1,001 Reasons to Love Baseball [Hardcover]

Danny Peary (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2004

The crack of the bat. The All-Star lineup. Playing catch with your dad. Bleacher seats in early summer. A hot dog with everything. Three up, three out. The seventh inning stretch. Barry Bond's breathtaking, tie-breaking home run at the bottom of the ninth. There are so many reasons to love America's national pastime: With more than 300 pages of classic photos, memorable quotes, and fascinating facts, this winning compilation counts the ways.

The second title in Stewart, Tabori & Chang's successful series, 1,001 Reasons to Love Baseball celebrates a sport that combines the mathematical strategy of a chess match with the larger-than-life characters of a Broadway show. Striking archival and modern illustrations illuminate memorable moments, incredible feats, equipment and collectibles, the country's greatest ballparks, the game's most famous players, and much more. Passionate philosopher-fans will savor excerpts from the canon of baseball literature, and anyone who has ever experienced the triumph of catching a fly ball can appreciate the simple truths on the list. Chock full of trivia, information, and sentiment, the book's a sure hit.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

DANNY PEARY is the writer for the Tim McCarver Show on Madison Square Garden Network. He has written extensively on sports and movies for newspapers, magazines, and the Internet. He is the author and/or editor of seventeen books, including Cult Baseball Players , We Played the Game, Tim McCarver's Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans, The Perfect Season with Tim McCarver, and Ralph Kiner's Baseball Forever. MARY TIEGREEN is a designer and writer whose life-long interest in the art of book-making has resulted in beautifully illustrated titles on such diverse subjects as women explorers, family dinners, and the family dog. She is the co-author and designer of 1,001 Reasons to Love Golf and The Secrets of Pistoulet (both Stewart, Tabori & Chang).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584793872
• ISBN-13: 978-1584793540
• ASIN: 1584793546
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 7.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,742,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As a boy I was passionate about sports, movies, television, and music, and now I make my living by writing about each of these topics. Pretty amazing. I was born in West Virginia, grew up in South Carolina and New Jersey, got a B.A. in History at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and an M.A. in Cinema at USC. I have been living in New York City since 1977 with my wife Suzanne (our married daughter Zoe and granddaughter Julianna live too far away in Maryland), publishing books and articles on movies and sports (mostly baseball). I watch an insane number of movies and politely root for the A's, Lakers, Giants, and UConn women in basketball. I am the writer-researcher on the long-running television interview show, "The Tim McCarver Show," and have done three books with Tim, who is a close friend. I also worked with the dear Ralph Kiner on his autobiography, "Baseball Forever." My twenty-first book, written with Tom Clavin, is my first biography, "Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero" for Touchstone/Simon&Schuster. We have a facebook fan page for the book, for which we interviewed 130 people. I also contribute celebrity interviews on brink.com and am the New York correspondent for the Australian magazine, "FilmInk." I love to write, but there's nothing more exciting than creating a project or more satisfying than finishing it.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Baseball Book Like No Other, June 30, 2004

By 

Cory Gann (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 1,001 Reasons to Love Baseball (Hardcover)

On P. 205 of 1001 Reasons To Love Baseball, Danny Peary and MaryTiegreen list 17 classic books which have become iconic reverences to baseball. They could have included one more - their own magical, wondrous, can't put it down adoration of the game. 1001 Reasons to Love Baseball is different from any other baseball book I've ever seen. I found myself not just reading it but carrying it around, stealing chances to forge on to the next batch of reasons among the 1001 to love baseball. It is a book to read, and ponder. You take in a "reason" and then have to sit with it for a moment or two - for example, Reason # 431 "a fastball smacking into a mitt" or # 440 "that you don't need strikes, just the `illusion of strikes,' to get batters to swing."
These nuggets are interspersed with riveting encapsulated biographies of the majestic figures of the game: Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Nolan Ryan, Barry Bonds - 30 "Greats" each of whom is offered as a reason to have this passion about the game. This is a book with appeal to new converts and seasoned fans alike - You suspect a postcard, but it turns out to be a textbook of the history, the geography, the ambiance, and the aficionado appeal of baseball. It is spiced with information which is too special to be called mere trivia - for example Reason # 381 chronicles the only mother-son duo to play professional baseball (you'll just have to check it out with your own copy to learn who these two people are). 1001 Reasons To Love Baseball is adorned with photographic treasures so deftly chosen and with such artful layout that even pictures you've seen before take on a new texture. There is a shot of Van Lingle Mungo's (Reason # 478) windup which is both statuesque and is also an impossibility as far as throwing a baseball. And to top it all off are quotes which have become part of baseball's music. Hank Aaron (Reason # 29) said "The pitcher has got only a ball. I've got a bat." I didn't know he had said that. And now I can't imagine him saying anything else. Peary and Tiegreen's book captures that kind of sensibility - the shared, unspoken, wise, and very pure reasons why so many of us love baseball. It is a must have.