 |
Author |
TOPIC: Off-season Reading |
|
| Brill15
January 8, 2009
9:01:54 AM
Entry #: 3027468
| Wanted to get something new on the site, so I thought I'd recommend a few books that you can read (or listen to) to keep you in the baseball mood during the long, cold, winter months. I'll recommend a few books I have read that I can personally recommend, and then a few I haven't but I found on lists online.
Books I have read and recommend:
1. I Love this Game by Kirby Puckett
2. Why I Love Baseball, by Larry King (I recommend the audio book here, actually read by Larry, you can tell this guy is obsessed with the game)
3. Moneyball by Michael Lewis
4. Baseball: A History of America's Favorite Game by George Vecsey
5. Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig by Jonathan Eig
6. Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season by Jonathan Eig
7. Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella (it's the book "Field of Dreams" is based on and it actually has some differences from the movie)
8. Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series by Eliot Asinof
9. Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager by Buzz Bissinger (great book about how Tony La Russa thinks and all the preperation he does)
10. The Physics of Baseball (3rd edition) by Robert Adair
These are all the ones I can think of that I've read. For a bigger list of Baseball books you can go here: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/books/baseball-books.html
If anyone has a review of any baseball books they've read or wants to add books to this list please do.
It's cold outside, but it's still summer in these books.
|
| brill6
January 9, 2009
12:12:47 PM
Entry #: 3028318
| Those sound interesting, but can anyone other than Kirby and the teachers on our team read?? Do we need library cards to rent books?
|
| 3
January 9, 2009
1:26:43 PM
Entry #: 3028360
| I can not read, but I do have two books on the shelf that look really cool. The Boys of Summer (most of us have probably heard about or read it) by Roger Kahn I believe, great book about growing up in a baseball family. Also, A Summer Up North, I can't think of the author's name but it is about Hank Aaron and baseball in Eau Claire, it is a good read. For a quick read, The Science of Hitting by Ted Williams, good insight to approaching hitting. And yes Kirby's autobiography (isn't it Kirby?) I Love This Game, I have read it (had somebody read it to me) like six or seven times. I am currently trying to keep myself into the book A Tradition of Purple, a history of the Vikings. It is a sad story!!!
|
|
| Brill15
January 12, 2009
8:22:11 AM
Entry #: 3029391
| Fear not illiterate Millers. Many of the above books are available as audio books! Frank, that means someone reads it to you.
That's actually how I read most of them. It makes the long drives from MN to WI go much quicker. There is one catch though, you may have to go to a library to get them unless you don't mind paying $20-$35 per book. A good one to start with is the Larry King one, really fun to listen to him. Good luck "reading" and try not to think too hard, you might sprain your brain.
|
|
| 3
January 13, 2009
10:07:07 AM
Entry #: 3030099
| Driving home last night I was listening to WPR and got to listen to the author from the book A Summer Up North and Bruce Froeming talk about the old days of Eau Claire baseball. It was pretty interesting although they talked a lot about things that happened then with no picture painted in the listeners head, so it was tough to follow. If you want to listen it should be archived on wpr.org. It was on the West Side show from this part of the state. There is going to be a Eau Claire baseball hall of fame soon.
|
| 3
January 23, 2009
11:02:01 AM
Entry #: 3037373
| I ordered my Larry King CD just now for $1.40 on Amazon, plus $3 or something for S+H. Good deal!! and it is new!! Thanks for the recommendation Kirby. It also showed good reviews for Bob Costas' Fair Ball and others that I think would be enjoyable.
|
|
| Brill15
January 23, 2009
4:15:13 PM
Entry #: 3037714
| Good to hear Frank. Let me know how you like it. I've heard good things about the Costas book as well, I'll have to add that to my list.
|
|
| 3
February 2, 2009
10:22:46 AM
Entry #: 3044933
| I started listening to the book by Larry King this morning and am through Chpt. 6 already. It is fantastic, Oscar and Maverick are loving it also. Thanks for the recommendation Kirby.
|
|
| Brill15
February 2, 2009
10:40:14 AM
Entry #: 3044952
| Glad to hear it Franky! You can really tell how much Larry loves the game and it's always fun to listen to someone talk about their passion for baseball.
|
