Tuesday Top Ten

Perhaps a good way for me to crystallize what I like and what I rank. I'll start with my top ten baseball books. Obviously this is limited to what I have on my shelf and what I have read, which may not be that extensive. But I must say that books about baseball hold a collective fascination for me. The top pick probably says more about me than anything else, as nothing comes close to it:

1. The Numbers Game by Alan Schwartz. Some may feel that this book doesn't qualify as it isn't about the game of baseball itself. But it IS about the history of baseball through numbers and statistics, and the fascinating, if not other-worldly, connection between the two. It combines for me two of my biggest areas of geekdom: baseball and numbers. When my wife got this for me (one of the most perfect gifts and gave me the confirmation Michelle was meant for me), I read it at the beach in two days. Written well with a delicate balance between layman's terms and esoteric sabermetric lingo, it completed me.
2. The Boys of Summer, Roger Kahn. The book is in two parts, with the second half pretty good, but the first half is enthralling. I felt like I was there in Brooklyn following the Dodgers.
3. The Official Rules of Baseball, David Nemec. Goes through the whole rulebook and gives historical background along with anectodal insight as to how it has shaped the game. My years as an umpire helped me to eat this one up.
4. Total Baseball, Thorn & Palmer 3rd edition. The marvelous SABR articles on statistics enabled this tome to replace The Baseball Encyclopedia (Macmillan 8th edition) as my main source of statistical fodder. Like the Encyclopedia, the blackened edges of the pages from Total Baseball testified of its consistent use. For updated statistics, I now use the ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, 4th edition.
5. The Teammates, David Halberstam. A marvelous weaving of past and present among 4 Boston Red Sox teammates that illuminates the bonds of friendship in baseball.
6. Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy, Jane Leavey. Great biography of an elusive figure. My copy was signed by Steve Garvey in the airport.
7. The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James. Densely packed collection of baseball notes of the game and its players in historical context. Awesome features includes Ugliest Players and Strangest Batting Stance in each decade.
8. The Ultimate Baseball Book, ed. Denial Okrent & Harris Lewine. Probably the best collection of baseball pictures that I have never seen before. Not just a picture book, but an engrossing text that delves deep into the stories that make baseball history.
9. The Perfect Game, ed. Mark Alvarez. A collection of essays from SABR (Society of American Baseball Research) that unveils many hidden aspects of the game and its players.
10. Where They Ain't, Burt Solomon. A fascinating story of the Baltimore Orioles of the 1890's, the first real dynasty in baseball that gave birth to the modern game. Some of my favorite players were on that team including Wee Willie Keeler, who coined the phrase "hit 'em where they aint."

Honorable Mention: The Jackie Robinson Reader, Men at Work and Baseball in the Afternoon. My brothers swears Crazy '08 is a classic, but I haven't read it yet.