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100 Years of Who's Who in Baseball
In celebration of the 100th issue of Who’s Who in Baseball—one of the game’s most venerable publications—comes a century's worth of the annual's iconic covers, insightful breakdowns of the players featured on those covers, and informative accounts of the baseball history tied to each year’s issue.
100 Years of Who’s Who in Baseball is a colorful, must-have book of baseball nostalgia for fans of the American Pastime.
The start of the baseball season brings with it a host of annual traditions and reminders, and one of the most beloved—the annual Who’s Who in Baseball—arrives on newsstands across the country every Spring Training. The 2015 season marks 100 years of Who’s Who delivering year-by-year stats to generations of baseball fans to quickly and easily track a player’s performance from the minors to the majors. And while Who’s Who is trusted as an authoritative source of baseball statistics and has been used by generations of club executives, broadcasters, journalists, and fans—it’s the publication’s cover subject that each year generates as much hot-stove speculation and buzz as off-season rumors of trades, firings, and pitching rotations.
In partnership with Who’s Who in Baseball, this celebratory book features each of the annual's 100 iconic covers in full color along with an account of why the player rated the cover and what was going on in baseball at the time. From baseball’s deadball era to the dawn of “replay review,” this collection offers a gorgeously illustrated history of the game.
100 Years of Who’s Who in Baseball is a colorful, must-have book of baseball nostalgia for fans of the American Pastime.
The start of the baseball season brings with it a host of annual traditions and reminders, and one of the most beloved—the annual Who’s Who in Baseball—arrives on newsstands across the country every Spring Training. The 2015 season marks 100 years of Who’s Who delivering year-by-year stats to generations of baseball fans to quickly and easily track a player’s performance from the minors to the majors. And while Who’s Who is trusted as an authoritative source of baseball statistics and has been used by generations of club executives, broadcasters, journalists, and fans—it’s the publication’s cover subject that each year generates as much hot-stove speculation and buzz as off-season rumors of trades, firings, and pitching rotations.
In partnership with Who’s Who in Baseball, this celebratory book features each of the annual's 100 iconic covers in full color along with an account of why the player rated the cover and what was going on in baseball at the time. From baseball’s deadball era to the dawn of “replay review,” this collection offers a gorgeously illustrated history of the game.
- GenresBaseballSportsNonfiction
216 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 19, 2015
A nice retrospective on a long-time resource that fans will find useful. I have been buying each year's edition of "Who's Who in Baseball" starting in the early 1960s. It has always been a publication that I look forward to.
And getting an impression of each volume from the first one to the present seems almost unbelievable to know that this has been 100 years old! It is rather interesting to read of each issue. There is a description of the player on the cover in a handful of pages--and also a brief description of some key events during the particular year. There's not a lot of detail, but enough to give a sense of what happened each year.
It was also intriguing that so many of those who appeared on the cover ended up in the Hall of Fame. Not sure that I would have guessed that.
All in all, then, a lot of fun. For what it is, it is a nice publication.
And getting an impression of each volume from the first one to the present seems almost unbelievable to know that this has been 100 years old! It is rather interesting to read of each issue. There is a description of the player on the cover in a handful of pages--and also a brief description of some key events during the particular year. There's not a lot of detail, but enough to give a sense of what happened each year.
It was also intriguing that so many of those who appeared on the cover ended up in the Hall of Fame. Not sure that I would have guessed that.
All in all, then, a lot of fun. For what it is, it is a nice publication.
October 15, 2023
There are fewer better reflections of the unbridled racism that has infected the sport than this collection of annual covers from Who's Who in Baseball (WWB) this "baseball bible."
I spent a good deal of time reviewing the reproductions of the cover of each issue to see who was high-lighted.
A few of the low lights of these high lights:
1. The 1948 version mentions the debut of Jackie Robinson and his receipt of the Rookie of the Year Award but...no picture on the cover. The magazine does, however, without any apparent irony, mention the fact that Robinson did appear on the cover of Time!
2. 1965! The first time a non-white player (actually 2 this time, Juan Marichal and Tony Oliva) appears on the cover, 17 years after Robinson's debut and 9 years after his retirement from baseball. Never a single cover photo of the most important player in baseball history...
WWB notes, again without apparent irony, that this is the first cover with more than 2 players on it, 5 in all, 3 white, in addition to Marichal and Oliva. The magazine further notes that Marichal and Oliva are "Hispanic" rather than "black." (See below). Perhaps they needed to assure the ratio and descriptions remained "appropriate."
3. 1966!! Finally, Willie Mays which the magazine without apology acknowledges is the "first 'African American' to appear on the cover" (along, of course, with 4 other players).
4. When multiple players are included on the cover, WWB shows one of them in a larger photo than the others. 1975 was the first time a black player was provided that "starring role." Congrats Lou Brock. Shame on WWB.
5. Finally, 1978. The first time there's a black player (actually 2!) and no whites. George Foster and Rod Carew. It does note, however, that Carew "was born on a moving train in the Panama Canal Zone." So he's an African American with a Latin American twist, I guess? Why that made its way into his description beats me.
Well, there you go.
1 star for actual intent, 5 stars for unintentional history.
I spent a good deal of time reviewing the reproductions of the cover of each issue to see who was high-lighted.
A few of the low lights of these high lights:
1. The 1948 version mentions the debut of Jackie Robinson and his receipt of the Rookie of the Year Award but...no picture on the cover. The magazine does, however, without any apparent irony, mention the fact that Robinson did appear on the cover of Time!
2. 1965! The first time a non-white player (actually 2 this time, Juan Marichal and Tony Oliva) appears on the cover, 17 years after Robinson's debut and 9 years after his retirement from baseball. Never a single cover photo of the most important player in baseball history...
WWB notes, again without apparent irony, that this is the first cover with more than 2 players on it, 5 in all, 3 white, in addition to Marichal and Oliva. The magazine further notes that Marichal and Oliva are "Hispanic" rather than "black." (See below). Perhaps they needed to assure the ratio and descriptions remained "appropriate."
3. 1966!! Finally, Willie Mays which the magazine without apology acknowledges is the "first 'African American' to appear on the cover" (along, of course, with 4 other players).
4. When multiple players are included on the cover, WWB shows one of them in a larger photo than the others. 1975 was the first time a black player was provided that "starring role." Congrats Lou Brock. Shame on WWB.
5. Finally, 1978. The first time there's a black player (actually 2!) and no whites. George Foster and Rod Carew. It does note, however, that Carew "was born on a moving train in the Panama Canal Zone." So he's an African American with a Latin American twist, I guess? Why that made its way into his description beats me.
Well, there you go.
1 star for actual intent, 5 stars for unintentional history.
November 21, 2021
When I was young and in bed with the flu, my dad brought home a copy of Who's Who in Baseball for me. I was hooked immediately. I have every copy since. So, I really liked this book. BUT, there are a lot of typos/factual errors in the book. And the text accompanying each year's cover is very sparse some years. I'll give it 4 stars because of my emotional connection to the annual. But I won't argue with people who give it 3 (or even 2) stars. It could have, and should have, been much better.
October 24, 2015
I collect old Who's Who In Baseball magazines so this book was of definite interest to me. I have all but two magazines from 1926-2015. I didn't give this book 5 stars for two reasons. First, it is loaded with typos and innaccurate comments about the players records. They really could have used a good proofreader. Secondly, they could have done more. There is a picture of every cover and a biographical write-up of every player featured on the cover. Why didn't they add a page or two to every year with those players stats listed? Just having the covers does not entail what Who's Who is really about: THE STATISTICAL RECORDS. Still, without that this book is made for a collector like me.
June 19, 2015
Fun read about the past 100 years of this annual sports magazine, with all the bits of trivia...hint: Henry Aaron never adorned the cover of Who's Who...and the magazine only started listing individual HR data in 1940!
May 3, 2023
As an Australian, it is interesting to see a US publication that has the same authority as the cricketing "Wisden". The artwork is excellent, and the choice of a 'generic player' for 1929 was something I didn't expect to see.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews