The SABR Bookshelf: Fall 2023
Here are the SABR Bookshelf listings for Fall 2023.
To get your NEW book listed on The SABR Bookshelf, send an e-book file in PDF, EPUB or MOBI format to jpomrenke@sabr.org.
To ensure a listing in The Baseball Index, SABR’s online catalog of baseball research materials at www.baseballindex.org, please make sure a review copy is sent to The Baseball Index, 4025 Beechwood Pl., Riverside, CA 92506.
Bolded names indicates that the author(s) is a SABR member. Click here for a list of publishers found in the SABR Bookshelf, along with their contact information.
In addition, check out new books published by SABR at SABR.org/ebooks.
Yankee Stadium 1923-2008: America’s First Modern Ballpark
Edited by Tara Krieger and Bill Nowlin
Publisher: SABR
Retail Price: $9.99 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-960819-00-0
Buy It: SABR.org
Summary: SABR Digital Library book celebrating the 100th anniversary of the original Yankee Stadium, with recaps of memorable games and off-the-field events.
Willie Mays: Five Tools
Edited by Bill Nowlin and Glen Sparks
Publisher: SABR
Retail Price: $9.99 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-960819-02-4
Buy It: SABR.org
Summary: SABR Digital Library book focusing on the Giants’ legendary center fielder, with more than 20 insightful essays and stories of 30 memorable games during his career.
The Stars Shone on Philadelphia: The 1934 Negro National League Champions
Edited by Frederick C. Bush and Bill Nowlin
Publisher: SABR
Retail Price: $9.99 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-960819-04-8
Buy It: SABR.org
Summary: SABR Digital Library book on an underrated championship team from the Negro National League, which included two future Hall of Famers.
Ebbets Field: Great, Historic, and Memorable Games in Brooklyn’s Lost Ballpark
Edited by Gregory H. Wolf
Publisher: SABR
Retail Price: $9.99 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-960819-16-1
Buy It: SABR.org
Summary: SABR Digital Library book with feature essays and stories of nearly 100 historic games played at Brooklyn’s beloved bandbox.
Nichibei Yakyu: US Tours of Japan, 1960-2019 (Volume 2)
Edited by Robert K. Fitts, Bill Nowlin, and James Forr
Publisher: SABR
Retail Price: $9.99 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-970159-89-9
Buy It: SABR.org
Summary: SABR Digital Library book covering US baseball tours of Japan in the late 20th and early 21st century, the second in a two-part series.
Bill Clinton and the Church of Baseball: The Presidency, Civil Religion, and the National Pastime in the 1990s
By Chris Birkett
Publisher: Mercer University Press
Retail Price: $35.00 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-0-8814-6912-7
Buy It: MUPress.org
Summary: Explores how Clinton used the images and history of baseball to frame political debates during his presidency
Joe Cambria: International Super Scout of the Washington Senators
By Paul Scimonelli
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $39.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-8147-4
Buy It: McFarlandBooks.com
Summary: Biography of the entrepreneur/scout who created a pipeline from Cuba to the Senators.
Schnozz: The Baseball Life of Ernie Lombardi
By David L. Fleitz
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $35.00 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-8921-0
Buy It: McFarlandBooks.com
Summary: First full length bio of the Hall of Fame catcher who couldn’t run a lick.
Opening Day in Milwaukee: The Brewers’ Season Starters, 1970-2022
By Matthew J. Prigge
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $35.00 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-8964-7
Buy It: McFarlandBooks.com
Summary: All 53 openers, with context of off-season moves and the progress of the seasons.
Hardscrabble Diamonds: Postwar Baseball in New England and the Maritimes, 1945-1960
By Colin Howell
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $35.00 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-9071-1
Buy It: McFarlandBooks.com
Summary: College hopefuls, eager amateurs and the small ballparks they played in are the backbone of this book.
Play-by-Play from the Minors: Profiles of Baseball Broadcasters from Scranton to Yakima
By John Kocsis Jr.
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $35.00 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-9144-2
Buy It: McFarlandBooks.com
Summary: Thirteen veteran minor league broadcasters talk about their experiences and their careers.
Tony Gwynn: The Baseball Life of Mr. Padre
By Scott Kingdon
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $29.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-9145-9
Buy It: McFarlandBooks.com
Summary: All those batting titles and this is still the first full-length biography of the Padre star.
Miracle on the Eastern Shore: The 1937 Salisbury Indians and Baseball’s Greatest Comeback
By David A. Ranzan
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $35.00 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-9184-8
Buy It: McFarlandBooks.com
Summary: They started 21-4, but lost all their victories to forfeits for roster violations, then stormed back to win it all.
Baseball on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, 1866-1950
By Marty Payne
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $39.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-9218-0
Buy It: McFarlandBooks.com
Summary: Payne puts the town teams and minor league franchises in the region into the wider context of the National Game.
The Year Without a World Series: Major League Baseball and the Road to the 1994 Players’ Strike
By Robert C. Cottrell
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $39.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-9247-0
Buy It: McFarlandBooks.com
Summary: Cottrell follows the MLBPA and MLB as they stumble toward the strike of 1994.
Let There Be Baseball: The 60-Year Battle to Legitimize Sunday Baseball
By Arthur G. Sharp
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $45.00 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-9274-6
Buy It: McFarlandBooks.com
Summary: Sharp broadens the story of the campaign to legalize Sunday baseball by taking it into minor league towns as well as the majors.
Called Up: Ballplayers Remember Becoming Major Leaguers
By Zak Ford
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $35.00 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-9279-1
Buy It: McFarlandBooks.com
Summary: More than 100 major leaguers talk about getting the call to the Show and their debuts.
Cramer’s Choice: Memoir of a Baseball Card Collector Turned Manufacturer
By Mike Cramer
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $29.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-9357-6
Buy It: McFarlandBooks.com
Summary: Cramer’s autobiography covers his start as a teenage mail order card dealer to the founding of Pacific Trading Cards.
Baseball: The Turbulent Midcentury Years
By Steven P. Gietschier
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Retail Price: $44.95 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4962-7537-4
Buy It: nebraskapress.unl.edu
Summary: Gietschier takes up the mantle of Harold Seymour and Dorothy Seymour Mills in the fourth volume of their history of The Game.
Goodbye, Oakland: Winning, Wanderlust, and A Sports Town’s Fight for Survival
By Andy Dolich and Dave Newhouse
Publisher: Triumph Books
Retail Price: $30.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-6293-7306-7
Buy It: TriumphBooks.com
Summary: A very timely look at the A’s negotiations with Oakland over the creation of a new ballpark.
Pinstripes by the Tale: Half a Century In and Around Yankees Baseball
By Marty Appel
Publisher: Triumph Books
Retail Price: $28.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-6372-7215-2
Buy It: TriumphBooks.com
Summary: Another 288 pages of anecdotes and tales from the Yankees’ long-time publicity man.
Ron Cey: Penguin Power
By Ron Cey with Ken Gurnick
Publisher: Triumph Books
Retail Price: $30.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-6372-7226-8
Buy It: TriumphBooks.com
Summary: A biography of the Dodgers’ slugging third baseman and anchor of “The Infield.”
Smart, Wrong, and Lucky: The Origin Stories of Baseball’s Unexpected Stars
By Jonathan Mayo
Publisher: Triumph Books
Retail Price: $28.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-6372-7278-7
Buy It: TriumphBooks.com
Summary: Looking at how scouts’ first impressions of modern star players like Joey Votto and Mookie Betts lived up to the reality of their careers.
The New Ball Game: The Not-so-Hidden Forces Shaping Modern Baseball
By Russell A. Carleton
Publisher: Triumph Books
Retail Price: $35.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-6372-7297-8
Buy It: TriumphBooks.com
Summary: An analysis of the analytic and marketing trends pushing the game towards this year’s new rules.
1934: The Chatham Coloured All-Stars’ Barrier Breaking Year
By Heidi L.M. Jacobs
Publisher: Biblioasis
Retail Price: $18.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-77196-477-7
Buy It: Biblioasis.com
Summary: Chronicles a black All-Star squad from Ontario and Michigan that broke racial barriers during the Depression.
The Ballplayer’s Son: Following the Footsteps and Escaping the Shadow of Big Moe Franklin
By Dell Franklin
Publisher: Summer Game Books
Retail Price: $18.99 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-9553-9808-4
Buy It: SummerGameBooks.com
Summary: Autobiography of the son of a former minor leaguer with a dominant personality and how he grew up.
Vintage Base Ball’s Enduring Legacy
By Jack Pelikan
Publisher: Pocol Press
Retail Price: $21.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 979-8-9852820-7-8
Buy It: PocolPress.com
Summary: Examines the history and endurance of Vintage Base Ball with interviews of contemporary players, plus pictures.
Baseball West of Eden
By John Wells
Publisher: Self-published
Retail Price: $14.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 979-8851-4728-00
Buy It: Amazon.com
Summary: Novel of a charming minor league manager saddled with family and alcohol problemns while wrestling with a bad team.
The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams
By Adam Lazarus
Publisher: Citadel Books
Retail Price: $29.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-0806542508
Buy It: KensingtonBooks.com
Summary: The 50-year friendship between a space pioneer and a baseball legend, forged in the Korean War and spanning careers marked by heroism and fame, revealed through unpublished letters and records.
Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World Series
By Traci Sorell; illustrations by Arigon Starr
Publisher: Kokila Books
Retail Price: $18.99 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-0593406472
Buy It: penguinrandomhouse.com
Summary: This picture book chronicles the journey of two Native American baseball players in the 1911 World Series. It celebrates their resilience and dedication to Native representation in sports, overcoming media-driven rivalry and racial barriers to play in nine championships.
The Greatest Summer in Baseball History: How the ‘73 Season Changed US Forever
By John Rosengren
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Retail Price: $16.99 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1728271897
Buy It: Sourcebooks.com
Summary: A transformative year in baseball history, highlighted by Henry Aaron’s historic home run chase, the advent of the designated hitter, and influential figures like George Steinbrenner and Reggie Jackson, culminating in a season that revitalized the sport amidst crisis.
Can We Play Baseball, Mr. DeMille?
By Mark Angelo
Publisher: FriesenPress
Retail Price: $11.99 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1039153837
Buy It: FriesenPress.com
Summary: The true story of a young boy in 1958 whose love for baseball leads him and his friends to a secret ball field in a Hollywood mogul’s yard, capturing the spirit of childhood dreams and the magic of America’s favorite pastime.
Hidden History of Twin Cities Sports
By Joel Rippel
Publisher: The History Press
Retail Price: $23.99 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1467153188
Buy It: ArcadiaPublishing.com
Summary: Uncovering the lesser-known stories of Minneapolis and St. Paul sports, from pioneering basketball coaching beginnings to near-misses with legends like John Wooden, offering a deeper look into the region’s rich sporting history beyond its well-known disappointments.
Sunny Jim Bottomley: A Biography of a Hall of Fame First Baseman
By Kent Krause
Publisher: Kodar Publishing
Retail Price: $14.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 979-8218227036
Buy It: Amazon.com
Summary: A biography of a 1920s baseball icon who rose from Branch Rickey’s farm system to become a star first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals, known for his record-breaking hitting feats and uplifting team spirit, whose remarkable career and impact on the Cardinals have been largely forgotten over time.
Sit Behind The Nets! A Memoir of a Mother Killed by a Foul Ball at an MLB Game
By Jana Goldbloom Brody
Publisher: Self-published
Retail Price: $15.99 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 979-8377334620
Buy It: Amazon.com
Summary: This heartfelt memoir advocates for improved fan safety in baseball, inspired by the author’s personal tragedy after her mother’s fatal incident at Dodger Stadium. It details her successful campaign for Major and Minor League Baseball’s net extension policy over three years, combining personal stories and public advocacy.
Gentleman Jake: The Success and Tragedy of the Deadball Era’s Greatest First Baseman
By Harry J. Deitz Jr.
Publisher: Sunbury Press
Retail Price: $24.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 979-8888191200
Buy It: SunburyPress.com
Summary: A biography of a Deadball Era star who rose from Pennsylvania’s coal mines to become a major league batting champion known for his skill and integrity. It delves into his untimely death, his notable achievements in baseball, and his overlooked legacy in the sport’s history.
Baseball Puzzles
By Stephen Bratkovich
Publisher: Story and Song Bookstore Bistro
Retail Price: $16.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 979-8986010342
Buy It: Amazon.com
Summary: An entertaining collection of baseball-themed puzzles and trivia, catering to fans of all knowledge levels, from rookies to seasoned enthusiasts.
“Cy” Williams: Baseball’s Most Unique Star Slugger
By Gary Williams
Publisher: Self-published
Retail Price: $33.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 979-8396624375
Buy It: Amazon.com
Summary: A biography of Fred “Cy” Williams, whose career spanned the Deadball and Live Ball Eras of baseball, highlighting his achievements and the game’s transformative shift in the 1910s and 1920s, illustrated through engaging graphics.
Burial at Home Plate: An Oddball History of the Pittsburgh Pirates
By Bob Fulton
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing
Retail Price: $23.00 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 979-8888121399
Buy It: DorrancePublishing.com
Summary: A whimsical glimpse into Pittsburgh Pirates history, filled with oddities like a pitcher winning while asleep and a game played far from home attracting a massive local crowd, highlighting the team’s unique and often bizarre moments in baseball.
Baseball From 3,000 Miles Away: The Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs of Being an East Coast San Francisco Giants Fan
By Gary Mintz
Publisher: Self-published
Retail Price: $17.99 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 979-8863713489
Buy It: Amazon.com
Summary: A look at the lifelong fandom of a Giants enthusiast who never called San Francisco home.
Compiled by Jacob Baugher.