Chicago's Wrigley Field (Image Credit) |
As Spring Training
comes to an end and the 2021 baseball season begins, we look forward to
seeing our favorite players and teams, and reflect back on past favorites.
We will miss the ones who have retired (like Mariano Rivera, the marvelous
'closer' on the pitching staff for the Yankees). If you're like me, you
find the lives of these men as fascinating and interesting as their
baseball careers have been and might wonder what their stories were.
Luckily for us, there are a wealth of baseball books available, written
by and about pitchers, position players, managers and sports announcers
which put all the excitement of their careers in baseball on printed pages
between the covers! I'm reading one right now about 'retired' St. Louis
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. The book (One Last Strike) focuses on just a small section of Tony's career (specifically his
final season of 2011 and the magical comeback of a team that refused to
give up). Once you get interested in reading about a specific player, you
find all sorts of fun 'tidbits' of information. For instance, I bet you
didn't know that Tony La Russa became a vegetarian – and why.
As a
baseball fan
I'm looking for reviews of baseball books you have read and recommend for
all us 'fans' who want to learn more about these 'Boys of Summer'. If you
write a review, leave me a link in the comments and I may feature it in an
upcoming post.
Books such as "The Science of Hitting" by Ted Williams. Did you know that in 1935, Lovell Haskins Peirce, a physics professor at San Diego State University, had Ted in his physics class where the professor gave a lesson on the physics of hitting a baseball? Ted Williams went on to become the last hitter to top a .400 batting average in a season.
The Science of Hitting
(c) Elf - My treasured baseball signed by Joe Torre |
Now that Spring Training has ended, let's get ready to Play
Ball.
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