Thousands of books on Baseball are available in the market. You may find different baseball books that are written regarding motivation, strategy, statistics, biography, successes, failures, etc. Mostly players, managers, mascots, owners, etc., have written these books. Let us discuss the 10 best baseball books every fan must read.
The 10 Best Baseball Books Every Fan Must Read
OUR TOP PICK
The professor of Columbia University, Lawrence Ritter, interviewed baseball players in mid 1960. He drove around the United States in his car for the interviews. He wrote one of the best historical books, i.e., “The Glory of Their Times”.
His valuable and historical work was never repeated in the 50 years. He gave a new life to the forgotten baseball players. It was a unique and appreciated book by the world.
EDITORS CHOICE
Many researchers spent their time traveling throughout the United States in 1960. They worked on Baseball-Reference.com by assembling all the true statistical game records. In 1969, the editing things in the Baseball Encyclopedia were highly controversial, like Christy Mathewson’s total career wins.
The content of the book includes all the essential questions regarding myths and facts about Baseball.
BEST VALUE
It is not a perfect book related to the Hall of Fame because James missed out on the vital history of Hall that a hardcore Cooperstown researcher might know. The author has done an entertaining and influential work in his book.
James introduced voting at the Hall of Fame metrics like Similarity Scores. He also wrote about Lee Allen, who was responsible for the old inductions in the 1960s. Till now, it is a wonderful book about the Hall of Fame. Every fan must read this baseball book.
RUNNER UP
This book by A. Bartlett Giamatti is one of the popular books with a famous quote, “Baseball breaks your heart. It is designed to break the heart.” From his book’s essay “Green Fields of the Mind”. The Renaissance scholar and later, the President of Yale University, Dr. Giamatti leave academia to be the President of the National League and then, in 1989, the commissioner of Baseball for five months.
His book is about the life of Pete Rose from Baseball, who has a sad end. The player was engaged in so many acts that had stained the game. Now, Rose has to live his life with the consequences of his actions of gambling and betting.
RUNNER UP
This book is about statistics and enjoyable sojourns through people’s lives and brains who have invented and evolved the statistics. He began with the first statistician, Henry Chadwick, who loved the baseball game. He was so much in love with the game that he devised the first scoreboard.
It makes the boxscore expanded, and scoring games were reported consistently. After that, the author ends up with John Dewan and STATS Inc. Also, the book is about Al Munro Elias, Allan Roth, Branch Ricky, and a young Bill James.
RUNNER UP
If anyone is looking for a book that starts with the history of Baseball and its troubling labor relations, then one must read this book. This unique book consists of all the amazing details regarding Major League Baseball Players Association executive director, Marvin Miller.
The author explained how he led the successful flight in the 1960s and 70s to topple the Reserve Clause for producing free agency. Helyar published his book before the 1994 strike. People who have read this book must know why labor strife threatens Baseball always.
RUNNER UP
It is another famous book by Bill James. Researching any baseball topic was an easy task for him. In 2001, he published this amazing boom, which explains baseball history. He provided various comments and ratings on almost 900 players.
He recounted and presented 13 decades of baseball history in his book. The author introduced the metric for the total player value of Win Shares, which makes it one of the best Baseball books every fan must read. It is an evergreen book that gives knowledge regarding the history of Baseball.
RUNNER UP
Roger Kahn published this great book at the right time and place. The author collaborated on his thoughts, experiences, and connections to write such a fabulous book. He works similarly like Brooklyn Dodger in the 1950s to give a classic history-based book.
His book is more than a jock hagiography. A baseball fan must read this book to know about the players and their experiences.
RUNNER UP
Bill James was one of the authors that had celebrated as a pioneer of sabermetrics. But, if we talk about John Thorn and Pete Palmer, they are less-touted persons who played a significant role in the mainstream topic. They published this exciting book in 1984.
They introduced linear weight as well as provide other interesting core concepts of sabermetrics. It is a wonderful book for the fans that are interested in reading on the game sabermetrics.
RUNNER UP
It is a factual book written by Robert in 1970. He interviewed the Negro League and also scoured old newspapers to write this fantastic book. The author followed Ted Williams and his 1966 Hall of Fame induction speech for Satchel Paige.
Many people were also included with Robert in publishing this book. In that year, the Hall of Fame started enshrining Negro Leaguers in earnest. It was one of the greatest books published by Robert W. Peterson.
If you are a die-hard baseball fan, then you must know about Negro League players and their entire history. It is a fascinating book and also liked by many people across the world.
