This is quite simply the best baseball book I've ever read. I've been watching baseball my whole life but Koppett gives whole new insights into the game. A long review isn't necesary...I'll just say that if you're a serious baseball fan or someone just getting into the game, you absolutely must read this book.

As a lifelong baseball fan, I had thought I knew everything there was to know about the game of baseball...until I found this book by chance in a bookstore some years ago.

Leonard Koppett's book is perhaps the most insightful book I've ever read regarding the National Pastime. This book represents an exhaustive research of virtually every aspect of our beloved game, giving the reader glimpses into everything that comprises the game of baseball, including, not only the fundamentals of the game, but other facets such as scouting, contract negotiation and a brief history of the rules of the game.

If you're looking for a frame of reference, I would compare this book to 'Men At Work,' by George Will. However, I find myself referring back to Koppett's book much more frequently than I do Will's book. Whereas Will describes the 'what' of the game, Koppett describes the 'why' of the game.

This book should be read by everyone who considers him/herself to be a fan of baseball. Fans new to the game will appreciate the insight. Veteran fans will be given some new bits to ponder.

Book has in-depth views of each hall-of-fame manager, and some other lesser known and modern managers that have made their mark on the game.

Unlike The Bill James guide to Baseball, this book focuses on the man and his managerial career, and his stategy. James seems to have written a book on how baseball was generally managed in certain eras. He doesn't focus much on indivual men, as this book does.

For a diehard like me, this book is money well spent. If you are only a causual man, save your money.

Leonard Koppett is a member of Baseball's Hall of Fame's Writers Wing and this volume on the New York Mets, 'The New York Mets:The Whole Story', is one of the reasons. Originally written after the Mets World Championship in 1969 Koppett updated this volume in 1974 to include the Mets dramatic 1973 pennant winning season. If you love the Mets or even just enjoy a memorable, funny story then you'll enjoy Koppett's witty, insightful and informative style. But this is definitely a must for the Met fanatic...they're all here...Casey, Marvelous Marv...Cleon...Tom Terrific...Gil Hodges...Tug McGraw...Willie Mays...and in telling the story of how the Mets came to be and who their fans were Koppett also tells a tale of a unique chapter of New York and American history. Koppett and his late '60's sports writing comrades (Vecsey, Schaap, Lang etc...all of whom wrote Mets books)are from the old school...a school that managed to write about sports without deifying the athlete and weave the pertinent elements into a humourous engaging tale. I wish that school was still accepting students...but in the meantime I'll re-read Leonard Koppetts great Mets book

This is one of the best books about the inner workings of baseball by one of the best sportswriters of our time. Koppett's third edition of his book consists of a series of well thought out essays about every aspect of the game. The game has changed a lot between editions of the book but a lot of the basic premises remain the same. Koppett's articles are kept fresh with amusing anecdotes of baseball's biggest names and stars. I have read the 1991 edition and found the 2001 edition even more interesting and relevant, especially on the cusp of antoher work stoppage. Koppett has been in the business long enough to see all of the changes in the sport and how they affect the players and the game.

There's a good reason that Sports Illustrated included this book in its list of the Greatest Sports Books ever: it's a good book. And the movie version is far tamer than the book, and compared to the book, the movie has an upbeat ending.

North Dallas Forty, an thinly-veiled insider view of the Dallas Cowboys of the late-1960s. Written by a former Cowboys' wide receiver, the book takes you inside a football franchise struggling to stay on top. After reading the book, your body aches -- you know what it feels to be drilled in the ribs while running over the middle.

Watch the team and the NFL go out of the way to protect the stars while throwing aside those pawns that make the greats great. Read this book and become disgusted by the NFL, the owners, the coaches, and the entire league apparatus, but glory in the sheer talent and determination of the players doing the only thing that they know how to do.

Kramer's book is non-fiction, Gent's is fiction based on his experiences. They were written about the same time period, but present two pretty different views of pro football players. Was Kramer's version sanitized, or was Gent's exaggerated?

By the way, the standard disclaimer in Gent's book ("any similarity to real persons is coincidental" etc.) is, in this case, a joke. If "Seth Maxwell" isn't Don Meredith, then I'm Howard Cosell.

North Dallas 40 ranks right up there with some of the best books ever written about professional football. The characters in this book are able to invoke a full range of emotional responses from the reader. Gent is an extremely interesting writer and this book will be what he was remembered for.

Leonard Koppett's book does not get a 5 star rating by me only because it is hard to rate a textbook as a 5. Still, this is a great book. It is along the lines of an SABR release, though the statistics are of a different type. I liked this book, but it will appeal only to those who want a deeper understanding of how the game has mirrored society and how the issues of today are not unlike those of the past. This is a history project, but a very good one. Read this with some of the histories by Harold Seymour and the game will appear much different come the spring. I would also recommend BASEBALL by Ken Burns and Geoffrey Ward.
I admire Koppett greatly for attempting such a project as this
CONCISE HISTORY OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL.

the book is a (more or less)short history of the NBA from it's beginnings up until 1970. it is a great book for people who really want to know everything about the NBA (this is a part of that knowledge) but too much information for somebody who just wants to peek in. unfortunately there isn't a lot of information about the economical side of the NBA, which is what I was actually looking for (a book I can advise herefor is "America's Obsession, Sports and society since 1945").

all in all a good book with a lot of facts and numbers (with an extra statistic part included at the end of the book)