November 8, 2009
Order Now The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2010 is now in development and will ship in mid November! This year's book will feature articles by THT's staff as well as Bill James, Rob Neyer, Tom Tango and Craig Wright. If you use this link to purchase the Annual, you will be in the first group to receive it and you'll be supporting THT. Most Recent Comments
In the backwater swirling (1)
Ranking Yankee World Champions (3) Twins strike for J.J. Hardy (1) Both sides come out ahead in Teahen swap (9) Rays get something for nothing in Iwamura trade (6) 
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Wednesday, April 30, 2008Ten Essential Baseball Books: The SequelWell, heck, if Studes is going to publish his ... here's what I sent to Alex: 1. Any of the Roger Angell anthologies. The Summer Game was the first, but not necessarily the best; among the many phenomenal aspects of Angell's writing is how he's managed to remain as fresh and enthusiastic and sharp and witty and insightful as ever, decade upon decade. 2. Something by Bill James. I suppose The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract from 2001 is the default choice, but in some ways the original BJHBA from 1986 was better. And his Book of Baseball Managers is just as terrific. And, of course, one could hardly go wrong just taking one of the annual Abstracts from the 1980s. 3. The Thinking Fan's Guide to Baseball, by Leonard Koppett. If only most newspaper-beat sportswriters exhibited one-tenth of the intelligence and style of this tremendous thinker and writer. 4. A Day in the Bleachers, by Arnold Hano. Quite simply, the best ballgame-as-experienced-from-the-stands account ever written. Nothing else really comes close. 5. The Lords of Baseball, by John Helyar. The stunningly good history and examination of how MLB really operates. 6. Juicing the Game, by Howard Bryant. Picks up where Helyar left off, and presents the authoritative history of MLB in the modern era. 7. The Glory of their Times, edited by Lawrence Ritter. The first of the great oral histories, and in many ways still the best. Danny Peary's We Played the Game is a close rival. 8. Ball Four, by Jim Bouton with Leonard Schecter. Yes, Jim Brosnan's The Long Season was nearly as good, but not quite. Bouton's is the best insider's account yet presented. 9. Eight Men Out, by Eliot Asinof. Pick it up, and try to put it down. I dare ya. 10. The original MacMillan Baseball Encyclopedia, from 1969. Others have come along and overtaken it, and of course today one just turns to baseball-reference.com. But every statistical reference work since stands upon MacMillan's robust and towering shoulders. This leaves out a gazillion worthy contenders, of course. I'm sure as soon as I send this, I'm gonna slap my forehead and say, "D'oh! How could I have forgotten that one!" But every one of these ten is fundamental. Ten Essential Baseball BooksAlex Belth asked 55 different baseball nuts, including yours truly, for their list of ten essential baseball books. I didn't put the number one choice on my list at all. In fact, I think it's pretty non-essential these days, though it was great for its time. Just in case you're interested, here are my comments to Alex... Click for more... Better gloves in HoustonCrawfish Boxes looks at the Astros' improved defense. Using THT's Team page, natch. Hopefully the Phillies won’t need hitting helpThe Phillies' Triple-A squad is 3-23. Only one batter of note is hitting over .250. Meanwhile, Beerleaguer tries to be realistic. Tuesday, April 29, 2008Joel Zumaya’s Driveline MechanicsKyle is back with his own observations about Joel Zumaya, including some general tips on throwing mechanics. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||