The Baseball 100, Joe Posnanski
The Baseball 100, Joe Posnanski
3 Rating(s)
List: $39.99 | Sale: $28.00
Club: $19.99

The Baseball 100

Bestseller

Author: Joe Posnanski

Narrator: Cary Hite

Unabridged: 30 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/28/2021


Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Winner of the CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year

“An instant sports classic.” —New York Post * “Stellar.” —The Wall Street Journal * “A true masterwork…880 pages of sheer baseball bliss.” —BookPage (starred review) * “This is a remarkable achievement.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A magnum opus from acclaimed baseball writer Joe Posnanski, The Baseball 100 is an audacious, singular, and masterly book that took a lifetime to write. The entire story of baseball rings through a countdown of the 100 greatest players in history, with a foreword by George Will.

Longer than Moby-Dick and nearly as ambitious, The Baseball 100 is a one-of-a-kind work by award-winning sportswriter and lifelong student of the game Joe Posnanski. In the book’s introduction, Pulitzer Prize–winning commentator George F. Will marvels, “Posnanski must already have lived more than two hundred years. How else could he have acquired such a stock of illuminating facts and entertaining stories about the rich history of this endlessly fascinating sport?”

Baseball’s legends come alive in these pages, which are not merely rankings but vibrant profiles of the game’s all-time greats. Posnanski dives into the biographies of iconic Hall of Famers, unfairly forgotten All-Stars, talents of today, and more. He doesn’t rely just on records and statistics—he lovingly retraces players’ origins, illuminates their characters, and places their accomplishments in the context of baseball’s past and present. Just how good a pitcher is Clayton Kershaw in the 21st-century game compared to Greg Maddux dueling with the juiced hitters of the nineties? How do the career and influence of Hank Aaron compare to Babe Ruth’s? Which player in the top ten most deserves to be resurrected from history?

No compendium of baseball’s legendary geniuses could be complete without the players of the segregated Negro Leagues, men whose extraordinary careers were largely overlooked by sportswriters at the time and unjustly lost to history. Posnanski writes about the efforts of former Negro Leaguers to restore sidelined Black athletes to their due honor and draws upon the deep troves of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and extensive interviews with the likes of Buck O’Neil to illuminate the accomplishments of players such as pitchers Satchel Paige and Smokey Joe Williams; outfielders Oscar Charleston, Monte Irvin, and Cool Papa Bell; first baseman Buck Leonard; shortstop Pop Lloyd; catcher Josh Gibson; and many, many more.

The Baseball 100 treats readers to the whole rich pageant of baseball history in a single volume. Engrossing, surprising, and heartfelt, it is a magisterial tribute to the game of baseball and the stars who have played it.

About Joe Posnanski

Joe Posnanski is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including The Baseball 100, Paterno, and The Secret of Golf. He has written for The AthleticSports IllustratedNBC Sports, and The Kansas City Star and currently writes at JoePosnanski.com. He has been named National Sportswriter of the Year by five different organizations and is the winner of two Emmy Awards. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his family.


Reviews

Let me pose this question: If you’re not a real “fan” of baseball, do you really want to read 800 pages of material on the sport? You might, if you want to experience good sports writing. Or, if you are interested in character development. Or, if you want to understand some of the relationship that......more

Goodreads review by Chris

4.5 stars rounded up Joe Posnanski wrote a 100 article series counting down his top 100 baseball players of all-time. This isn't a countdown, as the author states some players were assigned a number based on jersey number or a number significant to that player. He also promises there are players rank......more

Goodreads review by Tim

If you love baseball, you'll love this book that ranks and tells the stories of the 100 greatest baseball players. If you don't love baseball, you still might enjoy it for all the great stories and history. This book isn't about analytical arguments detailing exactly why each player received the rank......more

All baseball lovers need this! It is FULL of info on the top players of the game. This is a THICK book. I mean we are talking 870 pages of baseball's greatest. So much to learn and remember. It's so perfect for a gift!......more

I have always loved Posnanski's writing, and this book climbed to the near-top of my sports books pantheon. It could be titled "The Big Book of Baseball Delight." It encompasses everything that is wonderful about baseball from the mythical to majestic the nerdy.......more


Quotes

"Not only is this a baseball lover’s dream book, but the casual listener can gain a great appreciation for the game’s greatest players through its words and Hite’s resonant narration."