Baseball DIY

Following a link and great review from Bob Gray at Fresh Eyes, I took a look at Emmis Books and their very interesting books on baseball. Emmis has two books out right now as part of their series Baseball: Behind the Seams, one on catchers and one on pitchers. I love the tagline: "no pouting superstars, no steroids, no player's strikes."

Can you imagine?

In his journal Bob wrote about Our Red Sox which looks to be of the classic "coming of age of a baseball fan" or as described on the web site, "a look from deep inside Red Sox nation." I would dismiss this book as the standard I "heart" baseball fare if Bob didn't love it so much. By his own admission he is not an avid baseball fan, so his recommendation carries some additional weight for me.

I'll quote liberally from Bob here so you can see what I mean. (We seem to be heavily into quoting around here lately....)

Emmis Books sent me a signed copy with a pleasant greeting from the author, Robert Sullivan, a Deputy Managing Editor of LIFE magazine whose work has often appeared in Sports Illustrated and Time. And even though it was clearly a book about the family side of Red Sox Nation with the potential to be of diabetically-high sugar content (The jacket copy actually says, "Our Red Sox is a home run..."), I cracked it open in a moment of weakness.

And I loved it. Our Red Sox is full of sentiment without ever being sentimental. Native New Englander Sullivan traces his lifelong obsession with the Sox (even though he has lived for many years among the enemy in Westchester) and weaves it into the 2004 season's impact on his family and friends, as well as the rest of the Nation.

It's a book that ultimately accomplished one of things I like best about this business, and something that happens all too rarely. It surprised me with its excellence.

Well done, Mr. Sullivan. Our Red Sox is a keeper.

What more could you want from a recommendation than that?

Go read Fresh Eyes for great writing on books and check out Our Red Sox for great writing on baseball. It's a banner day for readers everywhere.