Championship-Worthy Baseball Books
Celebrate the championship games with top baseball books! Perfect for fans of all ages, these picks capture the heart and history of America’s pastime.
The visiting clubhouse in San Diego was soggy, sweaty and sticky after the 1998 Yankees swept the Padres in four games and celebrated winning their 24th World Series title. The players raised bottles of Champagne, sprayed the bubbly on each other and reveled in a baseball season that might have been more memorable than any in history.
Jack Curry was part of that unforgettable scene as a reporter, navigating around the clubhouse to ask the same, pertinent question. After winning an unprecedented 125 games and pummeling teams along the way, were these Yankees, the Yankees of Jeter, Mariano, Posada, Pettitte, Bernie, O’Neill, Tino and so many other vital players, the best team ever?
“Right now, you would have to call them the best team ever,” said owner George Steinbrenner.
Twenty five years later, Curry revisits that season to discuss how that team was built and why the Yankees were such a talented, refreshing and successful club. This book includes new interviews with more than 25 players, coaches and executives, who revealed some behind-the-stories about the magical journey and who also discussed the depth of this historic squad.
“From the first man to the 25th man on the roster, I don’t think there’s a team that had more talent and a team whose players knew their roles as well as our players did,” said pitcher David Cone. “If you’re using that as a barometer for the best team of all-time, then I think you can call us the best team of all-time.”
During that wondrous season, Don Zimmer, a Yankee coach and a baseball lifer who began his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954, told associates there would never be another team like the 1998 Yankees. Zimmer was right. Twenty five years later, Curry describes how and why that Yankee team could be the best ever.
“The 1998 Yankees were a perfectly constructed team. Jack Curry does an amazing job of telling the tales of that phenomenal group.” —David Cone
Dodger Stadium is an American icon. But the story of how it came to be goes far beyond baseball. The hills that cradle the stadium were once home to three vibrant Mexican American communities. In the early 1950s, those communities were condemned to make way for a utopian public housing project. Then, in a remarkable turn, public housing in the city was defeated amidst a Red Scare conspiracy.
Instead of getting their homes back, the remaining residents saw the city sell their land to Walter O’Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Now LA would be getting a different sort of utopian fantasy — a glittering, ultra-modern stadium.
But before Dodger Stadium could be built, the city would have to face down the neighborhood’s families — including one, the Aréchigas, who refused to yield their home. The ensuing confrontation captivated the nation – and the divisive outcome still echoes through Los Angeles today.
In Swing and Hit, O’Neill elaborates on his most important hitting principles, lessons, and memories—exploring those elements across ten chapters (to align with the nine innings of a baseball game and one extra inning). Here, O’Neill, with his intense temperament, describes what he did as a hitter, how he adjusted to pitchers, how he boosted his confidence, how he battled with umpires (and water coolers), and what advice he would give to current hitters.
O’Neill has always been a tough out at the plate. Recalling how he started to swing at bat as a two-year-old and kept swinging it professionally until he was thirty-eight, O’Neill provides constant insights into the beauty and frustration of playing baseball. The legendary Ted Williams said using a round bat to hit a round ball is the most difficult thing to do in sports. Naturally, O’Neill, who once received a surprise call from Williams that was filled with hitting advice, agrees.
Swing and Hit features O’Neill’s most thoughtful revelations and offers clubhouse stories from some of the biggest names in Major League Baseball—hitters, managers, and teammates like Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly, Pete Rose, and Bernie Williams.
Remember, O’Neill, ever the perfectionist, was the type of hitter who believed that pitchers didn’t ever get him out. For that incredible reason and so many others, Swing and Hit is essential reading for any baseball fan.
On July 4, 1939, baseball great Lou Gehrig delivered what has been called “baseball’s Gettysburg Address” at Yankee Stadium and gave a speech that included the phrase that would become legendary. He died two years later and his fiery widow, Eleanor, wanted nothing more than to keep his memory alive. With her forceful will, she and the irascible producer Samuel Goldwyn quickly agreed to make a film based on Gehrig’s life, The Pride of the Yankees. Goldwyn didn’t understand — or care about — baseball. For him this film was the emotional story of a quiet, modest hero who married a spirited woman who was the love of his life, and, after a storied career, gave a short speech that transformed his legacy. With the world at war and soldiers dying on foreign soil, it was the kind of movie America needed.
Using original scrips, letters, memos, and other rare documents, Richard Sandomir tells the behind-the-scenes story of how a classic was born. There was the so-called Scarlett O’Hara-like search to find the actor to play Gehrig; the stunning revelations Elanor made to the scriptwriter Paul Gallico about her life with Lou; the intensive training Cooper underwent to learn how to catch, throw, and hit a baseball for the first time; and the story of two now-legendary Hollywood actors in Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright whose nuanced performances endowed the Gehrigs with upstanding dignity and cemented the baseball icon’s legend.
Sandomir writes with great insight and aplomb, painting a fascinating portrait of a bygone Hollywood era, a mourning widow with a dream, and the shadow a legend cast on one of the greatest sports films of all time.
The New York Yankees are the most storied franchise in baseball history. They consistently draw the largest home and away crowds of any team, command the largest broadcast audiences in baseball, draw the greatest number of on-line followers, and routinely sell more copies of books and magazines than any other professional sports team.
The New York Times Story of the Yankees includes more than 350 articles chronicling the team’s most famous milestones—as well as the best writing about the ball club. Each article is hand-selected from The Times by the peerless sportswriter Dave Anderson, creating the most complete and compelling history to date about the Yankees.
Organized by era, the book covers the biggest stories and events in Yankee history, such as the purchase of Babe Ruth, Roger Maris’s 61st home run, and David Cone’s perfect game. It chronicles the team’s 27 World Series championships and 40 American League pennants; its rivalries with the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox; controversial owners, players, and managers; and more. The articles span the years from 1903—when the team was known as the New York Highlanders—to the present, and include stories from well-known and beloved Times reporters such as Arthur Daley, John Kieran, Leonard Koppett, Red Smith, Tyler Kepner, Ira Berkow, Richard Sandomir, Jim Roach, and George Vecsey.
Hundreds of black-and-white photographs throughout capture every era. A foreword by die-hard Yankees fan, Alec Baldwin, completes the celebration of baseball’s greatest team.
The inside story of how the Dodgers won their first championship in more than thirty years—but helped cripple the sport of baseball in the process
After years of frustrating playoff runs, the Los Angeles Dodgers finally reclaimed the World Series trophy after more than thirty years, led by star pitcher Clayton Kershaw, electric outfielder Mookie Betts, and a bevy of impressive young players assembled by team president Andrew Friedman. No team is better positioned to win now and in the future.
Yet winning at modern baseball is nothing like it was even twenty years ago. In the years since the famous Moneyball revolution, baseball has grown to look less like a sport than a Wall Street firm that traded its boiler room for a field. Teams relentlessly chase every tiny advantage to win games and make money, even as it hurts fans, TV ratings, and players, courting bigger problems in the long run.
This dramatic and insightful book takes you into the clubhouse with the championship players, as well as into the offices where teams constantly seek new ways to win—even when it hurts the game. How to Beat a Broken Game shows not only what it takes to win, but what it will take to save the sport.
- BASEBALL FUN: Here’s everything you love about the game, right on your desktop every day of the year: Hall of Famers, Famous Firsts, Immortal Records, Dubious Distinctions, quotes, and more.
- HOME RUN GIFT: Trivia fans and stat geeks will love testing their knowledge with this collection of fascinating factoids from the author of The Major League Baseball Book of Fabulous Facts and Awesome Trivia.
- PLASTIC FREE: Printed on responsibly sourced paper and 100% recyclable.
Baseball is called America’s pastime for a reason. Experience the best of the MLB cities and stadiums with Moon Baseball Road Trips!
- Flexible Itineraries: Explore the 30 major league cities with a variety of road trip options, including a Boston to DC route, a loop through the Midwest, a dip into Toronto, a cruise along the West Coast, and more
- Visit all the Ballparks: From the ivy walls of Wrigley to Fenway’s Green Monster and Dodger Stadium’s gorgeous mountain views, experience every ballpark in the league and dive into local fan culture
- Catch a Game: Find valuable tips for snagging tickets and get the inside scoop on the best places to park or catch public transit, where to eat and drink nearby, and events like music festivals, the Hall of Fame Weekend, Fourth of July celebrations, and more
- Explore the Major League Cities: Get to know the MLB hometowns with full chapters on each city. Pay respects to Babe Ruth in Baltimore, visit Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and stroll through the Boston Common. Find the best local craft breweries and chow down on chili dogs, barbecue, fresh crab, and more foodie specialties. Hold back a tear at the Field of Dreams, grab a seat for a Spring Training game, or rent a kayak on the bay and try to catch a fly ball from San Francisco’s Oracle Park
- Expertise and Know-How: Former baseball writer and avid Phillies fan Timothy Malcolm shares his advice for planning the perfect baseball road trip
- Maps and Driving Tools: Detailed, easy-to-use maps, along with mileages, driving times, and directions, with full-color photos throughout
- A Foldout Poster Map and ballpark checklist
- Planning Tips: Where to stay, when and where to get gas, how to avoid traffic, and tips for driving in different road and weather conditions, plus suggestions for seniors, families with kids, and more
About Moon Travel Guides: Moon was founded in 1973 to empower independent, active, and conscious travel. We prioritize local businesses, outdoor recreation, and traveling strategically and sustainably. Moon Travel Guides are written by local, expert authors with great stories to tell—and they can’t wait to share their favorite places with you.
For more inspiration, follow @moonguides on social media.
Along with a ranking, information on each player is presented, including the teams on which he has played throughout his career, positions played, lifetime statistics, and a brief biography — as well as a photograph. Baseball’s Best 1,000 is sure to spark controversy and debate among fans.
In baseball there are superstars, stars, and everyday players—and then there are the rest. The Tao of the Backup Catcher is about them, the backup catchers, who exist near the bottom of the roster and the end of the bench and between the numbers in a sport—and a society—increasingly driven by cold, hard analytics. The Tao of the Backup Catcher is a story of grown men who once dreamed of stardom and generational wealth. Instead, they were handed a broom and a deeper understanding of who wins and why, who stands tall and who folds, and who will invest their own lives in catching bullpens and the back ends of doubleheaders.
Backup catchers survive in part because every team needs one. They are necessary, once or twice a week. They are sports’ big brothers, psychologists, priests, witch doctors, player coaches, father figures and drinking buddies, all wrapped in a suit of today’s polycarbonate armor and yesterday’s dirt. They come with a singular goal: to win baseball games. They play for the greater good. After that, they play for themselves.
A reverie on loving the grind and the little things baseball can teach us, The Tao of the Backup Catcher profiles Erik Kratz, Josh Paul, AJ Ellis, Bobby Wilson, Drew Butera, Matt Treanor, and John Flaherty to name a few.
“This isn’t just a story about baseball. It’s about life and the beauty of knowing and accepting who you are.” ―Jeff Passan
Features nearly fifty iconic oil paintings, and a dramatic double-page fold out illustration!
★ Winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award
★ Winner of the Robert F. Sibert Award
★ Winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor
We Are the Ship is a sumptuous, oversize volume for all ages that no baseball fan should be without. Using an inviting first-person voice, Kadir Nelson shares the engaging story of Negro League baseball from its beginnings in the 1920s through its evolution, until after Jackie Robinson crossed over to the majors in 1947.
The story of Negro League baseball is the story of gifted athletes and determined team owners, of racial discrimination and international sportsmanship, of fortunes won and lost; of triumphs and defeats on and off the field. It is a perfect mirror for the social and political history of Black America in the first half of the twentieth century. But most of all, the story of the Negro Leagues is about hundreds of unsung heroes who overcame segregation, hatred, terrible conditions, and low pay to do one thing they loved more than anything else in the world: play ball.
Additional content at the end includes an author’s note, index, and bibliography.
Don’t miss Kadir Nelson’s next American Sports History book:
Basket Ball: The Story of the All-American Game
The incredible inside story of power, money, and baseball’s last twenty years.
In the fall of 1992, America’s National Pastime is in crisis and already on the path to the unthinkable: cancelling a World Series for the first time in history. The owners are at war with each other, their decades-long battle with the players has turned America against both sides, and the players’ growing addiction to steroids will threaten the game’s very foundation.
It is a tipping point for baseball, a crucial moment in the game’s history that catalyzes a struggle for power by three strong-willed men: Commissioner Bud Selig, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, and union leader Don Fehr. It’s their uneasy alliance at the end of decades of struggle that pulls the game back from the brink and turns it into a money-making powerhouse that enriches them all.
This is the real story of baseball, played out against a tableau of stunning athletic feats, high-stakes public battles, and backroom political deals — with a supporting cast that includes Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, Joe Torre and Derek Jeter, George Bush and George Mitchell, and many more.
Drawing from hundreds of extensive, exclusive interviews throughout baseball, The Game is a stunning achievement: a rigorously reported book and the must-read, fly-on-the-wall, definitive account of how an enormous struggle for power turns disaster into baseball’s Golden Age.
In the fall of 1992, America’s National Pastime is in crisis and already on the path to the unthinkable: cancelling a World Series for the first time in history. The owners are at war with each other, their decades-long battle with the players has turned America against both sides, and the players’ growing addiction to steroids will threaten the game’s very foundation.
It is a tipping point for baseball, a crucial moment in the game’s history that catalyzes a struggle for power by three strong-willed men: Commissioner Bud Selig, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, and union leader Don Fehr. It’s their uneasy alliance at the end of decades of struggle that pulls the game back from the brink and turns it into a money-making powerhouse that enriches them all.
This is the real story of baseball, played out against a tableau of stunning athletic feats, high-stakes public battles, and backroom political deals — with a supporting cast that includes Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, Joe Torre and Derek Jeter, George Bush and George Mitchell, and many more.
Drawing from hundreds of extensive, exclusive interviews throughout baseball, The Game is a stunning achievement: a rigorously reported book and the must-read, fly-on-the-wall, definitive account of how an enormous struggle for power turns disaster into baseball’s Golden Age.
Meet unsung pioneers, like John “Bud” Fowler, William Edward White, and brothers Moses Fleetwood Walker and Weld Walker, four African Americans who integrated white teams decades before Jackie Robinson.
Discover unforgettable moments, like the time a 17-year old girl named Jackie Mitchell struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
Marvel at records. Did you know that Japanese superstar Sadaharu Oh has a whopping 113 more career homers than Hank Aaron?
And that’s just for starters! This lively illustrated collection of shiny nuggets of baseball lore will transform you into a superfan who knows the game better than anyone else. Someone who’s got game.
This Matt Christopher classic story of a boy and his lucky baseball bat will capture readers’ imaginations while teaching them vital lessons about the importance of friendship, teamwork, and believing in themselves.
When Marvin moves to a new neighborhood, he wants nothing more than to make a good impression on his new teammates. After all, Marvin loves baseball more than anything, and all he wants is to prove he’s worth his spot on the team. And with his lucky baseball bat in hand, what could go wrong?
But when that same lucky baseball bat goes missing, Marvin completely loses his ability to play baseball. But even though he’s lost his talent, Marvin might just find something else: the value of friendship, his own confidence, and maybe, just maybe, a place on the team.
Celebrating over six decades on bookshelves, this classic, timeless story of baseball, friendship, and confidence continues to captivate and delight new generations of readers.
The Kid Who Only Hit Homers has sold over one million copies and is now a film on Amazon Prime! A baseball fan learns the true meaning of success in this beloved classic that will capture the imaginations of a new generation of young readers.
Sylvester loves baseball, but he isn’t exactly what you’d call a good hitter. Even though he wants nothing more than to join his neighborhood team, the Hooper Redbirds, he’s sure he’ll never do anything more than warm the bench. But then he meets the mysterious Mr. Baruth who promises to make Sylvester one of the best players ever. Suddenly, Sylvester goes from the worst player on the team to the kid who can only hit homers. With his overnight success, however, come tough questions. Will Sylvester ever learn the true meaning of teamwork? And what will happen when he has to learn to stand on his own?
This beloved story about baseball, confidence, perseverance, and being a good teammate is a modern classic and sure to win over a new generation of young sports fans.
1954—A triumphant season for black ballplayers and the country
Award-winning New York Times bestselling author Bill Madden delivers the first major book to fully examine the 1954 baseball season, drawn largely from exclusive recent interviews with the major players themselves, including Willie Mays and Larry Doby as well as New York baseball legends from that era: Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford of the Yankees, Monte Irvin of the Giants, and Carl Erskine of the Dodgers. 1954 transports readers across the baseball landscape of the time as future superstars such as Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and others entered the leagues and continued to integrate the sport. Weaving together the narrative of one of baseball’s greatest seasons wit the racially charged events of that year—the same in which the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled that segregation of the races be outlawed in America’s public schools—1954 demonstrates how our national pastime was actually ahead of the curve in terms of the acceptance of black Americans, while the nation at large continued to struggle with tolerance.
Award-winning New York Times bestselling author Bill Madden delivers the first major book to fully examine the 1954 baseball season, drawn largely from exclusive recent interviews with the major players themselves, including Willie Mays and Larry Doby as well as New York baseball legends from that era: Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford of the Yankees, Monte Irvin of the Giants, and Carl Erskine of the Dodgers. 1954 transports readers across the baseball landscape of the time as future superstars such as Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and others entered the leagues and continued to integrate the sport. Weaving together the narrative of one of baseball’s greatest seasons wit the racially charged events of that year—the same in which the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled that segregation of the races be outlawed in America’s public schools—1954 demonstrates how our national pastime was actually ahead of the curve in terms of the acceptance of black Americans, while the nation at large continued to struggle with tolerance.
