New and Novel: Baseball Reads

Baseball is a nostalgic sport. Its glories are in the past, the thinking goes. You should have seen Ted’s swing. Jim Palmer, now there was a pitcher. The same could be said for the game’s literature. The old books tend to loom the largest. Jim Boulton’s Ball Four is a Book of the Century, according to the New York Public Library. Summer of ’49 and October 1964 were penned by David Halberstam, the Pulitzer Prize-winner who gave us definitive accounts of Vietnam, the Kennedy Administration, and just about every seminal moment of post-war America. And then there’s Bernard Malamud and The Natural. What novel has a better claim to a place in the American canon?  
~Dwyer Murphy, "10 Contemporary Baseball Books for the New Season"

Play ball! The MLB opening day was Sunday, April 3rd. The 30 teams of the National and American Leagues kicked off the season with a World Series rematch between the Mets and the Royals (Kansas City won again). Locally, the Albuquerque Isotopes season opener was Friday, April 15th. For a schedule of games, check their website.

If you are a baseball fan, you probably know all this. But did you know that you can sign up to join "MLB Singles" at Match.com? Have you taken the quiz to see "which adorable baseball pet you are"? (We're David Price's dog, Astro.) All these activities, plus news and the fantasy league, are available at the MLB website!

But hey, here at the library we have baseball-related items for you, too! Check out our list of new & novel baseball-themed books for all ages. As the Booklist Reader's article about baseball romance novels proclaims, "If you’re looking for a home run of a read...we’ve got just the thing."

Fiction

Bucky F*cking Dent by David Duchovny

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

The Setup Man by T. T. Monday

House of Daniel by Harry Turtledove

The Might-Have-Been by Joseph M. Schuster

Romance

Back in the Game by Lori Wilde

Angels Walking by Karen Kingsbury 

Double Play by Jill Shalvis 

Fireside by Susan Wiggs [eBook] 

Let Me Be The One by Bella Andre 

All of Me by Jennifer Bernard 

Meet Me At the Beach by V. K. Sykes 

No One Like You by Kate Angell 

Playing for Keeps by LuAnn McLane 

The Sweet Spot by Stephanie Evanovich

 

Non-Fiction 

The Selling of the Babe: The Deal That Changed Baseball and Created a Legend by Glenn Stout

The Cardinals Way: How One Team Embraced Tradition and Moneyball at the Same Time by Howard Megdal 

Baseball Maverick: How Sandy Alderson Revolutionized Baseball and Revived the Mets by Steve Kettmann

The Journey Home: My Life in Pinstripes by Jorge Posada with Gary Brozek

The Game Must Go On: Hank Greenberg, Pete Gray, and the Great Days of Baseball on the Home Front in WWII by John Klima

Knuckleball: The History of the Unhittable Pitch by Lew Freedman 

Havana Hardball: Spring Training, Jackie Robinson, and the Cuban League by César Brioso

The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood by Jane Leavy

Where Nobody Knows Your Name: Life in the Minor Leagues of Baseball by John Feinstein 

The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Macorís by Mark Kurlansky 

Playing America's Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line by Adrian Burgos, Jr [eBook]

For Kids

The Hero Two Doors Down: Based on the True Story of Friendship Between a Boy and a Baseball legend by Sharon Robinson

Remember My Name: My Story, From First Pitch to Game Changer by Mo'ne Davis; with Hilary Beard

The Contract by Derek Jeter; with Paul Mantell 

Soar by Joan Bauer

The Closer by Cal Ripken, Jr.

Heart of a Champion by Ellen Schwartz

The Fenway Foul-Up by David A. Kelly

Game Seven by Paul Volponi [YA]