Here are 100 books that How Baseball Happened fans have personally recommended if you like
How Baseball Happened.
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I split my writing time between fiction and non-fiction, the latter usually baseball-themed, and Iāve published two books of baseball writing. My reading is similarly bifurcated; thereās always a baseball book on my nightstand. Iāve also got a background in history, and I genuinely enjoy deep research (itās a great way to put off, you know, writing). Baseball is such fertile ground, so ripe for deep divesāthe nexus of sport, culture, entertainment, economics, labour relations, etc. The best baseball books are more than boxscores and transactions, they place the game in its historical context. Books that manage to synthesize all of the above are some of my favourite reads.
John Thornāthe official historian of Major League Baseballāis a living encyclopedia, and this is his definitive tome on the gameās nineteenth-century beginnings, from the amateur era to the rise of the first professional leagues. This and Gilbertās book might be viewed as companion piecesāindeed, Thorn wrote the introduction to How Baseball Happenedāand both dispel the ridiculous myth that the game was invented in Cooperstown, New York by a young man who would grow up to be a Civil War hero, but Thorn goes deep on the fascinating story of who created that myth, and why, which is a tale so odd itās nearly novelistic.
Now available in paperback, the āfresh and fascinatingā (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland), āsplendid and brilliantā (Philadelphia Daily News) history of the early game by the Official Historian of Major League Baseball.
Who really invented baseball? Forget Abner Doubleday at Cooperstown and Alexander Cartwright. Meet Daniel Lucius Adams, William Rufus Wheaton, and other fascinating figures buried beneath the falsehoods that have accrued around baseballās origins. This is the true story of how organized baseball started, how gambling shaped the game from its earliest days, and how it became our national pastime and our national mirror.
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to runā¦
I split my writing time between fiction and non-fiction, the latter usually baseball-themed, and Iāve published two books of baseball writing. My reading is similarly bifurcated; thereās always a baseball book on my nightstand. Iāve also got a background in history, and I genuinely enjoy deep research (itās a great way to put off, you know, writing). Baseball is such fertile ground, so ripe for deep divesāthe nexus of sport, culture, entertainment, economics, labour relations, etc. The best baseball books are more than boxscores and transactions, they place the game in its historical context. Books that manage to synthesize all of the above are some of my favourite reads.
We move into the twentieth century with Murphyās book, a chronicle of a strange and thrilling season smack in the heart of the Deadball Era, when the two leagues we know todayāthe National and Americanāhad solidified, their champions meeting each autumn in the still-new World Series. Crazy ā08 focuses on the pennant races that year, especially the National League race, between the Chicago Cubs, New York Giants, and Pittsburgh Pirates, which reached its fevered crescendo with a game that featured whatās known as āMerkleās Boner.ā But the bookās broader concern is the atmosphere of political corruption, racial strife, crime, and social upheaval which surrounded baseball. Murphyās research is deep, but the book reads like journalism because sheās got a storytellerās heart.
From the perspective of 2007, the unintentional irony of Chance's boast is manifestāthese days, the question is when will the Cubs ever win a game they have to have. In October 1908, though, no one would have laughed: The Cubs were, without doubt, baseball's greatest teamāthe first dynasty of the 20th century.
Crazy '08 recounts the 1908 seasonāthe year when Peerless Leader Frank Chance's men went toe to toe to toe with John McGraw and Christy Mathewson's New York Giants and Honus Wagner's Pittsburgh Pirates in the greatest pennant race the National League has ever seen. The American League hasā¦
I am a professor of American Jewish history who has written extensively on how sports have impacted the lives of American Jews. I have been especially interested in how the acceptance or rejection of Jews in the sports arena has underscored that groupās place within this countryās society. I have been likewise intrigued by how the call of athleticism has challenged their ethnic and religious identity. The saga of Marty Glickman, a story of adversity and triumph, speaks boldly to critical issues that this minority group has faced.
During the mid-1960s, Sandy Koufax was a dominant baseball pitcher and was destined to be the youngest player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
For Jewish fans however, of my generation and beyond, he was an iconic Jewish hero most notably for his determination in 1965 to sit out a World Series game in deference to Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. Leavy, an extraordinarily talented writer, tells this sports and Jewish story with keen insights into Koufaxās personality.
āThe incomparable and mysterious Sandy Koufax is revealedā¦. This is an absorbing book, beautifully written.ā āWall Street Journal
āLeavy has hit it out of the parkā¦A lot more than a biography. Itās a consideration of how we create our heroes, and how this heroās self perception distinguishes him from nearly every other great athlete in living memoryā¦ a remarkably rich portrait.ā ā Time
The instant New York Times bestseller about the baseball legend and famously reclusive Dodgersā pitcher Sandy Koufax, from award-winning former Washington Post sportswriter Jane Leavy. Sandy Koufax reveals, for the first time, what drove the three-time Cyā¦
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother hadā¦
I split my writing time between fiction and non-fiction, the latter usually baseball-themed, and Iāve published two books of baseball writing. My reading is similarly bifurcated; thereās always a baseball book on my nightstand. Iāve also got a background in history, and I genuinely enjoy deep research (itās a great way to put off, you know, writing). Baseball is such fertile ground, so ripe for deep divesāthe nexus of sport, culture, entertainment, economics, labour relations, etc. The best baseball books are more than boxscores and transactions, they place the game in its historical context. Books that manage to synthesize all of the above are some of my favourite reads.
Henry Aaronās career spanned the Negro Leagues, the Civil Rights movement, baseballās expansion era, the turbulent ā60s, and the freaky ā70s, all while dealing with intractable racism, especially as he neared Babe Ruthās home run record. Aaronās autobiography, I Had a Hammer, is certainly worth reading, but author and NPR correspondent Howard Bryant is the right man to put Aaronās life and career in historical perspective. The Last Hero is an intelligent and incisive social history of the second half of the twentieth century, as well as a stirring account of a heroic baseball life. Incidentally, Bryantās next book is a biography of Rickey Henderson, which promises more of this goodness. I canāt wait.
This definitive biography of Henry (Hank) Aaronāone of baseball's immortal figuresāis a revelatory portrait of a complicated, private man who through sports became an enduring American icon. Ā āBeautifully written and culturally important.ā āThe Washington Post Ā āThe epic baseball tale of the second half of the 20th century.ā āAtlanta Journal Constitution Ā After his retirement in 1976, Aaronās reputation only grew in magnitude. But his influence extended beyond statistics. Based on meticulous research and extensive interviewsĀ The Last HeroĀ reveals how Aaron navigated the upheavals of his timeāfighting against racism while at the same time benefiting from racial progressāand how he achievedā¦
Major league baseball stadiums have always enthralled meātheir architectures, their atmospheres, their surroundings. Each has a unique story to tell. So I decided to tell the story of how perhaps the greatest of all American ballparks, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, came to be. As an urban historian, I also wished to tell a broader story of how the argument between 1957 and 1962 over whether, where, and how to build the stadium helped make Los Angeles into the modern city we know today. So writing City of Dreamsallowed me to combine my passions for baseball, for stadiums, and for the history of American cities.
This is actually a book about a baseball stadium that was notbuiltāthe Brooklyn Dodgersā proposed new home in that boroughās downtown that fell victim to the shortsightedness of New York City elected officials and that of their master, building czar and power broker Robert Moses. This was the first systematic and objective examination of the emotionally-fraught subject of the teamās 1957 departure for Los Angeles and the promise of a new stadium there (the subject of my Cityof Dreams), and was instrumental in placing responsibility for the Dodgersā move squarely on the shoulders of New York pols and the imperious Moses. Also highly recommended is SullivanāsThe Diamond in the Bronx: Yankee Stadium and the Politics of New York.Ā
For many New Yorkers, the removal of the Brooklyn Dodgers-perhaps the most popular baseball team of all time-to Los Angeles in 1957 remains one of the most traumatic events since World War II. Neil J. Sullivan's controversial reassessment of a story that has reached almost mythic proportions in its many retellings shifts responsibility for the move onto the local governmental maneuverings that occurred on both sides of the continent. Conventional wisdom has it that Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley cold-heartedly abandoned the devoted Brooklyn fans for the easy money of Los Angeles. Sullivan argues that O'Malley had, in fact, wanted toā¦
Iāve worked in sports media since graduating college, first as a reporter at Sports Illustrated, then as an editor at ESPN The Magazine and eventually becoming editor-in-chief of the magazine as well as espn.com. Iāve also written several books, including The Odds, which was my immersion into the world of sports betting. Like the books on my list, the experience of writing The Odds scratched every itch: It was about sports, it featured intense and passionate characters and it revealed a secret world with massive influence. The Odds led to a career in betting media, including creating the sports betting beat at ESPN and, eventually, launching The Action Network, a sports betting media network.
This hits every high note for me. Itās both aspirational and accessible. The āMoneyball Generationā has had a profound impact on every element of sportsāfrom how games are managed, how theyāre covered, who is valued, and who makes decisions. Thatās because of Lewis, whose writing I love because it is so breezy and conversational, especially when explaining complicated concepts.
My passion is telling stories that explain whatās happening behind the scenes and how they impact sports fans. Lewis does this better than anyone in this book.Ā Ā
Moneyball is a quest for the secret of success in baseball. Following the low-budget Oakland Athletics, their larger-than-life general manger, Billy Beane, and the strange brotherhood of amateur baseball enthusiasts, Michael Lewis has written not only "the single most influential baseball book ever" (Rob Neyer, Slate) but also what "may be the best book ever written on business" (Weekly Standard).
I wrote this book because I fell in love with a story. The story concerned a small group of undervalued professional baseball players and executives, many of whom had been rejected as unfit for the big leagues, who had turnedā¦
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
by
Arietta Richmond,
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man sheā¦
I grew up a Yankee fan during the Mickey Mantle era, traveling to the Bronx in my uncleās canary-yellow Chrysler Imperial. Those early experiences set me on a trajectory to want to play baseball every chance I got, starting with Little League and ending up on my high schoolās varsity squad. Fortunately, my high school was in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where my family had moved in 1962, the same year that the Yankees began playing their pre-season games in the city, which meant when I wasnāt playing baseball at school, I was hanging around Ft. Lauderdale Stadium watching the Yankees. Yes, the Pinstripe Nation was in my blood.
If you want a close-up look at the players who made up the early Yankee teams, this is the book for you. In Amoreās book youāll learn about some key Yankeesā players: Wee Willie Keeler, Frank Chance (of Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance fame), Hal Chase, Roger Peckinpaugh, Frank āHome Runā Baker, and, of course, George Herman āBabeā Ruth, among many others who populated the early New York Yankee teams.Ā
2018 marks 115 years since the inception of the New York Yankees--and what a 115-year period it's been! But how did the team that has since won a league-leading 27 world championships get started? In A Franchise on the Rise, veteran sportswriter Dom Amore takes readers back in time to the first twenty years of the team's existence, from 1903 to 1923, focusing on all the major players and events, including their first ten years as the Highlanders, their move to Yankee Stadium, and their subsequent first World Series in 1923. In doing so, Amore successfully finds the characters' ownā¦
My father used to take me to watch the Twins play at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, a twenty-minute drive from our house in suburban Minneapolis. As soon as the Twins announced their schedule each year, he would buy tickets for the doubleheaders. Our favorites were the twilight doubleheaders, when we watched one game by daylight, and the other under the night sky. Baseball was pure to me then: played outdoors on real grass. Seated beside my dad during those twin bills, I felt his love for the game seep into me and take root. All these years later, almost two decades after his death, that love remains strong.
I love the books that go behind the scenes and show us more of a story we thought we knew. This is one of those. Josh Prager pulls back the curtain on Bobby Thomsenās "shot heard round the world" with startling revelations from his research.
I was left with mixed emotions and uncertainty about a feat that had initially appeared nothing but heroic.
This is the untold story of the secret scandal behind baseball's most legendary moment:The Shot Heard Round the World. A Washington PostĀ Best Book of the Year.
At 3:58 p.m. on October 3, 1951, Bobby Thomson hit a home run off Ralph Branca. The ball sailed over the left field wall and into history. The Giants won the pennant. That momentāthe Shot Heard Round the Worldāreverberated from the West Wing of the White House to the Sing Sing death house to the Polo Grounds clubhouse, where hitter and pitcher forever turned into hero and goat. It was also in thatā¦
I am a total sucker for people who are so complicated I canāt get a read
on them. This love comes from growing up without any extended family. When I heard little bits of my parentsā pasts, it felt like the world got more interesting, and I wanted to dig in to know everything there was to know about what shaped them and, by proxy, what shaped me. Iām drawn to
shady characters who donāt want to give up the goods, as they present a
joyful challenge by withholding mystery, and those types of characters
are the ones I love to read and write about.
This book stunned me by becoming something different over and over again.
The characters in Amerikaland are upright role models, but then we dip into their super complicated pasts. When their family pops up, the story begins to weave itself into a wild plot that requires unbelievable fortitude to endure. As the pages kept coming, I no longer had any idea what was going to happen next and felt like anything could happen. These people were driven by inner fires that could burn up the world at any moment.
I had to lay on the couch after this one as I felt completely gutted, but while lying down, I picked it up again and started rereading.
In a reimagined present day, Sabine, a guarded, independent German tennis player, and Sandy, a Brooklyn-born Jewish baseball player, find themselves in New York City for World Day-a sporting event meant to celebrate international peace.
For years, Sabine was regarded as a tennis legend until an act of violence threatened her life and career. Now, she is determined to stand before the crowds once again a winner. Sandy is the beloved star of his hometown team, but a recent horrific antisemitic crime nearly unravels him.
Their lives are forever changed when a massive terrorist attack strikes World Day. As Sabineā¦
This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the worldās most famous heart surgeon.
In these and other intimate conversations, the bookā¦
Novelist, essayist, and short-story writer W. D. Wetherell is the author of over two dozen books. A visit to the World War One battlefields in Flanders led to his lasting interest in the human tragedies of l914-18, inspiring his novel A Century of November, and his critical study Where Wars Go to Die; The Forgotten Literature of World War One.
Howās this for a challenge? Write a humorous book during World War One that can still make readers laugh 100 years later. Thatās exactly what Lardner does here, when he turns his famous character Jack Keefe, the semi-literate, big-talking baseball pitcher into a soldier and sends him boasting and bragging to āNobodyās Land,ā where he hilariously ducks every dangerous situation heās put in.
