The Ultimate Baseball Book, Expanded and Updated (Paperback)

by Harris Lewine (Editor), Daniel Okrent (Editor) "WHEN Alexander Joy Cartwright brought the Knickerbockers and the New York Nine to the Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey, on June 19, 1846, to..." (more)
Key Phrases: National League, American League, Red Sox (more...)

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

"Full of delicious anecdotes, one liners, and offhand information." -- Bill Brashler -- Review

"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: 11.8 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.com Sales Rank: #180,988 in Books (See Bestsellers 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

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.

5.0 out of 5 stars marvelous, September 20, 2007

By	W. D. Dotson "Doc Dave" (Georgia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.