non-fiction sports books

i never really paid much attention to sports journalists who write books about who/what they cover, but i'm reading Ghosts of Manilla by Mark Kram about the Ali-Frazier fights...and it's spectacular.

Any recommendations for other books about sports?

So sad that Halberstam is no longer with us. :(

i'll put those on my library list. thanks!

'49 is a Yankees-Red Sox pennant race. '64 chronicles the collapse of the Phillies, the rise of the Cardinals and their defeat of the Yankees in the World Series.

and then went right into Roger Kahn's "The Boys of Summer."

It was like reading ambrosia. :D

my baseball coach recommended it to the team. well, ordered us to read it.


he was a cool coach.

That book was a bit on the 'randy' side for high school.

2003 St Louis Cardinals series vs the Cubs. Great insight into a great baseball mind - Tony LaRussa. :thumbsup:

Follows Bobby Knight and the Indiana Baskestball team thru the 1985-86 season

(I'm a public librarian, and am responsible for the part of the collection with the sports books.)

"Opening Day" by Jonathan Eig, about Jackie Robinson's first season. He also wrote a book about Lou Gehrig.

"The Real All-Americans" by Sally Jenkins, about the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, whose football team at one point starred Jim Thorpe and was coached by Pop Warner. About sports, it also talks a lot about racia issues toward Native Americans

"Pistol" by Mark Kriegle, about Pete Maravich

"The Blueprint" by Christopher Price, about the rise of the New England Patriots in recent years.

"Never Give Up" by Tedy Bruschi. An autobiography by a player who returned to the NFL after having a stroke.

was really good with some massive political overtones. Much different than the tv show or movie.

Also Blind Side

Those who've seen only the movie or the series can't imagine. "Friday Night Lights" is an extremely sad commentary on a slice of America.

It's a rather sharp contrast to "My Life in Baseball — the True Record," Ty Cobb's "official" autobiography. Al Stump, who wrote "Cobb" and edited "My Life," must've felt rather schizophrenic during the year he spent with Cobb. (The movie "Cobb" is pretty good, too.)

Of the many baseball biographies I have, "Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy" by Jane Leavy is probably my favorite. Every other chapter is devoted to his perfect game against the Cubs in 1965 (one chapter per inning), with the alternate chapters about Koufax the man, often having little or nothing to do with baseball.

I found a pair of umpires' autobiographies, Dave Pallone's "Behind the Mask" and "You've Got To Have Balls To Make It In This League" by Pam Postema, somewhat disappointing. Neither are very well written and much of both is given to anger at the baseball establishment. (It would seem that nothing is ever an umpire's fault.)

A must for any baseball fan's library, IMO, are the four editions of the Fireside Book of Baseball. These are outstanding collections of baseball's best biography, reporting, fiction, photos, cartoons and even songs and poems, from 1956 to 1987, edited by Willie Mays biographer and sportswriter par excellence Charles Einstein. I value them as much as any books I own.

in the face of adversity.

it is tedious in its detail but the story of Moe Berg is amazing

Too many signs to follow and they hardly ever move. Quick like serpents, with chest protectors.

Ted Williams autobiography "my turn at bat" is superb. Probably the least bigoted, immodest person to ever play the game.

I grew up with Broadway Joe. He was one of my boyhood heroes. This is a highly entertaining warts-and-all biography of the man.