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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Coming soon…”"Essential Baseball Library for Yankees Fans”…