good reader gone bad

In the wake of the Red Sox loss to the White Sox, I decided to revisit the past and read Bill Lee‘s autobiography, written with Dick Lally. Lee pitched for the Red Sox during the years that I became a baseball fan. This twenty-year old book is a breezy, amusing recollection of baseball in the seventies. Lee and Lally just wrote another book that will also go on my list of books to read.

Published in hardback by Viking Press. ISBN 0670767247

World War II vet Joseph Burke is a man who doesn’t care about anything. He agrees to be Jackie Robinson‘s bodyguard during his first year with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Protecting the ballplayer’s life, brings Burke back to life. Robert B. Parker has crafted a moving historical novel that is part crime novel and part homage to the golden age of baseball. A nice read.

Published in mass-market paperback by Penguin. ISBN 0425199630

The Red Sox won the 2004 World Series. Tim McCarney and Tom Deady blogged the 2004 Red Sox season. I read the book, a compilation of their blog entries, and started reading their blog this season. Required reading for Red Sox fans. Yankees suck.

Published in trade paperback by AiT/Planet Lar. ISBN 1-932051-39-2

A rookie with a 110 mile per hour fastball takes the Red Sox to the World Series and, oh, by the way, he might be a serial killer. David Ferrell wrote this sports noir novel. The back cover says “it’s as if Carl Hiaasen moved to Boston”. I don’t agree. Hiaasen’s characters, even the bad guys, are more appealing. This book was mildly entertaining, but the Sox didn’t need a serial killer to win a Series title.

Published in trade paperback by HarperCollins. ISBN 0060726008

It’s not easy being a baseball fan in New Mexico. The Triple-A Isotopes play in Albuquerque, but the nearest major leagues teams, the Rockies and Diamondbacks, are at least a six hour drive from my home. So I make do with DishTV and the occasional exceptional baseball book, like this biography by Jane Leavy.

Published in hardcover by HarperCollins. ISBN 0060195339

I’m not sure why, but this non-fiction tale about building an efficient baseball team was fascinating. Maybe the attention paid to supporting characters inside and outside of baseball by author Michael Lewis is what grabbed and held my interest.

Published in paperback by W. W. Norton. ISBN 0393324818