shines on many levels. The backdrop for the story is a WWII internment camp for Japanese-Americans. But it's also about baseball, history, love, shame, and redemption. The narrative breathes life into all of these subjects, and the writer shows respect for every corner of the fictional world he's created. It's a page-turner, too. I started reading "Suitcase" yesterday and just hit the seventh inning stretch...Twenty pages to go!

Baseball, a beautiful girl, and a made-it-to-the-Show protagonist in search of meaning--what else is there? This book has it all. A plot which finds us driving the American south of 1942 scouting for star baseball players also offers a fascinating perspective on Japanese American life during the time of internment camps. Through Feldman's often lyrical prose, we face first-hand both racism run amok as well as the depth of human compassion and the intricate struggle for equality. But it is the personal story of loss and discovery that gives the book its greatest energy. Sefton, himself, is endearing, bumbling through what seems to be a first love, and always sincere. As rich are the characterizations of the Yamada family. It was spring, so I read Suitcase Sefton to celebrate the season. But I came away with a great deal more--enough to last through all the seasons of the human heart and wit.

I thought when I ordered this book that I would be treated to a
novel about baseball and I certainly was, but baseball is just the backdrop to its fascinating story. The book vividly brought to light the national disgrace of taking American citizens and their families, removing them from their homes and placing them in internment camps for the duration of WW2. Jay Feldman skill-
fully has woven a baseball scout's discovery of a young Japanese-
American pitcher in one of the camps and his involvement with the pitcher's family and created a story of pathos and humaniity.
Written by Jack Ziebel

this book ships in 1 to 2 days. it is a very great book about sports. many sports writers hve never played the games they cover or had poor college careers that they blow out of proportion in order to fill out their resume, but pat jordan is not one of those people. he knows his stuff. he can compete. i think all sports fans should read this great book.

This book is a collection of essays -- long magazine articles -- by a freelance writer who used to be a professional baseball player. His careers (baseball and writing) are documented in his memoirs, A False Spring and A Nice Tuesday. Having read those books first, I had a good insight into the author, which made this book more enjoyable but was not really necessary to appreciate the writing in it.

Jordan has a very good eye for detail and is not hesitant to give his opinion of why certain people succeed and others fail. Of course, it is an opinion, but his writing style is so persuasive that the explanations are as satisfying for the reader as if they were proven facts.

I believe that the pieces in Suitors of Spring appeared in Sports Illustrated in the '70s. I wish that SI would run this type of article now. However, they have succumbed to the ESPN Magazine syndrome and now favor the hip, smack-talking articles that fit neatly on a page or two.

If that is what you prefer, this book is not for you. Instead, Jordan explores a range of baseball players some of whom had tremendous success (Tom Seaver) and some nearly none (Steve Dalkowski) and takes the time necessary to do so. Some wof these players were good organization men (Woody Huyke) and some were so nonconformist as to make you wonder how they ever played professional baseball in the first place (Bo Belinsky). What this wide range of characters share, besides baseball, is being revealed to us by a writer of uncommon insight and skill.

One note for other Pat Jordan devotees: you may want to skip the smarmy 70s-style introduction. In that introduction, Jordan uses the "I'm OK, you're OK" style so prevalent at that time and describes how writing what would be "A False Spring" was excellent therapy for him and helped him to exorcise his demons. Those of us who have read his other work know better. All-in-all, that is a minor detour that does not detract from a very enjoyable read.

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"