Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales From The Diamond Paperback – January 1, 2004

I don't know if these are truly the greatest baseball stories ever told, but they are certainly entertaining. I am a baseball fan, but I'm not especially learned in baseball history. These stories, all by a different author, have deepened my love for the game and engendered appreciation for the men who play the game, past and present. I admit up front that I am a die-hard Dodger fan. The chapter by Vin Scully on Sandy Kofax's perfect game gave me goose bumps. I learned my love of baseball from my father, so the chapter by Doris Kearns Goodwin was especially meaningful (brought tears to my eyes). She tells how her father taught her to keep a score book for the Brooklyn Dodger games, then relay to him, play by play the entire game when he came home from work. She tells how, when the score was close toward the end of a game, she had to ask her mother to take notes while she left the room because the anxiety was just too much to bear. I, too, have had to do this. Of course, the first chapter with Abbott and Costello's "Who's On First" is a classic whether you are a baseball fan or not. I enjoyed every page of this book and plan to pass it along to grandkids who also love the game of baseball.

What an amazing collection of baseball stories. The writers represent a virtual Murderers' Row of their craft: John Updike, Gay Talese, W.C. Heinz, Red Smith, Ring Lardner, the incomparable Roger Angell, even the former commissioner of baseball A.Bartlett Giamatti. Besides the classic profiles of Hall of Famers like Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and Cal Ripkin, the book is full of surprises -- like Vin Scully's call of the final inning of Sandy Koufax's perfect game, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin's account of how she used to keep score for her father when she was a kid, and a short story by Zane Gray, who, it turns out, played minor league baseball before making his name as one of the most popular writers of Western stories. My favorite story in the book was by a writer named Al Stump, who tells the crazy story of how Ty Cobb hired him to help Cobb write his autobiography. Two others that really captured the soul of the game were a beautiful essay built around an autographed ball from Mickey Mantle and a short story by the author of "Shoeless Joe," the novel that became the movie "Field of Dreams." This is one anthology that truly hit it out of the park for me.

A FEAST, A VERITABLE FEAST! I received this book on the 23rd of July, and I've been having a ball with it. Some of the stories are familiar to me because I've seen them elsewhere, but others are new. One of my favorites is the one about Yogi Berra and his connection, or lack of it, with yoga---however, I must mention two glaring omissions. The first is when the Yankees hired Bill Dickey to teach Berra how to catch; he said "Bill Dickey is learning me all his experience." Strictly speaking, this is not really a Yogi-ism; this usage was very common in Shakespeare's day, and if you read any of the plays you'll find this and other such vagaries of the English language. Second, nothing was mentioned about the fact that Mr. Berra was renowned as one of the best handlers of pitching staffs in either league. He knew his moundsmen as no one else could; he knew when a pitcher just needed a steadying hand and which one needed a good goosing to get him going. In any event, a most entertaining and enlightening read.

I gave this to a 12-year-old grandson and it seemed to get a very warm reception. A baseball fan through and through, I'm certain he will enjoy it a lot.

I took this book to the beach on vacation. These are short stories about baseball and the baseball world that prove for the 1000th time that baseball life and folklore is more interesting and enjoyable than any other sport. Not sure I would call them collectively, the "greatest" baseball stories ever told, however there are some good ones. They are all reprints of articles and stories published previously in magazines, newspapers, etc.

Purchase is for our son, who is a baseball fan. I'm sure he will love the stories here.

I grew up with a father who taught me to love baseball, and at 67 remember many of these players. This book brings back so many memories to share with my own grandchildren. I can sit and read this book for hours and never be bored by the stories of players who were so much a part of my life in Los Angeles. I recommend this book to anyone who loves the game.

My 18-year old cousin, who is a baseball player and fan, was totally into this as a Christmas gift last year. I had a hard time shopping for him because 18-year-old boys are just hard to shop for... but he really seemed to like this. He started reading stories immediately and spent a few hours with this book, even after opening up a bunch of video games :) Great gift for baseball fans, young and old!