Best Baseball Movies? Best Baseball Books?

[Mike_2007]

Who wrote On Days Like This?

[offsidewing]

Who wrote On Days Like This?

Dan Quisenberry. Yes, that Dan Quisenberry.

It's a book of poems he wrote, roughly half of which are about baseball. Read the book knowing it was published shorty before Quizzie died from brain cancer.

It's up there for me, along with Yogi Berra's I really didn't say everything I said.

[Mike_2007]

Thanks - I learned something new!

[Moonlight Graham]

Thanks for the link Cowboy, I didn't know any of this.

[Cusser]

I like "It Happens Every Spring" a lot. Maybe because I'm a chemist.

I like a lot of the baseball films. Bull Durham (only seen once), Field of Dreams, For Love of the Game.

Safe at Home: wonder how much that record album is worth????

[mittmutt]

I just finished reading/watching Unhittable, a documentary about pitchers from the beginning of pro baseball. It was interesting with bio's and stories of all the greats and some not so greats. It also has some informative history about other aspects of the game. I enjoyed it as a learning tool but it's not what I would consider entertaining.

[Catch2575]

link (deleted)

[vintagebrett]

Just finished a good baseball book I think you all would enjoy = The Best Game Ever by Jim Reisler. It is solely about game 7 of the 1960 World Series. Really interesting tidbits about the players involved - baseball was truly a different sport at this time - I really got a kick out of the players working offseason jobs.

[h2o-x]

If you have any kids in your lives, you may want to gift them with the book, We Are The Ship, by Kadir Nelson. It is about the negro leagues and is beautifully written and illustrated. I bought a copy for my 5th grade class this year and my students loved it. I had meant the book for my sons and brought it into school because we talk about and play baseball often in my class, but I had to buy a second copy for home when I saw how valued it was in the classroom.

I also show The Rookie to my classes every year. I think it carries a great message and depicts several valuable character traits for my students.

Besides The Rookie, my personal favorite baseball movies are:
A League of Their Own, The Natural, Eight Men Out, The Bad News Bears, Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, and Long Gone. The latter is came out when I was in college back in the mid 80's. It stars Viginia Madsen and William Peterson. It's about a 50's minor league team. It's great!

[MTGLOVEGUY]

top five movies in no particular order, bull durham, major league, the sand lot, field of dreams, and eight men out.

[vintagebrett]

Two more books to add to your summer reading lists:
Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History by Cait N. Murphy
This book was a lot of run to read and I learned a lot from it. Baseball at the beginning of the 20th century was a lot different than it is today and so were the players. Some of the stories are sad, some are gut-busting funny. Definitely check it out.

The Card: Collectors, Con Men, and the True Story of History's Most Desired Baseball Card by Michael O'Keefe
Interesting read to say the least. O'Keefe definitely has an ax to grind and he does it well. If nothing else, it's entertaining and shows the dark side of the collecting world.