Tales from the Dugout : The Greatest True Baseball Stories Ever Told

by Mike Shannon

Batter up--here comes the most memorable collection of anecdotes about the national pastime ever assembled. Tales from the Dugout brings together never-before-told stories from baseball personalities such as Roger Maris, Ken Griffey Jr., Pete Rose, Phil Rizzuto, and Gaylord Perry in this illustrated, one-of-a-kind compendium.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1997

Reviews

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Fun, Nostalgic Collection for Baseball Fans

Tales from the Dugout is a light, entertaining read packed with quirky anecdotes, behind-the-scenes stories, and memorable moments from the world of baseball. Mike Shannon does a great job capturing the charm, oddities, and humor that make the game more than just stats and scores.

From legendary players to little-known characters, the stories span eras and offer something for every fan—whether you’re a die-hard historian or just love a good baseball yarn. The tone is casual and fun, making it easy to pick up and read a few stories at a time.

It earns 4 stars instead of 5 because the book leans more on quantity than depth. Some stories are very short or lack context, and there’s not much narrative flow from one tale to the next. But that’s part of the charm—it feels like listening to a seasoned baseball insider tell stories at a bar or on a bus ride.

Perfect for lovers of the game who enjoy the colorful personalities and folklore that make baseball truly timeless.

[Jim Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book of true baseball stories.

[Brian Eshleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed these anecdotes particularly because so many of such stories seem to be frozen in the 50s or 60s. By contrast, these included many players I remember from "my" era of the late 80s and early 90s.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the baseball stories in this collection are good, they are not the greatest. I have been reading fiction and fact baseball books all my life and as a consequence have read stories about characters such as Dizzy Dean, Babe Herman, the entire Gas House Gang, Bill Veeck, and Satchel Paige. There have also been many dramatic moments in playoffs and the World Series.
With so many amusing and entertaining stories in the annals of baseball, this book just does not live up to the wording of the subtitle. For example, there is no mention of Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson.

[Quinn Lavender · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely would not call these "the greatest true baseball stories ever told" -- more like "the most stories I could get from whomever I came in contact with." The book is dated, no doubt -- who would've thought that nobody in 2017 was anxious to hear a story from Delino DeShields? Still, the stories are - more often than not - entertaining, and since they are told in individual blurbs and organized by player, it is a great, fun, easy read.

[David Meyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a couple of interesting (and all very short) stories, and then a lot of filler. It feels like the author didn't have enough to write a book and started throwing in anything he could find, including just mentioning that Seinfeld has had plot lines that involve the Yankees. I wasn't particularly impressed.

[Steve Schinke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some humorous anecdotes that I had not heard, but not much to recommend reading it.

[Raoul · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable book to listen to with interesting data and stories mostly related to baseball.

[Melvin Lance]

Enjoy hearing new stories about baseball greats.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't like baseball but this isn't so bad

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick, fun read. I imagine I would have liked it a lot more if I knew more about baseball.

[Katelyn King]

Katelyn King
November 5, 2016
English 10 - 1
Tales from the Dugout


Author's background
Mike Shannon writes a lot of baseball stories in this book he took some of the best baseball stores and put them together to make one whole book he writes a ton of different baseball baseball books and used to be a baseball player himself for the st louis cardinals


Literary Time Period
This book consists of many different stories from many different players so i'm not sure where all of them were written but since they are all baseball stories i'm assuming a lot of the stories were told around something that had to do with baseball


Setting
The setting in this book is the baseball field because these stories come from the time all these players played.


Characters
The characters in this book are all baseball players who tell their stories from the field some of them may include some of the greatest players such as Robert Connolly, Lou Gehrig, and Babe Ruth
Theme
My book doesn't really have a theme maybe it could be male reality


Plot Summary
One of the stories talks about the baseball players and some of their anger towards some of the fans and story goes like this… someone on the third base line was yelling crap about the third baseman so the third baseman walked up to the man and asked what his problem was and the guy never said anything later on the guy became the biggest fan of the third baseman and actually got pictures with him


Literary devices
This book shows symbolism and irony


Memorable Quotes
No one ever payed their way into a baseball game to watch bad umpires -tom gorman

[Rugg Ruggedo · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're a Cardinal fan,like I am, NO not that Mike Shannon! This one is the editor of Spitball:The Literary Baseball Magazine. He's also written several books on baseball. This one is a collection of anecdotes from some of the diamonds greatest and most memorable characters as re-told by Mr Shannon.
I'm a big fan of the game and every year,around opening day I dip into my library, or wander into a local book store and pick out a few baseball books to get me in the mood for the long season. This was one of my choices this year.
I have to say that,in spite of, having read a ton of baseball books, articles and just generally obsessing about this,my favorite, sport, there were many stories in here that I hadnt heard before. I think that newness was one of the things the author was shooting for, and most of the tales were gathered in person,in one to one interviews,so all are from the last fifty years of the game.
You'll find most of the big names covered here, and its light reading, you can pick it up and put it down as the mood fits, always finding something short and amusing to go to when you have a moment.
My personal preference for this kind of book is pre WW2 stories, I just like the stuff and people I never got to see more then those I have lived with,but like I said a lot here was new to me, and it did,in fact, get me in the mood for MLB 2014.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a warning this isn't the Mike Shannon from the Cardinals and former MLB player. He lets us know that right up from, but also going my Mike Shannon, instead of Michael Shannon is a little misleading when you know people will mistaken the book for him. That being said:

Exactly as described to a fault, the book is a collection of short short stories from baseball. At times you had to smile and laugh at some of the stories, but at other times I found myself struggling to finish the book considering the lack of direction and flow contained therein. Some really good stories that will make you smile, but its a book that you pick up and then set down and read over a period of time, not in one sitting.

Lastly, I liked the story about Yogi and potatoes in ND, since thats where I'm from. But if you're a writer and don't do your homework you lose a star in my book (East Grand Forks is in MN, not ND). Overall a solid CASUAL read for any avid baseball fan and entertaining.

[Rodger · Rating 3 out of 5]

a collection of baseball stories, none I had ever heard before, which is what he promises in the introduction.

There are a couple of really good ones, look up Thurman Munson if you are just perusing the book.

[John Orman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting stories and opinions in these essays written as told to the author by the subject person or someone who them well.

I liked the interviews with Yogi Berra, Koufax, Lasorda, Mantle, Maris, Mays--and Tom Selleck!

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audiobook. Disappointing. Thought I'd heard that this had a lot of great stories, but the vast majority were only mildly interesting. Didn't help that the audiobook reader sounded like a computer bot, and even mispronounced some names.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dated and not as special as Mike Shannon clearly thinks it is. But a fun quick read to open the season.

[Scott Seeland · Rating 4 out of 5]

not the greatest collection of stories but a good read

[Chris Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, quick read. Liked that some of the stories and personalities are not the "same old." Great read on a winter afternoon.

[Mark Widman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories lack a bit of background and miss the funny points.

[John Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very different book the what of us are used to reading. The book is filled with stories in side one big book. The stories are one’s most people have never heard of unless you are really into baseball. Tales of the Dugout is a nonfiction book that is pretty easy to read, but you may stumble on a few words. The book is two hundred and thirty pages long, which is a decent length if you are looking for a book to read. The author , Mike Shannon, seemed to do extensive research to find these stories about baseball players, managers, and clubs. The could have anything to do with baseball, however the stories never seemed boring. The stories aren’t really long which keeps you from getting bored of the story. As soon as i read the first story I knew this was going to be a very unique and interesting book. Many people are not going to read this book just because they don’t play baseball. I don’t play baseball and really enjoyed the book. If you are even into sports i recommend the book just because the stories are so interesting and unheard of. For example, there is as story about one player betting another that he can’t swim to the middle of the pond and back. It turns out that the player almost ends up drowning and realizes that the water is only up to his waist. These are some of the stories that made me laugh, this was probably my favorite story. This book was not like any other book i have read because it was stories inside of stories. I personally enjoy books like these because I love sports and want to know stories that a lot of people do not know. If you are like me then this is definitely the book i recommend for you. It really gives you a feel for what goes on in the baseball world that you don’t see out on the field. I think this book is for more teenagers and adults because some of the words little kids might not understand. The author really connected with my emotions and had the book to make you feels different ways. Some of the stories were funny, sad, interesting, and some even made you wonder how someone could do that. I thought the illustrations were a very cool element to the story even though they are not what the players looked like. The illustrations have their head blown up in size. These pictures grab your attention and make you stop and look at them. Overall this book was a wonderful and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys baseball or even just any kind of sport. Most of all the stories are unheard of, interesting, and keep you engaged because of the length. This is good book to read if you are a teenage boy or even an adult. This is probably the best sports book I have ever read and highly recommend it.