| 1. |
Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend
Larry Tye, Random House, $26, 9781400066513 |
| 2. |
The Yankee Years
Joe Torre, Tom Verducci, Doubleday, $26.95, 9780385527408 |
| 3. |
Moneyball
Michael Lewis, Norton, $13.95, 9780393324815 |
| 4. |
Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Zev Chafets, Bloomsbury, $25, 9781596915459 |
| 5. |
Born to Play: My Life in Baseball
Dustin Pedroia, Simon Spotlight, $25, 9781439157756 |
| 6. |
As They See ‘em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires
Bruce Weber, Scribner, $26, 9780743294119 |
| 7. |
Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series — The Triumph of America’s Pastime
Mark Frost, Hyperion, $26.99, 9781401323103 |
| 8. |
Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee
Allen Barra, Norton, $27.95, 9780393062335 |
| 9. |
Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember
John Feinstein, Back Bay, $15.99, 9780316113922 |
| 10. |
Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan’s Guide for Beginners, Semi-Experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks
Zack Hample, Vintage, $14, 9780307280329 |
| 11. |
The Unwritten Rules of Baseball: The Etiquette, Conventional Wisdom, and Axiomatic Codes of Our National Pastime
Paul Dickson, Collins, $14.99, 9780061561054 |
| 12. |
Bert Sugar’s Baseball Hall of Fame: A Living History of America’s Greatest Game
Bert Randolph Sugar, Running Press, $35, 9780762430246 |
| 13. |
The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-Stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds
Joe Posnanski, Morrow, $25.99, 9780061582561 |
| 14. |
Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound With a Minor League Misfit
Matt McCarthy, Viking, $25.95, 9780670020706 |
| 15. |
Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & A Hall of Fame Hitter Talk About How the Game Is Played
Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson, et al., Doubleday, $26, 9780385528696 |
| 16. |
Great Baseball Feats, Facts & Firsts
David Nemec, Scott Flatow, Signet, $7.99, 9780451226570 |
| 17. |
Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O’Malley, Baseball’s Most Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles
Michael D’Antonio, Riverhead, $25.95, 9781594488566 |
| 18. |
Red Sox Rule: Terry Francona and Boston’s Rise to Dominance
Michael Holley, Harper Paperbacks, $15.99, 9780061458552 |
| 19. |
We Would Have Played for Nothing: Baseball Stars of the 1950s and 1960s Talk About the Game They Loved
Fay Vincent, Simon & Schuster, $15, 9781416553434 |
| 20. |
The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball, Pitching, and Life on the Mound
Ron Darling, Knopf, $24.95, 9780307269843 |
| 21. |
New York Yankees 365
Associated Press, Abrams, $29.95, 9780810982611 |
| 22. |
Summer of ’49
David Halberstam, Harper Perennial, $14.95, 9780060884260 |
| 23. |
Bottom of the Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball From Itself
Michael Shapiro, Times Books, $26, 9780805082470 |
| 24. |
365 Oddball Days in Boston Red Sox History
John Snyder, Clerisy Press, $12.95, 9781578603442 |
| 25. |
American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime
Teri Thompson, et al., Knopf, $26.95, 9780307271808 |
photo credit: kevindooley
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
In order to be a good baseball pitcher, you must practice pitching baseballs regularly, even during off-season. You can’t expect to take four or more months off then get on a team in the spring and start pitching well.