(Part 2) Best products from r/baseball

(1) Read, bruh. I can't vouch for it personally, but I've heard the book Watching Baseball Smarter recommended with high regard. And it's almost literally the exact thing you asked for. Here are some other good book recommendations:

• Moneyball by Michael Lewis. Hard to believe that the book is sort of old hat at this point, but it still serves as a very readable introduction to advanced statistics.
  
  
• The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract by Bill James (mostly). This book is good toilet reading, if you have a massive toilet on which to perch it, and your bowel movements are glacially paced. James ranks the best players at each position, and goes on a witty, decade-by-decade jog through the history of the game.
  
  
• The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball by Tom Tango. Are you a "math person"? Read this book, you'll like it. It's an introduction to sabermetrics that explains the important first principles of statistical analysis, builds an important statistic (wOBA) from the ground up, and then applies all of that knowledge to answer specific questions about baseball strategies and to debunk, verify, or qualify some of baseball's hoary "conventional wisdom."
  
  
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. This book is not about baseball, but it's still great and you should read it.
  
  (2) You'll want to start watching the game more, if you can. Find a method (like MLB.tv or, you know, your television) to do so. Massive exposure does help you learn, and it's a fun, if inefficient, method. Osmosis. That's just science.
  
  (2b) Depending on the broadcast crew, it's sometimes addition-by-subtraction to mute the television.
  
  (2c) If you have MLB.tv Premium and intend to follow your favorite team, I recommend watching the other team's broadcast. You know enough about [TEAM X] already. Learn something new about [TEAM Y], instead. Unless, of course, (2b) applies, in which case maybe your best bet is MLB.tv's option to overlay the radio broadcast on the TV video. Barring that, the liberal application of the DOWN VOLUME button is always an option, and then, like, listen to Chopin's Preludes. Don't be That Guy and lean too heavily on No. 15, though. There are 23 others. Expand your horizons.
  
  (3) When you go to games, keep score. Sure, there's a guy a few seats over in a striped button-down and pre-faded jeans (Chad or something) who will mock you mercilessly for it. Sad for you, you've lost Chad's respect. But, oh, the things you'll gain. A free souvenir. A better grasp on the flow of the game. The priceless power to answer the "what did I miss" and "what the fuck just happened" questions that litter the air at ballgames, tragically disregarded and forgotten like the syllabi from Chad's last semester at Bromaha State. You can learn how to score ballgames here. Fuck Chad.
  
  (3b) Go to games alone now and then. Did I mention that, in some company, it's rightly considered rude to score a ballgame like a trainspotting anorak? Not in all company, mind you. But I like going to some games alone to avoid the messy politics of divided attention altogether.
  
  (4) Bookmark a few websites. Quick stat references include FanGraphs, Baseball-Reference, and Brooks Baseball. Grantland, Baseball Prospectus, Baseball America, and the Hardball Times are all good. FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference both have subscription options that allow you to access enhanced content for a small fee, which is worth it if only to support the yeoman's work that they do compiling and sorting our beloved numbers.
  
  (5) German chess great Emanuel Lasker is believed (incorrectly) to have said that "if you see a good move, look for a better one." Good advice. Too much of the history of baseball analysis is the history of people getting stuck in comfortable places and refusing to interrogate their own ideas about the game. Sabermetricians have made careers out of just pointing this out, and even some of them do it from time to time. Also, on the level of pure self-interest, baseball ignorance and bad teeth have this much in common: Keeping your mouth shut hides them both. If you have a good opinion about a baseball topic, look for a better one.
  
  (6) Watch a some decent movies about baseball. Sugar is excellent and disturbing. Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns is available on Netflix and worth watching. You drink his nostalgic Flavor-Aid at your own peril: At times, Baseball is about as edifying as having a good, 19-hour stare at a Norman Rockwell painting. It's still in a class all its own as a baseball documentary. You should also watch Ed, starring Matt LeBlanc, because it'll teach you not to take strangers on the internet seriously when they give you advice.
  
  (7) When you go to games, wear whatever the hell you want. This has nothing to do with understanding baseball, but it annoys me when people make a big deal out of policing the clothing that others wear to sporting events. Sitting front-row at a Yankees-Tigers game in your best Steelers jersey and a pink Houston Astros BP cap? Whatever. You be you. You be you. I once watched as a perfectly innocent college student was denied a free t-shirt from a Nats Park employee because he (the student) was wearing a Red Sox shirt with his Washington cap. That was pretty fucked.
  
  (8) Take the EdX Sabermetrics course. Others have recommended this, with good reason. It's a wonderful introduction to advanced analytics, and you get a taste of programming in R and MySQL as well. You don't need a CompSci background. I sure didn't.
  
  Hope this helped.
  
  Footnote: Chad-hating is actually too easy. Truth is, I've never really been mocked for scoring games. Once, I even bonded with a Chad-esque guy sitting next to me at a Braves-Nats game here in Washington. He was pretty drunk, but we talked Braves baseball while he drank and I drank and I scored the game and he drank more. He seemed utterly engaged by the scoring process in that guileless, doe-eyed way that only the drunk have mastered. That's the Chad I loved.

• The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract This book will give you a great overview of the game from 1870 to 1999. Breaks the game down by decades and what the game was like and how it changed. Also ranks the top 100 players at each position. Really anything by James is an entertaining read, but this is the must have for baseball conversation.
  
• Baseball Prospectus - Baseball Between the Numbers A good introductory course into the newer sabrmetrics. It will answer many questions in depth about what was going on as far as player evaluation in Moneyball.
  
• Tom Tango - The Book Much more advanced sabrmetrics but very current and groundbreaking. The author started on the internet, and last offseason secured a job working for the Seattle Mariners.
  
  The next three are to give you a better view of the game from the players/owners perspective.
  
  
• Veeck as in Wreck Bill Veeck was one hell of a guy. His father was president of the Cubs in the 30's, and Bill would go on to own his fair share of teams. Always an individual, he stood against the baseball ownership cabal on many occasions. Spent the last years of his life watching the Cubs from the center field bleachers. His autobiography is humorous and insightful. A must read for any baseball fan.
  
• Buck O'Neil - I was Right on Time Called the soul of negro league baseball, Buck O'Neil recounts his playing days in the negro leagues, and covers many of the legends in a very matter of fact way.
  
• Jim Bouton - Ball Four Last but not least is former Yankee star, now washed up knuckleballer Jim Bouton recalling the inaugural season of the short lived Seattle Pilots. Baseball players in all their vulgar glory. Also will teach you the fine art of "shooting beaver".

I haven't read any of these, but a look at a university library catalogue shows me these titles, some look pretty interesting!

• The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball 'the definitive history of baseball in Cuba'
  
• Baseball Without Borders: The International Pastime An academic work has a section on baseball in Cuba, along with sections on Japan, Taiwan, Brazil, Korea, China, etc. Used copies for only 95¢!
  
• The Duke of Havana: Baseball, Cuba, and the Search for the American Dream How Orlando El Duque Hernandez escaped Cuba and went to play for the Yankees.
  
• Pitching Around Fidel: A Journey into the Heart of Cuban Sports Looks like this is a more contemporary approach?
  
• Smoke: The Romance and Lore of Cuban Baseball more of a history book, appears to have lots of photos. No ebook.

Since you're looking for something you could download, I'd recommend a DVD compilation of a previous World Series. In particular, I like the 2001 Yankees vs Diamondbacks series. (http://www.amazon.com/2001-World-Arizona-Diamondbacks-Yankees/dp/B00005R1MO)
I haven't actually seen this DVD, but I watched the series. The downside is this won't give you a full game experience, just highlights, but hopefully it will be enough for you to get hooked and find a full game out there somewhere. There are a lot of big name players in the series too.

As a bit of background, the Yankees had won the World Series in 1996, then 1998-2000. The 2001 series featured several dramatic games in the full 7 game series.

Edit: Or maybe this set of the same series: http://www.amazon.com/Arizona-Diamondbacks-2001-World-Collectors/dp/B0012IV3PK
I could recommend certain games in the series depending on what you're looking for (high scoring game, nail biter, etc.)

Anyway, I wish you good luck!

That's a broad topic. Let's see:

• Recent, still relevant baseball: The Arm by Jeff Passan. One of the best sportswriters today goes way in-depth to what's going on with pitching injuries. Fascinating read.
  
  
• Historical / Classic Reads: Roger Kahn's The Boys of Summer, about the Brooklyn Dodgers in Jackie's day. Kahn's a wonderful storyteller.
  
  
• Weird, but wonderful: Philip Roth's The Great American Novel, about the fictional Patriot League. One of these days, I want to run an OOTP sim of the league and see what happens. Completely out there, but I loved it.
  
  
• Edit: Almost forgot! The Kid Who Only Hit Homers, by Matt Christopher. First baseball book I ever read.

Three Nights in August by Buzz Bissinger -- A through-the-eyes-of-Tony-La-Russa recounting of a pivotal three game series between the Cardinals and Cubs in August 2003.

The Last Boy by Jane Leavy -- Not only an exceptional (!) biography of Mickey Mantle, but also a wonderful look into what life was like at the time as both a fan and as a professional baseball player. Notable stories about the Yankees and its many players of that era, Willie Mays, Duke Snyder.

The Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurst -- A hilariously honest and at-times brutal telling of what life is like as a minor league, "non-prospect" pitcher.


Up, Up, and Away by Jonah Keri -- Because the Expos are amazing, and I love and miss them.

I don't read much fiction (baseball or otherwise) but I like biographies and autobiographies. RA Dickey's book Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball was great. He's a talented writer with a compelling story to tell.

Here's an album from a game I scored a couple years ago

First thing you'll want to do is familiarize yourself with everyones position. 1-pitcher, 2-catcher, 3-1st base, 4-2nd base, 5-3rd base, 6-short stop, 7-left field, 8-center field, 9-right field.

After a ball is put in play, you'll mark in order of who touched it. If it was a ground out to shortstop, it'll be a 6-3.

If someone got on base, draw a line on the basepath to where they got. (optionally, put a little tick to signify thats the base the ended on. E.g., if its a double put a tick on 2nd base. if they single, then advanced to 3rd on another hit, put ticks on 1st and 3rd base.) If a player was forced out, I draw a line halfway towards the base they were forced out on, then draw a perpendicular line to signify they never made it there.

I'll also signify how they advanced to that base. On this scorecard I signified the play that advanced them (E.g., 4-3) but now I put the player number who advanced them.

When there's a pitching change, I draw a squiggle line above the first batter he faces. On this old scoresheet, I only did that if the change happened in the middle of the inning. You can see an example on the Mariners scoresheet towards the end of the 4th inning (after they batted around and brought Jones out for a 2nd plate appearance that inning. )

If there's a change in whos hitting (pinch hitter, new pitcher) I'll draw a squiggle line to the left of that box. You can see this happened twice in the 7th inning for the Mariners with Gillespie replacing Chavez, and Romero replacing Ackley.

This is how I do it, you may come up with your own styles or freehand. Joy of Keeping Score is a pretty decent book that discuses the history and art of keeping score. As everyones is sure to be different, I'm sure more people can post and indicate how they keep score differently than me. The best thing to realize is that there isn't a 'correct' way to do it, just a lot of suggestions on how others have done it.

Here's some recommended reading:

• The Book - That's literally the name of the book. It's full of one-off chapters covering a variety of topics.
  
• Baseball Between the Numbers - This one is also a bunch of one-off type stuff
  
• Moneyball - Talks about how the 2002 Oakland A's capitalized on some offensive statistics that were being recorded but not heavily utilized to determine player values, and thus built a playoff team from undervalued hitters
  
• Big Data Baseball - Talks about the 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates and their use of big data strategies to find defensive value where other teams didn't (primarily in pitch framing, ground-ball pitching, defensive range, and shifting)
  
  The first two of those are heavily focused on the numbers and will probably teach you more about the whys and hows, while the second two are more about the narrative but still give you some insight into hard numbers.
  
  Also, I'd recommend just joining SABR. It's $60/year for most people, but if you're under 30 it drops down to $45/year. There are a lot of local chapters out there that have regular meetings. For example, the Twin Cities have the Halsey Hall chapter. There's a book club meeting on Saturday (to talk about Big Data Baseball), a hot stove breakfast in a few weeks (informal meeting to just hang out and talk baseball), a regular chapter meeting in April for people to actually present research, and the chapter occasionally has organized outings to minor league games.
  
  SABR also has a national conference and a specific national analytics conference, as well. Membership also includes a subscription to Baseball Research Journal, which comes out twice per year and contains a lot of really good stuff that members have been written both from a statistics and a history standpoint.

Bottom of the 33rd was a very well written look at both the longest game in history as well as the players, ballpark staff, and fans in attendance. It puts the game in perspective.

If you're more into fiction and don't mind diving into a book written for Young Adults Summerland is a very enjoyable read. But it sounds like you would like more baseball in the book.

The Boys of Summer has a great blend of baseball and real life, talking about baseball in the 1930s and 40s and the hearts that broke when the Dodgers (and Giants) moved from New York to California.

You say you don't want to be a bandwagon fan. Who cares what people think? If the Cubs excite you because of their young stars, then go for it. You're only a bandwagoner if you stop caring about the team when they do poorly.

As far as home runs, the Washington Nationals have Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman, who are absolutely on fire right now. The Yankees have Aaron Judge, hopefully Gary Sanchez when he comes back, and Greg Bird if he starts hitting well. Obviously I'm biased though. I don't know how much time you have on your hands, but if you want to learn about baseball history, Ken Burns' "Baseball" documentary is absolutely INCREDIBLE.

As far as rules, just ask around if you see something, people here are pretty good about helping newcomers.

If you want to learn more about Buck, I highly recommend reading his autobiography and then following it up with Joe Posnanski's The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America. The autobiography is a quick, easy read and you'll learn Buck's story as well as the story of the Negro Leagues in general. But I recommend following it with Posnanski's book to really get to know Buck as a person. Posnanski traveled around the country with Buck for a year towards the end of Buck's life and wrote this book about the experience. While some of the stories from the autobiography are retold, Posnanski's book functions more as a portrait of the man than simply a history. I really can't say enough about this book. It will make you laugh and cry, etc., etc. Just read it. And then spend the rest of your life wishing you could have given Buck O'Neil a hug.

I was also a casual fan back in East Asia and then really got into the sports after moving to the US. The book that helped at the start is Watching Baseball Smarter. It has a bit of everything: history, rules, conventions, statistics, fun facts, etc. Many of the things are US/MLB-specific which you might find helpful coming from a different part of the world.
https://www.amazon.com/Watching-Baseball-Smarter-Professional-Semi-experts-ebook/dp/B000SEFHYM/


If you also have a more analytical mindset I also recommend checking out the books on modern trends of managing/developing teams and players in the past 20 years or so, along the line of Moneyball, Big Data Baseball, and The MVP Machine

via the azcentral obit:
> He and his childhood friend, Lawrence Peter “Yogi'' Berra, both went on to play in the major leagues. Yogi was a Hall of Famer with the New York Yankees and Joe played with four teams, the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs and New York Giants.

> “Not only was I not the best catcher in the major leagues, I wasn't even the best catcher on my street,'' Garagiola said.

I really loved his book, Just Play Ball. Laugh-out-loud funny, with plenty of anecdotes I never read elsewhere.

You should consider the Diamondbacks as your team. Our uniforms are nationally despised, the crowds cheer for the visiting team, and our closing pitcher throws 80MPH fastballs.

However, our one World Series championship is ranked among the greatest of all time as they ended the Yankees dynasty in a full seven game series just less than a couple months after 9/11.

This film is probably one of the better ones about the series if you're interested.

Three of my favorites:

The Joy of Keeping Score - https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Keeping-Score-Influenced-Enhanced/dp/0802715702

The Numbers Game: Baseball's Lifelong Fascination with Statistics - https://www.amazon.com/Numbers-Game-Baseballs-Fascination-Statistics/dp/0312322232

Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American Baseball - https://www.amazon.com/Shades-Glory-Leagues-African-American-Baseball/dp/079225306X

I know it's technically a ballad, but when I was a kid I used to read "Casey at the Bat" over and over. The book had really goofy and detailed illustrations that made the story that much more memorable and dramatic. I've always loved that story.

edit: This was that beautiful book.

Well, among other things, JoeG is a hall-of-fame announcer who spent most of his "visible" career behind a microphone -- and regularly calls games for the Arizona Diamondbacks. That makes him particularly notable to those of us in Phoenix; perhaps I assumed y'all were aware of him equally well, just as I assumed you'd recognize the name Vin Scully. Sorry about that.

And he's written quite a bit about baseball, such as Just Play Ball.

FWIW, he's also been best friends with Yogi Berra since they were 6 years old. He, too, was a catcher to begin with.

The Kid Who Only Hit Homers

definitely fiction, and definitely elementary school reading level
was a great read in 4th grade for me lol

I remember reading about this topic in Baseball Between the Numbers (by the Baseball Prospectus crew) around 5 years ago.

The game of baseball is so obsessed with stats, that the closer (often the best reliever) is ALWAYS kept until the end of the game so they can get the save.

Think about how many middle-of-the-road relievers have blown a game in the 5th or 6th inning (as an O's fan, I've seen a lot of this). Those tight situations are what a closer is made for, not to record whatever 3 outs happen to come up in the 9th.

Big Data Baseball is a pretty interesting read about the Pirates making the playoffs in 2013 ending their 20 year drought. If you are into advanced stats and the data side of baseball its a fun read.

https://www.amazon.com/Big-Data-Baseball-Miracles-20-Year/dp/1250094259

I was looking for a post like this. While I love basketball and football, I never really followed baseball. It just didn't seem to provide the same excitement. But after reading Phillip Roth's The Great American Novel I'm a convert. Looking forward to this season.

You may be interested in reading Baseball Without Borders, it deals with the way baseball is played and conceived in a number of countries around the world. If you are looking to compare and contrast a country's "league" with that of Major League Baseball the only real choice is Japan - and even that is difficult. (And this is only because the Caribbean countries, and South America, don't really have leagues of the same standard.) The classic You Gotta Have Wa covers things pretty well when it comes to NPB. More than just a listing of the numerical differences like stats and stadium sizes, it delves into the whole mind frame and how the sport is based on an entirely different perspective of the "team" mentality.

Thanks so much for hosting me, Reddit! As mentioned earlier, "Up, Up, & Away" comes out today and is available at bookstores near you, online (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307361357/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0307361357&linkCode=as2&tag=jonahkericom-20), as an e-book (https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/up-up-and-away/id707326028?mt=11), and in various other places.

No BS, it's a superfun book, it has chunks of my soul in every page (someone suggested that makes the book a horcrux, which is pretty brilliant), and I think you'll really dig it.

If I missed your questions, hit me up on Twitter @jonahkeri. I'm usually pretty good about answering tweets, especially if you're willing to wait until after this crazy book launch week ends.

Oh and I'll be a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers on April 22, which is completely insane. Thinking about wearing a beanie propellor just to emphasize the out-of-my-league nerditry of the situation.

Thanks again! A bientot.

Reminds me of a play involving Willie Mays and the Giants, as described by Bill James in his Historical Abstract which, by the way should really be required reading for anyone who loves baseball, even if you aren't a major stat guy, just for stories like this.

> This actually happened, July 11, 1963, in Philadelphia, go check the newspapers if you don't believe me. Willie Mays draws a walk leading off the second inning. He has second base stolen standing up, but Orlando Cepeda fouls off the pitch. Second pitch, Mays has second base stolen again, Cepeda fouls off the pitch again, strike two. There's a pitchout and a ball outside; the count reaches two-two, and Mays takes off for second again. Once more, Cepeda fouls the ball off.

> Finally, fourth try, Mays goes for second and Cepeda squibs the ball off the end of his bat to the second baseman, Tony Taylor. Mays sees the ball rolling behind him and figures that he can make third on the throw to first, so he heads for third. Tony Taylor, however, has seen Willie Mays play baseball before, so he holds the ball a second before throwing to first. When Mays heads for third, Taylor throws across the infield, Mays is out at third by 40 feet.

> Mays, however, decides to stay in a rundown long enough to let Cepeda make second. Catching Willie Mays in a rundown is like trying to assassinate a squirrel with a lawn mower, so this goes on for some time, and Cepeda races down to second base, while Don Hoak (Philadelphia third baseman) chases Mays back to the same base. Mays and Cepeda, both near second base, stare at each other for a moment, while the ball pops loose on the ground before anybody can apply a tag to either one of them.

> So Mays heads back to third base.

> And Cepeda heads back to first.

> Taylor retrieves the ball and fires to third, and Willie Mays, for the second time on the same play, is caught in a rundown between second and third.

> Well, that out is eventually recorded; it's officially scored 4-5-6-1-6-4, but as the official scorer noted afterward, he couldn't be sure who all handled the ball, and a player can only get one assist on a play anyway, so he just gave an assist to everyone in the vicinity.

If you want a really good book on this Jonah Keri's new one is great.

that Sony ICF-S10MK2 is pretty much the best radio i've ever owned.

Watch Ken Burns' Baseball documentary collection. This is the best way to learn about the origins of the game, its most famous players, most important moments, records, championships and traditions. It covers pretty much everything from the American Civil War thru present day. Can't recommend it enough.

> After Pawtucket's Luis Aponte pitched the seventh to tenth innings in relief, manager Joe Morgan—who himself would be ejected in the 22nd inning by Cregg[2]—let him leave before the game ended. Aponte's wife did not believe his explanation for coming home at 3 a.m. Sunday.[6] He promised that the Sunday newspaper would prove his story, but since the game's postponement occurred too late to appear in it, Aponte had to wait until the Monday edition.[3] Cregg had brought his nephew David to the game; David's father became concerned for his family and called the police, who told him that the game had not ended.[1]

> By 4 a.m. the players were "delirious" from exhaustion; Rochester's Dave Huppert had caught the first 31 innings before being replaced, and Jim Umbarger pitched 10 scoreless innings from the 23rd inning, striking out nine and giving up four hits. The president of the league, Harold Cooper, was finally reached on the phone by Pawtucket public relations manager Mike Tamburro sometime after 3:00 a.m.; the horrified Cooper ordered that play stop at the end of the current inning. Finally at 4:07 a.m., at the end of the 32nd inning and more than eight hours after it began, the game was stopped.[3] There were 19 fans left in the seats—not including David Cregg, who had fallen asleep[1]—all of whom received season[2][3] or lifetime[1] passes to McCoy Stadium. As the players went home to rest before returning at 11 a.m. for an afternoon game that Sunday,[1][4] they saw people going to Easter sunrise service.[3] When Boggs' father complimented him for getting four hits in the game, the player admitted that he had had 12 at bats.[5]

From here. The longest professional baseball game ever played.

There's also a book about it, a fun little read

I've got this radio last season listening to games while I'm working. http://www.amazon.com/Sony-ICF-S10MK2-Pocket-Radio-Silver/dp/B00020S7XK

It's slightly bigger that most pockets but a great radio.

I'm not saying it happens often, but even poor hitters can have years that appear to be "breakout years" that are in fact just statistical flukes. Baseball Between the Numbers has a chapter that talks about the plain statistical variation that is likely to happen in any season.

Like I said, it's likely in a given year that a single player will post 50+ points on his average higher than his actual talent level, and if he's already a good player, it's enough to propel him to MVP status.

"Up, Up, and Away" by Jonah Keri is a history of/love letter to the Montreal Expos.

""Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley’s Swingin’ A’s" by Jason Turnbow covers the Charlie Finley A's.

"Big Data Baseball" by Travis Sawchik is a Moneyball-style look at the early 2010's Pirates, data analysis in baseball, and the origins of today's shifting techniques and importance of pitch framing.

RA Dickey's autobiography is phenomenal.

Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball

I said this a minute ago in another thread, but The Soul of Baseball by Joe Posnanski is fantastic. He follows Buck O'Neil (who all but created the Negro League Museum here in KC on his own) on a road trip. It gave me a whole new perspective on baseball and the Negro Leagues. Buck was known for his crazy stories, and you'll get a ton of them.

Dirk Hayhurst did something similar and it turned out great.

You sorta buried the lead here dude, the game lasted 33 innings.

There's a great book about it.

Up, Up, and Away is the name of the book which is supposed to be very good.

Dickey's book goes into a lot of detail about the brotherhood of Knuckleball pitchers. I read it cover to cover in one sitting.

Amazon Link for anyone who's interested.

I haven't brought it to the ballpark but I have one of these. Simple and works well.

For more, please visit us on the web at;
https://amzn.com/153338763X

thegurns2005@yahoo.com
Twitter=@thegurns

And Bill is the reason the Tribe has Chief Wahoo. His autobiography, Veeck as in Wreck is a fantastic read. I suggest it to everyone! Murray has a screenplay where he would play Bill, but it never got made. (#7 on list). Last I heard it was because baseball movies are a tough sell in foreign markets.

I'm sure you've read "The Soul of Baseball" but if you haven't, you should.

I read books about baseball during the offseason. Just picked up [The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America] (http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Baseball-Through-ONeils-America/dp/0060854049/ref=la_B001ILHF9Y_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415033761&sr=1-1) by Joe Posnanski and Up, Up, and Away: The Kid, the Hawk, Rock, Vladi, Pedro, le Grand Orange, Youppi!, the Crazy Business of Baseball, and the Ill-fated but Unforgettable Montreal Expos by Jonah Keri from my library.

The Bullpen Gospels

https://www.amazon.com/Bottom-33rd-Redemption-Baseballs-Longest/dp/0062014498

Get this book. Seriously. It will tell you about so many of the intricacies of the game you wouldn't pick up on otherwise.

A few other recommendations:

Victory Season

Veeck as in Wreck

Between the Numbers

Cardboard Gods

I cannot recommend Jonah Keri's book, Up, Up, and Away, enough. All about the history of the Expos. http://www.amazon.com/Up-Away-Business-Ill-fated-Unforgettable/dp/0307361357