I really like this book because I can always use it to refer to any stat I'm looking for. It is a complete package. Has Everythin From rookies, to stars to All time records!

The Baseball Almanac is more a bathroom book than a coffee-table volume. You can leave it on top of the porcelain, pick it up, read it backwards, and still get an enormous charge out of it.
It was filled with fascinating sidebars and anecdotes and even though I've read just about everything, I kept saying "Gee, I didn't know that!" on almost every page.

My favorite parts of the book concerned crazy trades (such as broadcaster Ernie Harwell for a minor-league catcher), the Top 10 vote-getters for the Hall of Fame, baseball in other countries, and retired uniform numbers. Also the special section comparing Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth. I recommend it not only as the best baseball book of this year but the best I've seen in many years.

In my opinion, this book isn't so great. I am more interested in statistics, and this book focuses primarily on the game's history. That's not bad, but I felt like I already knew most of the information.

The book also contains many typos, especially in the sidebars. The sidebars usually contain info that is also contained in the main text.

If you already know alot about baseball, you probably don't need this book. If you're just learning or getting into the game, this book would be a good starting point. I don't recommend it for devout fans..

I felt this book lacked necessary information on bunting statistics. I have a friend who bunted in the A.L., he was upset over how most statistical books ingore the art of bunting.

All serious baseball fans know that sense of emptiness that creeps in during the offseason, when you're tired of watching football players run back and forth on a field (as well as all the other "back-and-forth" sports). And at some point you realize that keeping up on hot stove reports just isn't satisfying your craving for the open-air joy and intensity of the real game. If you know that feeling, buy this book. It is simply wonderful. You'll find stories incorporating everyone from the greatest legends to the least-known players; information ranging from the little-known to the incredible to the hilarious. There are sections on history, game strategy, baseball jargon, amazing feats, freak plays, all kinds of records for things that you'd never even think of if this book didn't tell you, and a lot more. All photos are black and white, but they are in the margins of almost every page (along with some cartoons and drawings), and there are lots of great ones. Really this whole book is like a verbal, pictoral, and statistical photo album of the quirky, beautiful every-day life of baseball through the years. I guarantee there are "snapshots" here that you've never seen before. This is the best offseason lifesaver I've found yet.

Imagine, sitting at a banquet table in a room full of pro-baseball players..as they pass a ball around the room to sign for your son who is waiting at home to hear what it was like to be next to them...they pick up a phone to speak to him and make themselves more then his favorite players...they are hero's to this boy, making memories forever! They have opened the door to their human side no one often gets to see and add a spark of light to the life of a small boy. You are here off the field watching these men in their time of being ordinary people.This is the joy Dan brings in his writing and you don't even have to be a child to get excited. Their life is baseball. Dan's life is baseball. Where they go Dan goes. What they eat Dan eats. He is body and soul with these men and this game.....and nothing Dan does when it comes to baseball is less then perfection ! Nothing..... because of the love and compassion he puts into his observations he writes about and the many years he has put into this game off the field. An extraordinary spectator, with quality and depth that could very well know more about the game and its' history then the players themselves. A writer, of immense talent. You must read his material and all other works by Dan if you really love the game and want to be a part of this world...see it through the eyes and heart of Dan Schlossberg..he knows his stuff !

It's almost unprecedented for me to return a baseball book. It's almost impossible to find a baseball book I won't enjoy. If the book's about the Yankees, the odds of either would be non existent. Well, at least I thought they would be non existent until I began to read this one.

The book contains no new good information & is filled with mistakes. Also, the author's system of rating the players creates a premise that's flawed from the beginning.

If you know enough about baseball to know Snuffy Stirnweiss wasn't an all time Yankee great, then you find this book insulting to your intelligence.

I truly enjoyed this book. Each piece (and there are 50!) takes you back to the particular year! It has all the stats on the individual player in his best season. It has lots of fantastic photos and a terrific section on the 1998 Yankees! At the end of the book, there is a section that allows me to record my own memorable seasons with my favorite team! A must have for every Yankee fan, and those fans of baseball history!

If you have a spare hour, you may want to go through this book of baseball quotes. There is nothing really new in this book that can't be found in other such baseball books. If you haven't read a book on baseball quotes before, you may want to look at it; otherwise you can give this one an intentional pass. Here are my two favorites from the book: Taken from a newspaper article from the 1920's, "Allen Sutton Sothoron pitched his initials off today." Also, "It was a cross between a screwball and a changeup. It was a screw-up."--Cubs reliever, Bob Patterson after giving up a game winning home run in 1996.

I gave this book to a baseball buff friend of mine for Christmas this year. I loved this book. It gives some laughs and has interesting stories amongst the many quotes. My friend enjoyed the book, and I did too.

I love baseball. I love to read about a players stats while playing AAA ball, or who led the majors in stolen bases in 1933 (27-Ben Chapman, Yankees)or how many times Ty Cobb won the batting title (12). I don't consider myself a serious student of baseball, but in my leisure time, what there is of it, I enjoy reading about the history of the game and read the stats for myself. I remember Carl Yastrzemski won the triple-crown in 1967. I go back to that year and discover that not only did he lead the AL in average, home runs and RBI (.326, 44, and 121), but that he also led in base hits (189), slugging percentage (.622) and runs scored (112). I guess that would make him a double-triple-crown winner. By the way, Harmon Killebrew was tied with Yaz for home runs.

The 1997 Baseball Almanac arrived at my house last week and I was disappointed. This edition is much smaller than the first one I bought in 1993, although the price is about the same. Its more difficult to read and more cumbersome for someone who just wants to browse. It still has all the same categories of stats, but its not quite as fun to flip through. I may not use it as much as my old one. When the 1999 version comes out, I want to be sure to get the full size edition.