Rick Finally Re-read a Book

Ever since I can remember, I have spent my allowance money on books and records (later, cassettes and then with a real job ... compact discs, but all that's irrelevant) and have never regretted any book purchased. What I do regret is that I seldom re-read books. I'll often check out certain parts or whatever, but never really re-read (except John Grisham books ... great to read again) any.

I told you about Management by Baseball earlier in the summer. It's a solid book which I'm re-reading/finishing reading right now. It provides great insight to leadership/management and as school has just begun (i.e. students and teachers are back) it's good to re-think your thought process. The author, Jeff Angus, even has a blog. I've been marking pages and highlighting certain things, but this baseball book got me thinking ... I've been buying baseball books for a long, long time.

One of my favorite books is Baseball Babylon. I re-read several chapters, mostly those about Babe Ruth and his VORACIOUS appetite. I won't go into detail, but how does an 18-egg omelet sound to you? His appetite went beyond food ... it seems there wasn't a vice that Mr. Ruth didn't find worth his while. The author, Dan Gutman, has been around for a while. As I was looking at his name, I kept thinking, "Wow, this guy's name sounds familiar." Then, I went to his web site. For the past several years, I have studied the book Honus and Me with sixth graders at Central Montcalm Upper Elementary School. It's pretty crazy that he would write on the two different levels: one for adults and one for kids. (Maybe I'll start another blog ...) And get this ... in 1992 (when the book came out) and Jose Canseco was in the middle of his career, Gutman suggested (with little evidence) that Canseco AND Len Dykstra were involved in steroids and/or (the new thing at the time) human growth hormone.

Another interesting baseball book is The Greatest Stories Ever Told (About Baseball). Kevin Nelson wrote it and he really gets into the meat of some baseball history. He comes right out and says that he isn't into baseball stats, so don't expect anything like that in his book. He doesn't dwell on stats, he discusses the people who make the game what it is and always has been. Back to the Babe: "Tris Speaker once claimed that Ruth was a fool to give up pitching for the hardships of everyday playing. 'Working one a week, he might have lasted a long time and become a great star.'" Funny stuff.

Finally, Daniel Okrent and Steve Wulf's great ode to baseball, Baseball Anecdotes is pretty good reading. Okrent actually helped establish fantasy baseball by co-inventing Rotisserie Baseball in the late 1970s. This book is billed as a "lavish feast of baseball facts and legends from the earliest organized games through the present day." Good stuff ... it delves again into the people, not the stats. Ironic, considering the author was into statistics.

Thanks for listening to my ramble about great baseball books! It's not so much that they're about the sport but about the people. And that's the cool thing about it!

(*for good measure: Eat 'em up, Tigers. Eat 'em up!)