The SABR Bookshelf: Summer 2021

Here are the SABR Bookshelf listings for Summer 2021.

To get your NEW book listed on The SABR Bookshelf, make sure a review copy is sent to: The SABR Bookshelf, Cronkite School at ASU, 555 N. Central Ave. #416, Phoenix, AZ 85004. An e-book file will also suffice; please send the e-book in PDF, EPUB or Kindle/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.

 


Jackie: Perspectives on 42
Edited by Bill Nowlin and Glen Sparks

Publisher: SABR
Retail Price: $9.99 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-9701-5950-9
Buy It: SABR
Summary: A SABR Digital Library compilation of Jackie Robinson’s career on and off the field, examining many facets of his life, including his military service, role in the civil rights movement, and his post-baseball career moves.


When the Monarchs Reigned: Kansas City’s 1942 Negro League Champions
Edited by Frederick C. Bush and Bill Nowlin

Publisher: SABR
Retail Price: $9.99 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-9701-5952-3
Buy It: SABR
Summary: A SABR Digital Library book on one of the most famous teams in Negro Leagues history, the 1942 World Series champions led by Satchel Paige, Hilton Smith, Willard Brown, and Buck O’Neil.


Baseball in Occupied Japan: US Postwar Cultural Policy
By Takeshi Tanikawa

Publisher: Kyoto University Press
Retail Price: $59.95 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-920901-98-1
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Puts baseball, and the visits of major league teams, in the context of broader US cultural and political policies in Japan.


COVID Curveball: An Inside View of the 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers World Championship Season
By Tim Neverett

Publisher: Permuted Press
Retail Price: $28.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1637581438
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Dodgers broadcaster offers an inside look at the team’s first World Series championship in 32 years.


The Baseball 100
By Joe Posnanski

Publisher: Avid Reader Press
Retail Price: $40.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1982180584
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Acclaimed sports columnist provides a countdown with extensive essays on the top 100 baseball players in history, first published in The Athletic.


Beyond Baseball’s Color Barrier: The Story of African Americans in Major League Baseball, Past, Present, and Future
By Rocco Constantino

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Retail Price: $32.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-5381-4908-9
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Starts with Jim Crow and gets to COVID, a narrative history with many anecdotes.


Lights, Camera, Fastball: How the Hollywood Stars Changed Baseball
By Dan Taylor

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Retail Price: $38.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-5381-3862-5
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: A new history of the Hollywood Stars, on and off the field.


The Best Little Baseball Town in the World: The Crowley Millers and Minor League Baseball in the 1950s
By Gaylon White

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Retail Price: $38.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-5381-4115-1
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Murder, larceny, death by lightning and the two who made it to the majors.


Gathering Crowds: Catching Baseball Fever in the New Era of Free Agency
By Paul Hensler

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Retail Price: $40.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-5381-3200-5
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: An account of baseball’s tumultuous era beginning in 1975 when the reserve clause was struck down and free agency began.


The Reshaping of America’s Game: Major League Baseball After the Players’ Strike
By Bryan Soderholm-Difatte

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Retail Price: $45.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-5381-4595-1
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: A two-volume set examining changes in baseball since the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.


America’s Game in the Wild Card Era: From Strike to Pandemic
By Bryan Soderholm-Difatte

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Retail Price: $45.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-5381-4593-7
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: A two-volume set examining changes in baseball since the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.


The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the Chicago Cubs
By Carrie Muskat

Publisher: Triumph Books
Retail Price: $22.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-62937-748-3
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Profiles of players, owners, teams, pennant races, World Series and games central to Cubs history.


If These Walls Could Talk: New York Mets
By Mike Puma

Publisher: Triumph Books
Retail Price: $17.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-62937-774-2
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Anecdotes from the New York Mets clubhouse, dugouts and press box.


Hank Aaron: A Tribute to the Hammer, 1934-2021
By Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Publisher: Triumph Books
Retail Price: $16.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-62937-938-8
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: A collection of pictures, front pages and stories from half a century of the newspaper’s coverage of Aaron.


11 in ’11: A Hometown Hero, La Russa’s Last Ride in Red, and a Miracle World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals
By Benjamin Hochman

Publisher: Triumph Books
Retail Price: $28.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-62937-873-2
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Recounts the Cardinals’ 2011 pennant race and World Series victory, featuring Tony La Russa and David Freese.


The Best Team Over There: The Untold Story of Grover Cleveland Alexander and the Great War
By Jim Leeke

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Retail Price: $29.95 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4962-1716-5
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Alexander’s service in World War I is the focus and the military team he led.


Clubbie: A Minor League Baseball Memoir
By Greg Larson

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Retail Price: $27.95 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4962-2429-3
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Larson worked for two years as the clubhouse manager for the Aberdeen IronBirds, an Orioles farm club, and retails the seamy and the uplifting stories from those years.


Forty Years a Giant: The Life of Horace Stoneham
By Steven Treder

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Retail Price: $36.95 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4962-2419-4
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: The Giants from the mid-1930s to the mid-1970s wrapped around the life of their owner: Horace Stoneham.


Baseball Under the Lights: The Rise of the Night Game
By Charlie Bevis

Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $39.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1476680156
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: The first history of night baseball and the challenges and trends in the major and minor leagues, covering from 1930 to 1990.


Baseball in Hawaii During World War II
By Gary Bedingfield

Publisher: Self-published
Retail Price: $19.99 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 979-8720521356
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: A complete account of baseball played on the Hawaiian islands between 1941 and 1945, with some never-before-seen photographs.


#NeverGiveUp: A Memoir of Baseball and Traumatic Brain Injury
By Ruppert Jones with Ryan Dempsey

Publisher: Self-published
Retail Price: $14.99 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 979-8728527558
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Former major-league All-Star outfielder, who suffered a traumatic brain injury after a wall collision, tells the story of his search for answers.


Redleg Memories: The Reds of the Fifties and Sixties
By Greg Rhodes

Publisher: Self-published
Retail Price: $25.00 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 979-8679229402
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Longtime Reds team historian follows the team through two roller-coaster decades of its history.


The Forgotten 1970 Chicago Cubs: Go and Glow
By William S. Bike

Publisher: History Press
Retail Price: $21.99 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1467149082
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: The Cubs’ infamous 1969 collapse was followed by another memorable season in 1970, featuring some of the same cast of characters.


The Case for Barry Bonds in the Hall of Fame: The Untold and Forgotten Stories of Baseball’s Home Run King
By K.P. Wee

Publisher: Sports Publishing
Retail Price: $16.99 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1626015821
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Longtime sports writer makes a Hall of Fame case for the controversial but talented San Francisco Giants slugger.


Base Ball: Simple Stats for a Simple Game
By Bob Morris

Publisher: Outskirts Press
Retail Price: $21.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-9772-3655-5
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: The author’s new statistical system, “base statistics,” helps determine the relative productivity of baseball players.


Wahoo Sam Crawford: The King of Sluggers
By Kent Krause

Publisher: Kodar Publishing
Retail Price: $14.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-0-5788-6915-5
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: A biography of the Detroit Tigers Hall of Fame outfielder.