What Are You Reading Right Now?

[philliesfiend55]

"Whatever Happened to The Hall Of Fame - Or The Politics Of Glory" by Bill James. I find it a great study of the Hall Of Fame selection process. This book was written in 1994, and published in 1995. It concludes with Phil Rizzuto's Veterans Committee election of '94, but doesn't include Richie Ashburn's election by that committee early in 1995. He gives his opinion in decade by decade style of his evaluation of the HOFs choices and lists the best available candidates at each positon, including 19th Century players.
The question I have is why James has never revisited this subject in the intervening 20 years with a book solely devoted to studying who's in the HOF, who's out, and who's out, but deserves to be in? At the very least it would be nice if he revised and expanded the original book, taking into account the latest electees and reviewing changes in both the Writers and the veterans committee election processes.

[Cowtipper]

After that, I'm going to read Summer of '49 by David Halberstam.

This was a good book and should be on everyone's To Read list.

[Dude Paskert]

"Gary Carter - Still A Kid At Heart" was being sold at a clearance price here at work and I grabbed the last copy.
Have barely started it, did not know that Gary was a "Punt, Pass & Kick" finalist twice and won once!

[Cowtipper]

I'm currently reading Playing for Keeps: A History of Early Baseball by Warren Goldstein. I have never read a baseball book written in so scholarly a tone before. Not sure I like it that aspect of it.

I'm also reading Black Diamonds: Life in the Negro Leagues from the Men Who Lived It by John B. Holway. It's a compendium interviews of former Negro leaguers. It's not bad.

[SavoyBG]

Just finished "The Book - Playing The Percentages In Baseball - by Tom Tango, Mitchell Lichtman and Andrew Dolphin.

Some very interesting analysis of strategic tactics in baseball.

[Cowtipper]

I read a book called Jackie Robinson: Bravest Man in Baseball. It's actually a kids book but provides a solid overview of his life.

[Dude Paskert]

"Gary Carter - Still A Kid At Heart" was being sold at a clearance price here at work and I grabbed the last copy.
Have barely started it, did not know that Gary was a "Punt, Pass & Kick" finalist twice and won once!

I am embarrassed to admit that I forgot I was reading this book...loved Carter (even as a Bosox fan), but there wasn't much to grab me in his description of life after his playing days. I really wanted to like this book after seeing how brave Gary was in the face of the cancer that took his life...

[Dude Paskert]

I am embarrassed to admit that I forgot I was reading this book...loved Carter (even as a Bosox fan), but there wasn't much to grab me in his description of life after his playing days. I really wanted to like this book after seeing how brave Gary was in the face of the cancer that took his life...

I finished this one last night...worth reading if you really love Carter, but I didn't really gain much from his ruminations about the state of the game at the time he was writing and the steroid situation in particular. Gary did write at length about his disappointment at not finding a path to a major league managing job, but he did admit that he declined a promotion to manage the Mets' AA team in Binghamton, NY after doing a good job with a couple of lower level teams in Florida. Carter wrote that he didn't want to be so far from his family in Florida just to keep managing in the minors, but I think that decision also demonstrated to the Mets that he may not have been 100% committed to the managerial profession.

[Cowtipper]

They're lazy reads, but books for young readers can have just as much information packed into them as 'big people' books. One that is worth checking out, if you're into trivia, is Bart Rockwell's World's Strangest Baseball Stories. I read that one recently.

I'm also reading Tales from the 1962 New York Mets Dugout. It's a really good book for Mets fans.

[Cowtipper]

I recently read Mets Fan by Dana Brand. Now I'm rereading Mets Pride by Alan Ross, Tales from the Mets Dugout by Bruce Markusen and Best Mets by Matthew Silverman.

[brewcrew82]

Currently reading "Fifty-Nine in '84" by Edward Achorn about the 1884 Providence Grays' season and in particular Old Hoss Radbourn.
Had it on my shelf for over 12 months but only now getting time to read.

[RosinBag]

High and Tight: The Rise and Fall of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry - Bob Kalpsich. Picked it up on Amazon for a penny. Quick read so far. I'll chime in again once I'm through with it.


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[Elysian Fields]

Currently reading "Fifty-Nine in '84" by Edward Achorn about the 1884 Providence Grays' season and in particular Old Hoss Radbourn.
Had it on my shelf for over 12 months but only now getting time to read.

I like this book. You should also try, if you haven't already, the author's other baseball book about the early St. Louis Browns (19th century, but now the Cardinals): "The Summer of Beer and Whiskey". It is even better since it really just explores the history of the baseball organization and that particular one season.

[tommybaseball]

Veeck as in Wreck. A true fans owner who was grateful for their support... much maligned by the crusty hierarchy who have always taken themselves way too seriously...and this is coming from a huge fan of Roger Angell!

[brewcrew82]

I like this book. You should also try, if you haven't already, the author's other baseball book about the early St. Louis Browns (19th century, but now the Cardinals): "The Summer of Beer and Whiskey". It is even better since it really just explores the history of the baseball organization and that particular one season.

I picked up The Summer of Beer and Whiskey at the same time. Have yet to start it yet, although I will bump it up to the next on my reading list on your recommendation.

If there are any other good books on 19th century base ball you could recommend I would greatly appreciate it. The only other one I have is Albert Spalding's book "Base Ball".