BBTF.org/m/books : Polman: Top 25 Baseball Books for Your Desert Island

Friday, May 10, 2013

Harper’s: Lucas Mann on hope and change in a minor-league-baseball city

(harpers.org)

posted 2 weeks ago by Neutral Milk Dotel (Dan Lee) to books, minor leagues | 4 comment(s)

There are thousands of young men on minor-league baseball rosters working toward a spot in the majors. Most of them won’t make it. With this in mind, essayist Lucas Mann spent the 2010 season in Clinton, Iowa, watching the city’s Class A team, the LumberKings. In his new book, Class A: Baseball in the Middle of Everywhere (Pantheon), Mann writes about becoming intimate with the players, the fans, and the town, and explores the themes of nostalgia, failure, and hope.

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1. JoeHova posted on March 07, 2012 at 01:45 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

No Ball Four? I don't think I can take this guy's opinion very seriously. Or, more concisely, what a ####### idiot.

2. cardsfanboy

posted on March 07, 2012 at 01:52 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Is it possible to take a list seriously that doesn't include Ball Four? I'm also not sure I could find myself enjoying reading multiple books on the Red Sox. I probably also include Boys of Summer, and Only the Ball was White personally. And I loved Fantasy land, but I can understand how that wouldn't be a desert island book.

Of course now that I'm thinking of it, I would really love to beef up my baseball book collection. Mostly what I've got are resource books, very few 'books'.

3. Fred Lynn Nolan Ryan Sweeney Agonistes posted on March 07, 2012 at 01:52 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Did anybody here read The Art of Fielding? My library copy just came in but I haven't started it yet.

EDIT: also, Hornsby Hit One Over My Head sounds very promising. I hadn't heard of it, either.

4. Dale Sams posted on March 07, 2012 at 01:59 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Replace the stat-driven #24 and replace it with "Faithful". Replace the coffee-table books with "Ball Four" and something else.

5. Smyly Smile (Walewander) posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:01 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Oh man, Faithful is one of the worst baseball books - worst books period, actually, that I've ever read.

6. gef the talking mongoose posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:06 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Off the top of my head, I'd take The Pitch That Killed, as well as that book from a few years ago that I can't remember the name of but that covers some of the early, pre-SABR stat guys.

And Bill James' The Politics of Glory, though I think it's been reissued (& maybe revised?) under another title.

7. Perry posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:08 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Did anybody here read The Art of Fielding? My library copy just came in but I haven't started it yet.

I did. Very engaging and entertaining. Up there with The Celebrant as a contender for best baseball novel I've read.

8. esseff posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:11 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Ball Four is accounted for in his squib for No. 16. He picks Brosnan instead.

I consider Harold Seymour's first two volumes to be baseball essentials.

And I'd include Jules Tygiel's "Baseball's Great Experiment," which goes beyond a Jackie Robinson biography to be a history of the integration of baseball.

9. cardsfanboy

posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:12 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Politics of Glory is called Whatever happened to the Hall of Fame, and I agree, great book. The pre-stat book you might be thinking about is The Numbers game by Alan Schwarz. A very good book.

I keep thinking I haven't read many baseball books(you know like maybe a dozen) but then I actually think back about the ones I've read and it's gotta be close to 50 or more. Sure nothing like many of you on here, but still somewhat a surprising number to me.

10. eddieot posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:15 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Did anybody here read The Art of Fielding? My library copy just came in but I haven't started it yet.

I'm about 2/3 through it now and it is already the best baseball novel I've ever read, and definitely one of the best first novels.

11. eddieot posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:17 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I also thoroughly enjoyed "The Game From Where I Stand" by Doug Glanville. His story is not the most compelling but Glanville's insights into the insecurities and attitudes of today's MLB player is fascinating. It's as honest a book I've ever read by an athlete.

12. Dock Ellis on Acid

posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:19 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I'm also a big fan of Philip Roth's The Great American Novel.

13. Fred Lynn Nolan Ryan Sweeney Agonistes posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:19 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Up there with The Celebrant as a contender for best baseball novel I've read.

Oh, goody. I can start that tonight.
I just went & requested all the books from this list that I either haven't read (Brosnan), or haven't read in a long time (no Babe, but they did have Creamer's Stengel book).
Less than 30 days to Opening Day, so a baseball-book binge sounds like just the right thing.

EDIT:

And I'd include Jules Tygiel's "Baseball's Great Experiment," which goes beyond a Jackie Robinson biography to be a history of the integration of baseball.

You know what, I'm gonna find that one, too. I took a class Tygiel co-taught at SF State, Baseball: History and Fiction. It was a lot of fun. That was required reading (he taught the "history" side), and I remember liking it. I know the copy he signed is around here SOMEwhere...

14. Jolly Old St. Nick Done Jumped The Ship

posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:20 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I can't say that these are "the best" 25 for sure, but here are 25 that I couldn't do without. With apologies for counting several series as one book each:

Branch Rickey's The American Diamond, with the Robert Rigor photos and illustrations
Ball Four
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract
Fred Lieb's Baseball As I Have Known It
Johnny Evers' Touching Second

Leonard Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball
Harold Parrott's The Lords of Baseball
Rob Neyer's Baseball Dynasties
The Glenn Stout "Century" series of team histories (four and counting)
The Mark Stang team photo archive (eight and counting)

The Putnam team histories (16 or 17, if you count the revised Milwaukee version of the Boston Braves)
Damon Rice's Seasons Past (a novel of 100 years of baseball fandom from the 1850's through the 1950's, centered around New York City teams)
Leo Durocher's Nice Guys Finish Last
Marc Okkonen's Baseball Uniforms of the Twentieth Century
Lee Allen's The Hot Stove League

The Fireside Book of Baseball (4 separate collections)
Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times
John Holway's Voices From the Great Black Baseball Leagues
Robert Peterson's Only The Ball Was White
Jules Tygiel's The Great Experiment

Lee Lowenfish's Branch Rickey
Arnold Hano's A Day in the Bleachers
Ted Patterson's The Golden Voices of Baseball (with audio CD's)
Jane Leavy's The Last Boy (Mantle bio)
Charles Alexander's Ty Cobb

And a special mention to the Congressional Monopoly hearings on baseball from the early 50's through the mid-70's, especially the first ones in 1951-52. They're a baseball historian's gold mine of information.

15. Perry posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:21 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Not a bad list, actually, although leaving off Ball Four and Glory of Their Times is unforgivable, as is completely ignoring Ed Linn (either Veeck As In Wreck, Nice Guys Finish Last, or the one about the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry). And I might have found space for The Echoing Green. But kudos for picking October '64 over Summer of '49 to represent Halberstam, for picking the relatively little-known Crazy '08 and The Unforgettable Season, and for a surprising and worthy #1. And yes, Hornsby Hit One Over My Head sounds like it's worth checking out.

16. Walt Davis posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:22 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Robert Coover's Universal Baseball Association

Interesting that neither The Natural nor The Great American Novel make it although I don't object to their absence (both have their moments but aren't astounding). But then this guy doesn't seem much of a fiction fan.

17. gef the talking mongoose posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:22 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

The pre-stat book you might be thinking about is The Numbers game by Alan Schwarz. A very good book.

That's it. Thanks!

I'd probably also include some representative Blue Sox juvenile of Duane Decker's, just because I devoured them as a kid.

18. Jolly Old St. Nick Done Jumped The Ship

posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:25 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Actually that wasn't that bad a list of Polman's. I like that he had Hano's A Day in the Bleachers at the top, since that's the best "day in the life of a fan" book that's ever been written, and will likely hold that position for many years to come.

19. gef the talking mongoose posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:30 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

As a native of Arkansas, & especially its benighted southwest corner, I'm duty-bound to include Donald Hays' The Dixie Association. Luckily, it's so well-written that it wouldn't matter if the setting were Kuala Lumpur.

20. Tulo's Fishy Mullet (mrams) posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:30 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Did anybody here read The Art of Fielding? My library copy just came in but I haven't started it yet.

I'm about 2/3 through it now and it is already the best baseball novel I've ever read, and definitely one of the best first novels.

terrific characters, writing, storyline, etc. only complaint the tail end was a little too predictable to me. I definitely enjoyed the novel, memorable indeed.

21. Dag Nabbit has the talking pillow posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:31 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

[Insert gratuitous self-promotion for Evaluating Baseball's Managers here].

22. Bob Evans posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:32 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I noted that he claimed to be confining himself to books he had, so perhaps that explains why Ball Four (or any other other title) isn't on the list.

Unless you've read 'em all, there's good reading for you in there for sure. It's a fine list.

Edit: an interesting list would be baseball books that would appeal to non-fans.

23. Fred Lynn Nolan Ryan Sweeney Agonistes posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:36 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Edit: an interesting list would be baseball books that would appeal to non-fans.

Bingo Long?

24. esseff posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:41 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Edit: an interesting list would be baseball books that would appeal to non-fans.

I think "Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life" could have such an audience.

25. Perry posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:42 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

By the way, I'd never claim Top 25 status for it, but a recent baseball book I enjoyed quite a bit that seems to have sunk without a trace is Will Leitch's Are We Winning?, which I found to be a very touching memoir/father-son story.

26. Gold Star for Robothal posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:42 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Ditto on Dixie Association. Great book.

27. Esmailyn Gonzalez Sr. posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:55 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Universal Baseball Association

Agreed, although it would be a close 2nd to The Bullpen Gospels for me. My favorite read ever.

28. Bob Evans posted on March 07, 2012 at 02:57 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Bingo Long?

One of a long list of books I haven't read! It's good, I take it?

29. Bob Evans posted on March 07, 2012 at 03:03 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I think "Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life" could have such an audience.

Bios are always in play, no? I read a bio of Rupert Brooke a while back (won the book in a contest), and God help me it was interesting.

30. cardsfanboy

posted on March 07, 2012 at 03:03 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

21. Dag Nabbit and his imaginary friends Posted: March 07, 2012 at 01:31 PM (#4075991)
[Insert gratuitous self-promotion for Evaluating Baseball's Managers here].

Great book, one of three books I usually make sure is easily on hand(along with New Historical Baseball Abstract and the most recent Prospectus) for all types of fun debates.

31. gef the talking mongoose posted on March 07, 2012 at 03:04 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Edit: an interesting list would be baseball books that would appeal to non-fans.

Pride of the Bimbos, If I Never Get Back, Brittle Innings & Troy Soos' Mickey Rawlings mysteries all come to mind.

Also, W.P. Kinsella's work.

32. gef the talking mongoose posted on March 07, 2012 at 03:06 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Note to self: Re-investigate old idea of turning 8 Men Out into a musical.

33. winnipegwhip posted on March 07, 2012 at 03:11 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Individual viewpoints can differ and rightly so. But I find that in a list of 25 baseball books wide ranging in topics and it doesn't include RITTER's Glory of Their Times the list brings about a failing grade.

34. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) posted on March 07, 2012 at 03:13 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Re-investigate old idea of turning 8 Men Out into a musical.

what rhymes with "Cicotte"?

35. TerpNats posted on March 07, 2012 at 03:21 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Don't forget "Beyond The Shadow Of The Senators," about the Homestead Grays in particular and about baseball and the black experience in Washington in the '30s and '40s in general.

36. gef the talking mongoose posted on March 07, 2012 at 03:27 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

what rhymes with "Cicotte"?

Nekot.

37. winnipegwhip posted on March 07, 2012 at 03:31 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

My alltime 5:

Charles Alexander's Cobb
Glory of Their Times
To Every Thing a Season Shibe Park and Urban Philadelphia by Bruce Kurlick
Pinstripe Summers by Dick Lally (about the Horace Clarke era Yankees - Dog Days by Philip Bashe is worthwhile also)
Echoing Green by Joshua Prager
Veeck as in Wreck

Other Faves:

Seasons in Hell (about the Bob Short era Texas Rangers)
Pinstripe Summers by Dick Lally (about the Horace Clarke era Yankees - Dog Days by Philip Bashe is worthwhile also)
Honig's versions of Glory of Their Times (Manager in the Dugout) (When the Grass Was Real)
The Last Boy

38. Dag Nabbit has the talking pillow posted on March 07, 2012 at 03:32 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Based on five minutes of thought: My top 25, in no particular order (grouped into fives for counting purposes):

Bill James Guide to Managers, Bill James
Where They Ain't, Burt Solomon
Baseball Dynasties, Rob Neyer & Eddie Epstein
Baseball Historical Abstract (the original), Bill James
July 2, 1903, Mike Sowell

Moneyball, Michael Lewis
The Numbers Game, Alan Schwartz
Paths to Glory, Mark Armour & Daniel Levitt
Baseball's Great Experiment, Jules Tygiel
Crazy '08, Cait Murphy

It Ain't Over 'til Its Over, Baseball Prospectus
Man in the Dugout, Leonard Koppett
Yankee Years, Joe Torre and Tom Verducci
Big Hair & Plastic Grass, Dan Epstein
No More Mr. Nice Guy, Dick Williams & Bill Plaschke

1921, Lyle Spatz & Steve Steinberg
Extra 2%, Jonah Keri
Ball Four, Jim Bouton
The Glory of Their Times, Lawrence Ritter
Hall of Shame, Nash & Zullo

Politics of Glory, Bill James
Eight Men Out, Eliot Asimof
The Umpire Strikes Back, Ron Luciano
yes, Evaluating Baseball's Manager, by Chris Jaffe (I put enough work into dammit, and obviously I find the subject matter interesting
Last slot: either The Game from Where I Stand by Doug Glanville or As They See 'em by Bruce Weber.

39. Yonder Alonso in misguided trousers (cardinal) posted on March 07, 2012 at 03:35 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I got October 1964 for my brother-in-law's dad last Christmas. He's from Pittsburgh, and lives there now, but grew up and remains a huge Yankees fan.

He'd gotten me a book Christmas 2010, about the first World Series, in 1903 between the Pirates and Boston Americans. I can't remember the name of the book, but I enjoyed it, particular how weirdly different the game (not to mention society) was back then.

40. Tom Nawrocki posted on March 07, 2012 at 03:41 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I'm glad to see The Great American Baseball Card etc. book on his list. That one's a classic that doesn't get talked a lot about, but everyone who has read it just loves it.

I personally think Crazy 08 is somewhat overrated. I found her writing a little bloodless.

41. gef the talking mongoose posted on March 07, 2012 at 03:49 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I'm also really fond of Steve Fireovid's (or whoever his ghostwriter was; I forget) The 26th Man & Pat Jordan's A False Spring. And ~~that book I can't remember the name of about the short-lived attempt at a senior baseball league in Florida around 20 years ago.~~ Peter Golenbock's The Forever Boys.

42. oscar madisox posted on March 07, 2012 at 04:16 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I love "Ball Four" and would applaud its inclusion on any list, but my favorite book from that era is "Joe, You Could'a Made Us Proud." It's one of the most forthright baseball autobiographies I've read. I always thought it would make one hell of a Martin Scorsese movie.

43. Ace of Kevin Bass posted on March 07, 2012 at 04:26 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

The Brothers K has to be on any list like this, if you can call it a "baseball book."

44. Perry posted on March 07, 2012 at 05:11 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

The Brothers K has to be on any list like this, if you can call it a "baseball book."

Agreed it's a terrific book, but in my recollection it's only about 5% baseball content. Maybe I'm off on that, but when I think of great baseball novels, that doesn't ever come to mind, even though I loved it.

45. The_Ex posted on March 07, 2012 at 05:27 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I nominate Dollar Sign on the Muscle.

46. Jolly Old St. Nick Done Jumped The Ship

posted on March 07, 2012 at 05:42 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Don't forget "Beyond The Shadow Of The Senators," about the Homestead Grays in particular and about baseball and the black experience in Washington in the '30s and '40s in general.

Absolutely. A fabulous book on many levels, especially to someone who grew up in Washington and has memories of Griffith and Griffith Stadium. It's too bad that the Brad Snyder had to stop writing books and go back to being a lawyer in order to earn a living, because he was one of the better new writers of the past decade.

47. Downtown Bookie

posted on March 07, 2012 at 05:54 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

From TFA:

9. The Unforgettable Season, by G. H. Fleming

The other book here about 1908. This one merely covers the National League race, but what makes it amazing is that Fleming tells the story by compiling and re-printing actual newspaper accounts of the games from New York, Chicago and Pittsburgh newspapers. Baseball reporters wrote very differently back then, and the flowery game descriptions are remarkable to read. The definition of tour de force.

Having read and fallen in love with this book myself, I wish there were books just like it about each and every baseball season.

DB

48. NJ in NY posted on March 07, 2012 at 06:18 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Has anyone mentioned The Bullpen Gospels? That was fantastic.

49. Perry posted on March 07, 2012 at 06:28 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Having read and fallen in love with this book myself, I wish there were books just like it about each and every baseball season.

Fleming did do one other in this style, about the 1934 season. Long out of print, but there are used copies on Amazon. The Dizziest Season.

50. Fred Lynn Nolan Ryan Sweeney Agonistes posted on March 07, 2012 at 06:29 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Bingo Long.
One of a long list of books I haven't read! It's good, I take it?

Yes.
It's a portrait of a barnstorming Negro Leagues team in the late 30's - full title is The Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars and Motor Kings. Good story, very well-written.

I'll second the appreciation for Dollar Sign on the Muscle and A False Spring, and add that Jordan's sequel, A Nice Tuesday, is also excellent.

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Friday, May 10, 2013

Harper’s: Lucas Mann on hope and change in a minor-league-baseball city

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