Baseball Books

Written in 1941, much of the context of this book will be incomprehensible to the modern teenager. And yet, the basic story is timeless. Baseball is baseball, whether it was played fifty years ago or last summer. The Brooklyn Dodgers managed by Dave Leonard and starring Roy Tucker, "The Kid From Tompkinsville" are in the World Series, having won the pennant on the last day of the season. They are a battered team, their first string catcher split a thumb and cannot play. The Brooklyn pitchers are worn out from the long season and everyone else is hurting. In his first at bat of the series, Roy Tucker is hit in the head by a fast ball and is suffering from dizzy spells.
This is a story about the drive to succeed and the desire to win. It is also about teamwork, all members working together to achieve a common goal. Manager Dave Leonard takes over the catching duties and by sheer will power, forces his forty-year old body to perform like it is once again twenty-something. He is leveled at the plate and holds onto the ball to save a run and get the vital out. I first read this story when I was in middle school, loved it then and enjoyed it just as much when I read it this time. It takes you back to an age when people played the game hard, for only a few thousand dollars a year and where winning was the only thing.
This is a sequel to "The Kid From Tompkinsville" and Tunis is once again at the top of his writing game. It is a classic sports story that can still excite and inspire the modern child.

In some ways, this is an even better read than "The Kid From Tomkinsville" because Tunis keeps the story within the framework of a series as opposed to two seasons in "The Kid." In "World Series" you get to see how a battered and bruised Roy Tucker handles his first postseason, although the novel also puts a lot of time in on Brooklyn manager Dave Leonard (who shows himself to be a lot more complex than in the first book). Tunis is very good at getting the feel of what baseball was like in the 1940's, and "World Series" contains perhaps his best game-situation writing of all the novels. And the banquet scene is priceless. Very much a companion piece to "The Kid," and it's well worth buying them both and reading them one after the other.

I first read this book as an eleven year old and it made a strong impression on my young mind. Now, as a 44 year old, I thought I would reread this book to take a stroll down memory lane. I wasn't disappointed. This story of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the late 1930's is the sequel to The Kid from Tomkinsvile. The "Kid" chonicles the season that leads up to the World Series and this book disects the seven game classic against the Indians. At eleven, I cheered and cried for the heroes in the story; and at 44 I did the same. This is a wonderful book, and a great look back into time, for any young boy or girl.

An excellant book to digest every World Series though 1989. One can read what happened every play in every World Series game. Each years Worlds Series is given a short narative about a memorable moment or questionable managerial decision. This book contains a box score of every World Series game played, Players stats for each year's World Series and the preceding season. Yes it is away to remind oneself of a World Series seen on TV years ago or to become aquainted with a World Series before television.

I think the first World Series I ever watched on TV was the 1973 World Series. The World series roster had 8 pitchers for Oakland and 9 for the Mets. Six ptchers had over 240 innings pitched that season. yeah one can look up this stuff over the internet but this book is nice presentation of the facts.

Where else would become perplex about Bob Gibson batting for himself in the 8th inning with his tean down 3 to nothing. Perplexing until one looks over the stats of potential pitch hitters on the bench. Maybe Mr. Gibson's bat was as good as the alternatives. A good way to scratch ones head and think about baseball and question other managerial decisions of years gone bye.

I have had this book since 1990. In the last 7 years, I have been able to visually recreate almost any series game. This is a valuable tool in my baseball library. If you are lucky enough to find one, buy it!

First published following the brilliant Reds-Red Sox Series of 1975, this book gives the play-by-play for every game of every World Series it covers. By elevating these games to such minute study, serious baseball fans can deconstruct strategies and performances for observations useful in many other contexts.

The Neft-Cohen team also puts together "Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball," which (with the Macmillan and Total Baseball series) is a cornerstone of baseball analysis. The only improvements that could be made: -- More pitch counts, for the recent Series for which these are available. -- Play-by-play for old League tie-breaking playoffs (NL 46, 59 and 62; AL 48; AL East 78; NL West 80).

For anyone who enjoys APBA and its recreating of old World Series, this is a must.

This book tells all about Jason Kidd, you know legendery Dallas Maverick now a Sun that player, well the book tells all about his life and carreer goals (achieved)

The pictures are awesome and so are the stories. Like him running into a mailbox, and all kinds of other interesting and amusing stories. I give it a nine because maybe it could have been more informative. But it was definitly worth the nine!

This book is very accurate description of the first 100 years of baseball in the U.S. THe book follows the major leagues in incriments of 10 years up until 2000. Moreover, the book adds important information about how important times in history effected the game. For example- racism and the depression of the 1920's. This book is a MUST read for any serious baseball fan or "history buff."

This book is a great review of the first century of major league baseball. Not only is it extremely accurate, but it shows how baseball changed due to the problems facing the U.S.- ie the depression and racism. This is a must read for any baseball fan.

This book is a must read for those who love to travel and see various sites that relate to the national pastime.

I just received a copy of this book a few days ago and I've really enjoyed looking at all of the colorful pictures and reading the interesting and sometimes funny essays. Some of the sites I'll visit (like the Field of Dreams Movie Site), others I think I'll skip (like the courthouse where Joe Jackson couldn't say it wasn't so) but it's fun learning about them all. Good book for a snowy day.

This is the first book of its type I've bought. The format is very readable and easy for reference and though there is a wealth of info, it doesn't overwhelm.Marsh clearly knows what he's talking about and so far his methods are showing almost immediate results. Buy this book and I'll see you in the playoffs!

101 Things is one of the better baseball books I have come across. It is obvious that Marsh knows baseball, and he presents information clearly. I also like the tone of the book -- although he discusses some of the fine points of the game, he doesn't get too technical, or talk down to the reader.

The book has sections for different parts of the game (pitching, hitting, bunting/baserunning, etc). Each section then consists of one paragraph tips, with each tip rated as beginner, intermediate, or advanced. The drills are clearly labeled and placed next to the appropriate tip.

Marsh writes at the end of each chapter, "remember, it's only a game..." But the game is much more enjoyable when coaches and players know what's going on. No one book can teach someone how to coach or play baseball, but this book certainly helps a lot.

Sport Magazine set the bar for all others. This collection of reprints celebrates the year of 1955, a year of anti-dynasty where championships were celebrated in Brooklyn, Syracuse, Cleveland and Detroit. Most of the articles are from 1955 or 1956. The one on Arnold Palmer is from 1958 and two articles are from the sixties. This gives the collection a touch of historical perspective in keeping with the spirit of Sport Magazine which usually had one article per issue looking at the past. There is a nice color portrait preceding each article and all are reprinted word for word.

Each entry is worth reading. My favorites were Frank Graham Sr. on the Brooklyn Dodgers, the great Arnold Hano on Doak Walker and John M. Ross on Sugar Ray Robinson. The memories of going to the candy store with my allowance in hand to buy Sport Magazine on the date each new issue came out returned to me as I read this book. I was just as excited to see the names of the writers as the athletes they were writing about. A most rewarding experience.

Sport magazine got it right; I could read it as a kid and yet never felt talked I was being talked down to. This anthology captures the spirit before "Moneyball." The Doak Walker chapter practically carried the book to the cashier for me; I'd been interested in the Texas legend since Dan Jenkins' "I'll Tell You One Thing," and it's very instructive for like me who had assumed the NFL began with Johnny Unitas. The Mickey Mantle piece is very interesting, and I recommend it particularly to Jason Giambi for this challenging coming season. The tinted photographs make the book worth coming back to, and it fits in your pocket for road trips (unlike Underworld).

This is really a very exclusive club. Less than twenty-five players amassed this many hits. Lots of very fine hitters never quite made it to 3,000. It takes a long and fruitful career to make it. There are a lot of good stories about each one in this book.

Greats like Sam Crawford, Sam Rice, Rogers Hornsby, Al Simmons, Mel Ott, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Ernie Banks and Carlton Fisk and so many other have failed to do what 24 players have done - get 3,000 hits.

From Rose to Clemente this exclusive fraternity of two dozen of baseball best is covered n this one of a kind collectors book. This must have for every baseball fan of all ages breaks down each of the 24 and gives you a short glimpse into what has made them great.

In 213 pages you'll read about men like Aaron, Brett, Boggs, Gwynn, Ripken, Cobb, Rose, Musial, Waner, Winfield, Carew, Anson, Mays, Murray, Brock, Clemente and eight others. Simply one of the best books on baseball I have ever read.

Under $15.00 is well worth the price; I would have paid double for this book. Congratulations to the 24 best hitters in baseball and also to Sports Publishing Inc. for allowing me to read this book.

A great book, with plenty of stories focusing on the cards and the players pictured on the cards. Mike Payne's writing seems aimed at all levels of baseball fans -- a difficult task, but one he pulls off with relative ease. There's a lot of baseball books out there, but few surrounding the history of the game and the history of cards. This one captures both, and does it with style.

One of the things I like about this book is that the title, for once, is not overstated. "300 Great Baseball Cards of the 20th Century" does not profess to provide the 300 greatest cards and therefore provides exactly what the subtitle indicates, "A Historical Tribute by the Hobby's Most Relied Upon Source." Okay, so there is some promotion here since the book is compiled by Mike Payne and the staff of "Beckett Baseball Card Monthly."

Of course you will find the most famous (and expensive) baseball cards of all time, such as the legendary 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner ($112,500-$225,000) and the 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle (not his first card, which would be the 1951 Bowman #253), which are the respective Holy Grails for the first and second half of the century. You will find cards for most of the greatest players in the history of the game, from Ty Cobb (1909-11 T206 Green Background) and Babe Ruth (1933 Goudey #43) to Mark McGwire (1985 Topps #401) and Barry Bonds (1987 Fleer #604). Not surprisingly, it is Mantle, in whose honor Topps has retired card number 7 in their sets, who has the most baseball cards with 21. Ruth and Ted Williams have 13 each, Willie Mays a dozen, and Hank Aaron 10. Of course, within those you will find cards with Mantle and Mays, Mantle and Aaron, and Aaron and Mays.

While there are cards of famous players you might recognize, such as the 1914 Cracker Jack #103 with Shoeless Joe Jackson that served as the model for a card in "Field of Dreams," there are some that are included because of their oddities, like the 1954 Topps #139 which has the O'Brien twins, Eddie and Johnny, the 1957 Topps #20 Hank Aaron where the reverse negative has the Hammer batting left-handed, and 1976 Topps #564 Kurt Bevacqua "Bubble Gum Blowing Champ" (I swear that gun Topps had would break your teeth but also preserve your cards in the box). You will find rookie cards, combination cards (e.g., 1957 Tops #407 Power Hitters: Mantle & Berra), all star cards, World Series card, commemorative cards (e.g., 1959 Topps #550 Roy Campanella, "Symbol of Courage"), traded cards, update cards (e.g., 1984 Fleer Update #U43 Dwight Gooden), error cards (e.g., 1985 Donruss $424 Tom Seaver), and variation cards (e.g., 1974 Topps #250B Willie McCovey "Washington Nat'l League").

A lot of the cards represent baseball history, talking about what happened with particular players in a given year or what was happening with baseball card companies (e.g., 1955 Bowman #179 Hank Aaron talks about how Topps bought Bowman after its ambitious 1955 TV release). There are also entries from the collector's perspective, such as the 1990 Leaf #220 Sammy Sosa that everyone was pulling out of their commons and semi-star boxes when Sosa was chasing Roger Maris and Mark McGwire during the great home run race of 1998 (ironically, the card shows Sosa bunting).

The book, of course, is illustrated with photographs of all 300 cards, along with photos of ballparks and players, mostly from the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library. For the die hard collector or the knowledgeable baseball fan this is a great book to leaf through and walk down memory lane. For the record I have 135 of the 300 cards, although by the end I am pretty much back to where I am in the beginning in terms of seeing cards I have never really seen let along tried to own.

I have always dreamed of meeting the 16 baseball players that have hit over 500 home runs. Now I realize that meeting Ruth, Ott, Mantle and Matthews would be impossible that's why I'm glad to have a copy of this book.

Along with those listed earlier you read about Aaron, Schmidt, Jackson, Foxx, Killebrew, Mays, Robinson, Williams, McCovey, Banks, Murray and the newest member McGwire.

The book is new and updated and the 16 players are listed alphabetically and no ranking system is used. I like this concept as it gives the reader the choice as to which they consider the best of this very special and elite group.

Each chapter is written to not only discuss the career of the player but also let others who knew them talk about the person as well. The book also includes photos of each of the players. This is for every baseball fan young and old - excellent work and well done!!

Right now there are sixteen players who have hit over 500 home runs. Each one has a nice write-up and stories that are very enjoyable to read. Fifteen are retired or deceased and one is still playing.