Friday, April 24, 2020

Books About Baseball Seasons

The Coronavirus pandemic has forced people to stay home, and even read! People are even reading books, not just their computers, tablets and smartphones.

Since the possibility of us not having a 2020 baseball season at all is starting to loom large, here are some books about previous baseball seasons that you may find interesting -- or may already have.

The Red Stockings of Cincinnati: Base Ball's First All-Professional Team and Its Historic 1869 and 1870 Seasons, by Stephen D Guschov.

The Summer of Beer and Whiskey: How Brewers, Barkeeps, Rowdies, Immigrants, and a Wild Pennant Fight Made Baseball America's Game (1882), by Edward Achorn.

Fifty-Nine in '84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had, by Edward Achorn.

Turbulent Seasons: Baseball in 1890-1891, by Charles C. Alexander.

A Game of Brawl: The Orioles, the Beaneaters, and the Battle for the 1897 Pennantby Bill Felber.

MISFITS! Baseball's Worst Ever Team: 1899 Cleveland Spidersby J. Thomas Hetrick and Michael D. Arnold.

The Days of Wee Willie, Old Cy and Baseball War: Scenes from the Dawn of the Deadball Era, 1900-1903by Chuck Kimberly.

The First World Series and the Baseball Fanatics of 1903by Roger I. Abrams.

The Year They Called Off the World Series: A True Storyby Benton Stark. Published in 1991, before the 1994 season.

The Old Ball Game: How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson, and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball (1905), by Frank Deford.

When Chicago Ruled Baseball: The Cubs-White Sox World Series of 1906by Bernard A. Weisberger.

Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball Historyby Cait N. Murphy.

When Cobb Met Wagner: The Seven-Game World Series of 1909by David Finoli.

The Chalmers Race: Ty Cobb, Napoleon Lajoie, and the Controversial 1910 Batting Title That Became a National Obsessionby Rick Huhn and Charles C. Alexander.

Stealing Games: How John McGraw Transformed Baseball with the 1911 New York Giantsby Maury Klein.

The First Fall Classic: The Red Sox, the Giants and the Cast of Players, Pugs and Politicos Who Re-Invented the World Series in 1912by Mike Vaccaro.

Mack, McGraw And The 1913 Baseball Seasonby Richard Adler.

Baseball's Biggest Miracle: The 1914 Boston Braves, by Frank Ceresi and John B. Holway.

The Major League Pennant Races of 1916: "The Most Maddening Baseball Melee in History," by Paul G. Zinn and John G. Zinn.

The 1917 White Sox: Their World Championship Seasonby Warren N Wilbert and William C Hageman. Published in 2003, before the White Sox' 2005 World Series win.

War Fever: Boston, Baseball, and America in the Shadow of the Great Warby Randy Roberts and Johnny Smith.

Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Seriesby Eliot Asinof.

The Pitch That Killed: Carl Mays, Ray Chapman and the Pennant Race of 1920, by Mike Sowell.

1921: The Yankees, the Giants, and the Battle for Baseball Supremacy in New Yorkby Lyle Spatz and Steve Steinberg.

The 1922 St. Louis Browns: Best of the American League's Worstby Roger A. Godin.

The House That Ruth Built: A New Stadium, the First Yankees Championship, and the Redemption of 1923by Robert Weintraub.

Baseball's Greatest Season, 1924by Reed Browning.

The Battling Bucs of 1925: How the Pittsburgh Pirates Pulled Off the Greatest Comeback in World Series Historyby Ronald T. Waldo.

The Cardinals and the Yankees, 1926: A Classic Season and St. Louis in Sevenby Paul E. Doutrich.

Five O'Clock Lightning: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and the Greatest Baseball Team in History, the 1927 New York Yankeesby Harvey Frommer.

The 1928 New York Yankees: The Return of Murderers' Rowby Charlie Gentile.

Simply the Best: The Story of the 1929-31 Philadelphia Athleticsby Brett Topel.

Lefty Grove and the 1931 Philadelphia Athleticsby Robert P. Broadwater.

The 1932 New York Yankees: The Story of a Legendary Team, a Remarkable Season, and a Wild World Seriesby Ronald A. Mayer.

The 1933 New York Giants: Bill Terry's Unexpected World Championsby Lou Hernandez.

The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series-and America’s Heart-During the Great Depression, by John Heidenry.


The Boys Who Were Left Behind: The 1944 World Series between the Hapless St. Louis Browns and the Legendary St. Louis Cardinalsby John Heidenry and Brett Topel.

The 1945 Detroit Tigers: Nine Old Men and One Young Left Arm Win It Allby Burge Carmon Smith.

The Stars Are Back: The St. Louis Cardinals, the Boston Red Sox, and Player Unrest in 1946by Jerome M. Mileur.

1947: When All Hell Broke Loose In Baseball, by Red Barber.

Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever (1947), by Kevin Cook.

A Summer to Remember: Bill Veeck, Lou Boudreau, Bob Feller, and the 1948 Cleveland Indiansby Lew Freedman.

Summer of '49, by David Halberstam.

The Whiz Kids And the 1950 Pennant, by Robin Roberts (the Hall of Fame pitcher for that team).

The Echoing Green: The Untold Story of Bobby Thomson, Ralph Branca and the Shot Heard Round the World (1951), by Joshua Prager.

The Boys of Summer (1952 and 1953), by Roger Kahn.

1954: The Year Willie Mays and the First Generation of Black Superstars Changed Major League Baseball Foreverby Bill Madden.

Bums No More: The Championship Season of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, by Stewart Wolpin.

Baseball's Golden Season: The 1956 Major League Baseball Season, Baseball's Greatest Yearby Bill Leatherman.

An Indian Summer: The 1957 Milwaukee Braves, Champions of Baseballby Thad Mumau.

The Dodgers Move West (1957-58), by Neil Sullivan.

Go-Go To Glory: The 1959 Chicago White Sox, by Don Zminda.

Sweet ’60: The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates, by Dick Rosen and C. Paul Rogers.

1961*: The Inside Story of the Maris-Mantle Home Run Chaseby Phil Pepe.

Chasing October: The Giants-Dodgers Pennant Race of 1962, by David Plaut.

The Last Innocents: The Collision of the Turbulent Sixties and the Los Angeles Dodgers (1963 & 1965), by Michael Leahy.

The Year of Blue Snow: The 1964 Philadelphia Philliesby Mel Marmer and Bill Nowlin.

October 1964, by David Halberstam.

Black and Blue: Sandy Koufax, the Robinson Boys, and the World Series That Stunned America (1966), by Tom Adelman.

The Impossible Dream 1967 Red Sox: Birth of Red Sox Nationby Herb Crehan.

Spirit of '67: The Cardiac Kids, El Birdos, and the World Series That Captivated America, by Thomas J. Whalen.

The Year of the Pitcher: Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, and the End of Baseball’s Golden Age (1968), by Sridhar Pappu. (Don't let the Indian-sounding name fool you: I've read this book, and he knows his baseball.)

The Tigers of '68: Baseball's Last Real Champions, by George Cantor.

Ball Four (1969), by Jim Bouton.

The Wonder Year: The Championships of the New York Jets, Mets, and Knicks Were Only Part of the Story in 1969by Bert Flieger.

Pitching, Defense, and Three-Run Homers: The 1970 Baltimore Orioles, by Mark L. Armour.

The Team That Changed Baseball: Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Piratesby Bruce Markusen.

Hairs vs. Squares: The Mustache Gang, the Big Red Machine, and the Tumultous Summer of '72, by Ed Gruver.

Hammerin' Hank, George Almighty and the Say Hey Kid: The Year That Changed Baseball Forever (1973), by John Rosengren.

Ten-Cent Beer Night and the 1974 Baseball Seasonby Daniel R. Grimes.

The Long Ball: The Summer of '75 - Spaceman, Catfish, Charlie Hustle, and the Greatest World Series Ever Playedby Tom Adelman.

Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of ‘76by Dan Epstein.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of of a Cityby Jonathan Mahler.

The Fall of the 1977 Phillies: How a Baseball Team's Collapse Sank a City's Spiritby Mitchell Nathanson. Essentially, Philly's version of The Bronx Is Burning.

Dodgerland: Decadent Los Angeles and the 1977-78 Dodgers, by Michael Fallon. L.A.'s version of The Bronx Is Burning.

South Side Hitmen: The Story of the 1977 Chicago White Sox, by by Dan Helpingstine and Leo Bauby. I've never read this one, so I don't know if it covers Chicago as a city in that time with enough in-depth-ness to be that city's version of The Bronx Is Burning. There should be such a book, because this was the 1st time both the White Sox and the Cubs were both in the Pennant race entering August in about 60 years. But both fizzled in August, and neither won its Division. Throw in the fact that the city was reeling from the late 1976 death of 21-year Mayor Richard J. Daley, and you've got quite a story.

Although not about a city and its baseball team, a similar book was written by Denver Post columnist Terry Frei about his city and its football team: '77: Denver, The Broncos, and a Coming of Age.

'78: The Boston Red Sox, A Historic Game, and a Divided Cityby Bill Reynolds. Boston's version of The Bronx Is Burning, although it also covers the years leading up to the Bucky Dent Game, including the 1974-75 school-busing controversy, the Sox' 1975 Pennant and World Series, the 1976 death of Tom Yawkey, Boston's Bicentennial celebrations, the "Soiling of Old Glory" incident at City Hall, and the Blizzard of '78.

October Men: Reggie Jackson, George Steinbrenner, Billy Martin, and the Yankees' Miraculous Finish in 1978, by Roger Kahn.

When The Bucs Won It All: The 1979 World Champion Pittsburgh Piratesby Bill Ranier and David Finoli.

Almost a Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the 1980 Philliesby William C. Kashatus.

Split Season: 1981: Fernandomania, the Bronx Zoo, and the Strike that Saved Baseballby Jeff Katz.

Whitey's Boys: A Celebration of the '82 Cards World Championshipby Rob Rains and Alvin Reid.

Oriole Magic: The O's of 1983by Thom Loverro.

Wire to Wire: Inside the 1984 Detroit Tigers Championship Seasonby George Cantor.

Doc, Donnie, the Kid, and Billy Brawl: How the 1985 Mets and Yankees Fought for New York’s Baseball Soulby Chris Donnelly.

Crowning the Kansas City Royals: Remembering the 1985 World Series Champs, by Jeffrey Spivak.

The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put On a New York Uniform -- and Maybe the Best, by Jeff Pearlman. (They were not.)

Magic! 1987 Twins' Enchanted Season, by the sports staff of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Miracle Men: Hershiser, Gibson, and the Improbable 1988 Dodgersby Josh Suchon. Like the aforementioned Wire to Wire, it has Kirk Gibson on the cover. It's easy to forget that 1988 was the 2nd time, and for the 2nd different team, in a 2nd different League, that Gibson was a World Series home run hero.

Three Weeks in October: Three Weeks in the Life of the Bay Area, the 1989 World Series, and the Loma Prieta Earthquake, by Ron Fimrite. Books titled Three Weeks in October have also been written about the 2002 D.C. Sniper case, and as a young adult novel about the 1973 Yom Kippur War between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

The Hunt for a Reds October: Cincinnati in 1990by Charles F. Faber and Zachariah Webb.

Down to the Last Pitch: How the 1991 Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves Gave Us the Best World Series of All Timeby Tim Wende.

Macho Row: The 1993 Phillies and Baseball's Unwritten Codeby William C. Kasthaus.

Ecstasy to Agony: The 1994 Montreal Expos, by Danny Gallagher and Bill Young.

Baseball's Greatest Series: Yankees, Mariners, and the 1995 Matchup That Changed History, by Chris Donnelly.

Cleveland Rocked: The Personalities, Sluggers, and Magic of the 1995 Indiansby Zack Meisel.

Bravo! The Inside Story of the Atlanta Braves' 1995 World Series Championship, by I.J. Rosenberg.

Birth of a Dynasty: Behind the Pinstripes with the 1996 Yankeesby Joel Sherman.

If They Don't Win It's a Shame: The Year the Marlins Bought the World Series (1997), by Dave Rosenbaum.

The Perfect Season: Why 1998 Was Baseball's Greatest Yearby Tim McCarver and Danny Peary.

Unbeatable! The Historic Season Of The 1998 World Champion New York Yankeesby George King.

The Subway Series: Baseball's Big Apple Battles And The Yankees-Mets 2000 World Series Classicby Jerry Beach.

The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty New Edition: The Game, the Team, and the Cost of Greatness (2001), by Buster Olney.

Out of the Blue: The story of the Anaheim Angels' improbable run to the 2002 World Series titleby Joe Haakenson.

Miracle Over Miami: How the 2003 Marlins Shocked the Worldby Dan Schlossberg.

Don't Let Us Win Tonight: An Oral History of the 2004 Boston Red Sox's Impossible Playoff Runby Allan Wood and Bill Nowlin.

Say It's So: Papa, Dad, Me, and 2005 White Sox Championship Seasonby Ben Shapiro and David Shapiro.

We Shocked the World: How the Underdog St. Louis Cardinals Won the 2006 World Seriesby the sports staff of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Extra 2%: How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First (2008 Tampa Bay Rays), by Jonah Keri.

Hard to Believe! The Incredible Game-By-Game Story of the 2008 World Champion Philadelphia Philliesby Mike McNesbyJason Weitzel.

Mission 27: A New Boss, A New Ballpark, and One Last Ring for the Yankees' Core Four (2009),
by Mark Feinsand and Bryan Hoch.

A Band of Misfits: Tales of the 2010 San Francisco Giantsby Andrew Baggarly.

Wild Cards: The Story of the 2011 World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals, by the sports staff of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

For Boston: From Worst to First, the Improbable Dream Season of the 2013 Red Soxby the sports staff of The Boston Globe.

Keep the Line Moving: The Story of the 2015 Kansas City Royalsby Kent Krause.

A Season for the Ages: How the 2016 Chicago Cubs Brought a World Series Championship to the North Sideby Al Yellon and Pat Hughes.

Hurricane Season: The Unforgettable Story of the 2017 Houston Astros and the Resilience of a Cityby Joe Holley.

Fight to the Finish: How the Washington Nationals Rallied to Become 2019 World Series Championsby the sports staff of The Washington Post.

2 comments:

Paul said...

You forgot The Bronx Zoo by Sparky Lyle.

Uncle Mike said...

I did not forget that book. I chose to not include it.