A Century of Baseball Lore

by John Thorn

A book on baseball - abundantly stocked with anecdotes about the game and its players. This book will take you back to its origins in the 19th century. You will share in the exuberance of those early days. Read of characters like Rube Waddell, Cy Young, Ty Cobb, and of course Babe Ruth.

Genres: Baseball, Sports

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

John Thorn has been the official historian for Major League Baseball since 2011.

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are many strange and funny baseball stories, so there is really no need to embellish the facts. Which is what is done here. The author also often engages in flowery dialog perhaps more suited to adolescent sports fiction. For example, on page 143, where the game between the Yankees and Indians was played on July 2, 1943, there is the sentence: “Then the Indians were sated and behaved like so many sleepy children.”
The most egregious example of embellishment to the level of falsehood occurs on pages 113-114. The title of the segment is “The Babe Calls His Shot.” It has Ruth deliberately pointing out towards center field in a gesture of where the ball was going to go and then hitting it there. This story has been debunked by all people that observed the action. Witness Frank Crosetti later stated emphatically that Ruth was simply raising a finger to point out that he had one more strike. His finger just happened to be pointing towards center field. Pitcher Charlie Root also said that Ruth did no such deliberate thing.
There are no doubt other significant modifications of the truth in these stories about the great game of baseball.

[Shelley Alongi · Rating 4 out of 5]

hello some funny moments and great stories harking back to the beginnings of baseball. It's interesting to see how the game has changed since its beginning. This is a good book to a "you are self with when you want to learn about past personalities and rules and how people view them

[David Hallstrom · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some really good tidbits in here - some so good the author repeats them - but the writing is cliched and trite which makes for a tiring read.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked this book because i love baseball! they mixed it up and gave a lot of stats but also fun stories. it had a lot of old names and stats that we just don't see anymore. i love history and baseball. good book

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book of baseball anecdotes. Resonates as well today as it did 30+ years ago.

[Edward D · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute treasure... a must for any true baseball fan !