Joe finds diamonds in the stacks...

'Been reading a lot about the bygone Negro baseball leagues lately, perhaps because this is the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson joining the Dodgers and pretty much dooming those leagues to history.

We've got in stock an excellent introduction to black baseball, Lawrence Hogan's Shades of Glory (Nat'l Geog.), in paperback. Not only does it chronicle, in welcome detail, the tortured chronology of black pro ball from the 19th Century to the aftermath of the busting of the big leagues' color line, but it highlights many black stars, most of whom never got the chance to play integrated ball.

We've also got a lovely little book titled Heroes of the Negro Leagues (Abrams), collecting between hardcovers a 1990 set of trading cards featuring fine watercolors by Mark Chiarello and  neat brief bios by Jack Morelli. A terrific bonus is included: a DVD of the moving and revelatory doc, Only the Ball Was White.

However, my favorite book on the topic is one we don't stock (but which we'll happily order for you--hint, hint!). (Indeed, it's the best baseball book I've read all year--and it's been a very good year for baseball books, with such great reads as Cait Murphy's Crazy '08, Jonathan Eig's Opening Day, John Heidenry's The Gashouse Gang, and Tom Adelman's Black and Blue.)

Joe Posnanski's The Soul of Baseball (Morrow) chronicles his year-long odyssey with the late, great 94-year-old Negro Leagues luminary (and longtime major league coach and scout) Buck O'Neil, as the latter spreads good will, innumerable hugs, priceless baseball stories, and undimmed love of the game. To Buck, despite the privations segregation imposed on him (not the least of which was being denied playing in the major leagues), life was a banquet. He had no time for bitterness or recriminations.  It's a heartwarming read, and not just for baseball fans.

For those of you in The Bronx who have set aside your Yankees cap for the duration of the World Series and have donned the red B, we have some books sure to satisfy members of Red Sox Nation.

Seth Mnookin's Feeding the Monster (Simon), which details the building of the Sox's curse-crushing 2004 Championship team, is simply, along with Michael Lewis' Moneyball, one of the best books about running a modern major league baseball franchise. Oh, sure, there are scenes from the field of play here, superbly rendered. But, the core of the book makes plain that pennants are won as much from November through March as they are when the umpire cries, "Play ball!"

The most powerful smile in the Red Sox clubhouse--and oh, yeah,
the most feared bat in their lineup--come from David Ortiz, and his literal rags-to-riches story is told in Big Papi (MacMillan), an as-told-to-title with Tony Massarotti. I'm not a big fan of as-told-to sports bios, which tend to be either bland or needlessly and crudely provocative--rarely any middle ground. But, Papi's apparently quite real sweet nature comes through here, and if you root for the big guy and the Sox, you'll enjoy the book.

See ya in the stacks!
Joe Pilla for Paperbacks Plus