The Cooperstown Casebook by Jay Jaffe provides a definitive guide to the greatest players in baseball history, and the Hall of Fame.

Arguing about the merits of players is the baseball fan's second favorite pastime and every year the Hall of Fame elections spark heated controversy. In a book that's sure to thrill--and infuriate--countless fans, Bill James takes a hard look at the Hall, probing its history, its politics and, most of all, its decisions.

The story of Charlie Root and the 1929 Chicago Cubs -- Root holds the record for the most wins, games, and innings pitched in Cub history. He also happens to be the pitcher that gave up the highly controversial "called shot" to Babe Ruth in the 1932 World Series.

What is the real story behind the death of baseball icon Christy Mathewson? Why has it remained a secret all these years? It all traces to a true-life military secret. A massive coverup. A dead reporter's buried notes. A lost journal.

Takes a close look at the Baseball Hall of Fame, explaining how it operates, who controls it, how they make decisions, and how players are elected, using the continuing battle over former Yankee Phil Rizzuto to illuminate the controversy. 25,000 first printing. $50,000 ad/promo.

Following an epic American League Championship Series win over the California Angels and just one out from winning their first World Series in sixty-eight years, the 1986 Boston Red Sox lost Game Six to the New York Mets in unforgettable and devastating fashion. Then they lost Game Seven and the Series itself. Two Sides of Glory portrays the losing side of the story about one of baseball's most riveting World Series match-ups. With the benefit of years of reflection from the men who made up the '86 Sox, this will be the definitive book on this iconic yet most Shakespearian of Boston teams for years to come. After telling the Mets' side of the story, Erik Sherman turns here to the Red Sox's version, with recollections from players that are both insightful and surprisingly emotional. Bill Buckner, whose name became synonymous with a muffed grounder, speaks openly about the cruel aftermath. Pitcher Bruce Hurst broke down three times while being interviewed. Dwight Evans confesses in his interview that he had never before talked at length about the '86 team. And Roger Clemens talks candidly not only about the '86 squad but also accusations of alleged steroid abuse later in his career and the toll it has taken on his family. In each player's retelling, there is the excitement of history never told and old mysteries answered. The story of the '86 Red Sox is well known, but now, after thirty years, the players have opened up to Sherman like never before. It's an in-depth, first-person account with the intriguing key players who made up this once-in-a-generation Boston team, and also a look at how the extremes of tantalizing victory and heart-wrenching failure shaped and influenced their lives--both on the field and off.

The Black Sox Scandal is a cold case, not a closed case. When Eliot Asinof wrote his classic history about the fixing of the 1919 World Series, Eight Men Out, he told a dramatic story of undereducated and underpaid Chicago White Sox ballplayers, disgruntled by their low pay and poor treatment by team management, who fell prey to the wiles of double-crossing big-city gamblers offering them bribes to lose the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. Shoeless Joe Jackson, Buck Weaver, Eddie Cicotte, and the other Black Sox players were all banned from organized baseball for life. But the real story is a lot more complex. We now have access to crucial information that changes what we thought we knew about “baseball’s darkest hour” — including rare film footage from that fateful fall classic, legal documents from the criminal and civil court proceedings, and accurate salary information for major-league players and teams. All of these new pieces to the Black Sox puzzle provide definitive answers to some old mysteries and raise other questions in their place. However, the Black Sox Scandal isn’t the only story worth telling about the 1919 Chicago White Sox. The team roster included three future Hall of Famers, a 20-year-old spitballer who would go on to win 300 games in the minor leagues, and even a batboy who later became a celebrity with the “Murderers’ Row” New York Yankees in the 1920s. All of their stories are included in Scandal on the South Side, which has full-life biographies on each of the 31 players who made an appearance for the White Sox in 1919, plus a comprehensive recap of Chicago’s pennant-winning season, the tainted World Series, and the sordid aftermath. This book isn’t a rewriting of Eight Men Out, but it is the complete story of everyone associated with the 1919 Chicago White Sox. The Society for American Baseball Research invites you to learn more about the Black Sox Scandal and the infamous team at the center of it all. With contributions from Adrian Marcewicz, Andy Sturgill, Brian Cooper, Brian McKenna, Brian Stevens, Bruce Allardice, Dan Lindner, Daniel Ginsburg, David Fleitz, David Fletcher, Gregory H. Wolf, Irv Goldfarb, Jack Morris, Jacob Pomrenke, James E. Elfers, James R. Nitz, Jim Sandoval, John Heeg, Kelly Boyer Sagert and Rod Nelson, Lyle Spatz, Paul Mittermeyer, Peter Morris, Richard Smiley, Rick Huhn, Russell Arent, Steve Cardullo, Steve Steinberg, Steven G. McPherson, and William F. Lamb. Table of Contents: 1. Introduction, by Jacob Pomrenke 2. Prologue: Offseason 1918-19, by Jacob Pomrenke 3. Joe Benz, by William F. Lamb 4. Eddie Cicotte, by Jim Sandoval 5. Eddie Collins, by Paul Mittermeyer 6. Shano Collins, by Andy Sturgill 7. Dave Danforth, by Steve Steinberg 8. Red Faber, by Brian Cooper 9. Season Timeline: April 1919 10. Happy Felsch, by James R. Nitz 11. Chick Gandil, by Daniel Ginsburg 12. Joe Jackson, by David Fleitz 13. Bill James, by Steven G. McPherson 14. Joe Jenkins, by Jacob Pomrenke 15. Dickey Kerr, by Adrian Marcewicz 16. Season Timeline: May 1919 17. Nemo Leibold, by Gregory H. Wolf 18. Grover Lowdermilk, by James E. Elfers 19. Byrd Lynn, by Russell Arent 20. Erskine Mayer, by Lyle Spatz 21. Hervey McClellan, by Jack Morris 22. Tom McGuire, by Jack Morris 23. Season Timeline: June 1919 24. Fred McMullin, by Jacob Pomrenke 25. Eddie Murphy, by John Heeg 26. Win Noyes, by Bruce Allardice 27. Pat Ragan, by Andy Sturgill 28. Swede Risberg, by Kelly Boyer Sagert and Rod Nelson 29. Charlie Robertson, by Jacob Pomrenke 30. Season Timeline: July 1919 31. Reb Russell, by Richard Smiley 32. Ray Schalk, by Brian Stevens 33. Frank Shellenback, by Brian McKenna 34. John Sullivan, by Jacob Pomrenke 35. Buck Weaver, by David Fletcher 36. Roy Wilkinson, by William F. Lamb 37. Season Timeline: August 1919 38. Lefty Williams, by Jacob Pomrenke 39. Owner: Charles Comiskey, by Irv Goldfarb 40. Manager: Kid Gleason, by Dan Lindner 41. General Manager: Harry Grabiner, by Steve Cardullo 42. Executive: Tip O’Neill, by Brian McKenna 43. Batboy: Eddie Bennett, by Peter Morris 44. Season Timeline: September 1919 45. Walking Off to the World Series, by Jacob Pomrenke 46. The 1919 World Series: A Recap, by Rick Huhn 47. The Pitching Depth Dilemma, by Jacob Pomrenke 48. 1919 American League Salaries, by Jacob Pomrenke 49. The Black Sox Scandal, by William F. Lamb 50. Epilogue: Offseason 1919-20, by Jacob Pomrenke