Baseball As I Have Known It

by Fred Lieb, Lawrence S. Ritter (Introduction)

From Honus Wagner to Johnny Bench, Baseball As I Have Known It covers sixty-six seasons of America’s national sport. Fred Lieb, the dean of baseball writers, tells about its heroes, rogues, controversies, and grand plays. He broke in as a sportswriter in the Polo Grounds press box in 1911. In 1933, in the midst of the Depression, Lieb was fired from the New York Post and began a freelance career writing about his beloved sport. Baseball As I Have Known It , first published in 1977 when Lieb was eighty-nine years old, remains a vital record of a glorious bygone era. In superb style, he comments on changes in baseball over the decades and tells inside stories about great events and immortal players.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Nonfiction, Memoir

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 1977

About the author

Fred Lieb was an American sportswriter and baseball historian. In 1977, when he was 89 years old, Lieb published his memoirs, which documented his nearly 70 years as a baseball reporter. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Lieb died at age 92 in Houston, Texas.

Reviews

[Dave Estela · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an avid baseball fan for the past 50 years, I've read hundreds of books on the game. Biographies of notable stars like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, etc. by modern authors fill the shelves of bookstores and personal libraries, and I've read many of them. However, there's nothing like hearing personal anecdotes of these stars by someone who actually saw them in action and had personal conversations and relationships with them. Mr. Lieb started his newspaper reporting career in 1911 and met many of the early stars of the game. His descriptions of watching and reporting on World Series games of those early years are riveting. If you want to experience a glimpse of the very early years of the greatest game in the world, pick up and read this book!

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

In terms of historical accuracy, it has some flaws--fact-checking someone's memory wasn't what it was today in the '70s. However, if you ever want to know "what it was like" back in the early days of baseball, this book has the feel of the author being in the room, speaking directly to you about things he did and saw, most of which was nearly a century ago or more. It's a masterful, valuable memoir that any casual fan of the game's history should read.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most enjoyable books on the history of baseball I've read. The author experienced first hand baseball history as far back as the Black Sox and all the way through the late 1970's. If you're a fan of baseball history, see if you can find this title.

[Ron Kaplan · Rating 3 out of 5]

essays

[David Adamek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great old baseball stories. Dwelled a little long on some of his personal stories. I.e the Ty Cobb 400 controversy. Also, some of his observations are dated.