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
Malamud, Bernard.
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
Kinsella, W. P.
Paper Book
The inspiration for the beloved film Field of Dreams, Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella is the story about the beauty and history of baseball, and the power and endurance of a dream. "A moonlit novel about baseball, dreams, family, the land, and literature."--Sports Illustrated "If you...
You know me Al
Lardner, Ring
Paper Book
Due to his interest in baseball, Lardner began putting stories in his newspaper column that were purportedly written by unlettered athletes. Lardner, who had an excellent ear for dialogue, actually wrote these stories in the voice of the fictional rookie ballplayer Jack Keefe, a...
The celebrant : a novel
Greenberg, Eric Rolfe.
Paper Book
The first two decades of the twentieth century were a time of promise and innocence in America. Hardworking immigrants could achieve the American dream; heroes were truly heroic. Eric Rolfe Greenberg brilliantly and authentically chronicles the real-life saga of the first national baseball hero...
The brothers K
Duncan, David James.
Paper Book
Moneyball : the art of winning an unfair game
Lewis, Michael
Paper Book
"One of the best baseball--and management--books out.... Deserves a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame."--Forbes Moneyball is a quest for the secret of success in baseball. Following the low-budget Oakland Athletics, their larger-than-life general manger, Billy...
The art of fielding : a novel
Harbach, Chad.
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." 
The boys of summer
Kahn, Roger.
Paper Book
This is a book about some young men who learned to play baseball during the 1930s and 1940s in such places as Reading, Pennsylvania; Anderson, Indiana; Plainfield, New Jersey; Woonsocket, Rhode Island; and then went on to play for one of the most exciting professional teams that the major leagues...
We are the ship : the story of Negro League baseball
Nelson, Kadir.
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 ...
The last hero : a life of Henry Aaron
Bryant, Howard
Paper Book
In the thirty-four years since his retirement, Henry Aaron's reputation has only grown in magnitude: he broke existing records (rbis, total bases, extra-base hits) and set new ones (hitting at least thirty home runs per season fifteen times, becoming the first player in history to hammer five...

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