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 Kaplan’s diary of ’83 season, too. But we don’t forget the history, with reviews of the two latest books on two of baseball’s 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 pastime’s 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. That’s 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 society’s 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 Einstein’s Fireside Books. That’s 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...