Baseball anyone?!

Baseball is often called America’s pastime. For over one hundred years, people of all ages have enjoyed this popular team sport. With all of its popularity it isn’t surprising to find a large number of books for youth that chronicle its history, players, and rules. In the selections below you will also find books that incorporate fantasy and fiction about the game. Fairies, werewolves, and time travel offer a slightly different approach to baseball that still respects its reputation for fair play. Enjoy some summer time reading about baseball that provides information, biographies, and a little fun. Batter up!

Fiction:

Chabon, Michael.
Summerland. 2002.
Ethan Feld, the worst baseball player in the history of the game, finds himself recruited by a 100-year-old scout to help a band of fairies triumph over an ancient enemy.
[Education S-Collection: S.C342s]

Garfield, Henry.
Tartabull’s Throw. 2001.
In 1967 an encounter with a mysterious young woman from Maine involves a nineteen-year-old baseball player in an investigation of a vicious, murderous werewolf. This book blends fantasy and baseball for older teens.
[Education Storage: S.G18t]

Gutman, Dan.
Honus & Me: a Baseball Card Adventure. 1997.
Joey, who loves baseball but is not very good at it, finds a valuable 1909 Honus Wagner card and travels back in time to meet Honus.
[Education Storage: S.G985h]

Lupica, Mike.
Heat. 2006.
Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from playing Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only twelve years old and he has no parents to offer them proof.
[Education S-Collection: S. L973h]

Ritter, John H.
The Boy Who Saved Baseball. 2003.
The fate of a small California town rests on the outcome of one baseball game, and Tom Gallagher hopes to lead his team to victory with the secrets of the now disgraced player, Dante Del Gato.
[Education S-Collection: S.R514b]

Shannon, David.
How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball. 1994.
After Boss outlaws baseball in America, spring stops coming–until a young boy beats the tyrant at his own game.
[Education Storage: SE. SH194H]
Biographies:

Adler, David A.
Satchel Paige: don’t look back. 2007.
Satchel Paige was one of the greatest pitchers in baseball. Take a look at his life and his struggle to be accepted into the major league.
[Education S-Collection: Q.SB.P143a]

Hopkinson, Deborah.
Girl Wonder: A Baseball Story in Nine Innings. 2003.
In the early 1900s, Alta Weiss, a young woman who knows from an early age that she loves baseball, finds a way to show that she can play, even though she is a girl.
[Center for Children’s Books: Q. SE. H777g]

McDonough, Yona Zeldis.
Hammerin’ Hank: The Life of Hank Greenberg. 2006.
Meet one of America’s earliest Jewish-American heroes. The 1930s were a time when “outsiders” were not welcome in Major League Baseball. Henry Benjamin Greenberg began as one of those outsiders, but went on to become one of baseball’s greatest right-handed batters.
[Education S-Collection: SB. G798m]

Wise, Bill.
Louis Sockalexis: Native American Baseball Pioneer. 2007.
A biography of Penobscot Indian Louis Sockalexis, who pursued his childhood love of baseball and eventually joined the Major Leagues, where he faced racism and discrimination with humility and courage as the first Native American to play professional baseball.
[Education S-Collection: SB. S6789w]

Winter, Jonah
Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates. 2005.
Spare, evocative language — and magnificent illustrations — tell the story of a great athlete and even greater man who rose through the ranks of baseball to become one of the most admired players of all time.
[Education S-Collection: Q. SB. C626wi]
General Nonfiction:

Cho, Alan
World Series. 2008.
This book includes important highlights of the World Series and information on aspects of the game such as the design of the playing field and the equipment used in baseball.
[Education S Collection: S.796.357646 C451w]

Curlee, Lynn.
Ballpark: The Story of America’s Baseball Fields. 2005.
From the first ballpark converted from an ice rink in 1862 to the space-aged Houston Astrodome to the league’s newest state-of-the-art stadiums, this book tells the history of baseball through its ballparks.
[Center for Children’s Books: Q. S.796.357 C928b]

Gibbons, Gail
My Baseball Book. 2000.
An introduction to baseball, describing the equipment, playing field, rules, players, and process of the game that is aimed at younger children.
[Education Storage: S.796.357 G352m]

Kelley, James
Baseball. 2000.
Text and detailed photographs present the history, techniques, and interesting facts of baseball. Part of the DK Eyewitness Books Series.
[Education S-Collection: Q. S.796.357 K287b]

Macy, Sue
A Whole New Ballgame: The Story of the all-American Girls Professional Baseball League. 1993.
Describes the activities of the members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the women’s professional baseball league that existed between 1943 and 1954.
[Education Storage: S.796.357 M259W]

Rosenthal, Paul.
America at Bat: Baseball Stuff & Stories. 2002.
Examines how the game of baseball has evolved over the years and become woven into American culture and traditions, highlights baseball heroes, and presents trivia questions.
[Education S-Collection: S.796.357 R727a]

Weatherford, Carole Boston.
A Negro League Scrapbook
. 2005.
A history of the Negro Leagues which includes brief biographical sketches of notable players. With numerous photographs.
[Education S-Collection: Q. S.796.357 W378n]
On the Web:

Major League Baseball
The official site of Major League Baseball includes links to team websites, the current schedule, audio, video, and much more.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Includes photographs and video biographies on hall of famers, video highlights of important moments in baseball, and online museum exhibits.

Baseball-Reference
Contains historical and current statistics on players, teams, managers, and games. A comprehensive and through source.