Recommend a Sports Book

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Not a whole lot to explain here. Just discuss your favorite sports books.

 

 

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

 

The Emmitt Zone

 

 

Good biography on Emmitt Smith and his entire career in football and his life outside of it.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I'll get the ball rolling...

 

Moneyball by Michael Lewis

 

Yes, everyone has read it (except Joe Morgan) and discussed it (mostly with poor results), but at its core it is still an excellent read full of all kinds of cool behind the scenes stuff. It hasn't aged particulary well, and some of the biggest targets (Kenny Williams, Jeremy Bonderman and Prince Fielder, namely) ended up having the last laugh, but the commentary is still biting and the overarching point still valid. Consider this pre-coursework for aspiring Sabermetric fans as well.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Mike Sowell's The Pitch That Killed. A riveting account of the Cleveland Indians' 1920 season, along with Ray Chapman and the Yankees' Carl Mays. It's written in the same style of Eight Men Out. A work of history that's written in the style of narrative.

 

 

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I'll get the ball rolling...

 

Moneyball by Michael Lewis

 

Yes, everyone has read it (except Joe Morgan) and discussed it (mostly with poor results), but at its core it is still an excellent read full of all kinds of cool behind the scenes stuff. It hasn't aged particulary well, and some of the biggest targets (Kenny Williams, Jeremy Bonderman and Prince Fielder, namely) ended up having the last laugh, but the commentary is still biting and the overarching point still valid. Consider this pre-coursework for aspiring Sabermetric fans as well.

For a more balanced approach along similar lines, check out Alan Schwartz's The Numbers Game. It goes back deeper to the days of Henry Chadwick, discusses Bill James and the Sabermetric Revolution, and gives organizations their due that Moneyball kind of dismisses. And for a book on baseball statistics, it really is an easy read. It's about the men behind the statistics, not the statistics themselves.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Since I mentioned Moneyball, here are the two others that make up the baseball fan's starter kit:

 

The New Historical Baseball Abstract by Bill James

 

I don't think I can adequately do this one justice in a short description. Essentially James sums up the highs and lows of 130 years of baseball history and does it in a way that's both insightful and fun. Included is a discussion of the 100 greatest players at every position on the diamond. You can literally pick up this book any time, flip to a page and find something interesting. James is perhaps the most interesting baseball writer out there.

 

Baseball Between the Numbers by the Baseball Prospectus team of writers

 

On the flip side, this is one that's not written particularly well but is a must read for anyone who's remotely interested in the modern game of baseball. Remember how I said that Moneyball is like an introduction to sabermetrics? Well then this book is a like your Algebra I textbook. Yeah, it can be a little dry at times, but the chapters are short and the information provided is invaluable.

[King Kamala 0]

I'll pick the hillariously titled Loose Balls by Terry Pluto. It's an oral history of The ABA with interviews with about 75% of the major players and figures in the league. The stuff about Marvin "Bad News" Barnes is unbelievablely funny.Just a tremendously fun read.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Since I mentioned Moneyball, here are the two others that make up the baseball fan's starter kit:

 

The New Historical Baseball Abstract by Bill James

 

I don't think I can adequately do this one justice in a short description. Essentially James sums up the highs and lows of 130 years of baseball history and does it in a way that's both insightful and fun. Included is a discussion of the 100 greatest players at every position on the diamond. You can literally pick up this book any time, flip to a page and find something interesting. James is perhaps the most interesting baseball writer out there.

 

Baseball Between the Numbers by the Baseball Prospectus team of writers

 

On the flip side, this is one that's not written particularly well but is a must read for anyone who's remotely interested in the modern game of baseball. Remember how I said that Moneyball is like an introduction to sabermetrics? Well then this book is a like your Algebra I textbook. Yeah, it can be a little dry at times, but the chapters are short and the information provided is invaluable.

The Historical Abstract is fantastic, I still find it interesting six years after I first bought it. I can't say enough good things about it.

 

The Prospectus book reads like a collection of term papers. Some of the individual chapters are pretty interesting though. I read "The Book" by Michael Lichtman and others, and found that one completely unreadable.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I read "The Book" by Michael Lichtman and others, and found that one completely unreadable.

 

Oh, The Book was just awful. They would pose a question like "Should the pitcher bat eighth" and then present 20 pages of regression analysis and tables and end with "batting the pitcher eight can lead to .5 extra wins per season" or some other non-sense. Even though I could understand the math (and I don't think most people would) I still couldn't figure out what they were trying to accomplish half the time.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I read "The Book" by Michael Lichtman and others, and found that one completely unreadable.

 

Oh, The Book was just awful. They would pose a question like "Should the pitcher bat eighth" and then present 20 pages of regression analysis and tables and end with "batting the pitcher eight can lead to .5 extra wins per season" or some other non-sense. Even though I could understand the math (and I don't think most people would) I still couldn't figure out what they were trying to accomplish half the time.

One of the big problems (and others do this as well) is that they establish a new statistic in the introduction, weighted OBP in this case. They then use the stat in most of their commentary. If you show me the numbers for a new stat, I'm not going to know what a reasonable threshhold is, I can't draw any type of conclusion looking at it. The biggest problem though is that while even if the analysis is solid, the writing just completely fails to interest the reader.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

Ball Four is the greatest sports book ever written.

[CanadianChris 0]

Playing for Keeps by David Halberstam. The definitive book on Michael Jordan and his ascent to global icon, and the evolution of basketball during that time.

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

Probably the one at Bally's. MGM is also good.

 

 

Also, while you're at one of those fine sports books, read "The Blind Side" by Moneyball author Michael Lewis. Not only a great sports book, but it's one of my favorite books period. It's got two main story lines in it... the first follows the evolution of football, starting at the emergence of Lawrence Taylor, the second follows Ole Miss left tackle Michael Oher's amazing story. Really. Read this.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I was just about to recommend that one, Jew. Good pick. Michael Lewis is a tremendous sports journalist.

 

"Hey, Rube" by Hunter S. Thompson is also an entertaining read, although it's not strictly limited to sports, obviously.

[Bruiser_Brody_ 0]

Ghosts of Manilla

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I saw the thread title and I thought we were talking about gambling..

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

I don't read much, but I thought Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty was pretty good.

[KingPK 0]

Baseball Between the Lies by Bob Carroll is a fun read. He dispels some of the myths of baseball in chapters like "Five Great Things That Never Happened in a Baseball Game", rants on the Hall of Fame in "The Hall of Fame is Shafting My Youth" and even brings up OPS and Adjusted OPS, stats that weren't that commonly used back in 1993 (when it was published).

[LivingLegendGaryColeman 0]

I'm sure I will think of more, but the first one that popped to my mind was Tales from the Dallas Mavericks by Jaime Aaron.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Dallas-Maveric...9150&sr=8-1

 

I was on a basketball book kick a couple years back and I always like those books that talk about stuff that happened behind closed doors (nixed trades, internal conflicts). My friend reccommended this one to me and I really liked it. This is a quick read, a little over 200 pages, it ends right before the start of the 2003-04 season.

[King Kamala 0]

There's one like that with The Patriots called IIRC Tales From The Patriots Bench by Michael Felger from The Boston Herald. It tells the story about The Patriots from their inception until TSM' red hoodie clad favorite coach was hired as head coach in 2000. Fun book, though obviously I'd give it a much higher recommendation to a Pats fan than a non Pats fan.

 

 

Not entirely a sports book but I'd also like to recommend Can I Keep My Jersey: 11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond by NBA journeyman, Paul Shirley. A really fun book. Though Shirley can be a little too snarky at times.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

The Kid Who Only Hit Homers by Matt Christopher. Classic.

 

 

 

*ducks*

[Boxer 0]

The Last Season : A Team in Search of Its Soul

by Phil Jackson

 

All the Kobe stuff makes this book worthwhile. Haven't read it since it came out, but it gives a good insight into WHY people don't really like Kobe.

[King Kamala 0]

I always thought Matt Christopher was like a male Nancy Drew but apparently there actually was a real Matt Christopher. I wasted much of my youth reading Matt Christopher and Jerry Spinelli books (Maniac Magee FTW)

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

My ten favorite baseball books I've read, in chronological order.

 

The Natural, by Bernard Malamud

Eight Men Out, by Eliot Asinof

Glory of Their Times, by Lawrence Ritter

Universal Baseball Association, J. Henry Waugh Prop., by Robert Coover

Ball Four, by Jim Bouton

The Pitch That Killed, by Mike Sowell

Lords of the Realm, by John Helyer

Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?, by Bill James

The New Historical Baseball Abstract by Bill James

Moneyball, by Michael Lewis

 

I have heard so many people recommend Eric Rolfe Greenberg's The Celebrant that I am going to make a point to read it this month. In the above list I particularly wish to point of Glory of Their Times. It is flat out one of the best pieces of oral history ever produced, over 20 interviews of stars of the deadball era including Sam Crawford. Anyone who is familiar with Ken Burns' documentary would recognize many passages from the book.

[tominator89 0]

Probably the one at Bally's. MGM is also good.

 

 

Also, while you're at one of those fine sports books, read "The Blind Side" by Moneyball author Michael Lewis. Not only a great sports book, but it's one of my favorite books period. It's got two main story lines in it... the first follows the evolution of football, starting at the emergence of Lawrence Taylor, the second follows Ole Miss left tackle Michael Oher's amazing story. Really. Read this.

 

I thought The Blind Side sucked. It had a few interesting stories regarding the left tackle position (Taylor, Walsh, etc.) but the overwhelming majority of the book was about Oher and the shady family that adopted him.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

To get on the football side of things...

 

The Education of a Coach by David Halberstram. Just a brilliantly insightful look at Bill Belichick but more at his history (including his father, growing up with Ernie Adams, his ordeals as an assistant coach with Detroit, etc.) Really a fascinating read for Patriots and Belichick fans but I think even non-fans would find it interesting.

[Guest Beastalentier]

Joke, right?

 

Kirby Puckett's Baseball Games is a great resource for any child with an interest in developing baseball skills by putting the FUN in fundamentals, like I was. Of course, they didn't help me grow up to be a Cub, because I'm irretrievably klutzy, but maybe some other kid was able to benefit. No, there's nothing in here about how to get really fat and piss in public, you kidder!

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

Probably the one at Bally's. MGM is also good.

 

 

Also, while you're at one of those fine sports books, read "The Blind Side" by Moneyball author Michael Lewis. Not only a great sports book, but it's one of my favorite books period. It's got two main story lines in it... the first follows the evolution of football, starting at the emergence of Lawrence Taylor, the second follows Ole Miss left tackle Michael Oher's amazing story. Really. Read this.

 

I thought The Blind Side sucked. It had a few interesting stories regarding the left tackle position (Taylor, Walsh, etc.) but the overwhelming majority of the book was about Oher and the shady family that adopted him.

 

That isnt really a reason why it sucked, but rather, a description of the book. "Ice cream sucks, it's cold."

[Guest Beastalentier]

Haha. Didn't I just have to call somebody out for doing that a couple of days ago?

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

Joke, right?

 

Kirby Puckett's Baseball Games is a great resource for any child with an interest in developing baseball skills by putting the FUN in fundamentals, like I was. Of course, they didn't help me grow up to be a Cub, because I'm irretrievably klutzy, but maybe some other kid was able to benefit. No, there's nothing in here about how to get really fat and piss in public, you kidder!

 

 

Heh. He's one of my favorite athletes ever, and I'm pretty sure thats the only biography he's put out, so I had to put it out there.