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I first learned about sports in 2005, when a friend suggested I check out American Football, he said he thought I would like it. I thought it was interesting how the players would run around and pass the ball and score "points." So I decided the next step would be to read a book about it. I ended up reading 40+ books over the next few years, studying all aspects of every major American sport. Football. Baseball. Basketball. Hockey, which is more NORTH American. All the sports except Soccer which I still can't get into.
(I like the scarf thing, that is pretty slick. But the sport itself is boring and unbearable now that the South African vuvuzela has become a major part of every game.)
(In all seriousness, mostly I got interested in the games because I like playing fantasy sports, it's replaced Civ and video games as my obsessive gaming outlet. I was pretty close to clueless about sports before my first leagues.)
Sports books I've read:
Moneyball, Michael Lewis - GREAT BOOK!! A true page-turner, you can enjoy this one as a very casual fan of baseball and financial management. And of course it's hugely popular and influential and you've probably read it too.
The Hidden Game of Football: The Next Edition, Carroll, Palmer, Thorn - very simple examination of football's play-by-play and application of probability to field position and game situation. This one is hard to find -- I had to order it through Amazon's used books service.
NFL's Greatest, Steve Sabol - a fluffy picture book with lists of the leagues most celebrated players, teams and games. An easy read and a good way to get some very basic NFL knowledge.
Sports Illustrated's The Football Book, SI - not really my cup of tea, this is a collection of a bunch of NFL articles published in SI from the 60s to the early 2000s. Very eclectic but sort of worthless except from a historical, "this is what they were talking about then" sense.
Pro Football Prospectus 2006, Aaron Schatz and others - this annual series extends the concepts originally covered in the Hidden Game of Football, looking at game situations and every outcome where the game situation is similar to assign a probabilty to it, then predicting the outcome based on that. Then they can use that probabilty to compare teams and to compare players -- if they succeed more often than average they are superior, if they fail more often than average they are lacking. Great stuff (called the Football Outsiders Football Almanac since 2009, covers the college game now too. I read this cover to cover every year.)
Baseball Prospectus 2008, Goldman, Kahri and others - I didn't get around to studying the baseball equivalent for a couple of seasons, but they actually produce more reliable material because baseball is much better described by statistics and the incredible number of games played means players and teams more likely revert to the mean over time (and every Prospectus since.)
Scientific Football 2007, K.C. Joyner -- I read an article by Joyner on my phone in late 2007 and had to buy this book, Joyner's approach is to watch film of every NFL game played and take careful notes. He figures out what the offense is trying to do and determines how successful they are at it, and how good the defense is at stopping it. And he's developed a bunch of new metrics to capture it. His philosophy is that football's conventional metrics fall way short and it needs a "SAFRmetric" overhaul to improve predictions.
The Baseball Economist, J.C. Bradbury -- an Atlanta economist looks at the cost-benefit aspect of baseball to suggest answers to various questions baseball guys argue about -- should there be a salary cap, for instance.
Baseball: Beyond the Numbers, Jonah Keri and others -- GREAT BOOK!!! This one uses SABRmetrics to look at a variety of baseball questions and come up with answers to them.
Baseball Hacks, Joseph Adler -- very technical and dry, this is a computer book about baseball. Gives you the basic tools to put together your own database and query it. I still prefer spreadsheets but I am certain that eventually I will go to the trouble of installing and using a SQL database and I will use this book as a learning tool.
Football for Dummies, Long, Czarnecki -- covers the basics of the game, I pull it out a few times a season because as I learn more about formations and tactics I get more out of the positions section of the book. But it's pretty much written for complete beginners.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Football, Theissman, Tracy -- same deal as Football for Dummies except that Theissman has more information about plays. It might be better for intermediate readers.
2005 NFL Records and Fact Book -- a concise source of statistical and historical information, however you can get all of this online for free.
The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia, Palmer, Pullis, Lahman, Maher, Silverman, Gillette -- a non-concise source of statistical and historical information, especially handy for looking at specific players. Their NFL History section is pretty good too.
The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia Gillette, Palmer -- covers a ton of (if not all) players and the statisical information is pretty useful. Also has a robust history section. Tough to carry around though, you can probably get by with the massive internet resources available for free.
Sports Illustrated 2005 Almanac, SI -- I have fantasies of taking this one back in time to myself at age 18 and getting rich on sports betting. Very, very general and therefore shallow, but covers every major sport.
Illustrated History of Pro Football, Robert Smith -- this one was published in the 1970s and so I used it to get a snap-shot of how the game was perceived when I was a boy. Lots of great ancient pictures, especially in the "it's actually Rugby" and pre-NFL era of football evolution.
It Ain't Over 'Til it's Over, Steven Goldman -- way too dry for me, this is a pure baseball history book covering tight pennant races in various seasons. This is one I'll probably never finish. If I do it'll be after I've learned a lot more about the history of the game and want to fill in the blanks. Might be goos to read after seeing Ken Burns' Baseball or The Bronx is Burning.
Welcome to the Terrordome, Dave Zirin -- Zirin combines politics and sports in his essays, describing and opining on the various ways that players and fans are exploited by the owners, the fans and our capitalist system. Zirin might be too opinionated for everyone, since I agree with him I like it.
How Professional Gamblers Beat the Pro Football Pointspread, J.R. Miller -- they write books about beating the point spread and sell them to chumps like me. It's actually pretty interesting to read how it all works. You're better off betting over-under than vs the spread for instance, and the reason is that fewer people understand over-under betting.
Fantasy Football: The Next Level, David Dorey -- fun to read and this guy is totally down with Point Per Reception scoring and has great reasons for being in favor of it. Also this one helps beginners to understand what to look for in players they are drafting. It's not all that useful once you've played a few seasons, except to convince you that PPR is really critical to having a fun league.
The Greatest Sports Arguments of All Time Russo, St. John -- Russo's writing style is too conversational and clipped. It's annoying to read it in a book. Also I get the idea I'd find him insufferable in real life. But he covers a lot of ground in every major sport in this book, and the eclectic blurby style makes for great bathroom reading.
The Physics of Football, Timothy Gay -- I wish this was more about Xs and Os or the physical characteristics that make a football player superior to mere mortals. It's not, it's really just a physics textbook using football as source material for examples. I like physics but I feel like I already know what he's using football to describe, so it got boring for me quickly. Two highlights: the necessity of the passing game in the modern NFL and the difference between speed (north-south speed) and quickness (lateral motion, stopping and starting) are the most interesting aspects here.
Poplorica, Smith, Kiger -- mostly this is about non-sports topics but three very fascinating essays cover the story of Georgeous George (and the dawning of the modern Sports-Entertainment wrestling industry), Dr. J's famous mid 1976 slam-dunk (and a brief history of the ABA and the hip-hopping of B-ball -- which was absolutely for the best even if you are sick of it today) and the invention of the Big Bertha big sweet spot golf club.
Fantasyland, Sam Walton -- GREAT BOOK! This one covers the 2004 season as a sports writer (who's never played Fantasy Sports) tries to beat one of the toughest AL-Only Roto Leagues in the nation. Touches on so, so much. Not just the season (which is the framing device) but also the history of fantasy baseball from inception to present. This one is especially compelling for someone who's competed in a fantasy league. You'll recognize so much, and gain an appreciation for the "Shadow Game" of fantasy sports.
The Numbers Game Schwarz , Gammons -- GREAT BOOK!!! Love it love it love it. This book goes back to the early days of the baseball box score and tells the story of the statisticians that tracked it. Most of what we regard as "the modern understanding" of the game has been around forever, it's just not been widely known and has been re-invented many times over. This book also covers Strat-o-matic and Dan Okrent's invention of rotisserie baseball.
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James -- covers the history of baseball with a variety of articles covering decades and positions. (Players are presented by position.) One of James' major goals here is to present the sport from the perspective of the fans of each era -- what made the game special to them? I'm still reading this one, I'm hoping to learn more about Win Shares with it. When I'm done I might write a more thorough review.
The Book of Basketball, Bill Simmons -- GREAT BOOK! Simmons is a major Boston teams and LA Clippers fan, but he does know what he's talking about. This one is a meandering attempt to re-think the Basketball Hall of Fame. I learned a lot about the sport reading this one.
The Parkour and Freerunning Handbook, Dan Edwardes -- love watching this sport, this is a handbook to get you started using some of the techniques. I'm too old to ever be any good at it but it's excellent for physical conditioning at the lower levels.
Bottom of the 33rd, Dan Barry - account of the longest baseball game ever played, a AAA game played by the Rochester Red Wings (Baltimore) at the Pawtucket Red Socks (Boston) McCoy Field on April 18-19, 1981. Barry interviewed all the players and observers he could track down, and wrote the book as if it were a novel (in the third person.) It's not just about that night, it provides back-story and reveals the destinies of those who were there. Cal Ripken, Jr and Wade Boggs are the most famous players in that game.
Big Hair and Plastic Grass, Dan Epstein - linear account of MLB in the 1970s, a fast and fun decade for the sport. This was the decade that got Bill James interested in the game enough to start writing about it, and he writes fondly about it in the Historical Abstract. From Dock Ellis' no-hitter on LSD to the disastrous disco inferno it wasn't dull.
Cardboard Gods, Josh Wilker - an autobiography with a gimmick -- each chapter is built around a baseball card from the collection of the author. Poignant and often laugh out loud funny.
Baseball in the Garden of Eden, John Thorn - covers the very early history of the game, debunking mythos like it's invention by Abner Doubleday. It's kind of dry, actually. I prefer The Numbers Game and James' Historical Abstract for MLB history.
Soccernomics, Simon Kuper, Stefan Szymanski - boring, but maybe that's because I can't stand the sport.
The Extra 2%, Jonah Keri - an account of the Tampa Bay Rays rise from laughingstock to contender, by one of the guys who writes for the Baseball Prospectus. Pretty engaging but a little bit too much cheerleading for a non-Rays fan. The chapter on the Rays coach was almost unbearable. Everything else was good and made sense.
Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster 2010, Ron Shandler's editorial staff - must have for fantasy baseball players, if only to know how conventional thinking is evolving. It's like reading a collection of stats, but there's always enough analytic prose to make it worthwhile. I used Shandler's Roto 500 (in the 2011 edition) as the basis for a pretty good fantasy baseball league last year (imho.)
(I like the scarf thing, that is pretty slick. But the sport itself is boring and unbearable now that the South African vuvuzela has become a major part of every game.)
(In all seriousness, mostly I got interested in the games because I like playing fantasy sports, it's replaced Civ and video games as my obsessive gaming outlet. I was pretty close to clueless about sports before my first leagues.)
Sports books I've read:
Moneyball, Michael Lewis - GREAT BOOK!! A true page-turner, you can enjoy this one as a very casual fan of baseball and financial management. And of course it's hugely popular and influential and you've probably read it too.
The Hidden Game of Football: The Next Edition, Carroll, Palmer, Thorn - very simple examination of football's play-by-play and application of probability to field position and game situation. This one is hard to find -- I had to order it through Amazon's used books service.
NFL's Greatest, Steve Sabol - a fluffy picture book with lists of the leagues most celebrated players, teams and games. An easy read and a good way to get some very basic NFL knowledge.
Sports Illustrated's The Football Book, SI - not really my cup of tea, this is a collection of a bunch of NFL articles published in SI from the 60s to the early 2000s. Very eclectic but sort of worthless except from a historical, "this is what they were talking about then" sense.
Pro Football Prospectus 2006, Aaron Schatz and others - this annual series extends the concepts originally covered in the Hidden Game of Football, looking at game situations and every outcome where the game situation is similar to assign a probabilty to it, then predicting the outcome based on that. Then they can use that probabilty to compare teams and to compare players -- if they succeed more often than average they are superior, if they fail more often than average they are lacking. Great stuff (called the Football Outsiders Football Almanac since 2009, covers the college game now too. I read this cover to cover every year.)
Baseball Prospectus 2008, Goldman, Kahri and others - I didn't get around to studying the baseball equivalent for a couple of seasons, but they actually produce more reliable material because baseball is much better described by statistics and the incredible number of games played means players and teams more likely revert to the mean over time (and every Prospectus since.)
Scientific Football 2007, K.C. Joyner -- I read an article by Joyner on my phone in late 2007 and had to buy this book, Joyner's approach is to watch film of every NFL game played and take careful notes. He figures out what the offense is trying to do and determines how successful they are at it, and how good the defense is at stopping it. And he's developed a bunch of new metrics to capture it. His philosophy is that football's conventional metrics fall way short and it needs a "SAFRmetric" overhaul to improve predictions.
The Baseball Economist, J.C. Bradbury -- an Atlanta economist looks at the cost-benefit aspect of baseball to suggest answers to various questions baseball guys argue about -- should there be a salary cap, for instance.
Baseball: Beyond the Numbers, Jonah Keri and others -- GREAT BOOK!!! This one uses SABRmetrics to look at a variety of baseball questions and come up with answers to them.
Baseball Hacks, Joseph Adler -- very technical and dry, this is a computer book about baseball. Gives you the basic tools to put together your own database and query it. I still prefer spreadsheets but I am certain that eventually I will go to the trouble of installing and using a SQL database and I will use this book as a learning tool.
Football for Dummies, Long, Czarnecki -- covers the basics of the game, I pull it out a few times a season because as I learn more about formations and tactics I get more out of the positions section of the book. But it's pretty much written for complete beginners.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Football, Theissman, Tracy -- same deal as Football for Dummies except that Theissman has more information about plays. It might be better for intermediate readers.
2005 NFL Records and Fact Book -- a concise source of statistical and historical information, however you can get all of this online for free.
The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia, Palmer, Pullis, Lahman, Maher, Silverman, Gillette -- a non-concise source of statistical and historical information, especially handy for looking at specific players. Their NFL History section is pretty good too.
The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia Gillette, Palmer -- covers a ton of (if not all) players and the statisical information is pretty useful. Also has a robust history section. Tough to carry around though, you can probably get by with the massive internet resources available for free.
Sports Illustrated 2005 Almanac, SI -- I have fantasies of taking this one back in time to myself at age 18 and getting rich on sports betting. Very, very general and therefore shallow, but covers every major sport.
Illustrated History of Pro Football, Robert Smith -- this one was published in the 1970s and so I used it to get a snap-shot of how the game was perceived when I was a boy. Lots of great ancient pictures, especially in the "it's actually Rugby" and pre-NFL era of football evolution.
It Ain't Over 'Til it's Over, Steven Goldman -- way too dry for me, this is a pure baseball history book covering tight pennant races in various seasons. This is one I'll probably never finish. If I do it'll be after I've learned a lot more about the history of the game and want to fill in the blanks. Might be goos to read after seeing Ken Burns' Baseball or The Bronx is Burning.
Welcome to the Terrordome, Dave Zirin -- Zirin combines politics and sports in his essays, describing and opining on the various ways that players and fans are exploited by the owners, the fans and our capitalist system. Zirin might be too opinionated for everyone, since I agree with him I like it.
How Professional Gamblers Beat the Pro Football Pointspread, J.R. Miller -- they write books about beating the point spread and sell them to chumps like me. It's actually pretty interesting to read how it all works. You're better off betting over-under than vs the spread for instance, and the reason is that fewer people understand over-under betting.
Fantasy Football: The Next Level, David Dorey -- fun to read and this guy is totally down with Point Per Reception scoring and has great reasons for being in favor of it. Also this one helps beginners to understand what to look for in players they are drafting. It's not all that useful once you've played a few seasons, except to convince you that PPR is really critical to having a fun league.
The Greatest Sports Arguments of All Time Russo, St. John -- Russo's writing style is too conversational and clipped. It's annoying to read it in a book. Also I get the idea I'd find him insufferable in real life. But he covers a lot of ground in every major sport in this book, and the eclectic blurby style makes for great bathroom reading.
The Physics of Football, Timothy Gay -- I wish this was more about Xs and Os or the physical characteristics that make a football player superior to mere mortals. It's not, it's really just a physics textbook using football as source material for examples. I like physics but I feel like I already know what he's using football to describe, so it got boring for me quickly. Two highlights: the necessity of the passing game in the modern NFL and the difference between speed (north-south speed) and quickness (lateral motion, stopping and starting) are the most interesting aspects here.
Poplorica, Smith, Kiger -- mostly this is about non-sports topics but three very fascinating essays cover the story of Georgeous George (and the dawning of the modern Sports-Entertainment wrestling industry), Dr. J's famous mid 1976 slam-dunk (and a brief history of the ABA and the hip-hopping of B-ball -- which was absolutely for the best even if you are sick of it today) and the invention of the Big Bertha big sweet spot golf club.
Fantasyland, Sam Walton -- GREAT BOOK! This one covers the 2004 season as a sports writer (who's never played Fantasy Sports) tries to beat one of the toughest AL-Only Roto Leagues in the nation. Touches on so, so much. Not just the season (which is the framing device) but also the history of fantasy baseball from inception to present. This one is especially compelling for someone who's competed in a fantasy league. You'll recognize so much, and gain an appreciation for the "Shadow Game" of fantasy sports.
The Numbers Game Schwarz , Gammons -- GREAT BOOK!!! Love it love it love it. This book goes back to the early days of the baseball box score and tells the story of the statisticians that tracked it. Most of what we regard as "the modern understanding" of the game has been around forever, it's just not been widely known and has been re-invented many times over. This book also covers Strat-o-matic and Dan Okrent's invention of rotisserie baseball.
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James -- covers the history of baseball with a variety of articles covering decades and positions. (Players are presented by position.) One of James' major goals here is to present the sport from the perspective of the fans of each era -- what made the game special to them? I'm still reading this one, I'm hoping to learn more about Win Shares with it. When I'm done I might write a more thorough review.
The Book of Basketball, Bill Simmons -- GREAT BOOK! Simmons is a major Boston teams and LA Clippers fan, but he does know what he's talking about. This one is a meandering attempt to re-think the Basketball Hall of Fame. I learned a lot about the sport reading this one.
The Parkour and Freerunning Handbook, Dan Edwardes -- love watching this sport, this is a handbook to get you started using some of the techniques. I'm too old to ever be any good at it but it's excellent for physical conditioning at the lower levels.
Bottom of the 33rd, Dan Barry - account of the longest baseball game ever played, a AAA game played by the Rochester Red Wings (Baltimore) at the Pawtucket Red Socks (Boston) McCoy Field on April 18-19, 1981. Barry interviewed all the players and observers he could track down, and wrote the book as if it were a novel (in the third person.) It's not just about that night, it provides back-story and reveals the destinies of those who were there. Cal Ripken, Jr and Wade Boggs are the most famous players in that game.
Big Hair and Plastic Grass, Dan Epstein - linear account of MLB in the 1970s, a fast and fun decade for the sport. This was the decade that got Bill James interested in the game enough to start writing about it, and he writes fondly about it in the Historical Abstract. From Dock Ellis' no-hitter on LSD to the disastrous disco inferno it wasn't dull.
Cardboard Gods, Josh Wilker - an autobiography with a gimmick -- each chapter is built around a baseball card from the collection of the author. Poignant and often laugh out loud funny.
Baseball in the Garden of Eden, John Thorn - covers the very early history of the game, debunking mythos like it's invention by Abner Doubleday. It's kind of dry, actually. I prefer The Numbers Game and James' Historical Abstract for MLB history.
Soccernomics, Simon Kuper, Stefan Szymanski - boring, but maybe that's because I can't stand the sport.
The Extra 2%, Jonah Keri - an account of the Tampa Bay Rays rise from laughingstock to contender, by one of the guys who writes for the Baseball Prospectus. Pretty engaging but a little bit too much cheerleading for a non-Rays fan. The chapter on the Rays coach was almost unbearable. Everything else was good and made sense.
Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster 2010, Ron Shandler's editorial staff - must have for fantasy baseball players, if only to know how conventional thinking is evolving. It's like reading a collection of stats, but there's always enough analytic prose to make it worthwhile. I used Shandler's Roto 500 (in the 2011 edition) as the basis for a pretty good fantasy baseball league last year (imho.)
. Baseball Beyond the Numbers is just a brilliant book all the way around.
I've mainly been focused on religion books, with some fiction thrown in.
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