OT: What books are in your Sports Library???

[trsent]

I just finished Planet of the Umpires by Ken Kaiser (with Dave Fisher) and it was a fine read but nothing special. I felt like I was reading another Ron Luciano book since the co-author was the same for both.

I personally think two of the funniest baseball books of all time are The Umpire Strikes Back by Ron Luciano (with Dave Fisher) and Catcher in the Wry by Bob Uecker.

Their baseball stories are funny and well written.

[godwulf]

Unless a ballplayer is just a natural writer, it's really very much in their best interest to invest in a co-writer, or even a ghost writer...and often painfully obvious when they haven't done so. Too many athletes and former athletes tend to think of a book as being a more or less disjointed and random collection of sports stories and observations, with every other paragraph ending with a "punch line" and an exclamation mark.

Okay, here's a question for you guys: What ballplayer(s) would you most like to see write a book about their career, who (as far as you know) hasn't done so yet?

[2000mvpfan]

A great one for Yankee fans is Dynasty:The New York Yankees 1949-1964 by Peter Golenbock-great stories told by the hundreds of players he interviewed from that era (most were still alive as the book is from '75).

And 2 more real funny baseball books are Temporary Insanity and Over the Edge-both by notorious nutjob Jay Johnstone...good stuff.

Joe

[metsbats]

In additon to Mets bats I have alot of Mets books

- Screwball Tug Mcgraw (autographed)
- Can anyone play this game? - Jimmy Breslin
- Bats - Davey Johnson
- If at First - Keith Hernandez
- Dream Season - Gary Carter
- Conquering Life's Curves Baseball battles and Beyond - Ed Hearn
- Things Happen for a Reason - Terry Leach
- Heat - Doc Gooden
- Darryl - Darryl Strawberry
- The Worst Team Money Could Buy The Collapse of the Ny Mets - Klapish/Harper
- Rookie - Dwight Gooden
- The Bad Guys Won - Jeff Pealman
- The New York Mets A Photographic History - George Kalinsky
- The Glory Days New York Baseball 1947-1957

- Smithsonian Baseball - Stephen Wong
- Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio - Maury Allen
- My Favorite Summer - Mickey Mantle, Phil Pepe (autographed)
- Letters to Mickey - friends and fans of Mickey Mantle
- The Duke of Flatbush - Duke Snider
- Nice Guys Finish First - Monte Irvin
- Get that Nigger Off the Field - Art Rust Jr. (autographed)
- IronMan The Cal Ripken Jr. Story - Harvey Rosenfeld

[joelsabi]

i just read Miracle Ball. anyone read this book? It's about the search for "shot heard around the world" hr baseball.

[cordovacollector]

Just read:

Wait 'Til Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Wonderful book on 1950s Dodgers.

[ironmanfan]

In additon to Mets bats I have alot of Mets books

- Smithsonian Baseball - Stephen Wong
- Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio - Maury Allen
- My Favorite Summer - Mickey Mantle, Phil Pepe (autographed)
- Letters to Mickey - friends and fans of Mickey Mantle
- The Duke of Flatbush - Duke Snider
- Nice Guys Finish First - Monte Irvin
- Get that Nigger Off the Field - Art Rust Jr. (autographed)
- IronMan The Cal Ripken Jr. Story - Harvey Rosenfeld

I'm actually listed in the Acknowledgements in the front of that Ripken book ...I also have the cancelled check from the author that he used to pay Cal Ripken Sr. for the forward. As a total aside, even though Ripken Sr. wrote the Forward to this book, Cal Jr. will not sign it due to it being an unauthorized biography (truth be told, the author 'ghost wrote' wrote the forward himself and just got Sr.'s approval on it)

[metsbats]

I'm actually listed in the Acknowledgements in the front of that Ripken book ...I also have the cancelled check from the author that he used to pay Cal Ripken Sr. for the forward. As a total aside, even though Ripken Sr. wrote the Forward to this book, Cal Jr. will not sign it due to it being an unauthorized biography (truth be told, the author 'ghost wrote' wrote the forward himself and just got Sr.'s approval on it)

Here's the reference in the books Acknowledgements:

'I have been continually updated on the media and Cal junior by his "biggest fan," Bill Haelig'


Very Nice!

[bigtruck260]

Unless a ballplayer is just a natural writer, it's really very much in their best interest to invest in a co-writer, or even a ghost writer...and often painfully obvious when they haven't done so. Too many athletes and former athletes tend to think of a book as being a more or less disjointed and random collection of sports stories and observations, with every other paragraph ending with a "punch line" and an exclamation mark.

Okay, here's a question for you guys: What ballplayer(s) would you most like to see write a book about their career, who (as far as you know) hasn't done so yet?

Mark Grace, Dale Murphy and Ray Lankford

For those of you not in the STL area, Lankford was a notorious adulterer...even getting a woman pregnant on the 'East Side' during his comeback in 2004. At one point, the papers had an ex girlfriend doing doughnuts on his lawn and tossing a brick through his window.

Ray was also caught along side Orlando Pace patronizing a local brothel - pocketful of Viagra and everything.

Locallly, this would be an interesting story. He never once gave his own account of anything. It was always 'You got the wrong Ray'.

[34swtns]

My "all-Bears" area contains 57 books, 490 game programs, 46 media guides, 26 yearbooks, all but a few of the weekly "Bear Report" publications from 1977 to the present, hundreds of sports magazines with Bears covers dating back to 1942 as well as hundreds of newspapers covering the Bears.