References
TOTAL BASEBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA - Sixth Edition
(John Thorn/Pete Palmer/Michael Gershman/ David Pietrusza)
Publication date: 1999
It's nice to have these Encyclopedias around, even though this one is now quite outdated, I enjoyed the varied sections in this book that went over each franchise's histories almost year by year in detail on losing big standing leagues, to freak injuries & players going off to World War II. I also love the section in this particular one on the Negro League Baseball era & it's history of defunct teams. I used the team names from the defunct teams names to help with naming franchises in my Heritage League.
The ESPN BASEBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA - Fifth Edition
(Gary Gillette & Pete Palmer) - Foreward by Peter Gammons
Publication date: 2008
I usually use this one more often than the other, for it's more accurate up-to-date stats, even though it's through the 2007 season, if I want to go beyond that, I will go to baseballreference.com of course. Just like the other one, it also has a year to year results in standings & your individual leaders for those particular seasons.
100 Years of the World Series
(Eric Enders)
Publication date: 2003
1903 - 2003
There is now a more updated version that at least went through the 2006 season (there may be one beyond that even, by now). This is definitely a must-have for all die-hard baseball fans, going through each World Series from the first one to the more recent one, and every detail of the feeling at the time & going through each game. The pictures are brilliant, and you can get lost in this book forever -- it's probably a great book to go through, if you are trying to find ideas on a particular season for doing an APBA Baseball Season replay.
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED - The Baseball Book
(Rob Fleder) - Introduction by Tom Verducci
Publication date: 2006
This is another must-have for baseball nuts, you can never go wrong when it comes down to Sports Illustrated & Baseball joining forces. There is a collection of wonderful pictures (most by the likes of Walter Iooss, Jr.) and they break down all-time player teams for each decade and what was going on in the world during that time as well -- so you get that generation feel for that time.
For example: 1960's Culture
Music of the decade: Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Beatles), Blonde on Blonde (Bob Dylan), Live at the Apollo (James Brown) & Pet Sounds (The Beach Boys).
Movies of the decade: The Sound of Music, The Graduate, Psycho, 2001: A Space Odyssey & Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Television Shows of the decade: Bonanza, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Star Trek, The Price is Right.
It would go on to do books, achievements & sex symbols as Raquel Welch (who's picured with the segment) and Steve McQueen -- from inventions (audio cassettes, Astro Turf, Kevlar & computer mouses) to Personalities of the Decade (The Beatles).
Who was Born (Bono, Barack Obama, Tom Cruise, Michael Jordan, Russell Crowe, J.K. Rowling, Mike Tyson, Pamela Anderson, L.L. Cool J & Brett Favre) to who died (Clark Gable, Ernest Hemingway, Marilyn Monroe -- who was the sex symbol for the previous decade, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Harpo Marx, Winston Churchill, Walt Disney, Carl Sandburg, and Dwight D. Eisenhower).
It would also do HOT TICKETS "10 Games You Wish You'd Seen" in each decade, it also had the best of the 1960's -- The best 5 teams combined records of the decade which the Orioles led the pack in the 60's with a 911-698 (.566) record, followed by the Giants (.562), Yankees (.551), Cardinals (.551) & Tigers (.547) to the worst teams of the decade - Expos & Padres' debut seasons of 52-110 (.321), Mets 494-799 (.382), Pilots (one season of 64-98) & Senators (.418). Most notable players to make their debuts & finales year by year & of course all-decade teams for the American & National Leagues.
There are individual pieces done by SI on the usual superstars like Mickey Mantle & Roberto Clemente to uniforms, bats & gloves from era to era, and the look back at the game & how it has evolved since. Really good book, from time to time I have seen this book on discount racks even at Books-A-Million -- normally goes around $30, not looking to buy it, than definitely look to get it for a deal on-line or on shelf or put that bad boy on your Christmas list -- because you MUST have this one.
The TEAM by TEAM Encyclopedia of MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
(Dennis Purdy) - Forward by Tony LaRussa
Publication date: 2006
This book is downright brilliant, written by Dennis Purdy (who was a columnist for USA Today & USA Today's Sports Weekly -- formerly known as Baseball Weekly). It goes through each franchise year by year with the starting lineups & rotations, their season results, franchise career leaders in every category from the beginning of time, and the best individual seasons for each batting & pitching categories. Interesting fun & weird facts in each franchise's history, you thought the Cleveland Indians had some strange things happen to them through the years? Wait to you read this stuff! There is also a section for each franchise, short career descriptions of the franchise's more notable fan favorites. This book is really compact, soft cover and fits nicely on your night stand next to your lamp, and it's addictive & informative that it constantly surprises the most knowledgeable baseball fans out there. I know this book is at my local library, so if I was you -- definitely check this book out, you won't be sorry -- personally I would just buy it, if you got the chance. A definite must, one of my favorites in the whole lot (and as you can tell, I have A LOT of Baseball books)!
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| The last edition of the Prospect Handbooks I owned. |
(Annual) BASEBALL AMERICA's PROSPECT HANDBOOK
(Baseball America)
Published Annually
These books have made me look like a General Manager genius in my BBW APBA leagues, I would go on to 5 World Championships with my Atlanta Braves (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 & 2009), I would be drafted gems in rounds as late as round 10 or 12, and at the time people would be thinking -- Why in the world are you drafting that 1*-YW pitcher with 6 innings pitched? Because I loved his scouting report, it got to a point in which a rookie is having a huge year, everyone gets excited, and I would be like "yeah, I read about him like four years ago." -- Didn't mean to sound like a pompous jerk, but Baseball America really gives you an edge, and it makes you learn a lot about the skill sets & what scouts have to say about the players inside-out.
(Annual) BASEBALL AMERICA's (Season) Almanacs
(Baseball America)
Published Annually
Published Annually
The Season almanacs are nice, because it's like a yearbook of the season that just ended, it has all the leaders, and all the franchise's team stats, including all their farm teams as well. You also get to read about everything baseball including college baseball, independent league, Japanese baseball results as well. I actually once found an old Baseball Preview magazine (that wasn't Baseball America actually) that was dated in 1998, and on the last two pages it spoke of Japanese Baseball, in which it spoke of a guy that was compared to Michael Jordan over there, the guy happened to be Ichiro Suzuki! Three years before we would officially know the name.
MLB Insiders Club Fan Guide - Your MLB Travel Resource
(MLB Insiders Club)
Publication date: 2009
I got this free with my lifetime membership to the MLB Insiders Club, it's cool, because it tells you the addresses for all the baseball stadiums, the spring training stadiums, recommended hotels & restaurants as well -- perfect for making plans for a baseball adventure!
Hall of Fame (Cooperstown) Books
HALL OF FAME PLAYERS - COOPERSTOWN
(Publications International Limited)
Publication date: 2010
One of your more typical, nice Cooperstown books on the entire class of Hall of Fame Baseball players; colorful, smooth pictures -- perfect for a baseball book collection, because let's face it, you must have a book on Hall of Famers.
BASEBALL'S HALL OF FAME - COOPERSTOWN: Where the Legends Live Forever
(Written by the editors of The Sporting News)
Original book written by Lowell Reidenbaugh
Publication date: 1997
A Black & White pictured book, not great if you love these books for their pictures, but an excellent book, which actually goes more in depth on their personal lives & the player themselves, for example: Roger Hornsby having a falling out with the Cubs, or on the last appearance of Ed Delahanty, before his life came to a crashing, mysterious end (most likely to the Niagara Falls) -- You find out what they were signed for or stories where they actually turned down teams, and stories of these players in their youths and the troubles that they had to overcome as well. Interesting stuff
Baseball in Pictures
CLASSIC BASEBALL - The Photographs of Walter Iooss, Jr.
(Walter Iooss, Jr. / Dave Anderson)
Publication date: 2003
I don't think there is too many people in the Baseball or Sports world that have no idea who Walter Iooss, Jr. is, and if for some reason you don't -- you should definitely get acquainted to his photography work. There is no one, who has probably taken more notable classic photos of the all-time greats and current stars than this guy.
BASEBALL's GREATEST MVPs
(MLB Insiders Club & Dan Rosen)
Publication date: 2008
Received this through my membership of the MLB Insider's Club, I'm a lifetime member, and have got numerous things from the club from my Tiger Gym bags, key chains, and jackets. I have a life-long subscription to the magazine, and it's wonderful to be involved in.
This book is pretty basic, cool pictures, and pretty straight forward with the greatest MVP's in Baseball history.
THE LOVE of BASEBALL
(Publications International Limited)
Publication date: 2007
Odds & Ends
SPLITTERS, SQUEEZES & STEALS - The Plays, Strategies & Rules of Baseball
(Derek Gentile)
Publication date: 2009
Nothing incredibly fancy here, it's interesting and gives you the who's who sort-of. In the pitching section it will go after the different kinds of pitches in baseball, with pictures of greats and current stars that are known for that pitch, it will also teach you how the pitch is held and thrown, plus the history of those pitches. Like I said there are some really cool interesting things in this book, but for some people like me, it sometimes states the obvious.
For example (this is from the book):
Walter Johnson (Senators 1907-1927)
"Johnson, nicknamed "The Big Train," had extremely long arms, and his throwing motion reminded some opposing players of a bullwhip."
This book has really good crisp pictures, and it would be perfect for a young kid getting introduced to the game of baseball, despite a few typos and errors in their captions that don't go with some of the pictures -- this is my only real knock on the book, it seems the editor was in a hurry and the book got rushed out, because some errors stick out like a sore thumb to the hardcore baseball fan.
For example: There's a page where it has two photos. The one above is Carlos Beltran of the Mets falling backwards and making a catch, while the picture to the right is Grady Sizemore making a diving catch. The caption says this:
"Ted Sizemore (right) makes a catch at Shea Stadium as he is falling backwards, while Carlos Beltran (above) of the Mets dives to make a snag."
For one thing it's not Ted Sizemore -- It's Grady, and yes the picture is to the right, but he's not falling backwards (and it doesn't appear to be Shea in the background) while Carlos Beltran appears to be falling backwards. It's as if someone was relaying to another person what to type and for what picture and the person doing the caption had it all shuffled.
They do a "Best of the Best" for everything Baseball related, so I found it funny (and annoying) that in the "Best of the Best: 6-4-3 double play" they happened to leave out Alan Trammell & Lou Whitaker, the longest double play combination in MLB history, while placing double play combinations of Mark Belanger & Bobby Grich (Orioles) from 1973-1976 and Billy Herman & Billy Jurges (Cubs) from 1931-1938, instead!
Not a bad book if you can overlook these things, it was a wonderful gift though I must add -- but in all things baseball, it's not a must-have, but could be perfect for young people learning the game of baseball.
Nothing incredibly fancy here, it's interesting and gives you the who's who sort-of. In the pitching section it will go after the different kinds of pitches in baseball, with pictures of greats and current stars that are known for that pitch, it will also teach you how the pitch is held and thrown, plus the history of those pitches. Like I said there are some really cool interesting things in this book, but for some people like me, it sometimes states the obvious.
For example (this is from the book):
Walter Johnson (Senators 1907-1927)
"Johnson, nicknamed "The Big Train," had extremely long arms, and his throwing motion reminded some opposing players of a bullwhip."
This book has really good crisp pictures, and it would be perfect for a young kid getting introduced to the game of baseball, despite a few typos and errors in their captions that don't go with some of the pictures -- this is my only real knock on the book, it seems the editor was in a hurry and the book got rushed out, because some errors stick out like a sore thumb to the hardcore baseball fan.
For example: There's a page where it has two photos. The one above is Carlos Beltran of the Mets falling backwards and making a catch, while the picture to the right is Grady Sizemore making a diving catch. The caption says this:
"Ted Sizemore (right) makes a catch at Shea Stadium as he is falling backwards, while Carlos Beltran (above) of the Mets dives to make a snag."
For one thing it's not Ted Sizemore -- It's Grady, and yes the picture is to the right, but he's not falling backwards (and it doesn't appear to be Shea in the background) while Carlos Beltran appears to be falling backwards. It's as if someone was relaying to another person what to type and for what picture and the person doing the caption had it all shuffled.
They do a "Best of the Best" for everything Baseball related, so I found it funny (and annoying) that in the "Best of the Best: 6-4-3 double play" they happened to leave out Alan Trammell & Lou Whitaker, the longest double play combination in MLB history, while placing double play combinations of Mark Belanger & Bobby Grich (Orioles) from 1973-1976 and Billy Herman & Billy Jurges (Cubs) from 1931-1938, instead!
Not a bad book if you can overlook these things, it was a wonderful gift though I must add -- but in all things baseball, it's not a must-have, but could be perfect for young people learning the game of baseball.
FLIP FLOP FLY BALL - An Infographic Baseball Adventure
(Craig Robinson) - Forward by Rob Neyer
Publication date: 2009
This has to be one of the most unique books out there, it's written by a guy who was born in Europe, and he ends up falling in love with the sport, and has dug through history and the current game and has made some awesome designs and graphs based on facts, some of the facts being quite absurd as well.
For example some of these are not from the book (those will be with an *, book would be in bold)
You can also check out his website: http://www.flipflopflyin.com/flipflopflyball/infographics.html
This has to be one of the most unique books out there, it's written by a guy who was born in Europe, and he ends up falling in love with the sport, and has dug through history and the current game and has made some awesome designs and graphs based on facts, some of the facts being quite absurd as well.
For example some of these are not from the book (those will be with an *, book would be in bold)
- Retired Yankee numbers & the rate of running out of numbers.
- If the 2012 Standings were Presidents*...
- The height of the Green Monster - Height Comparison
- Barry Bonds*
- Ticket Prices - The funny thing is that the Yankees go on for like 3 to 4 pages (LOL!)
- Height of MLB Players*
- The Definitive Jackie Robinson Infograph*
- The Beatles*
- After Jackie
- White Sox & Red Sox*
- The Path to Swisher
- Flopps*
- First & Last Career At-Bats*
There is another cool graphic I love that he did of all the managers' movements with franchises during Bobby Cox's complete tenure with the Atlanta Braves -- it's pretty amazing.
You can also check out his website: http://www.flipflopflyin.com/flipflopflyball/infographics.html
TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLPARK: An Illustrated Look at Baseball Parks (Past & Present)
(Josh Leventhal)
Publication date: 2006
LEVELING THE FIELD
(G. Scott Thomas)
Publication date: (2003?)
GREAT BASEBALL FILMS
(Rob Edelman)
Publication date: 1994
Time Machine
BASEBALL AMERICANA - Tales from the Library of Congress
(Harry Katz/Frank Ceresi/Phil Michel/Wilson McBee/Susan Reyburn)
Forward by George F. Will
Publication date: 2009
CLASSIC BASEBALL CARDS: The Golden Years 1886 - 1956
(Warner Books) - Foreward by Yogi Berra
Publication date: 1987
BASEBALL in the 50's - An Illustrated History
(Donald Honig)
Publication date: 1987
BASEBALL in the GARDEN of EDEN - The Secret History of the Early Game
(John Thorn)
Publication date: 2011
BASEBALL in the GARDEN of EDEN - The Secret History of the Early Game
(John Thorn)
Publication date: 2011
HEROES of the NEGRO LEAGUES
(Mark Chiarello [Artist] & Jack Morelli [writer]) - Forward by Monte Irvin.
100 Greatest Hitters
(Benton Minks)
Publication date: 1996
Summer of 68'
(Tim Wendel)
BASES LOADED - The Inside Story of the Steroid Era in Baseball
(Kirk Radomski with David Fisher)
Summer of 68'
(Tim Wendel)
BASES LOADED - The Inside Story of the Steroid Era in Baseball
(Kirk Radomski with David Fisher)
SOMETHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT - Great Baseball Memories in Letters to a Fan
(Seth Swirsky)
Publication date: 2003
CHICKEN SOUP for the BASEBALL FAN's SOUL
(Jack Canfield/Mark Victor Hansen) with Mark & Chrissy Donnelly/Tommy LaSorda.
Publication date: 2001
Player Profiles
CLEMENTE
(David Maraniss)
Publication date: 2007
HANK AARON - HOME RUN: My Life in Pictures
(Dick Schaap) - Forward by Ted Williams
Special Essay by Jerome Holtzman
Publication date: 1999
JACKIE ROBINSON: An Intimate Portrait
(Rachel Robinson - his widow) - Forward by Roger Wilkins, w/ Lee Daniels.
Publication date: 2009
THE YOGI BOOK
(Yogi Berra) - Forward by Joe Garagiola
Publication date: 1998
Team Profiles
BLESS YOU BOYS - Diary of the Detroit Tigers' 1984 Season (World Series Edition)
(Sparky Anderson)
Publication date: 1984
WIRE TO WIRE - Inside the 1984 Detroit Tigers Championship Season
(George Cantor) - Forward by Chet Lemon
Publication date: 2004
The GOOD, The BAD & The UGLY - DETROIT TIGERS
(George Cantor) - Forward by Willie Horton
Publication date: 2008
Baseball Trivia Books
The ULTIMATE BASEBALL Quiz Book (Soft Cover)
(Dom Forker)
Publication date: 1981
World Series Programs
- 2005 Official Major League Baseball World Series Program
- 2010 Official Major League Baseball World Series Program
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