Classic Baseball Stories: Twenty-two Legendary Stories from the Diamond

by Jeff Silverman

Relive the golden era of baseball with these timeless pieces.

Genres: Sports, Baseball

290 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2003

Reviews

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of 22 classic stories, essays, and poems about baseball. These date from the 1860s up until 1920 and include such authors as Ring Lardner, Damon Runyon, Zane Grey, and P.G. Wodehouse. The collection also includes articles by baseball greats Christy Mathewson and Grover Cleveland Alexander.

This was kind of a mixed bag for me but I did enjoy much of it especially the stories by Ring Lardner, Zane Grey, and Charles Van Loan which included a lot of humor. The story by Lardner, "My Roomy," is about a ball player who can hit the ball out of the park but is lousy at fielding. He also is a very quirky person who runs the bathtub and shaves in the middle of the night along with some awful singing. "His Own Stuff" by Charles Van Loan is about a practical joker who gets his comeuppance. And the Zane Grey story is about a ball player who gets married and spends his honeymoon on the road with the team.

There is also the classic poem "Casey at the Bat" and its sequel that I had never heard of "Casey's Revenge." There are also some good nonfictional pieces including "Why Baseball Has Become Our National Game" by Albert Spaulding and "The Color Line" by Sol White that argues for inclusion of black players in baseball going back to the 1880s. There is also a discussion of jinxes by Christy Mathewson and one of my favorite pieces, "A Whale of a Pastime" by Brig. General Frederick Funston about baseball being played on the ice in the Arctic among a group of whalers. Overall, I would recommend this to any baseball fan.

[Albert Meier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected a collection of colorful accounts about ballplayers of yore. What I got was even better. A combination of fiction and fact, Silverman has gathered the historic and foundational stories of baseball. It is a book of primary source documents for the sport. You have the poem Casey at the Bat and an essay by Spaulding (yes, that Spaulding) about why baseball is the American pasttime. You have tale woven by Zane Grey and PG Wodehouse, an pre-war essay about the color barrier and a post-world series article about the Black Soxs. I loved it.

The only knock on the book was the lack of introductions to each story. Even a paragraph would have helped me better understand the time period of the story, the characters involved (if real) and its significance in the history of the game.

[Brent Soderstrum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like any compilation of short stories there are some good ones and some bad ones. I enjoyed the ones by Christy Mathewsen and Grover Cleveland Alexander. Also never knew there was a sequel to Casey at the Bat entitled Casey's Revenge. These are all short stories and writings from 1880-1920. Things were definetely a lot simpler back then. Worth the read.

[Marshaferz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, old time baseball stories. Uneven, but worth it for a die-hard fan.

[Zack · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of baseball stories from the past. Many of them of the minor leagues or old negro leagues. Not a bad selection for a baseball fan.