Customer Reviews

The Team-By-Team Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the best baseball book ever! Not only is it beautifully organized and rich with facts, but it's so well written! As someone who came late to baseball, I find the book hard to put down. IF you can only buy one baseball book, this is it--it's a major reference for any fan, and it's going to make a great holiday gift too. Get your copy before they're all gone!

Beware of a number of mistakes in this book, including the following:

p120 (1954) - Ted Williams would have needed only 477 plate appearances, not 502. The rule is 3.1 plate appearances per scheduled game. 502 is the number required in a 162 game season, but the season was 154 games in 1954.

p219 (1912) - The author notes that Morrie Rath was "easily" the least productive player in terms of RBIs as he had only 19 in 591 at bats. However, Enzo Hernandez drove in 12 in 549 at bats in 1971, clearly a lesser rate of production.

p552 (1929) - How can Johnny Frederick's six pinch-hit home runs in a single season still be a record, when on page 555 (2000) the author states that Dave Hansen set a new record for pinch-hit home runs in a single season with seven?

p665 - The text refers to "attorney Frank Shea." His name is correctly given as "William A. Shea" on page 670.

p727 - Yogi Berra became manager of the Mets in 1972, not 1971. Gil Hodges died during spring training of 1972 (see p581).

p752 - "1908" should be "1980."

p780 - In 1935, Cochrane lead the Tigers to their first-ever World Series victory, not their first-ever World Series.

p826 - Gavvy Cravath lead the NL in home runs six times, not the AL.

p1018 - Christy Mathewson did not prompt the creation of Ladies' Day. Ladies' Days were instituted as early as 1883.

p1030 - If Andrew Freeman purchased the Giants in 1895 (see p1026), how could Ward have retired in 1894 after growing weary of dealing with the principal owner of the Giants, Andrew Freeman?

p1114 (1977) - Doug Ault hit 15 more home runs after that opening day game. I have no idea where the reference to his hitting only two more home runs that season came from.

p1114 (1985) - On 5/23/85, Dennis Lamp picked up a win after pitching but 1/3 of an inning in relief. He also had wins after appearing 1 1/3 and 1 2/3 innings. Even if the latter two are considered "long relief", given the 5/23 win, Lamp did not win all his games in long relief appearances.

p1129 - The author states that George Bell was made the team's DH in 1988 because of his failing knees. Bell played 149 games in the outfield that year, and only seven as DH. In 1989, he played 134 games in the outfield, and 19 as DH. In 1990, the split was 103/36 in favor of the outfield. Bell didn't become a DH until 1992. The chart on page 1119 shows Bell as the team's primary LF in 1988-1990.

I found this book to be a cornicopiea of information. You would have to go to five or six different sources to get sll of this information and it still wouldn't be as orderly and concise as this. A great fact-finder and a great read for the casual fan and the fanatic!

This book is very good in numbers, obviously in biographies is very complete but the part of the franchise's history is very very VERY POOR. Focused only in the history of the team "out" to the ballpark.

If you love the numbers its for you, a lot of important numbers, RBI, HR, ERA, W, SV, Etc. But if you love the photos or historical information this book isn't for you.

In my opinion if the author works more in the historical part this book will be the best.

Purdy's 'Encyclopedia' tries to go beyond the usual 'stats and lists' format, although there are plenty of lists for season and career leaders. The sections on individual players are nice, with some well-chosen anecdotes fleshing out the familar stuff true baseball fans already know (i.e.'Lou Gehrig went to Columbia U.')

The weak point of the book would probably be the team history sections, which are, if anything, too concise in baseball info, and too wordy in historical background on every owner of every team.

Perhaps if Purdy updates this work, he'll flesh out the tean info. As it is, he's made an impressive rookie debut as a baseball historian.

I cannot recommend enough the Team by Team Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball. You have a short history of every franchise, short but complete bio of EVERY IMPORTANT PLAYER OF EVERY TEAM, team records etc...

MAJOR REFERENCE BOOK. Entertaining and you'll learn a lot about the game and it's players

If you are a baseball fanatic ( and love stats and information)- YOU MUST GET THIS BOOK.

Are you interested in seeing the starting lineup or rotation of the 1977 New York Mets or any other team in any year? It's in here.

It is basically every teams media guide rolled into one book.

It is complete, detailed, extensive and a must for any baseball nut.

I bought two of these encyclopedias for gifts, and gave them to my two favorite men at the same time. One of the guys already has a walking baseball encyclopedia inside his brain, but I have to tell you, they have more fun with that volume than a pair of kids giggling over something they're not supposed to have found!

What a great addition to any fan's library, The Team By Team encyclopedia of Major League Baseball is much more then a useful reference guide. It's got everything from statistics to in-depth biographical information and team history. The amount of information is staggering and it's filled with lots of photos of team memorabilia, legendary moments and important players and managers (the baseball cards are a particularly nice touch). The Team History & Significant Player's section for each team is my favorite part as you can easily trace the greatest players of a franchise's history and it isn't completely made up of the usual Hall of Famers & MVP's. I often find myself picking it up off the shelf to brush up on my baseball history or a quick stat check. At $22.95 it is a must buy!

Here one thick volume (1166 pages) compiles most every historical fact a baseball fan might want about each of the major league franchises from the original teams to those expansion additions. The book is nicely organized with a written review of each team followed by top team and individual statistics both traditional and newer. These statistics are shown both for team history as well as by season. Also included are the yearly starting lineups both hitting and pitching as well as the list of past managers. Each chapter ends with written comments about that teams best players. A great reference.