Take Time for Paradise by A. Bartlett Giamatti

Knowing that Ted Williams is dying, three ex-teammates make a pilgrimage to see Teddy Ballgame one last time. The Teammates by David Halberstam (Hyperion, $14). “I wondered,” he says, “if that was the reason why players like Mickey Rivers and Judge Lewis never went into the shower after a game.”

Early on, while cleaning out the Boss’ desk, the ex-pitcher finds a branding iron with the Yankee logo on top. Lyle imagines buying the Yankees from George Steinbrenner in the most hilarious baseball book I have ever read. The Year I Owned the Yankees by Sparky Lyle (out of print).

At its conclusion, you may understand why I believe Selig is the greatest commissioner in baseball’s history. This book analyzes the almost two-decade-long tenure of the game’s current top executive, Bud Selig. Professor Zimbalist talks about sports economics in a way that even non–econ majors can grasp. In the Best Interests of Baseball by Andrew Zimbalist (Wiley, $15). This compilation happens to include his 2001 prediction that Fenway Park would be torn down as soon as the “new management” found a place to put “a nice, modern $500 million park with luxury suites and limo parking.” Angell is a great writer, but I didn’t claim he is a prophet! Any list of this kind should include the writings of Angell, the finest sportswriter of our era. Game Time by Roger Angell (Harvest, $15). The only time I have ever cried more at an ending was when I watched Red Sox lefty Jon Lester, a cancer survivor, complete his 2008 no-hitter. The story chronicles the raucous shenanigans of a fictional group of New York ballplayers. Along the way, Giamatti talks about the significance of such totems as home plate: “Everyone wants to arrive at the same place, which is where they start.”īang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris (Bison, $15). The late commissioner may be baseball’s most poetic author, and this book eloquently conveys why the sport is our greatest game. Urn:oclc:639161297 Republisher_date 20120822201553 Republisher_operator Scandate 20120822125251 Scanner, the favorite baseball books of the chairman of the Boston Red Sox, an award-winning TV producer whose credits include That ’70s Show, The Cosby Show, and Roseanne. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 20:17:03 Boxid IA139601 Boxid_2 CH120717 Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II City New York Donor

Take Time for Paradise by A. Bartlett Giamatti