An avalanche
of fall sports books are on the shelves ready for reading. The range of
subjects and approaches are amazing. All
have something of interest for readers, but topping the list as he topped the
baseball world in so many ways is Tony
La Russa’s “One Last Strike” (William Morrow, $27.99, 420 pages). The price is
right and the reading is fascinating.
The book takes one inside the mind of the great LaRussa
through the 2011 world championship season of the Cards offering insights and
inside baseball that only the legendary Redbird skipper could. The book also
offers much more than that - -focusing
as it does in intriguing details about personalities like Mark McGwire, Joe
Torre, Sparky Anderson, Albert Pujols. Where most “memoirs” are rehashes of
news stories – this book breaks new ground fort the genre. MUST HAVE
The story of the man behind the Heisman Trophy is the
subject of “Heisman” by John M. Heisman (Howard, Simon and Schuster, $25.00,
248 pages). Written by the subject’s great nephew along with author Mark
Schlabach, this is a special kind of book for football fans revealing as it was
the life and times of its subject - -the man behind the trophy. Archival photos
and important research make the book a winner.
“How
the SEC became Goliath” by Ray Glier (Howard, Simon and Schuster, $22.99, 245
pages) is an engrossing view revealing the creation of the most dominant
conference in collegiate football.
"Baseball is Just Baseball" by David
Shields (Blue Rider Press/Penguin, $14.00, 183 pages) is a slim and under-sized
attempt to capitalize of the fabulous Japanese star's move from Seattle to the
New York Yankees. Nevertheless, this unauthorized collection is serene reading
and a provider of insights into the superstar.
"Sandlot Stats" by Stanley Rothman (Johns Hopkins Press, 571 pages) is an over-sized tome that is truly a scholarly labor of love as its sub-title proclaims "learning statistics with baseball." For those interested in the subject - -this is your book - - one that attempts to explain the mathematical anchorage of baseball as a way to understand the universe of stats and probability.
"Sandlot Stats" by Stanley Rothman (Johns Hopkins Press, 571 pages) is an over-sized tome that is truly a scholarly labor of love as its sub-title proclaims "learning statistics with baseball." For those interested in the subject - -this is your book - - one that attempts to explain the mathematical anchorage of baseball as a way to understand the universe of stats and probability.
For
fans of the Mick – “The Classic Mantle” by Buzz Bisssinger with photographs by
Marvin E. Newman (Abrams, $19.95, 114 pages, 50 color and b/w photos) is the
book for you. The price tag is a bit hefty for the slim volume but the tome
packs a punch showcasing as it does images from Mantle’s heyday.
“Lamar Hunt” by Michael MacCambridge (Universal Uclick,
$27.99, 416 pages) is a page turning biography by one of the best football
writers around. Page after page yields up anecdotes about Hunt’s impact on sports-
-in fact three sports. Hunt is the only one inducted into three Halls of Fame.
Hunt was a man who changed American sports, especially football. This is an
important book for all those interested in sports and culture.
From the Clerisy Press comes “Gone Pro Alabama” ($17.95,
368 pages, paper) a book that details the deeds of Crimson Tide athletes who
went on to become legends.
In a hockey frame of mind from McClelland and Stewart comes
“The Life of Conn Smythe” ($19.00, 384 pages, paper). This is definitely a tome
terrific for those interested in the life story of a true hockey legend.
No comments:
Post a Comment