Baseball Books

[Uncouth Sloth]

I know there are several scattered throughout here but I'm going through my annual spring training phase where I read every baseball book I can get my hands on and wondered what I've missed.

I've obviously read Moneyball, really enjoyed The Cubs Way, The Arm by Jeff Passan, and Ball Four is one of my all time favorite books, period. Others I've read of varied quality are Kaplan's Cubs book The Plan, Big Data Baseball, and the Bill James Historical Abstract.

Any great ones I'm missing?

In my world, you can't read 'The Cubs Way' enough times.

Was pretty disappointed in 'Teammate'. Seemed he beat the same horse about 50 times. Hey, Rossy? How about a little spice from back in the day, when you weren't exactly regarded as a beloved mentor?

[Quality Start Machine]

Once this thread began, I realized that...

• I hadn't read "Ball Four" in years.
• I've probably bought 4 or 5 different editions of this book in my life.
• I loaned them all out.
• and  never got any of them back.*

I went to Abebooks.com and got myself a signed copy for a Jackson. It is not available for borrowing.

*This is also true of "Veeck As In Wreck".

[Tonker]

I quite enjoyed "The Only Rule Is It Has To Work" by Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller.  They play fantasy baseball, except with a real team.

I will also admit to owning, and having read several times, Keith Hernandez' "Pure Baseball".  It helped me out enormously back in the day when I was still trying to get to grips with the nitty gritty of an at bat.

[CT III]

The Lodge can go straight to hell.

Also, in the same vein as Stew let me recommend "Crazy '08" by Cait Murphy. A very fun book with an epilogue that immediately brings you down by reminding you that the entire cast of characters is long dead.

[Quality Start Machine]

I (finally) just read "The Arm" by Jeff Passan. It's poorly written, but the information is pretty interesting.

[Tonker]

I (finally) just read "The Arm" by Jeff Passan. It's poorly written, but the information is pretty interesting.

"Poorly written" is pretty kind.  Plus, it bored the tits off me.  Conclusion: everybody throws too much; or throwing too much makes no difference.  It's how you throw!  Or maybe not!