5 comments about Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia.

1. With all the trouble baseball is in today, this book provides an outlet for the fan who loved the game before agents, Selig, Don Fehr, astroturf, overpaid performers, etc. You can browse through it again and again, and still enjoy the stories of these players. It is a great supplement to the statistics that we have for all the players of the past.



2. I received this book as a gift and have enjoyed it very much. The number of players covered is extensive, and the biographies are generally fair, well-researched, and well-written. As a younger baseball fan who has long had an interest in the entire history of the game, I have particularly gotten a kick out of the analyses of the 19th and early 20th century ballplayers, as well as the pictures attached to each biography. I am a little disappointed, however, that the authors only use the classic, rather banal (generally) statistics in their biographical sketches, especially as the book was compiled by the editors of the bible of baseball, "Total Baseball". It's fine to read about how many wins Grover Cleveland Alexander racked up in his great career, but how good was he really in comparison to the other greats of his day, as well as in comparison to the greats of today? Stats like ERA+, PRO+, etc., would have really put each of these players in the proper historical perspective. I realize that this book is aimed at general audience, and that many baseball fans still deride advanced statistical analysis, but such analysis truly enriches evaluation of the long history of America's past-time. Don't get me wrong, the book is a lot of fun. I look forward, however, to when some accomplished sabermetricians expand the project. Reading about Babe Ruth's antics off the field accompanied by a searching analysis that truly reveals how mammoth a presence he was on the field, will be icing on the cake.



3. I bought this book and when I started reading it discovered that I had read the bios on the ballplayers previously. Wondering where I had, I started to do a search in my huge collection of baseball books and cds. Sure enough, I discovered that the biographical information had previously been released on the Microsoft: Complete Baseball Cd that was available in 1995. There is some new stuff in the book that was not on the cd.



4. Compiling essays on the 2,000 most influential people inbaseball history is a massive undertaking. Somehow, David Pietrusza,Matthew Silverman, Michael Gershman and the editors at Total Sports managed to pull it off -- and set a new standard for quality in the process. Previous biographical compendiums pale by comparison. Some limited their scope, concentrating on only the top players (for whom there already is ample biographical information elsewhere). Others attempted to cover more players but, for many players, provided little more than a summary of the player's statistical accomplishments. The Biographical Encyclopedia doesn't skimp on either count. It covers not only the top players, but also the most notable sportswriters, broadcasters, front office executives and statisticians. More often than not, an individual's essay includes unique biographical info that can't be found in other reference works. The worst one can say is that the book has its share of typos and that the writing is at times uneven. It goes without saying that editing a book of this length must have been a monumental task; the errors, however, rarely obscure pertinent information and are more annoying than damaging. The essays were penned by a number of different authors, so it is perhaps inevitable that some entries are better than others. The least impressive, however, are no worse than those from similar books in the past. Overall, the book marks a substantial improvement over previous efforts, and is priced quite reasonably. It would be a valuable additon to a serious fan's library, and would give a more casual fan hours of enjoyment.




5. Another excellent offering from Total Sports. Between this book and Total Baseball, you will have at your fingertips far more about baseball history than any one person could possibly remember. With over 2,000 biographies, this book covers over 10% of players, managers and important figures in baseball history. There are pictures for each player along with a cursory stat line and then a biography for the player ranging from a half column for some to two or three pages for important figures like Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth. The material is fresh and interesting and I learned new things about players I thought I knew well.

   I have one relatively minor complaint. If they ever produce another edition, I would like to see a somewhat expanded stat line including things like major achievements (MVP's, Cy Young's), teams played for and ranking in important career categories.

   Still this is a marvelous resource for finding out something beyond what you can get in just a player's stat line.

No comments about The Quiet Hero: A Baseball Story.

2 comments about Still a Legend: The Story of Roger Maris.

1. You said he could have been as big as Mark McGuire? I do not thing Roger took steroids my friend!!!!!!!!!!!!



2. As a teenager at Busch Stadium I thrilled to watch Roger Maris play right field during two Cardinal championship seasons. In "Still A Legend" I was introduced to the man wearing number "9". In this work, Harvey Rosenfeld does a good job at projecting the whole Roger Maris. Comparable emphasis is given to Maris the baseball player, Maris the family man, Maris the son of Fargo and Maris the faithful Catholic.
   
   Roger Maris grew up an Fargo, North Dakota where he attended Catholic schools and met his wife, Pat, while developing into a great baseball star. After the minor leagues, Roger continued his march to stardom as a Cleveland Indian and a Kansas City Athletic. Even in Cleveland he was regarded as a surly loner.
   
   After his playing time in his adopted home of Kansas City, Roger was ready for the Yankee pinstripes but not for the glare of the New York press. Although he changed teams, Roger retained a privacy which would forever bar the press from his world and would limit his enjoyment of public adulation. The press would demonize Roger in his pursuit of Babe Ruth's record, while manufacturing the legend of a feud between himself and his roommate, Mickey Mantle.
   
   Throughout the ups and downs of his stormy and injury plagued career, Roger retained his love of baseball which was damped only during the most severe of the onslaughts by fans and media.
   
   This book wears its themes on its sleeve. The main themes are that Roger was not properly appreciated, his purported surliness was merely a justified demand for privacy and that he has been unjustly denied admission into the Hall Of Fame.
   
   Although written by an obvious fan, this book does not do justice to Roger Maris. Too often the story degenerates into a litany of quotes from Roger, his teammates, friends and detractors to be classified as good writing. The sections dealing with the media bias and the injustice of his exclusion from the Hall Of Fame run on too long. This book is more editorial than biography. Still, this book tells much about Roger Maris. It also tells us much about ourselves, the fans. Yankee fans booed the Roger Maris whom they regarded a surly usurper. By contrast, Cardinal fans loved Jolly Roger. This is in keeping with our reputation as the greatest fans in baseball. The story of how the Cardinals restored Roger's enjoyment of the game and delayed his retirement for two years confirm the stories I remember from the time. It is too bad that Roger did not become a Cardinal in 1960. He could have been as big as Mark McGwire.

1 comments about Bat Boy: Coming of Age with the New York Yankees.

1. Once I started reading this book it was hard to put down. The author (Matthew McGough) takes you behind the scene of one of the most prestige franchise of any sports teams. You'll experience what it was like to be on the inside of Yankee Stadium. The star struck kid interacting with the "Stars in Pinstripes". It's a must read book for anyone who has ever dreamed of being a bat boy for a professional baseball team. Anyone who has ever wanted to know what takes place before, doing, and after a baseball game this is also a must read book. You'll also read about the "good guys" and the not so friendly guys who played for the Yankees. Find out it's not always glamorous being a "bat boy". Finally a "kudos" to his parents who made sure school work was always his priority over working Yankees games. Enjoy the adventure!
   
   Andre' Fontenot (former bat boy San Francisco Giants 1974)

5 comments about Mark McGwire: Home Run Hero.

1. This was a very good book, until I got to the last few pages. There, I found out that the famous 62nd and 70th homers were NOT included or reported about. Obviously, there wasn't much research done because the whole book was full of quotes moving the story along. I'd say that no more than 1/3 of the whole book was actual writing done by Rains himself. But, this was still a fairly good book. The pictures in the centerfold could have been a little bit better and more updated as well. But, the writing is what's important, right?



2. I have never actually finished a book over 100 pages EXCEPT for this one. That has to say something. Not only that i LOVE Mark McGwire and almost everything he does but that the author, Rob Rains must know what hes talking about. It is a pretty well detailed book the chapters could be a little shorter but otherwise a very interesting book!



3. i think this was basic information and Rains touched on the same topics on more than one occasion, interesting for someone who just knows he played for the A's and is the HR king, like me, which is why i gave it 3 stars. if i was following McGwire from his rookie year, i would have hated it. so again, its basic, nothing spectacular



4. Anyone can get most of the information in this book on the internet. I found nothing new, and the style of writing was plain boring. I was hoping for more in depth research and more on Mark, the man. I was disappointed in this effort.



5. It is a great book about a great athlete

3 comments about Off Base: Confessions of a Thief.

1. RICKEY HENDERSON IS PROBABLY THE BEST LEADOFF HITTER EVER IN BASEBALL. IN THIS BOOK HE LET'S US KNOW THIS AND MANY OTHER THINGS HE IS GREAT AT. AS A PLAYER RICKEY REALLY WAS A THREAT ON BASE AND AT BAT. IN THIS BOOK WE FIND OUT ALOT MORE ABOUT RICKEY AND HIS OPINIONS ON MANY THINGS. I FOUND THIS BOOK TO BE BOTH INTERESTING AND ENTERTAINING. RICKEY HAS A VERY LARGE EGO BUT HE CAN BACK IT UP. I REALLY DON'T THINK ALOT OF HIS TEAMATES CARED FOR HIS ARROGANCE AND SELF CENTEREDNESS BUT RICKEY HELPED MAKE HIS TEAMS A WINNER. I RECOMMEND THIS FOR ALL RICKEY HENDERSON AND BASEBALL FANS WHO APPRECIATE HIS UNIQUE TALENT OF SPEED AND POWER.



2. This book is a must for all Rickey fans. Henderson holds little back in his autobiography. He's a touch arrogant, but he's earned that right; with the single season set (and likely not to be broken in today's baseball) and the career mark out of reach. If you like Rickey, then you'll like this book.



3. This book simply shows how good Rickey Henderson is, both on the field and off. He takes you behind the scenes of his 20 year career in the major leagues and what it took for him to get there. From the early little league games in Oakland to his 939th Stolen Base...Rickey Henderson is truly a living legend in what he does....BEING THE GREATEST LEADOFF HITTER OF ALL TIME!!

3 comments about Peach: Ty Cobb In His Time And Ours.

1. As author Richard Bak points out Ty Cobb was a complex personality. The traumatic death of his father when Tyrus was 19 years old, having been shot by his Ty's mother who maintained she thought he was a burgler entering a window of the house at night would be enough to traumatize anyone, let alone a 19 year old boy. This, in addition to the hazing from teammates, may well have scarred his personality to an extent that he saw the devil in whoever he met. Cobb was determined to succeed when he found himself in such circumstances. It is undoubtedly true that he was a racist. However, most major league players were from the south during this time period and held equally racist attitudes, hall of famers such as Speaker, Hornsby, and Anson included. Author Richard Bak makes a convincing case regarding Al Stump's not knowing Ty Cobb as well as he claimed to know him when writing Cobb's life story, "My Life in Baseball: The True Record". That Cobb was not well liked by many players is undoubtedly true, but he had his sentimental side as well. His two wives divorced him and his children didn't feel close to him and even feared his temper rages. One anecdote: Neal Conway, the head groundskeeper in Detroit, idolized Ty Cobb and saw to it that every one of his needs were met. At the end of the season Conway was invited to join Cobb downtown to accept a gift of Cobb's appreciation. The admirer was given a box the size of which suggested a wrist watch. Cobb had to leave immediately for Georgia. Neal quickly opened the gift and found a tube of Colgate toothpaste. I feel the author presented both sides of Ty Cobb, but I found a glaring error that really is inexcusable. On page 107 the author states "Speaker (Tris) was good enough to join Ty in the Hall of Fame's inaugural class of inductees." Cobb was a charter member of the Hall of Fame along with Ruth, Wagner, Mathewson, and Johnson. These five were elected in 1936. Speaker was elected in 1937. I have to knock off a star for this error.



2. Richard Bak is one of the best sportwriters working today, and his other books on early 20th-century baseball show his comprehensive knowledge and remarkable insight into the era and its players. (He's even done an illustrated history of Casey Stengel--now, that's deep history.) This book has some wonderful images, and the writing is up to Mr. Bak's standards, which is to say, excellent. Cobb's story is an amazing one, and Mr. Bak tells it well. This book was hard to put down once I started reading it.
   
   It's been rumored that he's been working on a long-awaited book on the Dead Ball era, and I for one can't wait.



3. Peach: Ty Cobb In His Time And Ours is a coffee table biography of one of baseball's greatest players, who hit .367 over 24 seasons (1905-1928), won a dozen batting titles, and was the first man elected to baseball's Hall of Fame. Ty Cobb was well known for his intense and changeable personality, rivalries, and petty jealousies; but author Richard Bak reveals a side of Ty Cobb less discussed... a man who came to the aid of down-and-out ballplayers, founded a hospital system and educational foundation which remain successful after a half-century, and who came to terms with his own tarnished legend. Published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Ty Cobb's baseball debut, and featuring over 150 rarely seen black-and-white photographs, Peach: Ty Cobb In His Time And Ours is a slice of unforgettable sports history and a "must-have" for fans of great baseball figures throughout history.

2 comments about A League of My Own: Memoir of a Pitcher for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

1. Pat Brown's A League of My Own is a great addition to anybody's baseball library. While there are have been several great books written on the league's history, Brown's has the distinction of being written by an actual former player. For AAGPBL enthusiasts, A League of My Own offers great insight into the events, attitudes, and experiences of the 1949-1950 player development teams which is mentioned in most accounts, but so far hasn't been detailed this well. Also interesting to read of this woman's personal story and how professional baseball was just one chapter in a long sports career. Great Book!



2. My sincere thanks to this author. I was facinated by the movie, A League of Their Own. I welcomed the detail and reality of the era of womens baseball that this author shared. It was warm, humorous and long overdue. She was a remarkable woman, with the courage to follow her dreams.

No comments about I Never Had It Made,.

5 comments about Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball (Turning Points in History).

1. There is no question that Jackie Robinson is a genuine American hero; his stoic acceptance of the abuse he endured in his first year with the Dodgers was fierce. The significance of the integration of major league baseball cannot be overstated in the overall move towards the overthrow of all racial barriers. As Simon so aptly points out, Robinson's life was truly in danger; America had an internal terrorist cell operating for decades with the tacit support of large segments of the population and law enforcement. The purpose of that cell was to keep people of color in their place and they never hesitated to kill when it served their purposes. Black people and their white supporters were still being murdered two decades after Robinson first took the field for the Dodgers.
   Independent of the reasons that motivated them; you also have to be proud of the actions of the other people on the Dodgers. It all starts with Branch Rickey, who despite his faults; was a visionary who did this because he wanted to win and it was the right thing to do. There was manager Leo Durocher, hardly a saint, who was emphatic with the Dodger players in telling them Robinson was going to play because he would help them win and that was the only thing that mattered. There was southerner Eddie Stanky, who screamed at the Phillie players who were issuing racial taunts at Robinson, calling them cowards for picking on someone who could not fight back. Finally, there was Pee Wee Reese, who called time at one of the most brutal moments, to walk over to Robinson and comfort him.
   The primary message from this book is that Jackie Robinson succeeded because he was a great player and he brought out the best in the game of baseball. After his Dodger teammates and the Dodger fans realized his worth, they accepted him because he helped them win and in sports, that is all that should matter.



2. Mr. Simon is an esteemed radio journalist, but this book hardly qualifies for even the low standards of sports journalism. Many factual errors, and Mr. Simon spends almost as much time coming up with excuses for why the Red Sox were the last team to integrate, as he does celebrating Jackie Robinson and those who spurred the re-integration of "Organized Baseball." This dashed-off effort completely overlooks that Blacks WERE previously in Organized Baseball, but were booted out.



3. This little book--small in dimensions and hardly over 100 pages in length--should be on everyone's bookshelf. Whether you remember watching Jackie Robinson play (as I do), or whether he's just a name from the distant past; whether you're white (as I am), or black, or any other race, creed or color; whether you're a baseball fan (like me) or someone who couldn't care less about the National Pastime, Jackie Robinson's story is for everyone.

   The only reason I didn't give this book a 5-star rating is that there's really nothing new in it; if you already know the saga of Robinson's integration of baseball you aren't likely to learn a lot of news things about it here. But Scott Simon writes beautifully and movingly and retells this great American story with verve and directness.

   I've read that there are professional baseball players today (even black players!) who barely have any idea who Robinson was or what he endured. His story should never be forgotten and this wonderful book will help assure that Robinson's memory endures.




4. This book offers nothing in the way of original research or new conclusions about the integration of organized baseball; it is full of errors, special pleading, and misplaced nostalgia. It also fails to acknowlege its debt to the superior work of others, especially Jules Tygiel (*Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and his Legacy*) and John C. Chalberg (*Rickey and Robinson: The Preacher, the Player and America's Game*). Purchase either of the latter books (or both) and give this misconceived vanity effort a pass.



5. This book is a perfect two-hour read for a Saturday morning after listening to the author on NPR's Saturday Morning Edition. The reader can hear Mr. Simon's distinctive and familiar voice when reading the pages. The book is not intended to be a comprehensive history on baseball's integration or a biography of Jackie Robinson, as noted in the opening pages. Rather, it provides just the right amount of background on Mr. Robinson and Mr. Richey, as well as the context surrounding events. Mr. Simon's notes and examples stimulate readers to learn more about particular people and events. I particularly recommend this book (and possibly the series from the list of forthcoming books) as a quick read for adults and teenagers who desire to read about the people and events that shaped our nation, yet must balance the responsibilities of family, work and community, which may prevent them from reading longer books.