Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Lineups : A Complete Guide to the Best, Worst, and Most Memorable Players to Ever Grace the Major Leagues (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Still able to play the outfield (sort of) and mostly played left field for Angels, but did see significant action as DH, including 65 games..." (more)
Key Phrases: slugging pct, franchise list, fielding stats, Hall of Fame, American League, National League (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The title says it all: by compiling lists of players in a baseball "lineup" format, the author, an ESPN.com columnist, manages to catalogue the game's all-time greats-and all-time bums. In the process, he also creates a kind of capsule history of every major league team. The secret is in the categories: along with the "All-Time" bests of each club, the book also includes such lineups as All-Rookie, All-Defensive, All-Traded Away (players who became great after their original team got rid of them), and All-Bust (players who never came close to living up to the hype). And because not even diehard fans can live on lineups alone, Neyer has also packed his pages with little sidebar essays, ranging from analytical (in which he explains how he chose Mickey Mantle over Joe DiMaggio as All-Time Yankees center fielder) to eye-opening (in which Reggie Jackson tells how his ASU coach warned him that the New York Mets would shy away from drafting him because he had a white girlfriend) to puzzling (Neyer suggests that the Chicago Cubs should have kept Rafael Palmeiro instead of Mark Grace to play first base-on the same page that he lists Grace as the Cubs' All-Time first baseman). It may be a book of lineups, but these colorful sidebars supply most of the real conversation pieces. This volume wouldn't be nearly as hard to put down without them.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Joshua Prager The Wall Street Journal Mantle or DiMaggio? Spahn or Maddux? Terry or McCovey? Don't guess -- read Neyer's book and learn the answers. In these pages, it's production (not nostalgia) that matters, and the result is a cogent parsing of baseball's all-time greats (and worsts). -- Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Fireside (June 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743241746
• ISBN-13: 978-0743241748
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #190,862 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Will End Some Arguments, Start Some Others, May 22, 2003

By	Todd Hawley (San Francisco CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Among baseball fans, it's always fun to "pick" the "all-time best players" at any position. And Neyer in this book has taken what he feels to be the all-time best lineups for every current major league team, as well as teams that started in one location and moved elsewhere (like the Boston/Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, Brooklyn/LA Dodgers, NY/SF Giants, Wash Senators/Texas Rangers, etc.). While you may not always agree with his choices, Neyer in my opinion has done a wonderful job with these "lineups." He also has a lineup of 'best individual seasons,' a gold glove team and an "iron glove" team (for worst fielders), his "all-bust" teams, rookie teams, traded away teams, and his "used to be great" teams. Having followed baseball since the late 1960s, I vividly remember many of the names in this book, as well as knowing numerous others whose names appear here. Some of the associated vignettes with each team are also fascinating. Like the story of David Clyde, the 18-year-old pitcher for the 1973 Rangers, or "Generation K" of the 1995 Mets. Or how the Devil Rays' management philosophy in Neyer's opinion has contributed to them having some terrible teams. Or how the famous line about the late, lamented Washington Senators, "first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League" really isn't all that true.

Neyer gives a lot of credit where credit is due. His "iron glove" teams are at times a hoot. Neyer mentions the infamous Johnie LeMaster of the Giants at shortstop on their "iron glove" team, Jose Offerman his counterpart for the Dodgers, Eddie Matthews at first base for the 1967 Astros, and so on. His all-rookie teams include notables like Mark McGwire for the '87 A's (well doh) and Stan Musial for the 1942 Cardinals. For some long-time teams, he lists 2 greatest lineups. At the end of the book is a section that features each team and its starting lineup from year to year, along with their manager.

Any fan, whether they be casual followers or students of the game are going to love this book! It's a good one.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good addition to your baseball shelf, June 18, 2003

By	Michael H. Siegel (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Rob Neyer's "Book of Baseball Lineups" is a solid addition to any well-stocked baseball shelf. It goes right next to Bill James' glorious Historical abstract.

Lineups basically goes through the major leagues team by team. We're given an all-time lineup for each team as well as best homegrown players, gold gloves, iron gloves, all-bust, all-name and used-to-be-great -- which catalogues what great players eeked out their declining years on a certain club. This is accompanied by little essays in the margins detailing certain selections and a short essay for each team addressing some topic. The essays are actually pretty good, sort of like little columns that you might have missed on his espn gig.

Neyer has put together a rather unique look at the game. Most books of this type look at the best players of all time from all of baseball, but Neyer's book focuses on *teams* and gives you a sense of the ebb and flow of each team's history. You'll see how all thre greatest players in Royals history bunched up in the late 70's and early 80's, how Atlanta's best players all came in the 90's. The traded away section will detail eras of stupid management for each team. And in the back, you get year to year lineups.

I can't think of any other book that does this. Most books focus on the history of one team (usually the Yankees) or one great year (Yankees again, '27 or '98). But this book will give you your first real sense of the history of other organizations like the Expoes and Brewers and so forth -- teams I didn't know HAD a history before I read this.

It's not as big, bad and beautiful as the Historical abstracts but this is a book you'll find yourself leafing through frequently. Definitely worth buying.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book of lists with little else, May 29, 2003

By A Customer

I bought the book because I really enjoy Neyer's columns on ESPN.com. He is the only columnist I read regularly. Being a book of lists it is a great book for "bathroom reading" because you can pick it up and read just a few pages at a time and enjoy it without losing any storyline or continuity.

I enjoyed the appendix as much as any other part of the book. It showed the typical starting lineups for each team in every different year of their existence. It was interesting to see how stable the lineups were before free agency.

It is truly a book of lists, with little esle. If you have been a baseball fan for decades, you will enjoy a wonderful trip down memory lane. If you are a casual fan who has an interest in one or two teams, it may not be worth it.

I did not feel that the sidebars added that much to the book. They were too short to have the depth of information/analysis that I have come to enjoy in Rob's columns on ESPN.com.

That being said, I enjoyed the book and will keep it and refer back to it for years to come.