The SABR Bookshelf: Winter/Spring 2021
Here are the SABR Bookshelf listings for Winter/Spring 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.
From Rube to Robinson: SABR’s Best Articles on Black Baseball
Edited by John Graf
Publisher: SABR
Retail Price: $9.99 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-9701-5940-0
Buy It: SABR
Summary: An anthology of the best SABR research articles on the Negro Leagues over the past 50 years, covering topics ranging the earliest known Black baseball championship in 1866 to the end of the Negro American League in 1962.
A Palace in the Nation’s Capital: Griffith Stadium, Home of the Washington Senators
Edited by Gregory H. Wolf
Publisher: SABR
Retail Price: $9.99 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-9701-5948-6
Buy It: SABR
Summary: A SABR Digital Library collection of 70 of the most memorable games played at Griffith Stadium in Washington, DC, from the original Senators to the expansion Senators to the Negro Leagues’ Homestead Grays.
The Miracle Has Landed: The Amazin’ Story of How the 1969 Mets Shocked the World
Edited by Matthew Silverman and Ken Samelson
Publisher: SABR
Retail Price: $9.99 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-9701-5908-0
Buy It: SABR
Summary: From the SABR Digital Library, an updated and expanded edition of a 2009 book that celebrates the New York Mets’ first World Series championship, with biographies of all team figures and stories of memorable games.
Baseball’s Greatest Comeback Games
Edited by Bill Nowlin
Publisher: SABR
Retail Price: $9.99 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-9701-5946-2
Buy It: SABR
Summary: A SABR Digital Library collection that uses a methodical approach to rank the most memorable come-from-behind wins in major-league history, including one from all 30 franchises.
The African American Baseball Experience in Nebraska: Essays and Memories
Edited by Angelo J. Louisa
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $39.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-0-7864-7976-4
Buy It: McFarland Books
Summary: From the sandlots of Omaha to Bud Fowler and Bob Gibson, profiles of Black ballplayers from the Cornhusker state.
Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball
By Luke Epplin
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Retail Price: $29.99 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-2503-1379-9
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: The story of the Cleveland Indians’ integration in 1947, their World Series championship in 1948, and the four men at the center of it all: Larry Doby, Bill Veeck, Bob Feller, and Satchel Paige.
Detroit Tigers Gone Wild: Mischief, Crimes and Hard Time
By George Hunter
Publisher: History Press
Retail Price: $21.99 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4671-4329-5
Buy It: Arcadia Publishing
Summary: A veteran Detroit cop reporter recounts the various times Tiger players and fans have made their ways onto the police blotter.
Historic Ballparks of the Twin Cities
By Stew Thornley
Publisher: History Press
Retail Price: $21.99 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4671-4634-0
Buy It: Arcadia Publishing
Summary: Lots of photographs and maps in this history that covers ballparks used by the majors, the minors, Negro Leagues and amateur teams in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Baseball and the House of David: The Legendary Barnstorming Teams, 1915-1956
By P.J. Dragseth
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $39.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-7011-9
Buy It: McFarland Books
Summary: For four decades, the barnstorming House of David team entertained fans in small towns across North America.
New York Loves Them, Cooperstown Snubs Them
By Tom Van Riper
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $35.00 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-7965-5
Buy It: McFarland Books
Summary: Profiles of seven Yankees and Mets from the late decades of the 20th Century who Van Riper feels should be in the Hall of Fame.
Zack Wheat: The Life of the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Famer
By Joe Niese
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $29.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-8014-9
Buy It: McFarland Books
Summary: The life of Wheat from his youth on a Kansas farm through his Hall of Fame campaigns and his post-basebll career.
Frank Selee: Hall of Fame Manager of the Boston Beaneaters and Chicago Cubs
By Richard Bressler
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $35.00 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-8204-4
Buy It: McFarland Books
Summary: Selee managed two of the powerhouse dynasties around the turn of the 20th Century, sealing his place in baseball history
Walter Alston: The Rise of a Manager from the Minors to the Baseball Hall of Fame
By Alan H. Levy
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $35.00 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-8210-5
Buy It: McFarland Books
Summary: The first book-length biography of the Hall of Fame manager, with extensive material on his minor league career and background
Ted Sullivan, Barnacle of Baseball
By Pat O’Neill and Tom Coffman
Publisher: McFarland & Co.
Retail Price: $39.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4766-8478-9
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: A biography of a celebrated 19th-century figure, who became the game’s first player agent, a groundbreaking scout, an author, a playwright, and a baseball evangelist who promoted the game across five continents.
Tony Lazzeri: Yankees Legend and Baseball Pioneer
By Lawrence Baldassaro
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Retail Price: $34.95 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4962-1675-5
Buy It: Nebraska Press
Summary: The best biography of Lazzeri so far, placing him in the context of the new wave of immigrants and his impact on the Yankees and New York’s sporting world.
Two Sides of Glory: The 1986 Boston Red Sox in Their Own Words
By Erik Sherman
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Retail Price: $29.95 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4962-1932-9
Buy It: Nebraska Press
Summary: Oh so close in 1986, that Red Sox team talks about the Buckner game, the Game Seven loss and how they have processed those experiences and their emotions over the years since.
Comeback Pitchers: The Remarkable Careers of Howard Ehmke and Jack Quinn
By Lyle Spatz and Steve Steinberg
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Retail Price: $39.95 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4962-2202-2
Buy It: Nebraska Press
Summary: Howard Ehmke and Jack Quinn were done, everybody thought, but both managed to rebound for extended careers.
Escape from Castro’s Cuba: A Novel
By Tim Wendel
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Retail Price: $19.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4962-2292-3
Buy It: Nebraska Press
Summary: A follow to Tim Wendel’s Castro’s Curveball, former minor leaguer Bill Bryan returns to Cuba and tries to help a potential star get away.
Making Japan’s National Game: A Cultural History of Baseball in Japan
By Blair Williams
Publisher: Carolina Academic Press
Retail Price: $33.00 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-5310-1531-2
Buy It: Cap-Press.com
Summary: A study of Japanese baseball’s relationship with nationalism and how the game transcended its origins as America’s pastime to become a game fundamental to Japan’s culture.
Double Plays and Double Crosses: The Black Sox and Baseball in 1920
By Don Zminda
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Retail Price: $36.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-5381-4232-5
Buy It: Rowman.com
Summary: An account of how the Black Sox Scandal was exposed in 1920, just before the Chicago White Sox might have won another American League pennant while throwing games all season long.
After Jackie: Fifteen Pioneers Who Helped Change the Face of Baseball
By Jeffrey S. Copeland
Publisher: Paragon House
Retail Price: $19.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-5577-8948-8
Buy It: Paragon House
Summary: A detailed account of the 15 other Black pioneers who integrated their major-league teams in the dozen years after Jackie Robinson’s debut in 1947.
Grassroots Baseball: Where Legends Begin
By Jean Fruth
Publisher: Sports Publishing
Retail Price: $35.00 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-61321-419-3
Buy It: Skyhorse Publishing
Summary: Fruth’s photographs circle baseball’s worlds, but concentrate on sandlots, suburban diamonds and other places where children learn to play and love the game.
The New Baseball Bible
By Dan Schlossberg
Publisher: Sports Publishing
Retail Price: $19.99 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-61608-346-2
Buy It: Skyhorse Publishing
Summary: Updates the 2017 edition with new anecdotes, statistics, stories. Sort of a new Armchair Book of Baseball.
That Lively Railroad Town
By William H. Brewster
Publisher: Luminare Press
Retail Price: $17.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-64388-434-9
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Waverly, New York, was a small, railroad crossing town which used its baseball connections to grow, and its native son, Hughie Jennings, promoted the Players League.
Phillies 1980! Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Pete Rose, and Philadelphia’s First World Series Championship
By Lew Freedman
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Retail Price: $24.99 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-68358-310-3
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Exploring the Phillies’ first-ever World Series win in a tight series over the Kansas City Royals.
Dodgers vs. Yankees: The Long-Standing Rivalry Between Two of Baseball’s Greatest Teams
By Michael Schiavone
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Retail Price: $24.99 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-68358-314-1
Buy It: Skyhorse Publishing
Summary: From 1941 through 1981, Schiavone examines each team and their World Series meetings.
Subway Series: Baseball’s Big Apple Battles and the Yankees-Mets 2000 World Series Classic
By Jerry Beach
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Retail Price: $24.99 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-68358-342-4
Buy It: Skyhorse Publishing
Summary: Tells the story of the 2000 World Series through both teams game by game.
The Iconic Jersey: Baseball x Fashion
By Erin R. Corrales-Diaz
Publisher: Giles Limited
Retail Price: $34.95 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-9112-8288-4
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Published in association with an upcoming exhibit at the Worcester Art Museum, this pictorial book explores dozens of baseball jerseys as fashion statements and what sports attire means to us.
This Never Happened: The Mystery Behind the Death of Christy Mathewson
By J.B. Manheim
Publisher: Summer Game Books
Retail Price: $15.99 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-9385-4592-4
Buy It: Summer Game Books
Summary: A historical novel exploring the story of Christy Mathewson’s encounter with poison gas while serving in the US Army during World War I and his tragic death at the age of 45.
The Only Way is the Steady Way: Essays on Baseball, Ichiro and How We Watch the Game
By Andrew Forbes
Publisher: Invisible Publishing
Retail Price: $19.95 (sftcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-98878-466-3
Buy It: Invisible Publishing
Summary: Twenty-six short essays on various eclectic topics, although he returns to Ichiro regularly. Also Roger Peckinpaugh, Pedro Guerrero and Jim Bean.
Cobra: A Life of Baseball and Brotherhood
By Dave Parker and Dave Jordan
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Retail Price: $29.47 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4962-1873-5
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: The long awaited autobiography of Dave Parker, the 1978 National League MVP and a World Series champion with both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Oakland A’s.
Singled Out: The True Story of Glenn Burke
By Andrew Maraniss
Publisher: Penguin Books
Retail Price: $15.23 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-0-5931-1673-9
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: The true story of Glenn Burke, the Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder and first openly gay major-league player who made history as the inventor of the high-five celebration.
Baseball’s Leading Lady: Effa Manley and the Rise and Fall of the Negro Leagues
By Andrea Williams
Publisher: Roaring Book Press
Retail Price: $18.39 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-2506-2372-0
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: The story of Effa Manley, co-owner and business manager of the Newark Eagles, a powerhouse Negro Leagues team.
The Pride of Minnesota: The Twins in the Turbulent 1960s
By Thom Henninger
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Retail Price: $32.95 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-4962-2560-3
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: Henninger covers the prime years of the Minnesota Twins, when they won their first American League pennant and won over the hearts of fans in the Twin Cities.
The Captain and Me: On and Off the Field With Thurman Munson
By Ron Blomberg and Dan Epstein
Publisher: Triumph Books
Retail Price: $20.00 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-1-6293-7854-1
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: The story of a deep friendship between two teammates: Yankees designated hitter Ron Blomberg and catcher and team captain Thurman Munson.
1962: Baseball and America in the Time of JFK
By David Krell
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Retail Price: $34.95 (hdcvr)
ISBN: 978-0-8032-9087-7
Buy It: Amazon
Summary: 1962: The year when events and people came together to not only reshape baseball, but make history.
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Compiled by Kelly Vanegas.