The site is a unique reading experience. The entire issue loads into one page, so give it a few moments to load in. The up and down arrow keys will allow you to cycle through “pages”, there is a table of contents at the beginning of the issue that will zip you to the main stories.

After a 20 year break in the series, Nash and Zullo are back and have released The Baseball Hall of Shame: The Best of Blooperstown. This new offering covers the zany, goofy, and wacky things in baseball from 1885 through 2011.

What I like most about this collection is that the authors aim to share the fun and true little known stories over the widely known ones.

Inauspicious debuts, wacky plate appearances, fielding fiascoes, practical jokes, post-season screw-ups, nutty habits and idiosyncrasies, hothead meltdowns, and undignified ballpark promotions are just some of the things that you’ll find covered with this book.

There’s something for every baseball fan in The Baseball Hall of Shame: The Best of Blooperstown.

In a nutshell, from the minute I started reading Wherever I Wind Up, I could not put it down. This book is a true page-turner.

Dickey’s story is full of interesting things – including his struggles with some terrible childhood tragedies and constant self-doubt. Of course, there’s also his unique place in the history of the baseball draft and elbow issues – coupled with the conversion from being a conventional pitcher to becoming a knuckleballer. Lastly, there’s Dickey’s spiritual journey which is also detailed in this memoir.

However, I think what got me most with Wherever I Wind Up was Dickey’s gift as a writer and a storyteller. This just may be one of the best written baseball autobiographies that I have read in the last 35 years. And, if it’s not the best, it’s in the team picture, for sure.

I highly recommend reading R.A. Dickey’s Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball.

I’ve never met Hart. But, after reading his book, I would have to cast Larry David (Yankee fan, by the way*) to play the lead in this one – if asked to take the book and translate it to the screen. As Hart tells the story of his life as a Yankees fan with this new book, interwoven with his “manifesto that reveals the deep secrets of fan jinxes, hexes, and charms,” several times I pictured the story being played out like an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Seriously, it’s that quirky, funny and interesting.

Flat out, Hart Seely is a dude that must Yankees fans can resonate with – albeit seeing a bit of themselves in him, or, being reminded of someone they know who is (or was) a passionate fan of the team. And, you get that from reading “The Juju Rules” – throughout the entire book. That said, I highly recommend this book to all Yankees fans.

Further, back in 2005, when I first saw the movie “Fever Pitch,” I thought to myself “This is a film that a diehard fanatic of a team can appreciate as it depicts so many moments that we all share and emotions that we all have inside us – again, as fanatics of a particular team.” And, the same thing applies to “The Juju Rules.”

Anyone who was ever lived and died with the sundry good fortunes and tribulations of their favorite baseball team, and who has allowed their fanatic association to creep into their everyday life, will enjoy reading “The Juju Rules” – and seeing that there are others like them, out there.

Hart Seeley’s wit is keen and his story-telling delivery with this work is often hilarious. I was very happy to have read The Juju Rules: Or, How to Win Ballgames from Your Couch: A Memoir of a Fan Obsessed.

*You have to read the book to get this joke.

For those not aware, this book is a collection of 24 original essays by contemporary writers each focusing on the Yankees.

There’s some uniqiue stuff in this one. I found the features by Michael Paterniti, Steve Wulf, Will Leitch, Jane Leavy, Rick Telander, Bill James and Roger Director to be interesting.

If you’re a Yankees fan and enjoy reading about the team, I suggest checking out Damn Yankees.

By now, you’ve probably heard the story behind this one.

If you’re a Yankees fan, you will find “Driving Mr. Yogi” to be a wonderful book to read. Honestly, I cannot think of any type of Yankees fan who will not enjoy this one.

If you’re a baseball fan, you will also enjoy “Driving Mr. Yogi.”

Perhaps – and it’s just a maybe – you may not be “as into it” as a Yankees fan.

But, I suspect even a Yankees-hater, as long as they’re a fan of the game, will find this to be nice read and very interesting.  There’s enough baseball-feel-good stuff in there to keep any hardball fan engaged while reading this book.

That said, I think even those who don’t give a darn about baseball would enjoy the story told with “Driving Mr. Yogi.” Anyone who has ever loved an aging parent, grand-parent or some surrogate respected elder will be able to appreciate this story and be touched by it.

Picture a third person telling you the story of Tuesdays with Morrie with the story now having a baseball backdrop. That’s sort of what you get with “Driving Mr. Yogi: Yogi Berra, Ron Guidry, and Baseball’s Greatest Gift.”

I highly recommend this book.

Here’s more on it from the publisher:

In November 1934 as the United States and Japan drifted toward war, a team of American League all-stars that included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, future secret agent Moe Berg, and Connie Mack barnstormed across the Land of the Rising Sun. Hundreds of thousands of fans, many waving Japanese and American flags, welcomed the team with shouts of “Banzai! Banzai, Babe Ruth!” The all-stars stayed for a month, playing 18 games, spawning professional baseball in Japan, and spreading goodwill.

Politicians on both sides of the Pacific hoped that the amity generated by the tour—and the two nations’ shared love of the game—could help heal their growing political differences. But the Babe and baseball could not overcome Japan’s growing nationalism, as a bloody coup d’état by young army officers and an assassination attempt by the ultranationalist War Gods Society jeopardized the tour’s success. A tale of international intrigue, espionage, attempted murder, and, of course, baseball, Banzai Babe Ruth is the first detailed account of the doomed attempt to reconcile the United States and Japan through the 1934 All American baseball tour.

Rob Fitts is an expert on this subject matter. And, this book is very well researched.

The Blog High Heat Stats recently did a review on this one. (Click here to check it out.)

There’s a lot to this story. And, to learn more about it, you should consider checking out “Banzai Babe Ruth.”

Having now finished the book, I can share some additional feedback on this work.

Pinstripe Empire is amazing. Every time I put it down, I could hardly wait until the next time I picked it up. In fact, it was so good that I plan on reading it again – and then perhaps again for a third time.

Pinstripe Empire covers everything in terms of the Yankees experience from the beginning through the 2011 season. It not only covers the players and what happened each season – it covers what went on with the front office, the Stadium, the broadcast of games, the fans, and what was happening around baseball.

The Yankees are the most storied franchise in baseball history and Pinstripe Empire is the complete telling of their story. This is a must read for every Yankees fan and it will be an enjoyable read for anyone who is a fan of the game – period. 

Obviously, I highly recommend reading Pinstripe Empire: The New York Yankees From Before The Babe To After The Boss.

Here some information on the book from the publisher -

Baseball Fantography is a celebration of baseball through the eyes of fans via photos they’ve taken of players, ballparks, and related subjects over the past nine decades, along with essays, sidebars, and quotes. The project originated when the author discovered an old 1960s snapshot of himself as a teenager with his idol, Roger Maris, at Yankee Stadium. Realizing that he couldn’t be the only one with these hidden photographic gems, he began collecting baseball photos taken by fans. The book contains more than 250 never-before-published images (Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle, Derek Jeter, Josh Hamilton) in chapters on subjects like ballparks, spring training, broadcasters, dugouts, and baseball cards, and features contributions from baseball aficionados and notables like Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, a 35-year veteran Topps baseball photographer, and a former president of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

This is a fun book. It does contain many unique and interesting baseball photos. But, it’s also full of great baseball quotes, stories, and nuggets of baseball information (such as what “Murphy Money” is and a list of the more famous baseball card errors).

Anyone who is a died-in-the-wool baseball fan will enjoy going perusing “Baseball Fantography.” And, someone who is just interested in the game will learn some fun stuff about baseball by reading this book as well. I recommend checking it out.

It hits stores on April 1st, 2012.

Related, click here for a podcast interview of Andy Strasberg – the man behind Fantography.

Here some information on what’s in this one:

• Defensive Runs Saved— these defensive evaluations are back with significant enhancements to the eight-component system first introduced in Volume II.
• Timer Plus/Minus—the Plus/Minus system, which measures each fielder’s ability to turn batted balls into outs, gets a facelift to incorporate the brand new batted ball timer information, creating a better and objective fielding evaluations.
• Good Play/Misplay Runs Saved—turns Bill James’ in-depth Good Fielding Plays and Defensive Misplays system into a new component of Defensive Runs Saved, adding previously-unrecorded aspects of defense like scooped throws and pitch blocks.
• Total Runs—adding Pitching Runs Created to offensive, defensive, and baserunning ratings to combine every aspect of the game into one tell-all number for every player.
• The latest essay from Bill James on defense.
• Defensive scouting reports and player commentaries on every regular and semi-regular position player in baseball.
• New studies on crucial aspects of fielding, including defensive positioning, the “Ted Williams shift”, bunts, double plays, outfielder arms and catcher defense.

The Fielding Bible – Volume III contains some fascinating findings and should be considered the “go to” reference resource on the defensive ability of recent major league baseball players.  This book helps you eliminate the noise around a player’s defensive value and separates fact from fiction.  You can spend hours going through The Fielding Bible – Volume III and still not touch the bottom of this wonderful pool of data and analysis.  If you’re a fan of sabermetrics, this is a must read for you.  And, if you’re a fan of baseball, it will be to your benefit to check out The Fielding Bible – Volume III .  I sincerely recommend this book.