My 10 Favorite Sports Books: An Answer to the Sports Shutdown
Even if you don't read much, you may be inclined to open a sports book these days since live sports are non-existent at the moment. No March Madness. No NBA. No baseball. But there are books about all of them.
Jeff had his say Saturday on the best sports books he has read; now it's my turn to list my 10 favorite sports books. (We did not communicate regarding our selections, but four books on my list are also on his.)
Here is the definitive list, which are my favorites:
1. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (by Buzz Bissinger): Non-fiction at its best. This is a riveting portrayal of high school football in a Texas town. The profiles of the players are neatly tied to their fate after high school. It does not resemble the TV show or the movie of the same name – thankfully.
That takes us to my No. 2 book , and the rest of my top 10 sports books. See if you agree, or am I full of baloney?
2. BALL FOUR (by Jim Bouton): This book changed the way sports writers report on sports. Off-the-field behavior was suddenly not out of bounds. And it was funny as hell.
3. SHOELESS JOE (by W.P. Kinsella): That a Canadian could write one of the seminal books about the great American pastime is somewhat unsettling, but it was infinitely better than its movie offshoot, Field of Dreams. That movie commits the unforgivable sin of having Shoeless Joe Jackson bat right-handed. It's like Daniel Day-Lewis sporting a crew cut while portraying Abe Lincoln.
4. ARTHUR ASHE, A LIFE (by Raymond Arcenault): Like any biography, it drags at some points, but it is a worthwhile, honest appraisal of a tennis and social giant.
5. THE DEVIL AND SONNY LISTON (by Nick Tosches): Few sports figures are as intriguing as Sonny Liston, who was the more interesting participant in his fights with Muhammad Ali. Did you know that his first fight with Ali (then Cassius Clay) was dead even on the scorecards when Liston failed to come out for the seventh round? One judge had Clay ahead, one had Liston ahead, and the third had it even after six rounds.
6. SEABISCUIT: AN AMERICAN LEGEND (by Laura Hillenbrand): There’s a reason this was a New York Times No. 1 bestseller. Americans love an underdog story, even if it’s a horse.
7. ROBERTO CLEMENTE: THE PASSION AND GRACE OF BASEBALL’S LAST HERO (by Davis Maraniss): An inside look at being a Puerto Rican in an American game. I now shudder that we tried to call him “Bobby” Clemente, or that we described him as moody. The way he died is inspirational.
8. PERFECT: THE RISE AND FALL OF JOHN PACIOREK, BASEBALL’S GREATEST ONE-GAME WONDER (by Steven K. Wagner): The book is not well written or widely known. But I have always loved this story of the guy who played just one major-league game, but was so productive in that game that books were written about him. In five major-league plate appearances he never made an out.
9. PAPER LION: CONFESSIONS OF A LAST-STRING QUARTERBACK (by George Plimpton): This was not the first of Plimpton’s Walter Mitty-type sports books, but it was the best. I liked it better before I saw interviews of Plimpton, who had an air of snobbery about him. Alan Alda played Plimpton in the movie, and he was barely tolerable too.
10. A SENSE OF WHERE YOU ARE (by John McPhee): This profile of Bill Bradley may have been the first sports book I ever read, so of course it stays close to my heart. He held the Princeton crowd spellbound with his hook shots during warmups. How many athletes can match that?