Book cover of The Book of Joe: Trying Not to Suck at Baseball and Life

Book description

No one sees baseball like Joe Maddon. He sees it through his trademark glasses and irrepressible wit. Raised in the "shot and beer" town of Hazleton, PA, and forged by 15 years in the minors, Maddon over 19 seasons in Tampa Bay, Chicago, and Anaheim has become one of the…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Book of Joe as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

If you’re a Shohei Ohtani fan, you may also be a Los Angeles Angels fan, which means you are probably interested in Joe Maddon.

This book is not just Maddon’s ranting against the way baseball has changed over his 40-plus years in the sport, it also includes third-person narrative from Verducci, who interviewed other managers to get their perspective. For example, Astros manager A.J. Hinch detailed his pitching decisions in the 2019 World Series. That was one of my favorite parts of the book.

If you love The Book of Joe...

Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Want books like The Book of Joe?

Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Book of Joe.

Browse books like The Book of Joe

Book cover of Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Book cover of Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball's Brightest Minds Created Sports' Biggest Mess
Book cover of The Only Rule Is It Has to Work: Our Wild Experiment Building a New Kind of Baseball Team

Share your top 3 reads of 2026!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

186

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like The Book of Joe, you might also like...

Book cover of Child of Vanris

Child of Vanris by Nikki McCormack,

At five years old, Kasiel was found with the pointed ends of his ears cut off. Despite that brutal start, he’s lived twelve peaceful years with the man who took him in. Keeping his hair long over his mutilated ears helps him hide the fact that he is Vanrian, a…

Book cover of Almost Home

Almost Home by Howard Means,

Almost Home is a fictional retelling of the last great tragedy of the Civil War.

In late April 1865, almost 2,000 newly freed Union prisoners of war are packed onto the steamer Sultana, in poor repair and with a listed capacity of 376 passengers. Among them are four Indiana soldiers…

5 book lists we think you will like!