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Best Baseball Books of 2024 offers plenty of holiday gift ideas
In the world of baseball literature, the year 2024 will always be remembered as the Year of the Biography. Subjects range from Hank Aaron (twice) to Vin Scully, with Roberto Alomar, Larry Doby, Mike Donlin, Waite Hoyt, Clayton Kershaw, Willie Mays, Johnny Mize, Pete Rose, and others sandwiched in between.
The 50th anniversary of Aaron beating Babe Ruth’s home run record will also be remembered for its collection of coffee-table books, including my own “Home Run King: the Remarkable Record of Hank Aaron” [Skyhorse, 288 pp., $32.95], featuring a foreword from Dusty Baker.
Sports Illustrated, though struggling to stay afloat as a print publication, sunk its resources into the top two books of the year, one called “The World Series” and the other a collection of essays called “The Baseball Vault.”
There are books on teams (Astros, Braves, Cardinals, Mets, Rangers, Red Sox, and Senators), cards (the 1959 Topps set), triumph (the first world championship of the Texas Rangers), and tragedy (the deadly bus crash of the 1946 Spokane Indians).
With the holiday gift-giving season in mind, here’s how the newest baseball books stack up:
1. “The World Series: a History of the Fall Classic From the Pages of Sports Illustrated” (Triumph, 360 pp., $40), Introduction by Steve Rushin. An oversized hardcover packed with the lavish photography that made Sports Illustrated famous, this weighty volume features year-by-year essays by great writers from Ron Fimrite to Steve Wulf and Tom Verducci. Starting in 1954, the first Fall Classic to follow the advent of the magazine, each section includes World Series game scores, managers, MVPs, and regular-season records. It’s complete through 2022, the year Dusty Baker finally nailed down his only world title as a manager.
2. “The Baseball Vault: Great Writing from the Pages of Sports Illustrated” (Triumph, 424 pp., $30). Books without photographs or an index rarely rate so highly on this annual list but hey, this is SI again, with many of the same bylines. The best piece in this diversified hardcover—the polar opposite of Triumph’s World Series tome—is Emma Baccellieri’s “The Last Ordinary Inning,” about the final exhibition game before baseball slammed its doors shut in March 2020 when Covid-19 changed from a nuisance to a pandemic. Her behind-the-scenes look at baseball authenticators is also a first-rate read. I especially enjoyed Steve Rushin’s riveting essay on the 1991 World Series, arguably the best ever played, and Joe Posnanski’s piece about the 2008 Baseball Winter Meetings in Las Vegas.
3. “The National Baseball Hall of Fame Collection: Celebrating the Game’s Greatest Players” (Epic Ink, 208 pp., $24.99), by James Buckley, Jr. This handsome hardcover yearbook facsimile celebrates all Hall of Fame members through 2023 and is packed with such sidebars as the unmatched Red Sox line of stud left-fielders, Induction Weekend info, the gallery of plaques, description of pitches, contract reproductions, and even Yogi Berra quotes. But why did Effa Manley merit more space than Hank Aaron?
4. “Remembering Torn-Down Ballparks Over a Cold Beer” (Sports Publishing, 112 pp., $24.99), by Ken Finnigan. Ballparks, like ballplayers, have relatively short lifespans. Only memories remain of Ebbets Field, the Polo Grounds, Crosley Field, Forbes Field, and so many more—including Los Angeles’ Wrigley Field, where the original Home Run Derby was filmed. This hardcover fills a huge void by preserving their memories with pictures, facts, and trivia. Legendary Negro League parks are included too. Kudos to the authors for a literary home run.
5. “Season of Shattered Dreams: Postwar Baseball, The Spokane Indians, and a Tragic Bus Crash That Changed Everything” (Rowman & Littlefield, 208 pp., $34) by Eric Vickrey. With travel an integral part of every ballplayer’s life, it’s just good luck that baseball hasn’t had to exercise its existing plan to restock a regular franchise. The 1946 bus accident that killed nine Spokane Indians—the worst mishap in the history of professional sports—stands as a stark warning of what could happen at a moment’s notice. Well-written and researched, this hardcover should be a wakeup call to every team in professional sports. The chapter on the actual accident is riveting.
6. “Under Jackie’s Shadow: Voices of Black Minor Leaguers Baseball Left Behind” (University of Nebraska, 188 pp., $34.95) by Mitchell Nathanson. The Sporting News once ran a headline that read, “All Signs Point to Pointer As Astros’ Right Man In Left Field.” It’s the same Aaron Pointer profiled in this creative hardcover, which presents first-person stories from players who spent most of their careers in the Negro Leagues. A few sniffed the majors but all endured bigotry and segregation in addition to the difficulty of moving up the ladder. The author, who also wrote biographies of Dick Allen and Jim Bouton, does a masterful job telling tales that would otherwise be consigned to the dustbin of history.
7. “The Franchise: A Curated History of the Atlanta Braves” (Triumph, 305 pp., $28), by Mark Bowman, foreword by Chipper Jones. Although the author wasn’t born when the Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966, he proves adept at recapturing the history that occurred before his 2001 arrival on the baseball beat. In addition to events he covered, Bowman documents the contributions of Warren Spahn, who never pitched in Atlanta, and Eddie Mathews, who played only one season there. But the last line in the hardcover leaves something to be desired, as it mentions only six Braves who went to the 2023 All-Star Game when there were eight.
8. “Mike Donlin: a Rough and Rowdy Life From New York Baseball Idol to Stage and Screen” (University of Nebraska, 352 pp., $39.95), by Steve Steinberg and Lyle Spatz. Turkey Mike Donlin picked up his nickname because of his cock-sure strut to the plate. A brash ballplayer on a rowdy team, he racked up suspensions and jail time for his behavior but was so popular that he enjoyed a second career as an actor in the age of Vaudeville. This well-researched, footnoted hardcover brings readers back to the early 20th century when John McGraw and Christy Mathewson were kings and the embryonic American League had to fight for a World Series opponent (McGraw refused to let his New York Giants play in 1904). But it’s much more than just baseball.
9. “Perfect Eloquence: an Appreciation of Vin Scully” (University of Nebraska, 288 pp., $34.95), edited by Tom Hoffarth, foreword by Ron Rapoport. Four years after his death, the iconic announcer still personifies Los Angeles, where his stories and one-liners are long-standing baseball classics. This hardcover contains touching essays from 67 insiders, from Bob Costas and Peter O’Malley to Steve Garvey and Orel Hershiser. It even reveals Scully’s startling prediction that Sandy Koufax was too skinny to succeed in the big leagues.
10. “The Last Of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw & the Burden of Greatness” (Hachette, 400 pp., $32), by Andy McCullough. Although injuries have interrupted his path to Cooperstown, Clayton Kershaw has always been considered one of the game’s great pitchers. This detailed hardcover not only talks about his personal life but also his interactions with fellow Dodger pitchers Sandy Koufax, Trevor Bauer, and even Greg Maddux (yes, he was a Dodger too). Even the 2017 World Series cheating scandal is covered. This is one of the year’s best baseball biographies.
11. “When Baseball Was Still Topps: Portraits of the Game in 1959, Card by Card” (McFarland, 233 pp., $ 39.95), by Phil Coffin. As a wide-eyed 11-year-old baseball fan in 1959, I collected Topps cards and created memories. So I was thrilled to see Harry Chiti, Dutch Dotterer, and Mel Roach jar those memories, even though the cards reprinted in this creative paperback are not in color. The author dug up all kinds of tidbits on players like Gene Oliver, traded for Bob Uecker because he couldn’t catch Phil Niekro’s knuckler, and the illustrious Zeke Bella, who hit .196 lifetime but made the Greenwich High School Sports Hall of Fame. Aaron Boone’s grandfather Ray, nearing the end of his career, is also part of the ’59 set and worth a graph in this enjoyable paperback.
12. “Leave While the Party’s Good: the Life and Legacy of Baseball Executive Harry Dalton” (University of Nebraska, 358 pp., $39.95), by Lee C. Kluck. A journalist who became a GM, Harry Dalton worked for the Orioles, Angels, and Brewers during a 40-year career in the front office. His career spanned the advent of free agency but allowed him to trade for Frank Robinson, transforming the O’s into a powerhouse (four pennants in Robinson’s six years). He later won the AL pennant in Milwaukee but came up empty with the Angels despite spending lots of Gene Autry’s money. Honest and cordial with the media, Dalton was not only colorful but constructive, winning with big and small payrolls.
13. “Charlie Hustle: the Rise and Fall of Pete Rose and The Last Glory Days of Baseball” (Pantheon, 444 pp., $35), by Keith O’Brien. More a social history than a biography, this hefty hardcover is packed with quotes from Rose, the career hits leader whose penchant for betting on baseball kept him from a certain Hall of Fame induction. “In his mind, there was no way he was going to get caught,” the author writes. Rose also knew it was wrong, according to O’Brien. Surrounded by larger-than-life characters from Marge Schott to Bart Giamatti, Rose found success as a player and manager but could never escape the controversy he created. This is the best of several Rose biographies because it contains so much new information.
14. “Team of Destiny: Walter Johnson, Clark Griffith, Bucky Harris, and the 1924 Washington Senators” (Rowman & Littlefield, 250 pp., $38) by Gary Sarnoff. Like the Mike Donlin tome, this hardcover brings readers back a century to the time of train travel, two eight-team leagues, and the beginning of the Live Ball era triggered by Babe Ruth. It was also Johnson’s farewell season and the first as manager by “boy wonder” Bucky Harris. The author, who has written about 1930s baseball before, writes about the tight AL pennant race, how Washington upgraded its roster, and how Johnson and Harris created an unlikely world championship.
15. “At Long Last: the Texas Rangers’ Historic Run to the 2023 World Series” (Triumph, 128 pp., $16.95), by Jeff Wilson, foreword by Michael Young. Ten months after Texas won its first world title, this commemorative paperback is a handsome reminder. Loaded with full-page color art, it details the race for the AL West division title, postseason series, and winning the World Series against Arizona—the third time both Series teams were wild cards (2002 and 2014). There are whole chapters on Series MVP Corey Seager and three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, acquired in a deadline day deal that made the difference.
16. “Lone Stars: the Historic Season of the World Champion Texas Rangers” (Pediment Publishing, 160 pp., $39.95), by The Dallas Morning News. This hardcover tribute to the Rangers consists of article reprints dating back to the 2022 signings of Bruce Bochy and Jacob deGrom through the team’s first postseason berth since 2016, concluding with sections on each playoff level. Gorgeous color photography coupled with solid writing makes this a coffee-table keepsake.
17. “Baseball’s Ultimate Power: Ranking the All-Time Greatest Distance Home Run Hitters” (Lyons Press, 329 pp., $29.95), Bill Jenkinson. Fourteen years after its original release, this book needed an update—mainly to include the exploits of Aaron Judge, Alex Rodriguez, and the two teams that hit 307 homers in a season: the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves. In addition to 21st-century power hitters, there’s a section on Negro Leagues sluggers, a myriad of historical rankings, and even pieces on inside-the-park home runs, spring training home runs, All-Star Game homers, first and last home runs, and pitcher home runs—though Tony Cloninger’s two grand-slams in a game (a National League first) is mysteriously missing.
18. “The Lineup Card: an Illustrated History of the Baseball Collectible” (McFarland, 255 pp., $39.95), by Tom O’Reilly. Every game starts with a home-plate exchange of lineup cards, items vital to maintaining order but invariably overlooked by fans and media. This clever paperback, packed with examples of official lineup cards written and signed by the managers who created them, fills a long-standing void. It even contains the self-taught calligraphy of Jerry Naron. Who knew? And who knew lineup cards, like baseball cards, are a collectible?
19. “Sox Bid Curse Farewell: the 2004 Boston Red Sox” (SABR, 339 pp., $34.95), edited by Bill Nowlin. Published to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the only team to win a seven-game playoff after losing the first three, this hefty paperback contains the work of 68 members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Resembling a yearbook that emphasizes words rather than pictures, this foot-noted work features sections on players, listed alphabetically, plus manager Terry Francona and his coaches. Winning their first world championship in 86 years almost seems like an afterthought in this book following the ALCS comeback against the rival Yankees.
20. “Bitten by the Red Sox Baseball Bug: a Fan’s Lifelong Passion” (Summer Game Books, 244 pp., $17.99), by Bill Nowlin. The author is a Boston native whose father once hawked hot dogs at Fenway Park. The younger Nowlin never lost his taste for the game, as he shows in this personal paperback. He aptly compares Red Sox fans to Cubs fans since both endured title droughts of ridiculous lengths before finally winning the World Series. Born in 1945, Nowlin became a Boston fan by osmosis—he lived there—but became a historian by choice. This book contains considerable Red Sox history the author never saw but needs to finger the futility he and his fellow fans felt at so many near-misses by their favorite ballclub. It’s a great read.
21. “Dewey: Behind the Gold Glove” (Triumph, 256 pp., $21.65), by Erik Sherman, foreword by Carl Yastrzemski. Red Sox fans will also love this tribute to Dwight Evans, a rifle-armed right fielder with power whose career almost led to Cooperstown. A member of the Red Sox Hall of Fame, Evans won eight Gold Gloves while becoming a Boston career leader in games, home runs, and runs batted in. The author’s eighth book is one of his best.
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22. “The Fenway Effect: a Cultural History of the Boston Red Sox” (University of Nebraska, 249 pp., $34.95), by David Krell. Yet another fine tribute to the Red Sox, this hardcover not only delves into baseball but concurrent events from Ted Williams serving in two wars to the Boston Marathon bombing. The author, who previously wrote similar books about the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Mets, not only talks about the sale of Babe Ruth (and subsequent Curse of the Bambino) but the fabled ballpark, the team’s fans, and the influence of Red Sox Nation in music, movies, and more. Even “Cheers” is here, though Frasier has left the building. And kudos to Krell for including Boston-centric “Fever Pitch,” perhaps the funniest and most pertinent baseball film ever made.
23. “Shadows of Glory: Memorable and Offbeat World Series Stories” (Lyons Press, 314 pp., $26.95), by Dave Brown and Jeff Rodimer, foreword by Mark Teixeira. Over more than a century, the World Series has generated classic tales—from Don Larsen’s perfect game to the unexpected home runs of Bill Mazeroski and Kirk Gibson—but this paperback focuses on the lesser-known stars and situations. The authors bring Dusty Rhodes and Nippy Jones back to the headlines, along with outfielder-turned-shortstop Mickey Stanley of the ‘68 Tigers. They even detail the sudden war-related schedule change that forced the 1918 World Series to be played before summer was over.
24. “Work, Fight, or Play Ball: How Bethlehem Steel Helped Baseball’s Stars Avoid World War I” (Temple University Press, 223 pp., $25), by William Egenbarger. In 1918, when the U.S. finally entered World War I, some players went to war but others joined teams sponsored by such industrial giants as U.S. Steel. Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby were stars who stayed, while Christy Mathewson went overseas and inhaled poison gas that shortened his life. And virtually all teams hired Army drill sergeants to get players ready—just in case—and portray their patriotism. This thought-provoking hardcover tells many little-known tales.
25. “Baseball’s Great Expectations: Candid Stories of Ballplayers Who Didn’t Live Up To The Hype” (Rowman & Littlefield, 214 pp., $35), by Patrick Montgomery. The title of this book could have been A.B.N.Q., short for Almost But Not Quite. It’s about the blue-chip prospects who never made the majors or burned out quickly, from David Clyde to Dan Pasqua, and even reveals how Scott Boras tried to squeeze even more bonus money for Brien Taylor, the can’t-miss prospect who did. Ardent fans will remember Mark “The Bird” Fidrych but how many will recall Ron Neccai, who once fanned 27 in a minor-league game? This hardcover is a blast from the past that makes a big point: most prospects are actually suspects.
26. “Baseball Heaven: Up Close and Personal. What Is Was Really Like in the Major Leagues” (Rowman & Littlefield, 344 pp., $28.95), by Peter Golenbock, foreword by Robert Lipsyte. Using interview material collected over the last half-century, the author presents Ralph Branca, Happy Chandler, Elston Howard, Gary Carter, and others, using their exact words in a question-and-answer format. Learn why, for example, the Yankees passed on the chance to sign Hank Aaron. Or how Chandler overruled the overwhelming opposition of owners to integrate baseball.
27. “Schoolboy: the Untold Journey of a Yankees Hero” (University of Nebraska, 234 pp., $34.95), by Waite Hoyt with Tim Manners, foreword by Bob Costas. A Hall of Fame Yankees pitcher who became a Reds broadcaster, Hoyt hailed from Brooklyn, befriended Babe Ruth, spent 21 years in pinstripes, and made extra money as a Vaudeville star (like Turkey Mike Donlin) and a mortician. He also developed the unusual habit of announcing games in the past tense. This book came together after the author met the former pitcher’s son, Chris, who provided volumes of hand-written files compiled before the former pitcher passed in 1984.
28. “Larry Doby: the Story of a Baseball Pioneer” (Sports Publishing, 211 pp., $32.99), by Jerry Izenberg. Age has been kind to this author, a Newark Star-Ledger columnist still worth reading because of his ability to profile a larger-than-life personality and turn a phrase. A large-type book with a message even larger, this compact hardcover traces Doby’s odyssey from Paterson, N.J., to the Negro Leagues and eventually the majors, thanks to Bill Veeck. En route to Cooperstown, the nine-time All-Star integrated the American League, won a home run crown, and became a major-league manager—mostly in an era struggling to escape the scourge of segregation.
29. “What’s in Ted’s Wallet: the Newly-Revealed T206 Baseball Card Collection of Thomas Edison’s Youngest Son” (Sunbury Press, 104 pp., $19.95), by J.B. Manheim & Lawrence Knorr. Edison not only invented the electric light but was an early advocate of collecting, especially when it came to his favorite sport. He shared that passion with his 11-year-old son, Ted, who collected and saved numerous star cards that later proved valuable. The wallet where he kept them later revealed its bounty to the authors when they were researching the inventor.
30. “976-1313: How Sports Phone Launched Careers and Broke New Ground,” by Howie Karpin and Scott Orgera, foreword by Kenny Albert. Before computers, cell phones, and all-sports channels on TV and radio, Sports Phone provided an instant fix for thousands of fans and launched many broadcast careers. This hardcover gives fans an inside-the-clubhouse look at how it worked and when it didn’t— including addiction to The Playboy Channel and other videos that embarrassed the few female staffers. For decades, though, it worked well and filled a void.
31. “Roberto Alomar: the Complicated Life and Legacy of a Baseball Hall of Famer” (Rowman & Littlefield, 276 pp., $36), by David Ostrowsky. A 12-time All-Star with 10 Gold Gloves, Robby Alomar reached the Hall of Fame before his legacy was tarnished by multiple controversies. He was punished by both Major League Baseball, who placed him on its Ineligible List, and the Blue Jays, who severed all ties with him after allegations of sexual misbehavior. His plaque remains in Cooperstown, however. This hardcover, packed with comments from the player’s teammates and rivals, delves into Alomar’s roller-coaster career, including numerous conflicts.
32. “Big Cat: the Life of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize” (University of Nebraska, 304 pp., $34.95), by Jerry Grillo. A rare slugger who hit for both average and power, Mize made it to Cooperstown as an after-thought—from the Veterans Committee in 1981—but left a long legacy of accomplishment. A home run king, World Series hero, and 10-time All-Star, Mize was “The Big Cat” before Andres Galarraga, a star of the ’40s unfairly overlooked behind Stan Musial, Joe DiMaggio, and Ted Williams. This well-crafted hardcover fills that void.
33. “The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City” (Alfred A. Knopf, 514 pp., $35), by Kevin Baker. Just as baseball grew as a game, gradually adding and subtracting to improve the product, New York grew as a city, rising from a bustling port to a thriving metropolis by the end of the Second World War. The author traces the evolution of the game through its local origins to the Babe Ruth era, the Depression, and the war years. This hefty hardcover covers everything from John McGraw and Lou Gehrig to Tammany Hall and Fiorello LaGuardia.
34. “My Mets Bible: Scoring 30 Years of Baseball Fandom” (Triumph, 384 pp., $28), by Evan Roberts. Like Howie Rose, Evan Roberts was a lifelong Mets fan who became a broadcaster. From that perch, he chronicled the exploits of Tom Glavine—hated both before and after he joined the team—plus such others as Gary Sheffield, Ryan Church, and Doc Gooden. His sarcastic comments are humorous and his reprinted scorecards are priceless. This hardcover is a great trip down Memory Lane for Mets fans.
35. “New York Mets Firsts” (Lyons Press, 176 pp., $21.95), by Brett Topel. The many “firsts” included here are the first Met to win a Cy Young, the first to homer at CitiField, the first to have a 50-homer season, the first to wear a Mets uniform in the All-Star Game, and the first Mets game played outside North America. The author follows each item with a detailed explanation
36. “Tales of the Yankee Clipper: Stories and Reflections on Joe DiMaggio” (Rowman & Littlefield, 224 pp., $24.95), by Jonathan Weeks. One of the sections in the clever paperback is called “Assorted Anecdotes” and provides just enough fuel to merit the purchase of yet another DiMaggio book. Who knew, for example, that Ty Cobb helped DiMaggio negotiate a contract? Or that Joe D once had his own Home Run Derby with Makoto Kuzuru, then known as “the Babe Ruth of Japan?” Also included are lists of career milestones, awards and honors, and even the evolution of Joe’s contracts. For a fan of ironies and oddities, this could be the Book of the Year.
37. “Frank Chance’s Diamond: the Baseball Journalism of Ring Lardner” (Lyons Press, 347 pp., $24.95), edited by Ron Rapoport. Still one of the most popular and most famous journalists in American history, Ring Lardner hit literary home runs every time he touched the typewriter. The paperback contains columns on Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb, Casey Stengel, and numerous other luminaries, plus plenty of lesser lights that somehow captivated the writer’s attention. There are none like him today and no one writing like him anymore, as the author explains.
38. “Tampa Spring Training Tales: Major League Memories” (The History Press, 157 pp., $24.99), by Rick Vaughn. In 1940, Tampa Bay hosted a spring training “All-Star Game,” pitting the best players of the American League teams training in Florida against the National League’s best. Publicist-turned-author Rick Vaughn also reports that Tampa had three baseball-worthy parks, hosted more than 125 Hall of Famers, and was the scene of Babe Ruth’s longest homer and a rare spring training no-hitter. Anyone who thinks spring training is boring will think otherwise after perusing this compact paperback.
39. “The Fifty Greatest Players in Houston Astros History” (Lyons Press, 344 pp., $24.95), by Robert W. Cohen. No surprise that Jeff Bagwell tops the list, closely followed by Craig Biggio, but Nolan Ryan and Justin Verlander could have ranked higher. Each profile includes the year-by-year record plus best season, greatest performance, and notable achievements. There’s even an all-time Astros team indicating the best Houston player at each position. Nice job, Robert!
40. “Ballparks of America: 2024 Travel Guide” (My Bucket Journals, 65 pp., $39.99). The shortest book of the year is also one of the most handy. Its two-page spreads on each of the 30 current fields include easy-to-find information on food, features, stats, tours, transportation, and nearby hotels and restaurants. One blemish: the Snap-a-Pic blurb on the Truist Park page has been replaced by a write-up on the Angels Team Store. The curse of Ron Washington, perhaps?
41. “Finding America in a Minor League Ballpark: a Season Hosting for the Durham Bulls” (Sports Publishing, 199 pp., $35), by Harris Cooper. Beyond the Durham Bulls, for whom he spent a full season as an usher, the author highlights minor-league history, tells why Branch Rickey once owned 32 teams, explains how a game lasted 32 innings, and reveals that a 17-year-old girl once struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The easy-to-follow format features informational sidebars plus plenty of pictures.
42. “715 at 50: The Night Henry Aaron Changed Baseball And the World Forever” (Summer Game Books, 154 pp., $24.99), by Randy Louis Cox. Although the idea for this kids’ book was a good one, the execution was not. Important names spelled wrong include Eddie Mathews and Billy Muffett. The design is disorganized, and the constant repetition of the author’s name as a photo credit is annoying. There’s also too much Bob Hope—the team’s PR guy in 1974—and not enough Aaron and Mathews. At least the comments of diminutive traveling secretary Donald Davidson are worthwhile.
HONORABLE MENTION
“Fantasy Expert: a Baseball Memoir, Historical Tell-All, and One Stat Geek’s Personal Journey Through Heaven and Hell” (Triumph, 329 pp., $28), by Ron Shandler.
“Searchin’ for Toothpick Sam: a Baseball Card Odyssey” (McFarland, 208 pp., $29.95), by Jamie Selko, foreword by Mark Armour.
“Tales from the Dugout: 1,001 Humorous, Inspirational & Wild Anecdotes from Minor League Baseball” (Cider Mill Press, 366 pp., $16.95), by Tim Haggerty.
“The Ballplayer’s Son: Following the Footsteps and Escaping the Shadow of Big Moe Franklin” (Summer Game Books, 288 pp., $18.99), by Dell Franklin.
“The Wizard of College Baseball” (University of Nebraska, 196 pp., $29.95), by David Brauer.
“Cardinal Dreams: the Legacy of Charlie Peete and a Life Cut Short” (Rowman & Littlefield, 292 pp., $34), by Danny Spewak.
“A Baseball Gaijin: Chasing a Dream to Japan and Back” (Sports Publishing, 371 pp., $32.99), by Aaron Fischman, foreword by Don Nomura.
“Runnin’ Redbirds: the World Champion 1982 St. Louis Cardinals” (McFarland, 233 pp., $35), by Eric Vickrey.
— Dan Schlossberg, a long-time SCD contributor, wrote Hank Aaron biographies 50 years apart, with “Hammerin’ Hank: the Henry Aaron Story” in 1974 and “Home Run King: the Remarkable Record of Hank Aaron” published this spring by Skyhorse. With modesty in mind, he omitted his own work from this column but urges readers to consider the only baseball biography written by topic rather than time.
