Baseball's Best Books

Some fiction, some non, but all favorite books about America's favorite past time.
Updated September 19, 2022
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The Natural
Bernard Malamud
Paper Book
The classical novel (and basis for the acclaimed film starring Robert Redford) now in a new edition Introduction by Kevin Baker The Natural, Bernard Malamud's first novel, published in 1952, is also the first--and some would say still the best-...
Shoeless Joe
W. P. Kinsella
Ebook
The novel that inspired Field of Dreams: "A lyrical, seductive, and altogether winning concoction." --The New York Times Book Review   One of Sports Illustrated's 100 Greatest Sports Books   "If you build it, he will come."...
You know Me Al: A Busher's Letters
Ring Lardner
Paper Book
Ringgold Wilmer Lardner (1885-1933) was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre. In 1916 he published his first successful book, You Know Me Al, which was written in the form of letters written by "Jack...
If I Never Get Back
Darryl Brock
Ebook
Time travel meets baseball in this "grand adventure" about a modern-day reporter who witnesses the birth of America's favorite pastime (The Washington Times)   Contemporary reporter Sam Fowler is stuck in a dull job and a failing marriage when he is suddenly...
Bang the Drum Slowly
Mark Harris
Paper Book
Henry Wiggen, hero of The Southpaw and the best-known fictional baseball player in America, is back again, throwing a baseball “with his arm and his brain and his memory and his bluff for the sake of his pocket and his family.” More than a novel about baseball, Bang the...
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Michael Lewis
Paper Book
Just before the 2002 season opens, the Oakland Athletics must relinquish its three most prominent (and expensive) players and is written off by just about everyone--but then comes roaring back to challenge the American League record for consecutive wins. How did one of the poorest teams in baseball...
The Art of Fielding
Chad Harbach
Paper Book
A disastrous error on the field sends five lives into a tailspin in this widely acclaimed tale about love, life, and baseball, praised by the New York Times as "wonderful...a novel that is every bit as entertaining as it is affecting." 
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
Kadir Nelson
Paper Book
In this New York Times bestselling classic, Caldecott Medal-winning artist Kadir Nelson tells the incredible story of baseball's unsung heroes -- perfect for celebrating the centennial anniversary of the Negro Leagues! Winner of the Coretta Scott King Author ...
Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy
Jules Tygiel
Paper Book
In this gripping account of one of the most important steps in the history of American desegregation, Jules Tygiel tells the story of Jackie Robinson's crossing of baseball's color line. Examining the social and historical context of Robinson's introduction into white organized baseball, both on and...
How Baseball Happened: Outrageous Lies Exposed! The True Story Revealed
Thomas W. Gilbert
Ebook
The untold story of baseball's nineteenth-century origins: "a delightful look at a young nation creating a pastime that was love from the first crack of the bat" (Paul Dickson, The Wall Street Journal).You may have heard that Abner Doubleday or Alexander Cartwright invented...

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