Baseball DIY

While wondering around the 'net today looking up books for my other writing job, I found Da Capo Books. I've never heard of this small press before, which is no surprise. It's not easy to hear about anybody that isn't Random House or Penguin these days. But after a quick look I must say I'm very impressed. They've got a nice little selection of sports books including some excellent baseball choices. First up is Last Best League by Jim Collins, a look at the Cape Cod League from someone who grew up there and knows all the ins and outs. And it's not just a namedropper apparently but about baseball and the people who play and watch in Cape Cod. Nice. There's Arnold Hano's book, A Day in the Bleachers which covers the opening day of the 1954 Series between the Indians and Giants. The cover shots are of the famous Willie Mays catch, another classic moment. Mark Ribowsky is up next with a biography of Satchel Paige, Don't Look Back. What I think is interesting about this title is that Ribowsky looked at Paige's whole life, not just baseball. He's such a legend that I think the rest of his world gets lost in his contribution to the game, which isn't good. The man was a lot of things, and pitching balls was just one of them.

Red Barber was the broadcaster for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 when Jackie Robinson joined the line-up. He chronicles the year that followed in 1947:The Year All Hell Broke Loose in Baseball. Barber was also a friend of Branch Rickey's and knew a lot of what was going on that missed the public eye. This is history as it happened by someone who was in the middle of it, the best kind of historical book to me.

DaCapo are also the folks who published the recent high school football bestseller Friday Night Lights and the great Frank Deford classic, Everybody's All American. They've got Jake LaMotta's Raging Bull and books on horse racing, boxing, poker, golf..you name it. There's also W.C. Heinz's collection of magazine articles: What A Time it Was. Heinz was in the middle of it all during the 1940s and 50s and wrote about: Jackie, Sugar Ray Robinson, Red Grange...the list goes on. This is the sportswriting book I'll be buying next.

Why waste your time on another Yankees/Red Sox rivalry book when there's real writing to be found?

I thought you'd understand.