E.B.L.
WasWatching.com’s Essential Baseball Library
Several times, I’ve been asked about selections for an “Essential Baseball Library.”
So, in reponse to those requests, here are my recommendations…
The Natural – Bernard Malamud 1952
Man On Spikes – Eliot Asinof 1955
Veeck – As In Wreck: The Autobiography of Bill Veeck – Bill Veeck 1962
The Glory of Their Times: The Story of Baseball Told By the Men Who Played It – Lawrence S. Ritter 1966
Ball Four – Jim Bouton 1970
Five Seasons: A Baseball Companion – Roger Angell 1972
The Art of Hitting .300 – Charley Lau 1980
Weaver on Strategy: Classic Work on Art of Managing a Baseball Team – Earl Weaver 1984
Why Time Begins on Opening Day – Thomas Boswell 1984
The Winning Hitter: How to Play Championship Baseball – Charley Lau 1984
Dollar Sign on the Muscle: The World of Baseball Scouting – Kevin Kerrane 1985
This Time, Let’s Not Eat The Bones – Bill James 1989
The Diamond Appraised – Craig R. Wright and Tom House 1989
You Gotta Have Wa – Robert Whiting 1989
Baseball Anecdotes – Daniel Okrent and Steve Wulf 1989
Diamonds In The Rough – David Hanneman 1990
Stolen Season: A Journey Through America and Baseball’s Minor Leagues – David Lamb 1991
Baseball’s Greatest Quotations – Paul Dickson 1992
Baseball Babylon – Dan Gutman 1992
Baseball in the Movies: A Comprehensive Reference, 1915-1991 – Hal Erickson 1992
Lost Ballparks: A Celebration of Baseball’s Legendary Fields – Lawrence S. Ritter 1992
The Perfect Game – by Mark Alvarez 1993
Cobb: A Biography – Al Stump 1994
Lords Of The Realm – John Helyar 1994
Politics Of Glory – Bill James 1994
The Rules Of Baseball – David Nemec 1994
Branch Rickey’s Little Blue Book – Branch Rickey 1995
Baseball By The Numbers – Mark Stang and Linda Harkness 1996
Baseball Letters: A Fan’s Correspondence with His Heroes – Seth Swirsky 1996
Bill James Guide To Baseball Managers – Bill James 1997
STATS Inc. All-Time Baseball Sourcebook – Bill James, John Dewan, Neil Munro, and Don Zminda 1998
Koppett’s Concise History of Major League Baseball – Leonard Koppett 1998
Ballpark Sourcebook: Diamond Diagrams – Oscar A. Palacios 1998
The Dickson Baseball Dictionary – Paul Dickson 1999
From Abba-Dabba to Zorro: The World of Baseball Nicknames – Don Zminda 1999
The Barry Halper Collection of Baseball Memorabilia – Sotheby’s 1999
Every Pitcher Tells a Story: Letters Gathered by a Devoted Fan – Seth Swirsky 1999
STATS Inc. All-Time Major League Handbook – Bill James, Don Zminda, and Neil Munro 2000
Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia – Matthew Silverman, Michael Gershman, and David Pietrusza 2000
Baseball Dynasties: The Greatest Teams of All Time – Rob Neyer and Eddie Epstein 2000
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract – Bill James 2001
The Baseball Timeline – Burt Solomon 2001
The Game: One Man, Nine Innings, A Love Affair with Baseball – Robert Benson 2001
The Midsummer Classic: The Complete History of Baseball’s All-Star Game – David W. Vincent, Lyle Spatz, and David W. Smith 2001
Jocks and Socks: Inside Stories from a Major-League Locker Room – Jim Ksicinski 2001
Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville: A Lifelong Passion for Baseball – Stephen Jay Gould 2003
Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Lineups – Rob Neyer 2003
Something to Write Home About: Great Baseball Memories in Letters to a Fan – Seth Swirsky 2003
Total Baseball – John Thorn 2004
The Numbers Game: Baseball’s Lifelong Fascination with Statistics – Alan Schwarz 2004
The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers – Bill James and Rob Neyer 2004
Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong – The Baseball Prospectus Team of Experts 2006
The Last Nine Innings – Charles Euchner 2006
Fantasyland: A Season on Baseball’s Lunatic Fringe – Sam Walker 2006
Now Batting, Number… The Mystique, Superstition, and Lore of Baseball’s Uniform Numbers – Jack Looney 2006
Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Blunders – Rob Neyer 2006
The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth – Leigh Montville 2006
The Best of Baseball Digest: The Greatest Players, The Greatest Games, the Greatest Writers from the Game’s Most Exciting Years – John Kuenster 2006
Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball – Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff 2007
Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Legends – Rob Neyer 2008
Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame – Zev Chafets 2009
As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires – Bruce Weber 2009
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Last updated March 2009
