Baseball Book Club Summer 2024

Every summer, a new series of baseball books comes out – fitting for a sport that has been called “the greatest topic of conversation of all time.” These are the books I’ve been reading – perhaps good to tide you over the upcoming All-Star break:

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After the gambling/embezzlement story involving Shohei Ohtani and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, it was the perfect time for a Pete Rose retrospective – and that’s exactly what Keith O’Brien offers. No new evidence or groundbreaking revelations – rather a comprehensive look back at Rose’s career from the beginning to the gambling scandals and where it has taken him today.

This all happened when I was a toddler, so I was grateful for the re-examination from a modern perspective. No, I not think Charlie Hustle should be escorted to Cooperstown.

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The late Vin Scully deserves every attribute attributed to him – and that’s exactly what Tom Hoffath sums up in this short tribute. People from all walks of life (not just baseball) give their opinions on The Man With The Golden Voice.

Honestly, the only reason I can’t give this book a full five stars is because at a certain point all accolades take the same form: Scully was a great broadcaster – but somehow an even better person, colleague or friend. Not exactly the best for suspenseful reading – but this book must exist to even begin to honor Vin’s legacy.

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Clayton Kershaw is part of the last cohort of dominant MLB starters – along with Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander – who saw 7+ innings every five days as their goal. Andy McCullough chronicles how the Los Angeles star cultivated that mindset from his first days on the field to his extreme, routine MLB training schedule. The four days after a start: He’s an affable, articulate, prank-loving family man. But that fifth day: the nastiest bastard who ever stepped between the white lines.

McCullough ponders some very interesting ideas about how this way of thinking actually injured Clayton in October and how the same extreme persistence that drove him to greatness may also have prevented him – on numerous occasions – from adapting to his changing abilities as quickly as he could or should have.

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This is a tome made for me – the collision of baseball and film! Noah Gittell makes a compelling argument that baseball – like boxing – with its confrontation between batter and pitcher, is uniquely suited to the big screen. Starting with Pride of the Yankees – the first film to show that baseball was a box office success – and continuing with Moneyball, Gittell examines the different eras of baseball films and why they evolved as they did. Yes – there’s a pretty extensive section devoted to Little Big League!

Is the commentary too sociopolitical for some tastes? Sometimes yes – and Gittell certainly has strong opinions on certain films that others may consider all-time classics. But overall it’s an entertaining foray into the world of baseball at the movies!

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You know the stories about a baseball card being found in an attic and sold for thousands of dollars? That’s exactly what happened to Tim Manners – he stumbled upon Waite Hoyt’s unpublished manuscript of his autobiography! A star pitcher for the New York Yankees dynasty of the 1920s, Hoyt has a wealth of stories to tell about the likes of Ruth, Gehrig, Cobb, Wagner and other fellow Dead Ball Era players.

The hallmark of this edited manuscript is Hoyt’s frank, average account of his life. He is far more eloquent – hence the nickname “Schoolboy” – than one would expect from the early baseball team, and is extremely candid about his problems with bullying, the temptations of life on the streets, and alcoholism. Although all of Hoyt’s pictures are black and white, this autobiography is as colorful and relevant as can be.