Hi! I have recently started getting into baseball now that my local team doesn’t suck ass and I am looking for any books related to the sport. Fiction or nonfiction but Ideally not something too jargony/inside baseball (heh) because I still don’t 100% understand all the rules and intricacies.
by ImWatchinSeinfeldbtw
6 Comments
Why We Love Baseball by Joe Posnaski is a gem of a book. Really wonderful
“Playing Through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession That Changed Baseball Forever” by Dan Good
It’s got a lot of descriptions about baseball games in it but it’s also a good look at addiction through the life of Ken Caminiti, who played in the MLB in the ‘80s & ‘90s and struggled with alcohol and drug addiction.
As the title suggests, he was the first MLB player to openly admit to using steroids prompting that whole scandal that eventually led to Congressional hearings. >!He died from a drug overdose in 2004.!<
Bucky F*cking Dent by David Duchovny (humorous and touching father/son baseball book revolving around Yankees vs. Red Sox)(and yes, it’s by that David Duchovny and he’s an excellent writer!) and The Resisters by Gish Jen – really compelling dystopian novel featuring baseball as an act of resistance.
All my daughter reads are books about baseball. I’m following this post, so I after I talk to her when I get home from work later I can give you some suggestions from her. We are a huge baseball family in my house.
As a younger man, I read The Bronx Zoo by Sparky Lyle.
I still remember that book fondly as it gave a great peek into the clubhouse of an iconic Yankee team.
Of course, this was long before the days of social media and mass information so it might not hold up as well today.
*Ball Four* by Jim Bouton.
It’s the chronicle of Bouton’s 1969 season as he attempted to prolong his career with the Seattle Pilots (now Milwaukee Brewers) in their first year as an expansion team.
It’s not just about baseball, it’s about anyone in a time of transition. It’s true nonfiction literature. And it broke all sorts of taboos by revealing life in the major leagues as no player had before. Bouton spent two decades afterwards ostracized from the game because of what he wrote. But it needed to be written.
But it might not be the first book you should read. First read *The Boys of Summer* by Roger Kahn for a feel good story. Then you’ll be ready for *Ball Four.*