16 Of The Greatest Books About Baseball (PHOTOS)

What better reading could there be in the thick of the summer than books on our national pastime? As we look forward to tonight's Major League All-Star game, we thought it was a great time to look back at some of the best baseball writing out there. Below, a list of some great baseball bios and great baseball writing. Let us know your favorites!

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"Cobb" by Al Stump

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While baseball great Ty Cobb already had a bad reputation for his combative nature, this biography reveals gruesome details including his mother's murder of his father and Cobb's wife beating, alcoholism and racial bigotry.

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While baseball great Ty Cobb already had a bad reputation for his combative nature, this biography reveals gruesome details including his mother's murder of his father and Cobb's wife beating, alcoholism and racial bigotry.

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Comments

[TomR5]

03:21 PM on 08/03/2010

For 30 years I thought Ball Four was the best baseball book I'd ever read, until I read The Glory of Their Times. Just beyond magnificent.

[John Sharp]

09:47 PM on 08/02/2010

I've only read the Ty Cobb book. Where's Clemente, the great biography by David Marraniss?

[fataggie]

10:35 AM on 07/23/2010

Ah. You had Creamer's Babe Ruth book as well as Bouton's Ball Four. Good job.

[cdecisneros]

02:12 PM on 07/16/2010

Clemente's biography was good. Should on this list.Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero by David Maraniss

[hey0there]

02:07 AM on 07/15/2010

The Last Best League by Jim Collins and darry strawberrys autobiography

[BeauRadley]

12:58 PM on 07/14/2010

You left out one of the very best: George Will's Men at Work/

[RobinSeattle]

08:06 AM on 07/14/2010

I enthusiastically endorse Alan Schwarz' "Numbers Game," which concerns how stats helped drive the popularity of baseball and how the use of them evolved over time. This is a much more fun read than it sounds and it will broaden your perspective of the sport.
http://www.amazon.com/Numbers-Game-Baseballs-Fascination-Statistics/dp/0312322232

[SirOtter]

02:45 AM on 07/14/2010

It's about time somebody at HuffPo noticed that it's baseball season.

And yes, omitting "The Boys of Summer" is a huge error.

[bill box]

12:57 AM on 07/14/2010

Ring Larner's "You Know Me, Al" is the best baseball fiction ever written. No arguments to the contrary accepted.

[Chase Price]

12:24 AM on 07/14/2010

Strange But True Baseball Stories by Furman Bisher is another classic. Mostly for youngsters grades 3 thru 6.

[PKMKII]

11:08 PM on 07/13/2010

I'd recommend "Praying for Gil Hodges" by Thomas Oliphant

[Culturemaven]

10:53 PM on 07/13/2010

"I Was Right on Time" by Buck O'Neil. I had the distinct honor of meeting that gentleman and treasure the photos of us together. What a charmer, absolutely glowing with good spirit.
Also recommend "Honus Wagner- A Biography" by Dennis & Jeanne Burke DeValeria.

[TheodoricOfYork]

07:54 PM on 07/13/2010

Some pretty big names missing here: "The Glory of Their Times", "Eight Men Out", "Summer of '49", "The Natural", "Ball Four", "The Boys of Summer", "Shoeless Joe", and David Maraniss's Roberto Clemente biography. Halberstam's book on the friendship of Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr, and Dom Dimaggio (can't remember the name right now, but excellent book) belongs here too.

[RobinSeattle]

08:10 AM on 07/14/2010

Also, "Only the Ball Was White" about the Negro Leagues.

In addition to that, and on the same subject, there is, "Beyond the Shadow of the Senators" by Brad Snyder, a look at the relationship between the Negro Leagues and its relationship to MLB. It is also a history of one of the mighty Negro League teams, the Homestead Grays, which played at the Senators home park.

[downtubeshifter]

07:23 PM on 07/13/2010

"Boys of Summer" tops the list. Big miss on that one.

[argentino]

07:18 PM on 07/13/2010

Oh yeah, "The Boys of Summer" (about the Brooklyn Dodgers)...