Editorial Review

In 2001, the 50th-anniversary year of "The Shot Heard 'Round the World," Bobby Thomson's pennant-winning home run against the Dodgers that is almost unanimously considered the greatest moment in baseball history, Joshua Prager broke the story in Read more

Reviews (3)

This should have been a much better book
This should have been a great book.It deals with an absolutely fascinating subject, the intersection between the Bobby Thomson home run to win the National League pennant in 1951 and how that home run resonated in American culture and the effect of the home run both on the hitter and the pitcher Ralph Branca.There is much amazing research and some very powerful sections of the book.
The Giants DID steal the 1951 pennant !!!
In 1951, the New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers to win the National League pennant when Bobby Thomson hit a home run off Brooklyn pitcher Ralph Branca in the Giant's home park to end the third game of a three-game playoff series. I was a very small child growing up in Brooklyn then.To this day, I find it astonishing that I did not know of the event when it happened. Perhaps, it was because adults shielded children from the tragedy and did not discuss it in their presence.
Incredibly researched!
I couldn't put this book down. I was born in 1966 so I don't know much about the "Shot Heard Round the World." I am a baseball fanatic but even if I wasn't, this book develops the characters of two people who were drawn to each other for a lifetime because of one simple moment that was so important for so many. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1923-    2. 20th century    3. Baseball    4. Baseball - History    5. History    6. New York    7. New York (State)    8. New York Giants (Baseball team)    9. Sports    10. Sports & Recreation    11. Thomson, Bobby,    12. Sports & Recreation / Baseball / History   

Reviews (1)

Sports Illustrated: The Baseball Book
A must for any Baseball fan. The photos in this book are simply amazing. It will make you fall in love again with the game you grew up on. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Baseball    2. Baseball - Essays & Writings    3. Baseball - General    4. Baseball - History    5. Baseball players    6. Biography    7. Essays    8. History    9. Sports    10. Sports & Recreation    11. Subjects & Themes - General    12. United States    13. Sports & Recreation / Baseball / General   

Reviews (1)

Best Baseball Book & Best Law Book I've Read In Years
Brad Snyder has done it again. Following on the heels of his much-acclaimed Beyond The Shadow of the Senators, Snyder returns to the pinnacle of his profession with A Well-Paid Slave, a gripping account of Curt Flood's fight for free agency in professional sports. In my opinion, Snyder's latest work is at once the best baseball book and the best law book that I've read in years. It is a gem that shows off Snyder's talents as a writer, researcher, and legal analyst.
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Subjects:  1. African American baseball players    2. Baseball    3. Baseball - History    4. Baseball players    5. Biography    6. Free agents (Sports)    7. Sports    8. Sports & Recreation    9. United States    10. Sports & Recreation / Baseball / History   

Editorial Review

Billy Beane, general manager of MLB's Oakland A's and protagonist of Michael Lewis's Read more

Reviews (307)

Fantastic book
This is a perfect example of edutainment at its best.Terrfic fun while simultaneously teaching you a great deal about the key factors that determine a teams win rate.Aside from the style and the analysis this book also does something even more valuable: It highlights a management approach that is truly based on merit, as opposed to how "pretty" an athelete is or how much charisma they have.For people who believe that the USA is as close as any country to being a meritocracy - this book is a shining example of just that.I am truly astonished and dismayed by the negative reviews I have read.I can't wait for Lewis to write his next book.

Reveals More About Baseball
Money Ball was a great book. It shows that you don't need money to win in baseball(take that Yankees ;-P) Michael Lewis reavels that the team with the 2nd lowest payroll, the Oakland Athletics, can have so much dominance and success in a game where the best baseball players usually end up with the richest team. Lewis also tells the story of Billy Beane the GM of the Athletics. Billy's bad attitude and foul temper prevented him from making in the MLB. He exerts his attitude as a force over the so-called "experts" when a desicion must be made. Billy constanly goes against what the scouts think a drafts players that nobody has heard of. He shows that there are many aspects of the game that we don't know. All in all, this was an excellant book. My only complaint was that there was a lot of swearing.--- Jesse Hartman

This is a great read!
If you are a fan, this is a great read.If you are not a fan, but just interested in the game, it is still a great read.What I find most amusing are the baseball "experts" who poo-poo Billy Bean's approach to fielding and running a baseball team."The proof of the pudding is in the eatin'" and the cognocenti appear to dislike the taste.The Oakland A's have been one of the stellar teams, yet, it appears that success is not what is important.What is important is success based on the recipe that the "experts" write. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Baseball    2. Baseball - General    3. Baseball players    4. Economic aspects    5. Management - General    6. Salaries, etc.    7. Scouting    8. Sports    9. Sports & Recreation    10. Sports Economics    11. United States    12. USA   

Reviews (90)

A "must have" for your preparedness kit
Takes up less space the "rolled" bathroom tissue.

The joy is in the footnotes
As a religious reader of Simmons' stuff online, I was sketpical about buying this book. The extensive footnotes, however, which contain added jokes, exponential material and goofy asides made it more than worthwhile. The fun of this collection wasn't so much in reading the articles again, but in learning what the author thought about them as time passed.

No need to love baseball to love this book
I was actually reading one of the classics received by my sister and brother-in-law (both teachers) when this book arrived in the mail...needless to say, the classic sat and gathered dust while I tore through the whole book without stopping.If you a sports fan and/or pop culture fan, you will find this book extremely entertaining.Even if you don't know the finer points of baseball, or the gruesome details of the Red Sox's struggles before winning the big one, this book will still keep you riveted and laughing long after your first web search for some of the more obscure movie star and sports star references.No longer a hidden gem, Bill Simmons has made his mark and is becoming a household name, and has drawn in non-sports fans to join his die-hard New England followers.If you are already a big sports fan, then you probably don't need to read this review as you already have the book in your possession... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Baseball    2. Baseball - Essays & Writings    3. Baseball - History    4. Sports    5. Sports & Recreation    6. Sports & Recreation / General   

Reviews (25)

Feeding the Monster Satisfies
In author and Vanity Fair editor, Seth Mnookin's, ode to the Boston Red Sox, Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top, you will find much more than you bargained for! Mnookin begins with a brief biography of the Red Sox peppered with League history and unique player backgrounds in Part I: A Century of Boston Baseball. Here we learn more about Tom Yawkey than any newspaper ever revealed since Yawkey bought the Red Sox just before his 30th birthday in 1933, and we find out just exactly what lies behind "The Curse of the Bambino".
Good read
I burned through this book, as I do believe it's a great read for true Sox fans. To disagree with a few reviews: 1) I don't think you can get this sort of behind the scense glimpse at the management level info from reading the Globe/Herald. You can't believe 1/2 of what they print. 2) It doesn't focus on the clubhouse/players, as someone pointed out, but that's not the goal.
Best Sports Book - Could Not Put It Down!!
I just (last night) got back from Asia and thank God I had this book to read on all my plane rides.It was a GREAT book, and that comes from a Cardinal fan.This was as good if not the best sports book I have ever read.I would say that I am jealous of Seth, but I am not.While I would have loved to follow the team and the inner workings as he did, I could never have retold the story as he did.I could not put the book down.
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Subjects:  1. (2004)    2. Baseball    3. Baseball - History    4. Baseball - Specific Teams    5. Baseball fans    6. Boston    7. Boston Red Sox (Baseball team)    8. History    9. Massachusetts    10. Sports    11. Sports & Recreation    12. World Series (Baseball)    13. Sports & Recreation / Baseball / General   

Reviews (4)

Great Book
I was looking for new plays and ideas..Got a lot of great ideas

Blackboard strategies
Excellent concise book with plenty of ideas to suit any type of team you coach. Great ideas and easy to read and understand.

Great way to build FUN-damental hoops knowledge base
Whether you are a coach (at any level) or a casual fan, this book has something for you. Page after page of plays guarantee you'll find something that works for you.
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Subjects:  1. Coaching - Baseball    2. Sports    3. Sports & Recreation    4. Sports & Recreation / Basketball    5. Basketball    6. Coaching    7. Offense    8. Strategy   

Reviews (36)

Great story, Great man
This was a great read whether you're a Pirates and/or Clemente fan or not. You walk away from it truly appreciating the game, Roberto and his charitable side.

A Career and Life Beyond the Statistics
I have always been an admirer of Roberto Clemente. During his career he stood out because of his high batting averages in a period of pitcher dominance and legendary throwing arm. Watching his performance on television in the 1971 World Series sealed the deal for me. That World Series was one of the most entertaining of my life (I am not a Pirates fan) and his heroics were largely responsible. He really did seem to almost single-handedly lead the Pirates to victory over the favored Orioles, not withstanding the significant, if not vital, contributions of other Pirates such as Steve Blass (especially), Bob Robertson, and Bruce Kison. Although Clemente had a reputation for being a hypochondriac and difficult with the press earlier in his career, by this time he was universally admired and grouped with baseball's elite. Clemente, by David Maraniss, tells the story of how this came about. Starting with Clemente's boyhood in Puerto Rico, Maraniss chronicles his life and times. Besides describing his journey as a Hall of Fame ballplayer and development as a bona fide role model, Maraniss also presents a portrait of the era. Adding to the tragedy of Clemente's early death is that he could have had as equally a rewarding life after baseball as a public figure, philantropist and possibly a politcian.I learned a lot about baseball in Puerto Rico and the difficulties and discrimination Clemente faced as a black man coming into a foreign culture. The book is a reminder that bigotry did not stop in organized baseball with the advent of Jackie Robinson. For those interested in baseball history, the book contains an interesting profile of the World Champion 1960 Pittsburg Pirates and the city of Pittsburg in the fifties through the early seventies. The 1971 World Championship then served as Clemente's coronation into the baseball pantheon. Whether Clemente was truly one of the greatest of all time is open to debate. My opinion is that while he was a solid Hall of Famer, Clemente was a level below such players as Mays, Aaron, and Mantle. The stats simply do place him at their level. I understand that there is more to baseball than the statistics. At one point Maraniss acknowledges Clemente's statistical weaknesses, but he points that his greatness, like an artist, cannot be measured. I agree with him that there is more to rating a player than raw statistics. However, the same can be said for the three players mentioned above and many others. In my opinion, Clemente was a great player, but does not deserve the canonization that some call for to this day. However, as a man, Clemente should be judged on more than statistics when reviewing his life. I will conclude by saying he led a good life, made a positive and lasting impact on the world, and provided me (and many others) with many thrills and chills on the baseball field.

Baseball even if your don't know the game
I am not a sports fan so I don't follow any of the happenings in those fields.Therefore, I was not sure that I would enjoy CLEMENTE but listened to it anyway.What I am is a Curious Kitty meaning that I like to know about people and their lives.This book is that type of story.
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Subjects:  1. 1934-1972    2. Baseball    3. Baseball - History    4. Baseball players    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Biography / Autobiography    8. Biography And Autobiography    9. Biography/Autobiography    10. Clemente, Roberto,    11. Ethnic Studies - Hispanic American Studies    12. Puerto Rico    13. Sports - Baseball    14. Sports - General    15. Biography & Autobiography / Sports   

Reviews (73)

Memories for Cardinals fans delivered in terrible prose
This lifelong Cardinals fan managed to get through the book, but it's hard to imagine any non Cardinals fan who is not a speed reader doing the same.
Three Nights In August
Great baseball book. Very well written. Speaks to the hardship of coaching and the sacrifices that Tony LaRussa has made. Contains some interesting stories.

Quick read but has staying power
I bought this book in an airport and read it over several days on airplanes.It held my interest pretty well.It compares well to some of the best baseball writers and is a mix of story-line and analysis.Basically it covers a 3 game series between the Cubs and Cards in August 2003.There are several excursions into timelines of various players and events, but mostly the book is an analysis of the players and the games in this series.
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Subjects:  1. Baseball    2. Baseball - History    3. Baseball - Specific Teams    4. Chicago Cubs (Baseball team)    5. La Russa, Tony    6. Sports    7. Sports & Recreation    8. St. Louis Cardinals (Baseball    9. St. Louis Cardinals (Baseball team)    10. Sports & Recreation / Baseball / History   

Subjects:  1. Sports - General    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Mantle, Mickey,    5. Sports - Baseball    6. Biography & Autobiography / Sports    7. Sports & Recreation / Baseball / General    8. Sports; baseball; biography    9. 1931-    10. United States    11. Biography/Autobiography    12. Baseball    13. Biography And Autobiography    14. Baseball players    15. Biography   

Reviews (29)

From a avowed Yankee Hater
About 1 out of every 2 baseball biographies seems to be about a Yankee.As a Yankee Hater, I loath that.However, I was at the library and decided to try The Big Bam by Leigh Montville.
An Exciting Update of Babe Ruth's Legend!
For those of us who grew up listening to baseball games on the radio rather than seeing them on television, this abridged audio is a real treat.Leigh Montville's dramatic story of the Sultan of Swat, the Bambino, the Big Bam, comes to life as Adam Grupper recounts both observed (the "called" home run) and recreated moments in this fine recording.After all, would you rather read about someone hitting the longest home run in a given ball park . . . or listen to a virtually breathless account of the same?I know which I would choose . . . every time!
Brings the Bambino to life
When my daughter saw me reading this book she exclaimed, "Don't you know everything about Babe Ruth already?" Well, even if I thought I did, this book made me aware of how little I knew. I had read most of the previous biographies from Tom Meany's to Robert Creamer's. But Leigh Montville's book is the last word on Ruth. What an enormous amount of research he put in, yet he did not let the material overwhelm his subject. The Babe comes through in living color. I don't think any player has ever captured the imagination of the American public more or has been treated more shabbily by the sport he enhanced. I think one reason that Babe Ruth continues to be the gold standard to baseball fans is because, unlike the spoiled players of today who make millions of dollars a year and charge for an autograph, Babe loved being "Babe Ruth." He made appearances for kids, he autographed baseballs, he autographed $20 bills. He gave as much as he received both on and off the field.
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Subjects:  1. 1895-1948    2. Baseball    3. Baseball - History    4. Baseball players    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Biography / Autobiography    8. Biography/Autobiography    9. Ruth, Babe,    10. Sports - Baseball    11. Sports - General    12. U.S. History - Early 20th Century    13. United States    14. Biography & Autobiography / Sports   

Editorial Review

The beauty of former Negro League star Buck O'Neil's autobiography is its tone: it's filled with thankfulness for the life he's had. Born into an era of racial segregation, O'Neil--truly aninspirational presence in the Ken Burns documentary Read more

Reviews (19)

Charming and Informative
This easy-going autobiography combines sunny optimism, seriousness, and rich baseball history. John J. "Buck" O'Neil was a first baseman in the Negro Leagues during the 1930-1940's, and he then spent another half decade in baseball, both in the Negro Leagues and in the majors.Here he recounts his upbringing in Florida during segregation (where he was denied entry to high school) and his long career in baseball.O'Neil details life in the Negro leagues, including barnstorming and low pay, playing for the famed Kansas City Monarchs and his friendship with stars like Satchel Paige and Hilton Smith.He also describes managing in the Negro Leagues, coaching for the Chicago Cubs (the first black coach in the majors) and spending decades as a baseball scout.O'Neil is an intelligent man gifted with great charm, and he's often described as the "ambassador to baseball."That charm shines in the prose of co-writers Steve Wolf and David Conrads, and lets O'Neil attack injustice without losing effectiveness via stridency.
A fun read about a forgotten era.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Lou Dials at a Baseball card convention.He was there with a small table, some cards, and some baseballs.I didn't know who he was and he kind of looked out of place.My curiosity made me ask."ok so what are you doing here and I am sorry to ask who are you?"He smiled and asked "Have you ever heard of the Negro leagues?"To which I replied of course and named the common known names such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, and of course Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays.He smiled and said he played with them and spoke of others such as Buck O'Neil.
insight to a great guy
I was lucky enought to attend an All Star game a few years ago. When i was their i wanted to get an autograph i saw a group of guys around one man so i went up got an autograph not knowing who he is. After i saw the signed baseball i made out the name Buck O'neil. I looked him up online and saw he was a negro league player and first black coach in the majors. I then stumbled across his book on here and decided to order it and that turned out to be a great decision as i loved this book.
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Subjects:  1. African American baseball players    2. Baseball    3. Baseball players    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Blacks And Sports    8. General    9. History    10. Negro leagues    11. People of Color    12. Sports & Recreation    13. Sports - Baseball    14. United States    15. Biography & Autobiography / General    16. O'Neil, Buck   

Reviews (12)

Fascinating!
This book was excellent. For the casual fan and the person who thinks he is an expert!

real interesting book
this book makes a real interesting read. now it has some shortcomings,but on a whole it's very entertaining&will make you think&Debate. no matter what Baseball Book I read Barry Bonds is the Greatest Player Period to me.the game has evolved,but the Guys who can truly Play always stand out no matter what era. no matter what era or time as far as Hitters go, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron,Roberto Clemente,Frank Robinson, etc.... would be solid.same with Great pitching.

Baseball fans will consider it a 'must' filled with fun and scientific fact alike
The Baseball Prospectus Team of Experts' BASEBALL BETWEEN THE NUMBERS: WHY EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT THE GAME IS WRONG comes from sports writers who challenge conventions, offering new insights and alternative analysis of baseball questions. The group of fans met with a common goal: to better understand the game and its plays. Ten years and eleven annuals later comes BASEBALL BETWEEN THE NUMBERS, an investigative guide to everything from averages to rotation choices and team trivia. Baseball fans will consider it a 'must' filled with fun and scientific fact alike.
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Subjects:  1. Baseball    2. Baseball - General    3. Baseball - Statistics    4. Baseball players    5. Sports    6. Sports & Recreation    7. Statistics   

Subjects:  1. Antiques    2. Antiques & Collectibles    3. Antiques / Collectibles    4. Antiques/Collectibles    5. Baseball    6. Reference - General    7. Sports Cards - Baseball    8. Antiques & collectables: books, manuscripts, ephemera & printed matter    9. Reference works   

Reviews (82)

Kids shouldn't always idolize great athletes
Game of shadows was recently printed in March 2006. The book was written by two men to show the truth behind some of the greatest athletes throughout the world. The two men summarized over five years of information they gathered together from the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigations and other companies on steroid use in sports. It would start off explaining the important of sports and how sports have a big impact on kids and teenagers. Then it would show investigation reports from years ago on different football and baseball players. The details they use on each of the characters after they would work out or before they work out seems like your looking at a picture of them. Also since it's a true story and all of the characters are real people then many of us (readers) can relate to at least one thing that a character is going through. I enjoyed the book a lot because it showed me how star athletes don't always have it made easy even if they are not doing anything wrong. Most people think that all the fame and riches make it a better life and an easier way to live but everytime you read another chapter in this book you realize its wrong and star athletes have to worry about simple things like where they throw their trash away at. The only downfall to this book is the ending where it didn't really explain what happened to Barry Bonds. The theme of this book is "cheaters never prosper".

Stright to the point
First things first: this is essentially a term paper, or a series of articles strung together. While that's not a bad thing, you shouldn't expect great *writing* here. That said, it's adequately done, and exhaustively researched... which is disturbing because there is no doubt that Bonds, and the rest of these guys cheated. No doubt at all. And they make no apologies for it either, essentially claiming since everyone else was doing it they had to do it too in order to compete (an excuse for bad behavior I hadn't heard since grammar school). Yes, this book takes an especially hard look at Barry Bonds, and for good reason. Inexplicably, yet luckily for him, he was the only one of dozens to not outright admit steroid use in his grand jury testimony, even though the extent of the evidence was essentially the same for all the athletes involved. And although the authors put forth a steady stream of facts, interviews and other hard evidence that Bonds is in fact guilty, we need only the very public "evidence" that at age 36, when every other human on the planet's body begins breaking down, Barry Bonds put on 40 pounds of pure muscle and increased his stats in every area of the game by an incredible margin. After reading this book I firmly believe that he, Palmiero, McGwire, Giambi, Jones, et all should have asterisks by their records. And the argument that "we don't know what Babe Ruth was injecting!" is a weak argument: the other thing this book does well is act as a steroid primer, and the modern drugs and techniques are simply no match for whatever those old timer could get their hands on. So, even thought it will make you mad, and maybe even sad, if you're a fan of baseball, or sports in general, you need to read this book.

american hypocrisy outlined but if felt like "Enquirer" magazine
first off the authors made a very good case with the numerous accounts of governmental patronizing attitude towards some athletes that have supposedly cheated on their record breaking and personal best of their respective sports, while at the same time harshly criticizicing other countries denial of doping practices for not coming forward and admitting their less than rigorous demands they impose upon their athletes to what the writers call it''the American hypocrisy" when effectively dealing with this problem.
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Subjects:  1. Anabolic steroids    2. Baseball    3. Baseball - General    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Doping in sports    6. General    7. Health aspects    8. Sociology of Sports    9. Sports    10. Sports & Recreation    11. Sports - General    12. Sports And Public Policy    13. Sports Medicine    14. Steroids    15. Sports & Recreation / General   

Editorial Review

The voices of the game's distant past continue to reverberate with a distinct freshness in Lawrence S. Ritter's Read more

Features

• Audiobook

Reviews (61)

A Delight
The names Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner don't resonate as much as they used to.As the decades go by even the old-timers among us haven't been around long enough to remember them.They've pretty much become historical, iconic figures, like the stoic-looking George Washington on a dollar bill.It's a bit of a sad reminder of the inexorable march of time, but what a great relief to know that this treasure chest of a book is around to keep their memories alive.
An Invaluable Book . . .
. . .for those interested in baseball history or for those who are curious how the game was played a hundred years ago.Life was different: society was different, the players were different, the game was different, and the perception of the players were different.In the decades in between, a lot has changed, mostly for the better, but there are precious few books that can give us an insight to how the game of baseball was played by the major leaguers back then.There is no opportunity to learn from them any more - they're all gone.All we have left are treasures such as this book, which gives us an insight to the game and personalities who played back then: no one can describe a Walter Johnson fastball, an Ed Walsh spitball, a booming shot off the bat of Sam Crawford, or the way a certain player stood, batted, fielded or threw.Lawrence Ritter created the standard for the oral history of baseball and it's been imitated many times, but never as well (Don Honig came close, though).It's a wonderful book, well worth the time and money to read it.

Tremendous book!
A wonderful book about baseball in the early part of the century. You can imagine yourself sitting next to the old guys listening to their stories of baseball in the days of dead ball. It's not necessarily what you would think...it wasn't all hard drinking and hard living.
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Subjects:  1. Audio Adult: Other    2. Baseball    3. Baseball - History    4. Baseball players    5. Biography    6. History    7. Interviews    8. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction    9. United States    10. Fiction / Literary