The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time

by Lawrence S. Ritter, Donald Honig

An illustrated history of baseball provides the selected top players' records and statistics, makes an evaluation of each player and his era, and includes short player biographies

Genres: Baseball

273 pages, Hardcover

First published June 4, 1986

Reviews

[Josh Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book as research into the earlier days of baseball, and it did not disappoint! It was fascinating to read two experts' take on the best players in baseball history 30 years ago, before Clemens, Maddux, Bonds and many others would join the conversation. Ritter and Honig do a good job picking their top 100 and defending their choices (though I would of course have quibbles with some selections).

I would recommend this book if you are interested in baseball history. It is not particularly in-depth-some players only have about 3/4 of a page devoted to them-but it is not designed to be. The value of the book lies in its historical perspective, and somewhat surprisingly, the great old photos that fill its pages.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book nearly 30 years ago and remember it as being a very well written summary of the 100 greats.

The authors are very well known for their specialty on the late 19th century stars. As a result there were probably too many players selected prior to the merger in 1903 — the start of what he call the modern baseball era — for my liking.

4 stars. I wish I had kept the book but with the passage of thirty years I suspect it would feel even more dated than it did when it was published. Nonetheless Ritter and Honig were solid writers, knew their material and good historians.

[Chris King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, everyone needs to know these stories.