Book Recommendations

Fiction or non?

My favorite is The Machine, by Joe Posnanski.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

Fiction or non?

Both. I’ve read some great informational ones like Ted Williams Science of Hitting, the Mental Game of Baseball, etc.

Swing Kings

How to hit 400 by Charlie Lau

Bob

John Grisham wrote a sports book “Playing for Pizza” maybe based on my life.

Bob

The Last Kid(Biography of Mickey Mantle)

The Closer( Written by Mariano Rivera).

For learning strategy of the game, getting an understanding "why" or the game within the game, Baseball Playbook by Ron Polk. It's a lot of X's and O's but I thought it was very interesting to read and also compare it to what I was taught in college and how I was coaching now.

Mississippi Wind (fiction) by Dennis Patterson. Dennis was a very good college baseball player who played some independent pro ball. His book is about young baseball talent, baseball, redemption, spiritual warfare, and Jesus. Great book for a high school baseball player

Intangibles by Geoff Miller. Very different take on the mental game compared to other books which makes it refreshing.

If you like stats:
The Book: Playing The Percentages In Baseball by Tom Tango, Mitchel Lichtman, Andrew Dolphin
Smart Baseball by Keith Law

similar thread:
https://community.hsbaseballweb.com/topic/good-reads

Green Light Hitting by Kyle Wagner.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. It's fiction, but as someone who never really played a sport, it really helped me to understand the mental challenges of the game. And it's a fun read. I go back to it at the beginning of every baseball season.

The Bullpen Gospels - by Dirk Hayhurst (nonfiction), Dirk summarizes with a fair amount of comedy his journey to/in pro baseball.  He lays it on the line.  His second book is also good.  I made my son read it.  This book started as a weekly (monthly?) column for Baseball America, I believe.

Beyond Belief - by Josh Hamilton - Lays it on the line in a different way than Hayhurst.  I made my son read this one, too.  If my son was going in to pro ball, he may as well go in with his eyes wide open.

Senior Year - by Boston Globe sports writer Dan Shaughnessy.  Chronicle's his own son's baseball recruitment.

I liked Hayhurst's second book, Out of my League, the best.  His description of getting called up is so well-written.  It's a book about success and failure; I wish he would write a PG version for kids.