Best Books on Baseball - The Top 25

Sportswriting carved out a special niche in American journalism. Every major newspaper employed a host of best writers providing complete coverage of the that city’s professional and college teams. In addition to straightforward “balls and strikes” reporting, columnists on staff examined the games and the teams from a broader perspective. Many readers selected their newspaper of choice based on the presence of their favourite columnist. Elite sports feature writers won Pulitzer Prizes! Legends include Red Smith, Thomas Boswell, Bob Ryan, Jerome Holtzman, Grantland Rice, Ring Lardner, Wendell Smith, Damon Runyon, Jimmy Cannon, Dick Young, Jim Murray, John Schulien and George Vescey. One step above on the sports journalist food chain were essayists at major magazines, including The New Yorker and Sports Illustrated. Roger Angell, Peter Gammons, George Plimpton, Buster Olney and Tom Verducci come to mind. The genre truly flourished with writers who loved the games and were also talented, polished and wise craftsman Many were skeptics and cynics, but they were always interesting. Unfortunately, newspapers, magazines and print media are disappearing rapidly and the prestigious sports columnists are going the way of the dinosaur. For quality writing today, you need to subscribe to apps- The Athletic or Substack.

The final frontier for serious sports journalism is the full fledged book. Not a 300 word game summary or a 900 word column, but a 300 plus page tome on a major sports personality, issue or era. Luckily, there is a history of outstanding books authored by world class writers- many who are generalists who don’t limit their musings to the sports landscape. Examples include David Halberstam, David Maraniss, Eliot Asinof, Jane Leavy, Jonathan Eig, Richard Ben Cramer and Robert Creamer. We are blessed they recognise the vital role sports plays in our society. They acknowledge that the contests on and off the playing field reveal much about our value system as Americans. Baseball has generated the most formidable library. I suspect baseball is an attractive challenge because of its rhythms, its conversational nature and the occasional poetry we associate with the game.

My Top 25 Baseball Books has only one eligibility requirement. I must have read the book. Reading a reviews of the book doesn’t pass muster. Films or TV programs based on a book don’t meet my criteria either. I ignore the avalanche of books based on statistical analysis (eg Bill James and his progeny). The 25 Best Baseball Books are:

1. The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn.

2. October 1964 by David Halberstam.

3. Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy by Jane Leavy.

4. The Baseball 100 by Joe Posnaski.

5. Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero by David Maraniss.

6. Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig by Jonathan Eig.

7. Moneyball by Michael Lewis.

8. The Summer Game by Roger Angell.

9. A Whole Different Ballgame by Marvin Miller.

10. Only the Ball Was White by Robert Peterson.

11. Men at Work by George Will.

12. Joe Dimaggio: The Hero’s Life by Richard Ben Cramer.

13. Can’t Anyone Here Play This Game by Jimmy Breslin.

14. The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood by Jane Leavy.

15. Eight Men Out by Eliot Asinof.

16. The Teammates: A Portrait of Friendship by David Halberstam.

17. Jackie Robinson: A Biography by Arnold Ampersand.

18. Babe: The Legend Comes to Life by Robert Creamer.

19. Summer of 49 by David Halberstam.

20. No Cheering in the Press Box edited by Jerome Holtzman.

21. Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball by John Helyar.

22. Branch Rickey: Baseball’s Ferocious Gentleman by Lee Lowenfer.

23. Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty by Charlie Leerhsen.

24. What Do You Think of Ted Williams Now by Richard Ben Cramer.

25. The Last Hero: The Life of Henry Aaron by Howard Bryant.