Baseball As I Have Known It [Paperback]

Fred Lieb (Author), Lawrence S. Ritter (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1996

From Honus Wagner to Johnny Bench, Baseball As I Have Known It covers sixty-six seasons of America’s national sport. Fred Lieb, the dean of baseball writers, tells about its heroes, rogues, controversies, and grand plays. He broke in as a sportswriter in the Polo Grounds press box in 1911. In 1933, in the midst of the Depression, Lieb was fired from the New York Post and began a freelance career writing about his beloved sport.

Baseball As I Have Known It, first published in 1977 when Lieb was eighty-nine years old, remains a vital record of a glorious bygone era. In superb style, he comments on changes in baseball over the decades and tells inside stories about great events and immortal players.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Fred Lieb, who covered his first ballgame in 1911, continued on to prowl pressboxes across the land for nearly seven decades. His Baseball as I Have Known It, is aptly titled; over a long and distinguished career, he knew just about everyone worth knowing in the game, and saw pretty much everything worth seeing. His recollections of the 1919 Black Sox, the Yankee dynasties of the '20s and '30s, and his affectionate reminiscences of Christy Mathewson and Lou Gehrig make Baseball as I Have Known It particularly worth knowing, too.

Review

Lieb was “an indispensable addition to any press box: he was there. . . . Reading his gentle memoirs is like having a drink at the Cubby-Bear Lounge outside Wrigley Field with an old-timer who remembers seeing Swish Nicholson play centerfield.”—New York Times Book Review.

(New York Times Book Review )

“[Lieb] has seen the best the game has had to offer, from Ed Delahanty to Tom Seaver. . . . It is a rare treat to read these vivid reminiscences recalling the exploits and personalities of early greats such as Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Nap Lajoie. . . . This belongs in every popular sports collection.”—Library Journal.

(Library Journal )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Bison Books (January 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803279620
• ISBN-13: 978-0803279629
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,119,498 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fred Lieb is A True Hall of Famer, January 10, 2000

By 

C. W. Emblom "Bill Emblom" (Ishpeming, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Baseball As I Have Known It (Paperback)

Fred Lieb knew the players he talks about personally. Anything written by Fred Lieb about baseball is coming from a true authority on the subject. Baseball has a history unlike any other sport. No other sport can touch it, and in reading about it from Fred Lieb you are getting it from a true master. Do yourself a favor. Buy the book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding baseball reading for the true baseball fan., April 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Baseball As I Have Known It (Paperback)

The romanticism of baseball's glorious history is well documented by Fred Lieb. His unique perspective of having followed the game as a young fan growing up in Philadelphia, then covering it as a sportswriter, allows the author to offer great knowledge of his beloved sport. Lieb also allows the reader to experience the thrills he enjoyed covering the game, as well as the human side of the ballplayers, on and off the field. This is absolutely a must read, both for the casual fan of the game, as well as those who thrill in baseball's glorious past.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Will Leave The Shelf Often, March 5, 2008

By 

Geneva Lewis (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Baseball As I Have Known It (Paperback)

Fred Lieb wrote a gem that will have you referring back again and again. His matter-of-fact, focused writing style is a delight. He was a sports journalist in the 20's and 30's and knew many players, managers, and owners well. He takes sports stars out of the realm of mythology and humanizes their foibles and follies. His tales of Babe Ruth and the chapter about good friend Lou Gehrig is worth the price of the book alone. This is what writing is about! You may even get a few chills when his wife's work is elaborated upon, and how premonitions sometimes come true. You will also get a huge kick out of The Babe's response to her avocation- and the stories about Damon Runyon are fascinating.