What're some good baseball books?

[Special_K19]

I have to buy a book online for school and wanted to buy another book along with it. So what're some good books you've all enjoyed about baseball?

[Toy Cannon]

Mendoza's Heroes: Fifty Batters Below .200 :

Numerous books have been written about baseball's champion batsmen. But, what about ballplayers who repeatedly produced little more than pathetic squibbers to third base, infield pop ups, and ego bruising strikeouts? What could possibly be their value to a baseball club? Plenty. Using eye-opening statistics, interviews with players, and illustrations, author Al Pepper produces remarkable biographies of fifty of major league baseball's worst hitters. Men like Brian Doyle, Choo Choo Coleman, Bob Uecker, Tony La Russa, Ted Beard, Charlie Manual, and 44 others finally receive their due. The origins of the famous Mendoza Line and a biography of its namesake Mario Mendoza is also included. In addition, the book serves as a rollicking tour through baseball history -- from the nineteenth century through today. Foreword by ex-big leaguer Mike Stenhouse.

Out of Left Field:

This book will help settlle all your baseball bets! A compulsive fan's dream come true, this compendium is full of the most obscure records, coincidences, and general oddities of the great American pastime. Here are a couple of trivia warm-ups: Who is the oldest player to get a hit in the majors? (Minnie Minoso of the White Sox, at age 53.) The first man to bat on television? (The Red's Billy Werber at Ebbets Field in 1939.) The best ballplayer to come out of Prague? (The great Jim Thorpe! However, please note, Thorpe was from Prague, Oklahoma.) Out of Left Field is packed full of countless historical baseball tidbits that the devoted baseball aficionado will find truly priceless.

Tales from the Dugout:

The latest from prolific sportswriter Shannon is a very entertaining digest of more than 100 lesser-known stories about baseball legends past and present. Some hilarious, some heartwarming, all the anecdotes will be of interest to fans. Patrick Cullen adeptly conveys the diverse personalities that have shaped the game and woven it into the national fabricAfrom the fiery temper of Oriole's manager Earl Weaver to the good-natured personality of Ken Griffey Jr. A welcome addition to sports collections in public libraries.

The Baseball Same Game : http://www.baseballsamegame.com/

There is a ton of really good baseball books out there. Our Astros forum moderator Scott Barzilla has a couple of his own:

Checks and Imbalances and The Status of Baseball Management. You can find them at http://www.mcfarlandpub.com; http://www.amazon.com; and http://www.barnesandnoble.com

[PopTop]

K, does it have to be an old-fashioned book or can it be an audio-book? Even if you've read Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times, I always strongly recommend all baseball fans get the audio book and listen to those old-timers tell their tales. Really good stuff if you haven't read/heard it before.

I assume you've read Bouton's Ball Four. Have you read any of Ron Luciano's or Bob Uecker's books? And lastly, David Halberstam's Summer of '49 is really good poop, as much American History as it is baseball history.

Barzilla would definitely approve of you checking out Checks & Imbalances :cool:

[GaryMrMets]

Here's a web site with books based on baseball
http://baseball-almanac.com/bookmenu.shtml

[GaryMrMets]

Here's another site to look for books at
http://www.baseballbooks.net/