Comments on: Non-fiction picks range from Bill James to Jackie Robinson

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:08:00 +0000

More love here for Roger Angell. A great writer. His autobiographical ‘Let Me Finish’ has moments so beautifully written it makes me wonder why I even bother trying to be a writer.

I love Halberstam (The Reckoning and Best And The Brightest are two of my favorite books of all time) but I once read an article picking apart all the careless mistakes he made in ‘Summer Of ‘49.’

By: Seven Ways To Amuse Yourself On A Cubs Off-Day | myMLB - Blue Jays

Seven Ways To Amuse Yourself On A Cubs Off-Day | myMLB - Blue Jays — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:45:23 +0000

[...] Cooperative has new lists of top baseball novels and top baseball non-fiction. They also mention what they don’t like. Find out why they don’t like [...]

By: Seven Ways To Amuse Yourself On A Cubs Off-Day | myMLB - Cardinals

Seven Ways To Amuse Yourself On A Cubs Off-Day | myMLB - Cardinals — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:11:23 +0000

[...] Cooperative has new lists of top baseball novels and top baseball non-fiction. They also mention what they don’t like. Find out why they don’t like [...]

By: Seven Ways To Amuse Yourself On A Cubs Off-Day | myMLB - Nationals

Seven Ways To Amuse Yourself On A Cubs Off-Day | myMLB - Nationals — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:22:31 +0000

[...] Cooperative has new lists of top baseball novels and top baseball non-fiction. They also mention what they don’t like. Find out why they don’t like [...]

By: Tom Denten

Tom Denten — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:51:42 +0000

Veeck As in Wreck is a great autobiography. One of the best books I have read, period.

By: walter daniels

walter daniels — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:31:46 +0000

Not much love for Ball Four- I read Bouton’s book as a youngster and I loved the bad boy nature and humanity of the ballplayers.
I liked Moneyball- why not dare question scouts- every year there are so many can’t miss prospects and a lot of them miss. Since Billy Beane was a “tools” guy who missed his insights are relevant.
I liked Fantasyland, also, not a classic but very readable and fun.

By: * Another list of “bests” « Ron Kaplan’s Baseball Bookshelf

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:40:22 +0000

[...] Non-fiction [...]

By: Perry

Perry — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:15:16 +0000

Ron Thompson pretty much nailed my list, except I’d put Angell’s collections in there, and I’d add Glory of Their Times, the Boswell collections, the Historical Abstract (both editions), and Cait Murphy’s recent “Crazy ‘08.”

By: kevin

kevin — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:54:39 +0000

You could take any Baseball Abstract and put it atop anything from Tom Boswell’s casket of baseball cliches and chestnuts.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:24:27 +0000

Mark another vote for Glory of Their Times as the best non-fiction book. Even though I have no doubt that some of the stories have been stretched over time, hearing them being told by the greatest players of the turn of the century and the dead-ball era has always entertained me.

I also really enjoyed Fantasyland by Sam Walker. It’s not the best book ever written (and far from it), but I wasn’t able to put the book down once I started reading it. I’ve played fantasy since I was 12, so I can relate to a lot of what is in the book.

How about The Seasons by Bill Gilbert? It’s a book that doesn’t get nearly as much attention as it deserves. A great chronicling of ten years in American history where baseball was often interwoven with the political and economic events of the time.