Best baseball book

[rentz]

Moneyball is a horrible book that is full of lies

lol

[hwiggen]

The best baseball book ever (fiction) is without a doubt Bang the Drum Slowly. If you haven't read it, order it and read it. It's great. Much better than the movie BTW.

As for non-fiction, I really enjoyed the Bronx Zoo and October 1964 but I have to agree that Ball Four is probably the best.
And anything by Roger Angel is worth reading.
If you have little league age kids, Thank You Jackie Robinson is a good choice.

[Stejay]

Could I get Bang the drum slowly on Amazon?

[hwiggen]

Bang the Drum Slowly is still in print and should be available on Amazon.

[shappy]

the book license to deal is a really interesting look into the mind of a baseball agent, if you have any interest in that check it out

[Snakes Gould]

How about The Kid Who Only Hit Homeruns? Just kidding. I really liked Moneyball. Even though it was a lot of numbers I liked to get an inside account of what Billy Beane's thought process was. I haven't read the other two but will have to check them out.

hilarious. im still waiting to read fantasyland but moneyball has my vote now.

[thedude]

The Natural was a really good ficition (better than the Movie IMO).

[hwiggen]

the Dude,
Can you give us a brief review of The Natural?
I wasn't that crazy about the movie but I can see where the story might be better in a book.

[ImClutch]

the Dude,
Can you give us a brief review of The Natural?
I wasn't that crazy about the movie but I can see where the story might be better in a book.

Bernard Malamud's, The Natural, is considered one of the best examples of baseball fiction ever written and the book is consistently studied in classes at the college level. The book blows the movie out of the water because it provides a much deeper look into the dodgy life of the main character (his name is failing me right now).

Another good one in this genre that is well known for its cinematic counterpart is W.P. Kinsella's, Shoeless Joe, which was adapted to be Field of Dreams. The book is equally moving and honestly makes you want to get right out there and build a ballpark of your own.

If you're looking for something more recent, but along these same lines, I'd recommend C.G. Morelli's, In the Pen: A Baseball Collection. This book offers a variety of short stories all written from unique perspectives related to baseball. I really enjoyed it. Of course, there is no movie related to this book as of yet.

Hope this helps!

[MarisFan61]

....Whatever happened to the hall of fame by Bill James?

Yes......Original title (hardcover copies have it) was "The Politics of Glory."

I couldn't pick ONE book.....gotta pick two:

1. Ball Four
2. Bill James' "New Historical Baseball Abstract" (and the old ones weren't bad either)