THE BASEBALL ALMANAC BOOK SHELF

Baseball Book Lists & Baseball Book Reviews | Baseball Almanac

Book shelves lined with baseball books: some reference, some fiction, some historical, and some that are just plain fun to read. Over seventy-thousand books have been written covering every facet of our national pastime. With so many choices, and so many different versions, it can be difficult deciding what books deserve your money. Moe Berg, the legendary Major League catcher turned spy, once said that he, "would rather be a poor man in a garret with plenty of books, than a King who did not like reading."

Baseball Almanac wants to do the work for you and suggest a title worth adding to your personal baseball library — one that will not make you a "poor man in a garret." Each month we review dozens of possible books and select one book which we believe you will truly enjoy reading. Book reviews are done by either our personnel, by Dr. Donald McKim (a trusted book critic), or our newest contributor Tom Swift. The ratings column is determined by the actual review, user comments, and input made at Amazon.com.

Ralph Andreannoe wrote in No Joy in Mudville (1965) that, "The literature of baseball is voluminous; some of it is extremely valuable, but most of it is riddled with cliches and empty analysis." If the book we review is empty analysis, Baseball Almanac will tell you. If its not, then we will tell you that as well. Our standard is simple; is the data accurate, is the data helpful to our site, and is it worth it...

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"Indeed, it may be fairly said that amongst all of mankind's games and sports, only chess, with its advantage of over a thousand years of existence and its international exposure, surpasses the literary outpourings devoted to baseball." - David Voigt in Baseball: A Comprehensive Bibliography (1986)

Baseball Books | Baseball Book Reviews

Our Ten Most Recent Baseball Almanac Bookshelf Reviews

four stars Hugh Casey: The Triumphs and Tragedies of a Brooklyn Dodger
by Lyle Spatz
Rick "Shaq" Goldstein
In Baseball Book Reviews
four stars Here's the Catch: A Memoir of the Miracle Mets
by Ron Swoboda
Rick "Shaq" Goldstein
In Baseball Book Reviews
five stars They Bled Blue Book Review
by Jason Turbow
Rick "Shaq" Goldstein
In Baseball Book Reviews
five stars For The Good of the Game
by Bud Selig
Rick "Shaq" Goldstein
In Baseball Book Reviews
three stars Play Hungry: The Making of a Baseball Player
by Pete Rose
Rick "Shaq" Goldstein
In Baseball Book Reviews
five stars Dixie Walker: A Life in Baseball
by Lyle Spatz
Rick "Shaq" Goldstein
In Baseball Book Reviews
five stars Left on Base in the Bush Leagues
by Gaylon H. White
Rick "Shaq" Goldstein
In Baseball Book Reviews
five stars Ten Innings at Wrigley: The Wildest Ballgame Ever
by Kevin Cook
Rick "Shaq" Goldstein
In Baseball Book Reviews
five stars Carl Furillo, Brooklyn Dodgers All-Star
by Ted Reed
Rick "Shaq" Goldstein
In Baseball Book Reviews
four stars Roy Sievers: The Sweetest Right Handed Swing
by Paul Scimonelli
Rick "Shaq" Goldstein
In Baseball Book Reviews

Baseball Books | Baseball Book Reviews

The Baseball Almanac Bookshelf | Book Reviews in Alphabetical Order

two stars 108 Stitches
by Ron Darling
Rick "Shaq" Goldstein
In Baseball Book Reviews
two.5 stars 1960: The Last Pure Season
by Kerry Keene
Dr. Donald McKim
In The Dugout
five stars 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read Before They Die
by Ron Kaplan
Dr. Donald McKim
In The Dugout
two.5 stars A Legend in the Making: The 1939 Yankees
by Richard J. Tofel
Tom Swift
A Baseball Reader's Journal
three stars A Pitcher's Story
by Roger Angell
Baseball Almanac
four stars And The Crowd Goes Wild
by Joe Garner
Baseball Almanac
four.5 stars Autumn Glory: First World Series
by Louis P. Masur
Baseball Almanac
four stars Baseball and Philosophy
by Eric Bronson
Baseball Almanac
four.5 stars Baseball Dynasties
by Rob Neyer
Baseball Almanac
four stars Baseball Letters
by Seth Swirsky
Baseball Almanac
four.5 stars Biographical Encyclopedia
by Total Sports, Inc.
Baseball Almanac
four stars Connie Mack's '29 Triumph
by William C. Kashatus
Dr. Donald McKim
In The Dugout
five stars Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball
by Jonathan Fraser Light
Baseball Almanac
five stars Curveballs and Screwballs
by Jeffrey Lyons & Doug Lyons
Baseball Almanac
four.5 stars Cy Young: A Life in Baseball
by Reed Browning
Dr. Donald McKim
In The Dugout
five stars Damn Senators
by Mark Judge
Baseball Almanac
four.5 stars Dizzy and the Gas House Gang
by Doug Feldmann
Dr. Donald McKim
In The Dugout
four stars Fair Ball: A Fan's Case For Baseball
by Bob Costas
Baseball Almanac
four stars Go Pro BASEBALL WISE
by P.J. Dragseth
Baseball Almanac
five stars Great Book of Baseball Knowledge
by David Nemec
Baseball Almanac
four stars Heartbreakers
by John Kuenster
Baseball Almanac
four.5 stars Heat
by Dwight Gooden
Baseball Almanac
four.5 stars Images of Baseball (The Series)
by Arcadia Publishing
Baseball Almanac
four.5 stars Ichiro, Satchel, and the Babe
by Mike Attiyeh
Baseball Almanac
four.5 stars Jocko
by Jocko Conlan
Dr. Donald McKim
In The Dugout
four stars Joe Mock's Ballpark Guide
by Joe Mock
Baseball Almanac
three stars Koufax Throws a Curve
by Brian M. Endsley
Rick "Shaq" Goldstein
In Baseball Book Reviews
five stars Line Drives : 100 Contemporary Baseball Poems
Edited by Brooke Horvath & Tim Wiles
Baseball Almanac
four.5 stars Mendoza's Heroes : 50 Batters Below .200
by Al Pepper
Baseball Almanac
three-five stars Mickey Mantle: America's Prodigal Son
by Tony Castro
Tom Swift
A Baseball Reader's Journal
three stars More Than Merkle
by David W. Anderson
Dr. Donald McKim
In The Dugout
four.5 stars Nolan Ryan's Pitcher's Bible
by Nolan Ryan
Baseball Almanac
four stars Philadelphia's Top Fifty Baseball Players
by Rich Westcott
Dr. Donald McKim
In The Dugout
four.5 stars Red Smith on Baseball
by Red Smith
Baseball Almanac
four.5 stars Red Sox vs. Yankees : The Great Rivalry
by Harvey Frommer
Baseball Almanac
four.5 stars Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy
by Jane Leavy
Tom Swift
A Baseball Reader's Journal
four stars Smoke
by Peter C. Bjarkmen
Baseball Almanac
three stars Spitting on Diamonds
by Clyde Hogg
Baseball Almanac
three stars Summerland
by Michael Chabon
Tom Swift
A Baseball Reader's Journal
four stars Tales from the Dugout
by Mike Shannon
Baseball Almanac
three-five stars The 500 Home Runs Club
by Bob Allen & Bill Gilbert
Dr. Donald McKim
In The Dugout
four.5 stars The Athletics of Philadelphia
by David M. Jordan
Dr. Donald McKim
In The Dugout
four stars The Ballpark Book
by Ron Smith
Baseball Almanac
four.5 stars The Bird: The Life and Legacy of Mark Fidrych
by Steve Fainaru & Ray Sanchez
Dr. Donald McKim
In The Dugout
four.5 stars The Duke of Havana
by Steve Fainaru & Ray Sanchez
Baseball Almanac
four stars The End Of Baseball As We Knew It
by Charles P. Korr
Baseball Almanac
five stars The Gift of the Bambino : A Novel
by Jerry Amernic
Baseball Almanac
four stars The Head Game
by Roger Kahn
Baseball Almanac
four stars The Joy of Keeping Score
by Paul Dickson
Dr. Donald McKim
In The Dugout
four stars The Oldest Rookie
by Jim Morris
Baseball Almanac
four.5 stars The Perfect Pitch : The Biography of Roger Owens
by Daniel S. Green
Baseball Almanac
three stars The Quotable Baseball Fanatic
by Louis D. Rubin, Jr.
Dr. Donald McKim
In The Dugout
two.5 stars The Ripken Way
by Cal Ripken, Sr.
Baseball Almanac
five stars The Theatre of the Impossible
by Daniel McNeill
Tom Swift
A Baseball Reader's Journal
four stars Tiger Stadium
by Irwin J. Cohen
Baseball Almanac
four.5 stars Total Baseball
by Total Sports, Inc.
Baseball Almanac
four stars Twins Trivia
by John Swol
Baseball Almanac
three-five stars Uncle Robbie
by Jack Kavanagh & Norman Macht
Dr. Donald McKim
In The Dugout
two.5 stars Wit & Wisdom of Baseball
by David Plat
Dr. Donald McKim
In The Dugout
three-five stars Yankee Stadium
by Christopher Jennison
Baseball Almanac
four stars You're Missin' A Great Game
by Whitey Herzog
Baseball Almanac

The Baseball Almanac Book Shelf

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baseball almanac fast facts

One of the most often asked questions here at Baseball Almanac is what are our favorite baseball magazines? Our answer, Baseball Digest.

Read EVERY word of Coaching Adult Pitchers by record setting pitcher Mike Marshall in our Baseball Almanac exclusive online eBook section.

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