The Ultimate Baseball Book, Expanded and Updated [Paperback]

Daniel Okrent (Editor), Harris Lewine (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2000

THE ULTIMATE BASEBALL BOOK has more than lived up to its name. Spanning the complete history of the sport from the fledgling leagues in the late 1870s to the powerhouses of the 1990s and revealing in the process what a remarkable effect baseball has had on our collective experience, this is THE book for any and all baseball fans, certain to grace coffee and bedside tables alike. Designed with that wonderful nostalgia that the sport itself so often evokes, THE ULTIMATE BASEBALL BOOK combines timeless images with a sweeping narrative history as well as essays on various idols and icons by such heavy hitters as Red Smith, Wilfrid Sheed, Roy Blount, Jr., Tom Wicker, and Geoge Will. This new edition covers baseball through the nineties, the decade when home run records fell and the sport reclaimed its hold on America, and celebrates the national game in ultimate style.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Any book calling itself The Ultimate Baseball Book has a lot to live up to. But when Ken Burns tags it "the Cadillac of baseball books," the authors have obviously succeeded. The book is divided up into innings, one per decade. Each inning contains a historical overview of the decade, followed by an essay written by baseball's literati: Robert W. Creamer on "The Old Orioles" in the first inning (1876-1900), Roy Blount, Jr. on "How DiMaggio Made It Look Easy" in the fifth (1930-1939), George F. Will on "Chicago the Unmitigated" in the extra inning (1981-1990). Fun to read and full of anecdotes, one-liners, and hundreds of black-and-white photos, The Ultimate Baseball Book is a must-have for all baseball fans. Though oversize (9 by 12 inches), it's better suited to a bedside table than a coffee table--you'll want to take the time to read it, rather than just flip through and look at the pictures. Highly recommended. --M. Stein

Review

"Full of delicious anecdotes, one liners, and offhand information." -- Bill Brashler The New York Times

"The Cadillac of baseball books." - Ken Burns

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; Updated edition (April 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618056688
• ISBN-13: 978-0618056682
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #887,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still Best of Breed, April 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ultimate Baseball Book, Expanded and Updated (Paperback)

I read the first edition of this book, I guess more than 20 years ago now. I was dazzled immediately, in the very first inning, by both the prose and the great photos. The most amazing thing (to me anyway)is Nemec's historical report. Somehow even though he's writing the more recent chapters more than 10 years apart you'd never know it. You'd think of him as a 19th century guy from what else he's written, but his 1990's chapter flows with the same spark and flavor as his first chapter on the early years written way back when. Most of the other pieces hold up very well too, especially the one on DiMaggio and Richter's look at Montreal baseball before the Expos. Let's all hope this crew is still around in another decade to do another update.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars marvelous, September 20, 2007

By 

Doc Dave "Doc Dave" (Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Baseball Book, Expanded and Updated (Paperback)

If you're interested in the history of baseball, I think you will enjoy this book no matter what your level of expertise on the subject. I agree with the previous reviewer's comment about it being the best of its breed. They say Ken Burns called this "the Cadillac of baseball books," and you can certainly see the influence it must've had on his Baseball film-series. It's a nice fat book, at over 400 pages, and there are plenty of historical photos and illustrations included on practically every page, making it truly a browser's delight. With the expansive scope, covering 1876-1999, those who range from really serious to fanatical about baseball history may be left wanting more in terms of depth and description of many topics. Nevertheless, I found the level of detail impressive and I believe that almost anyone with an interest in the game will really enjoy this excellent book.