Below, the favorite baseball books of the chairman of the Boston Red Sox, an award-winning TV producer whose credits include That ’70s Show, The Cosby Show, and Roseanne.
Take Time for Paradise by A. Bartlett Giamatti (out of print). The late commissioner may be baseball’s most poetic author, and this book eloquently conveys why the sport is our greatest game. Along the way, Giamatti talks about the significance of such totems as home plate: “Everyone wants to arrive at the same place, which is where they start.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Game Time by Roger Angell (Harvest, $15). Any list of this kind should include the writings of Angell, the finest sportswriter of our era. This compilation happens to include his 2001 prediction that Fenway Park would be torn down as soon as the “new management” found a place to put “a nice, modern $500 million park with luxury suites and limo parking.” Angell is a great writer, but I didn’t claim he is a prophet!
In the Best Interests of Baseball by Andrew Zimbalist (Wiley, $15). Professor Zimbalist talks about sports economics in a way that even non–econ majors can grasp. This book analyzes the almost two-decade-long tenure of the game’s current top executive, Bud Selig. At its conclusion, you may understand why I believe Selig is the greatest commissioner in baseball’s history.
The Year I Owned the Yankees by Sparky Lyle (out of print). Lyle imagines buying the Yankees from George Steinbrenner in the most hilarious baseball book I have ever read. Early on, while cleaning out the Boss’ desk, the ex-pitcher finds a branding iron with the Yankee logo on top. “I wondered,” he says, “if that was the reason why players like Mickey Rivers and Judge Lewis never went into the shower after a game.”
The Teammates by David Halberstam (Hyperion, $14). Knowing that Ted Williams is dying, three ex-teammates make a pilgrimage to see Teddy Ballgame one last time. This book isn’t so much about legendary ballplayers as about the dynamics of six-decade-old male friendships. Finishing it, I missed not only Williams but Halberstam.
-
The return to the stone age in house buildingUnder the Radar With brick building becoming ‘increasingly unsustainable’, could a reversion to stone be the future?
-
Rob Jetten: the centrist millennial set to be the Netherlands’ next prime ministerIn the Spotlight Jetten will also be the country’s first gay leader
-
Codeword: November 4, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Beth Macy’s 6 favorite books about living in a divided nationFeature The journalist recommends works by Nicholas Buccola, Matthew Desmond, and more
-
Gilbert King’s 6 favorite books about the search for justiceFeature The journalist recommends works by Bryan Stevenson, David Grann, and more
-
Nathan Harris’ 6 favorite books that turn adventures into revelationsFeature The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McGuire, and more
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Lou Berney’s 6 favorite books with powerful storytellingFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Dorothy B. Hughes, James McBride, and more
-
Elizabeth Gilbert’s favorite books about women overcoming difficultiesFeature The author recommends works by Tove Jansson, Lauren Groff, and more
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
