Sports books

[Swiss]

I'm reading "The Teammates" of David Halberstam now.

Very warm, human and direct. That relates the voyage made by three friends (Pesky, Dom DiMaggio and Doerr) with advanced age to visit their ill friend Ted Williams.

There are pieces where you read that, you almost can see the descripted situation like a filmed documentary... well, I've a strong imagination!

In last October (before the World Series) I read a marvelous and little book written by a former pitcher called Elden Auker with that long title: "Sleeper Cars and Flannel Uniforms: A Lifetime of Memories from Striking Out the Babe to Teeing It Up With the President".

If you can get this one, surely you'll enjoy it.

[OMMF]

Tropic of Hockey about a Canadian man's travels through Asia and finding hockey in some very odd places.

[Waffles]

Any sports book list worth its weight begins and ends with "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton.

[Swiss]

Any sports book list worth its weight begins and ends with "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton.

I've that one! Still not read, maybe I pick that to read soon.

Did you read "The Glory of Their Times"? I vote this 10 over 10 stars.

[winghaz]

I agree with United Waffles. "Ball Four" is the best, and funniest, sports book I ever read.

[benJAMMIN039]

FRIDAY. NIGHT. LIGHTS. 'Nuff Said

[sc49erfan15]

I'll go ahead and chip in two obvious ones.

"Friday Night Lights" - H.G. Bissinger

"The Last Shot" - Darcy Frey

[Swiss]

I agree with United Waffles. "Ball Four" is the best, and funniest, sports book I ever read.

Talking about funny sports book... what about "Slouching toward Fargo"?

[rockchalk]

Any sports book list worth its weight begins and ends with "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton.

Amen

[slapshot]

Surprisingly, I've never read Ball Four.

I have read "The Boys of Summer" by Roger Kahn. Great book.

I've also read a few books by W.P. Kinsella, the writer of the book "Field of Dreams" was based on.

If you like fiction/mysteries, check out Troy Soos. He's written 4 or 5 sports mysteries, all starring fictional Mickey Cochrane, and all take place in the teens (1910-1919).

[tmorss9]

The Teammates was great. As far aas funny, I loved Little League Confidential by Bill Geist. It covered the trials and tribulations of a Little League coach, And it proved to me that every league had the same types of players and coaches.

My favourite hockey book is Canada on Ice. It is a collection of old MacLean's magazine articles, and It's great reading on a winter saturday arfternoon. I also just picked up The Game of Our Lives by Peter Gzowski. It's quite a unique insight to the early Edmonton Oilers.

Does anyone know of a bookstore online that specializes in Sports Books? I know there used to be Sportsbook Plus in Vancouver, but they closed long ago.

[sc49erfan15]

If you like fiction/mysteries, check out Troy Soos. He's written 4 or 5 sports mysteries, all starring fictional Mickey Cochrane, and all take place in the teens (1910-1919).

I don't know how I could forget those. They have a few at our local library, they're pretty good.

[Swiss]

In Amazon you can find available books of Troy Soos, cheap price.

I think I'll give him a chance so I already put him in my Wish List.

[Evan]

FRIDAY. NIGHT. LIGHTS.

Me too! T'was a good one

[-kj]

Tropic of Hockey about a Canadian man's travels through Asia and finding hockey in some very odd places.

I'll second this nomination. Great read.

[See Red]

The only sports book I can remember reading was "TD: Dreams in Motion" and is the 'memoirs of Broncos RB Terrell Davis'. It was a book written by him following the Broncos first Super Bowl. Great book and really makes you feel bad about the series of injuries that ended his career because he is a great person, teammate, and athlete.

[WelshSteeler]

The Summer Game and Five Seasons by Roger Angell

All Played Out by Pete Davies

[Phil]

Most of the sports books I've read were kids books or biographies of athletes

Kids books:

-Toilet Paper Tigers (Gordon Korman) - very funny... of course, I found all of his stuff hilarious, with one exception

-The Monday Night Football Club (Korman again) - kinda cool for a pre- or early-teenager... the one exception to the Korman=funny.

-Anything Matt Christopher... I ate those books up

-Chip Hilton I think it is... anyway, a series about this multi-sport athlete

-The Lightning on Ice Series (Sigmund Brouwer)... based on the WHL, some pre-/early-teen books that are really good.

Biographies...

-Matt Christopher's take on Jordan and Griffey

-Deion Sanders "Power, Money, & Sex: How Success Almost Ruined My Life"

-Pinball Clemons "All Heart"

-Pete Maravich "Heir to a Dream"

-Kurt Warner "All Things Possible"

-Paul Henderson "Shooting for Glory"

-Bob Muzikowski (the guy the movie "Hardball" with Keanu Reeves was loosely based on) "Safe at Home"

[bosox]

-Anything Matt Christopher... I ate those books up

I've got a bookshelf full of his books...haven't read em in years, but hey, I got em.

I'm more into books about the histories of teams and biographies, but I've read a few W.P. Kinsella books, and "Ballpark Blues" by C.J. Tooke? I think thats who wrote it....

[sj32]

I agree with "Ball Four" and "The Glory of Their Times". I'm not sure if it is still available, but the audiobook of "The Glory of Their Times" is amazing. For those of you not familiar with this book, a man named Larry Ritter decided upon the death of Ty Cobb in 1961 that an oral history of the early days of Major League Baseball needed to be recorded before all of these guys died off. He spent three years travelling the country hunting down old ballplayers and interviewing them. Ritter did these interviews on tape and the audiobook is the actual interviews!

Another book I would recommend is "A Season on the Brink". I was a student at Indiana at the time and I broadcast several games on the student radio station, so I may be a bit prejudiced. The ESPN movie was no where near the book in entertainment value.