The SABR Review of Books, Volume 1

In this issue . . . Baseball lives in all seasons. So the first issue of The SABR Review takes a look at two of the newest works on non-regular-season baseball: A Baseball Winter and (on Spring Training) The Short Season. We cover Jim Kaplans diary of 83 season, too. But we dont forget the history, with reviews of the two latest books on two of baseballs prime movers, Ban Johnson and A.G. Spalding, discussed by A.D. Suehsdorf and Luke Salisbury. And what are the newest of the great baseball writers saying? In this issue we review the latest by Bill James, Roger Kahn, Peter Gammons, and Dan Okrent. Plus a special treat: a brief reminiscence of the immortal Red Smith by his teammate on the All-Time Great-Writers Team, Bob Broeg. Two of the national pastimes oldest skills are also its most overlooked. Jack Carlson and Frank Boslett analyze what Bill Curran has to say about defense in Mitts, and what Kevin Kerrane learned about putting the Dollar Sign on the Muscle. Most of us started loving baseball at an early age, and most remember the almost sinfully delicious feeling when we discovered that we could actually read about it, too. Thats why this issue takes a special three-way look at those early books that first forged the magical link between the game and the imagination for many of us. Leverett Smith overviews what juvenile baseball literature has been about since its beginnings. Jack Kavanagh tells us about a star, Baseball Joe Matson, who lasted 16 years (and outlasted a writer or two). Next, Phil Bergen takes an in-depth look at how the works of John R. Tunis were clues to our societys mores, from pre-World War II to the Vietnam conflict. Since much of the best of baseball writing occurs in shorter pieces, the anthology has long been a staple of baseball readers libraries. Tom Jozwik looks at one of the newest, The Armchair Book of Baseball, edited by John Thorn, and has the audacity to compare it to Charles Einsteins Fireside Books. Thats a tough league to hit in. SABR researchers will be happy to hear about a new book that compiles baseball bibliographies in one volume for the first time. David Porter previews his Dictionary of American Sport Biography: Baseball. In addition to single-book reviews, The SABR Review will also take on larger subjects. In this go-round, there are three great ones. First, if youve ever wanted to know which books tell the real story of Negro League baseball, youll find out in the Jules Tygiels essay, The Negro Leagues Revisited. Mark Gallagher analyzes how the Yankees have served as fodder for baseball literature in a special way for a long time. And graphic specialist Mark Rucker looks at the more important illustrated works of baseball history, all the way back to 1831 (!) A feature well make a regular member of The SABR Reviews lineup is Personal Favorites. In this issue, Darrell Berger sees Pat Jordans A False Spring as baseballs beat (as in Kerouac) epic. Another feature well continue is the phone survey. This time around we talked to people whose books we read to ask the deceptively simple question: What baseball book do you return to most often? Of course, they all answered The Macmillan Encyclopedia. But after probing Leonard Koppett, Lawrence Ritter, Peter Palmer, and some others had some intriguing things to say.