The Economist – JC Bradbury
The Bullpen Gospels – Dirk Hayhurst
The Book – Tango and co.
Moneyball

As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires – Bruce Weber

The Boys of Summer – Roger Kahn

Heart of the Game – SL Price (The story of the late Mike Coolbaugh)

I too am anxious to see what everyone else posts ’cause I need an outlet or something.

The Soul of Baseball – Joe Posnanski. One of my two favorite books ever (Fever Pitch is the other, but that’s not baseball.)

Ball Four – Jim Bouton. An absolute necessity.

The Politics of Glory – Bill James

Weaver on Strategy – Earl Weaver. Very good perspective on the life of a major league manager and the strategy of the game from a manager’s perspective.

The Bullpen Gospels – Dirk Hayhurst. Lighthearted look at the minor leagues, very recent book. Very up-to-date.

The Joy of Keeping Score – Paul Dickson. An essential read for anyone who keeps a scorecard at a game or would like to. Covers history of scorekeeping, how professional broadcasters do it, various scorekeeping systems and historical scorecards.

The baseball : stunts, scandals, and secrets beneath the stitches by Zack Hample – Has some interesting stuff about the development of the baseball itself. It also has a bunch of info on ball hawking.

So many good ones already mentioned, but I’d like to submit the following as well.

Rise and Fall of the Yankee Dynasty, by Buster Olney (yes, he of ESPN fame). Olney spent several years covering the Yanks, and he explores the ins and outs of the 1996-2001 era in a narrative wrapped around the climactic Game Seven of the 2001 Series against the D-Backs. Oddly, I actually despise Derek Jeter a little less thanks to this book. But only a little.

The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, by Bill James. I pretty much enjoy everything James writes. This isn’t so much a cover-to-cover book, but something you’d pick up from time to time looking for a new insight. (That being said, I have read pretty much every page of it anyway.) Really interesting analysis of the top 100 players at each position based on win shares calculations, even if you’re not a total stat-geek. I’m actually more curious to know when the next edition is coming out, since I’d like to see how some of these players get re-rated in the “post-steroid” era.

Eight Men Out, by Eliot Asinof. Everything you ever wanted to know about the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal. It’s still amazing that such a level of deception was even possible, given that baseball was pretty much THE national obsession and the World Series was the height of sporting excellence. A thorough and impressive book about a fascinating series of events.

The Machine, by Joe Posnanski. That would be the “Big Red Machine” of the 1970s, of course. Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Ken Griffey, Johnny Bench, and the late, great Sparky Anderson in a great big battle of personalities on the way to two consecutive Series wins. Does a nice job putting the team in context with the times, and adds a bit of follow-up as well. (In a weird bit of coincidence for me, Sparky died about a week or so after I finished this book – strange to spend several weeks reading about someone’s greatest achievements and then hear that they’ve passed on.)

I also highly recommend Moneyball, Ball Four, Glory of Their Times, and Game of Shadows. Crazy ’08 and Politics of Glory are on my “read soon” list as well.

And now that the Dodgers are on their way out of bankruptcy hell and Frank McCourt’s iron grip, I’m eagerly awaiting the book that should soon follow that ridiculous debacle.

Veeck—As In Wreck

Has anyone read this one lately?