Editorial Content for Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Let’s be honest: Not everyone loves baseball. The powers that be instituted new rules this year to address one of the major complaints --- that the games take too long. Chalk it up to a decreased attention span or an increased interest in other activities.
Those who do love the national pastime do so for a number of reasons, not the least of which is an appreciation of history featuring names like Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Sandy Koufax, and many more stars who were covered in Joe Posnanski’s previous gem, THE BASEBALL 100.
"I doubt that many will argue with Posnanski’s #1 moment, but a few eyebrows undoubtedly will be raised and heads scratched."
For his latest instant classic, WHY WE LOVE BASEBALL, Posnanski has selected 50 iconic moments (actually more than a hundred in various forms) as justification for baseball’s enduring popularity. As with THE BASEBALL 100, these moments are offered not as a definitive answer, but as a conversation starter. What puts “A” in a higher position than “B”? How do you weigh them all? It’s worth noting that Posnanski never claims that his choices in either book are the “best” or the “greatest.” THE BASEBALL 100 doesn’t even have a subtitle, leaving readers to draw their own conclusions.
Some are important (the ones that are actually “ranked”), while others are more frivolous. Is a ball hitting an outfielder on the head and bouncing over the wall for a home run as important as a dramatic pennant-winning homer? Of course not. Some moments are not even real. In the chapter “Five Funny Things,” Posnanski mentions A League of Their Own and a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon.
Of course, the tension builds as we count down to the final 10. A lot of people will be tempted to jump ahead. Don’t. That way lies madness. I doubt that many will argue with Posnanski’s #1 moment, but a few eyebrows undoubtedly will be raised and heads scratched.
Teaser
In WHY WE LOVE BASEBALL, Joe Posnanski writes of major moments that created legends, and of forgotten moments almost lost to time. It's Willie Mays’ catch, Babe Ruth’s called shot and Kirk Gibson’s limping home run; the slickest steals; the biggest bombs; and the most triumphant no-hitters. But these are also moments raw with the humanity of the game, the unheralded heroes and the mesmerizing mistakes drenched in pine tar. Every story, from the immortal to the obscure, is told from a unique perspective. Whether of a real fan who witnessed it, or the pitcher who gave up the home run, the umpire, the coach, the opposing player --- these are fresh takes on moments so powerful they almost feel like myth.
Promo
In WHY WE LOVE BASEBALL, Joe Posnanski writes of major moments that created legends, and of forgotten moments almost lost to time. It's Willie Mays’ catch, Babe Ruth’s called shot and Kirk Gibson’s limping home run; the slickest steals; the biggest bombs; and the most triumphant no-hitters. But these are also moments raw with the humanity of the game, the unheralded heroes and the mesmerizing mistakes drenched in pine tar. Every story, from the immortal to the obscure, is told from a unique perspective. Whether of a real fan who witnessed it, or the pitcher who gave up the home run, the umpire, the coach, the opposing player --- these are fresh takes on moments so powerful they almost feel like myth.
About the Book
#1 New York Times bestselling author Joe Posnanski is back with a masterful ode to the game: a countdown of 50 of the most memorable moments in baseball’s history, to make you fall in love with the sport all over again.
Joe Posnanski writes of major moments that created legends, and of forgotten moments almost lost to time. It's Willie Mays’ catch, Babe Ruth’s called shot and Kirk Gibson’s limping home run; the slickest steals; the biggest bombs; and the most triumphant no-hitters. But these are also moments raw with the humanity of the game, the unheralded heroes and the mesmerizing mistakes drenched in pine tar. Every story, from the immortal to the obscure, is told from a unique perspective. Whether of a real fan who witnessed it, or the pitcher who gave up the home run, the umpire, the coach, the opposing player --- these are fresh takes on moments so powerful they almost feel like myth.
Posnanski’s previous book, THE BASEBALL 100, portrayed the heroes and pioneers of the sport, and now, with his trademark wit, encyclopedic knowledge and acute observations, he gets at the real heart of the game. From 19th-century pitchers’ duels to breaking the sport’s color line in the ’40s, all the way to the greatest trick play of the last decade and the slide home that became a meme, Posnanski’s illuminating take allows us to rediscover the sport we love --- and thought we knew.
WHY WE LOVE BASEBALL is an epic that ends too soon, a one-of-a-kind love letter to the sport that has us thrilled, torn, inspired and always wanting more.
Audiobook available, read by Ellen Adair
