Introducing the FanGraphs Book Club
It’s been a long time. I shouldn’t have left you without a strong book to read to.
Hi, everybody. Opening up this tab really put a smile on my face today. To be honest, I was a bit surprised my login still worked. I would have figured Appelman would have quietly flixed that glitch. He didn’t though, so here I am!
Back in January, when I stepped away from the site, I expressed my desire to form the FanGraphs Book Club. Many of you seemed highly receptive to that idea. In the spirit of saving you a click, here’s what I said:
I should also note that I’m not leaving completely, hence the “For Now” in the title. I titled it as such because David Appelman has graciously agreed to let me start the FanGraphs Book Club. We won’t begin right away — I need to get the store open first — but hopefully around the start of the regular season, I will be back, with the goal of hosting a chat once every four-to-six weeks, on a particular baseball book that we’ll choose together. The idea is that we’ll pick a new baseball book ahead of time, and that book will be available for purchase through my store — in person and online — at a discounted rate. Hopefully, we can have a lot of fun with it, the same way we always have had in the FanGraphs After Dark chats.
OK, so the “around the start of the regular season” part didn’t quite work out. Turns out there’s a lot of work involved with running a bookstore — who knew!?!?! — but I’m ready now. I think. Let’s just pretend I am, OK? Deal? Deal.
So, how do we do an online book club you ask? That’s a fantastic question, and I’m certainly open to suggestions, but here’s my plan for now. First, I’ve created a Facebook Group on my bookstore’s page called FanGraphs Book Club. Very exotic, I know. It’s here that I expect we can have an ongoing discussion, probably mostly about the upcoming book selections. I want to hear what books you all are reading.
Once a book is chosen, we’ll all go out into the world and read it, hopefully. Or at least get the Spark notes. Or watch the movie. Or ask someone about it on Twitter maybe? Something. If you’d like to purchase that book from my store, you’ll be able to do that because I’ll be sure to stock it. You’ll even be able to buy it from my remotely through my store’s webstore, and I’ll ship it to you. I’ll even write you a personal note, if you like, because I love you that much!
Finally, each month or each book-club period, I’ll host a live chat right here like I mentioned previously. It’ll be a good time. If the author is a living person who likes to participate in chats about their book, I’ll see if I can get said author to join us for part of our discussion.
As for what books we should choose, I’m open to any kind of baseball book — history, statistical, current events, even fictional if baseball really plays a central role in the book. I’d like us to choose them all together — shout out which books you think we should start with in the comments (or, alternatively, if there’s an interest in me choosing the first book, also say so in the comments).
I’m hopeful that all of you want to talk about baseball books with me — that you’ll sign up for our Facebook group and come to the chats. This honestly isn’t about me making more money (though that would certainly be a nice silver lining), it’s about trying to marry my old career and new career. Because let’s face it, I miss you guys!
Paul Swydan used to be the managing editor of The Hardball Times, a writer and editor for FanGraphs and a writer for Boston.com and The Boston Globe. Now, he owns The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, an independent bookstore in Acton, Mass. Follow him on Twitter @Swydan. Follow the store @SilUnicornActon.
http://effectivelywild.wikia.com/wiki/Episode_980:_The_Baseball_Book_Draft
I really enjoyed Nine Innings
Nine Innings by Roger Angell is a fantastic book.
Daniel Okrent, not Angell.
Sorry, I was thinking of “Five Seasons” by Angell. My apologies. Okrent’s book is excellent.
Weaver On Strategy
There are *a lot* of baseball books I like. Some of ’em are kind of obscure. What’s the best kind of book to start off with in a club like this–a famous one that everybody’s read? A classic that everybody’s heard of but not necessarily read? A new bestseller? A great unknown book? (I like the unknown ones, but… would that work for a book club? Would people be able to get copies?)
Moneyball, Ball Four, and Smart Baseball are must-reads
I’d say something that is known to be a pretty good one, is accessible, and isn’t terribly dry. For instance, “Moneyball” just seemed to flow pretty well while “Big Data Baseball” was a chore to read at times.
“The Sabermetric Revolution: Assessing the Growth of Analytics in Baseball” , it was a great read to know where the sports industry is with analytics and how academia and sports can integrate together for the win!
To keep the conversation going, a few baseball books I’ve read (ranked in rough order of favorites):
1. Moneyball (Lewis)
2. Big Data Baseball (Sawchik)
3. Best Team Money Can Buy, Dodgers (Knight)
4. The Only Rule Is It Has To Work (Miller, Lindbergh)
I’ve wanting to read two baseball/Wall Street-related books, too: Jonah Keri’s book about the Rays (“Extra 2%” I believe) and, maybe, “Trading Bases” (Peta).
Any *really* good baseball books stand out to others?
Both “Trading Bases” and “the Extra 2%” were good, although in my obviously biased opinion Keri’s other book, “Up, Up, and Away”, which is a history of the Expos, was better
Ahh, will have to add that one to the list! Judging by your handle, no way you’re biased though!
Meant to also add Tom Tango’s “The Book: Playing Percentages in Baseball” as one I’d like to read. Any others have the one high on their list or read it already? Thoughts?
The Book is a must-read. The principles outlined in it serve as a foundation for many of the concepts that have been developed on this site and others.
“Trading Bases” is excellent and would make for a great discussion of how we can all bet better on baseball (which Peta demonstrates offers much better odds than betting on the NFL, NBA, NHL, etc.).
I’d like to begin with a biography. There’s a really good one about David Cone by Roger Angell. Or maybe the Robert Creamer biography of Casey Stengel?
I remember a book I would read when I was a kid that was all about the rules. It had illustrations of all the different situations. I remember the depiction of the balk had this kid with a sinister look on his face as he intended to throw fake a throw to fist base or something. I can’t recall the title. Anybody else ever read it?
I’d love to find a copy of that book now.
I suppose I may as well list a few that I can recommend strongly.
Ball Four (Bouton)
California Rush (Kiraly)
Good Enough to Dream (Kahn)
Jays! (Caulfield)
Epic Season (Kaiser)
Baseball before We Knew It (Block)
The Wrong Stuff (Lee)
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract
Evaluating Baseball’s Managers (Jaffe)
Moneyball (Lewis)
How about this? We read Al Stump’s bio of Ty Cobb, “My Life in Baseball: The True Record”, and then the more recent “Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty” by Charles Leerhsen and then we compare the two.
Been wanting to read Malamud’s The Natural for a while.
I’d guess most people here have read a ton of nonfiction baseball books, but probably many fewer that are fiction.
Can I save you some time? The Natural is one of my least favorite novels ever. Here’s the note I wrote down in my book log at the time: “Paper-thin characters, tenuous mixture of real and surreal, a totally bogus moral dilemma, plot hinging on stupid and easily avoidable decisions, and misogyny in the disgusting treatment of the female characters. Plus, the book’s just not a good depiction of baseball.”
As far as baseball novels go, I’m interested in the murder mysteries below and really liked Bingo Long’s Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings. And Ring Lardner’s You Know Me Al is still laugh-out-loud hilarious 100 years later.
But yeah, you’re right, baseball fiction is a little harder.
Yo BR, aren’t you the WBE? Did you abandon that handle? FG message boards need the WBE back.
I am! Had to surrender the WBE name when started writing for THT.
Three Nights in August
The Only Rule is it has to Work
Big Data baseball
Moneyball
Both of Joe Posnanski’s baseball books are great. The Soul of Baseball and The Machine.
For fiction, I’d recommend the Mickey Rawlings series of Murder Mysteries by Troy Soos. Fun, short reads.
Very interested. Not on Facebook. Can you do something on Reddit?
Also, my suggestion is You Know Me, Al by Ring Lardner.
would echo this re: facebook. I know there aren’t a lot of good (free) options for things like this but was looking forward to joining up until I saw it would be on facebook.
Oh. I have no idea how to use Reddit, to be honest. #oldguy
I’m not married to Facebook, but it just seems like the easiest thing to use.
Keith Hernandez has an autobiography coming out shortly (if it isn’t out already). I have to imagine it’ll have some fun stories in it.
I was looking forward to this one too, but the Washington Post just gave it a terrible review, e.g., “doomed by sloppy writing and a lack of self-awareness.”
I’m going to anti-recommend the fiction novel “The Art of Fielding” by Chad Harbach. Anyone else read that and think no, this prospect is very unlikely? I couldn’t enjoy the book because it seemed very far fetched in multiple ways.
I was really into that book at the beginning; the depictions of Henry’s (Henry? Whatever the protagonist’s name is) style of play and preparation were excellent. But baseball takes a back seat for the next 250 or so pages. I wonder if we can even call it a baseball book.
I actually very much enjoyed this novel, especially the look into failure and the yips, but it’s a problematic book in that the author has been accused of plagiarizing another author’s work quite extensively.
One of my favorites not yet mentioned is The Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball.
Although I have already read dozens of times, might I suggest “The Veracruz Blues” by Mark Weingartner. Sex, booze, Mexico, baseball, Ernest Hemmingway, Babe Ruth, Satchel Paige and a dozen others. An amazing work.
I expect folks here will lean to the more analytical side, so I thought I’d suggest my favorite work of baseball fiction, The Celebrant by Eric Rolfe Greenberg. The Goodreads capsule https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/487295.The_Celebrant
Or a very close second, A False Spring by Pat Jordan https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/426777.A_False_Spring
Happy to see The Celebrant get a mention – it’s been maybe 30 years since I read it, but I remember really liking it. Bang The Drum Slowly by Mark Harris is also very good.
BTDS is very good, and also happens to be my favorite-ever base ball movie.
Sisterhood of the Traveling Stirrup Pants?
WAR and Cleats?
All Quiet on the NL Western Front?
A New York Yankee in King Arthur’s Court?
Old Man and the K, the Bartolo Colon story
The Picture of Sonny Gray
A Tale of Two Citi Fields
Lord of the Pop Flies
20,000 Games Under .500
Around the Bases in 80 Days. (Adrian Gonzalez biography)
To Kill a Greg Bird
I could go on, but it hurts too much….
Shoeless Joe (aka Field of Dreams book) is delightfully bizarre.
The Phenomenon with Rick Ankiel was really good.
I say you pick the book Paul. Otherwise, I have been meaning to read Smart Baseball by Keith Law.
The Arm
It’s been mentioned, but The Soul Of Baseball is a terrific book. One that hasn’t been mentioned but might not have enough baseball in it is Brothers K, by David James Duncan.
Years and years ago, I would say that Men At Work by George Will was my favourite baseball book. I recently thought I should re-read it to see what I think now. (I don’t agree with anything else Will has ever written, but I know I loved that book.)
Been meaning to get to:
“Knocking on Heaven’s Door: Six Minor Leaguers in Search of the Baseball Dream,” by Marty Dobrow
“Wherever I Wind Up,” R.A. Dickey’s autobiography
“Bang the Drum Slowly,” Mark Harris (Sequel to “The Southpaw”)
I think it would be fascinating for this group to read and discuss Dollar Sign on the Muscle.
If we want to stay current, Rob Neyer will have a book out soon too.
The Shift: The Next Evolution in Baseball Thinking is a nice read as well.
I currently have “Where Nobody Knows Your Name” by Feinstein out from the library. Not life changing, but it’s a decent book. Would recommend, but not highly.
Even though I’ve read it multiple times, I cannot more highly recommend The Only Rule is it Has to Work.
Hi all. By my count, we have 45 real suggestions. I am going to add a few of my own, and comb through the list to see what books are still in print. And then I’ll put up a poll over on Facebook. Thanks!
Would you possibly be able to continue posts here at FG for the Book Club? As I previously mentioned I don’t have Facebook, and I think this is true for some others here. Even Twitter would be preferable, if Reddit is no good for you. Thanks for anything you can do about this!
Yeah, I’ll tweet stuff out for sure.
After taking a gander at baseball related books at your online store, the one I would find most intriguing would be “The Only Rule Is it HasTo Work”.
This sounds good, especially since I haven’t read a Baseeball book in quite a while. Certainly not since I lost my book collection in a foreclosure in 2013. Otherwise, I think any Roger Angell book would be good as an icebreaker.
I am currently reading “The Only Rule Is it HasTo Work”. I’m not finished yet, (about 3/4’s of the way) but I find it truly fascinating and would highly recommend it!
Oh, great. Now I have at least 17 books to read. Thank goodness I’m moving back to San Antonio from Rockport, and its tiny library. I
I’ll try to buy whatever book we decide to read en masse. Great idea. Sounds like a lot of fun!
Edit: My favorite baseball books as a kid were “My 66 Years in the Big Leagues” (Connie Mack) and The Sporting News’ “Daguerreotypes of Great Stars of Baseball.” This was my only source of historical stats as a kid in the early to mid 1970s, besides my baseball cards.
Bottom of the 33rd (Dan Barry) is easily my favorite baseball book. Dripping with melancholy and busted dreams, full of early-80s nostalgia. He zooms in on pretty much every player in that game, and some off-the-field characters, and presents the game action in a lyrical way without getting overdone/purple.
Whether or not you choose it for the club, I recommend giving it a look. If it sounds up your alley, it is.
For fiction, maybe “Pafko at the Wall,” DeLillo’s prologue in Underworld. From what I hear (I’ve never read the novel), this prologue is pretty unrelated to the rest of the book. But it can be read on its own; it’s some of the most beautiful baseball fiction writing I’ve come across. I *think* it was even published as a standalone book. It’s also available in the Harper’s archives, for subscribers. It’s long enough to provide plenty of discussion points, but short enough that it won’t be torture if you’re not digging it.
The Science of Hitting by Ted Williams. Everything old is new again as Williams championed the slight upper cut/fly ball swing.
And a few more for consideration: Baseball’s 6th Tool: The Inner Game by John D. Curtis, Living on the Black by John Feinstein, Baseball Between the Numbers and Extra Innings by Baseball Prospectus
A couple more that I didn’t see listed and have found highly interesting:
The Arm – Jeff Passan
Boys of Summer – Roger Kahn
I haven’t read a book start to finish since 8th grade (sparknotes through high school). Two of the best books I read in middle school were Josh Hamilton and RA Dickey’s biographies.
Class A by Lucas Mann.
Brilliant book where Mann follows the 2010 Clinton LumberKings for a season. As with any book like this that turns out great, it’s more about the players and fans and city and off the field events than what happens during the games. If you want the day-to-day results of the season, this isn’t the book for you. If you want to read about life and why the players do it and why the fans keep coming out and high a seemingly dying city encapsulates it all, this is what you want to read.
I predict future greatness for Mann.
One more suggestion – this time a straight historical account, “The Pitch That Killed,” a fascinating book by Mike Sowell that covers the death of the last ballplayer to be killed during play, the unfortunate young Indians star, Ray Chapman. The book details his career and that of the pitcher, the disreputable but quite successful Carl Mays. Sowell does a great job setting up these two and the milieu of MLB as played in 1920. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/859269.The_Pitch_That_Killed
W.P. Kinsella,The Iowa Baseball Confederacy.
Would it be too self-serving of me to recommend…. yeah, it would be.
I know it is late but would like to add The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. by Robert Coover. It is a different kind of baseball book and might be more geared towards those who enjoy fantasy baseball or get addicted to entertainment.
Also agree with the Soul of Baseball.