What could have been a three-run homer ends up a strikeout in this disappointing collective biography of contemporary players, managers, and teams from the collaborators behind The Macmillan Book of Baseball Stories (1993). While their hearts are definitely in the right place (not just in the matter of baseball—they also sing the praises of librarians and dwell on the joys of research), the authors let their fans down with clichÇd phrasing—``When Mo [Vaughn] talked, they listened. He spoke the language of hope''; obvious didacticism—``You need talent. You need hard work. And you need a little luck''; and sentimentality—``for Cal Ripken baseball was much more than a job. It was his love. Ever since he was a kid, he couldn't wait for the next game to begin.'' Readers looking for the stories-beyond-the-headlines of these genuine heroes—including the cheery ``designated fireplug,'' Kirby Puckett, the remarkable Alou family, the one-handed pitcher Jim Abbott—will find little here to take home. (Biography. 8-12) Read full book review >

Two of these authors are journalists, and the training shows in this collection of tidy, conventional human-interest stories. The two- to four-page anecdotes are arranged thematically—``We Are Family'' (the Griffeys, the Clementes, the '79 Pirates); ``Doing the Right Thing'' (``Going to Bat for America: A Tip of the Cap to Ted Williams''); ``Hard Times'' (``Roger Maris: Alone in a Crowd''); etc. They range through baseball's history, featuring sound-bite quotes, dramatic turns of phrase, and Lessons writ large (``We...wanted a book that had `family values' built into the foundation of each story''). These are as easily read, and as intellectually nourishing, as sports-page newspaper columns (which they could be, though there's no evidence of prior publication). At best, a supplementary purchase. Lawrence Ritter's The Story of Baseball (1990) offers a more coherent view of the sport's history, players, attractions, and shining moments. B&w photos. (Nonfiction. 10-12) Read full book review >