The most recommended new baseball books

Who picked these books? Meet our 4 experts.

4 authors created a book list connected to new baseball, and here are their favorite new baseball books.
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Book cover of 39: Your Last Birthday

Matthew Arnold Stern Author Of The Remainders

From Matthew's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Technophile Creative Intellectually curious Dodgers fan Southern Californian

Matthew's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Plus, Matthew's 10-year-old's favorite books.

Matthew Arnold Stern Why did Matthew love this book?

Are we doomed to meet the same fate as our ancestors? That’s the threat looming over failed baseball player and self-destructive alcoholic Stephan Detals, whose father and grandfather died by suicide on their 39th birthdays.

With Stephan’s 39th birthday coming in a few days, he returns to his hometown to learn the truth about his father and grandfather’s deaths in hope of avoiding their fatal destinies. Sojka creates a twisty mystery with fascinating characters and Texas gothic. He also keeps up the tension as the fateful date approaches.

I felt Sojka did a wonderful job evoking the Texas landscape and the experience of a professional baseball player, which made me feel more engaged to the story and characters. This book kept me turning pages to its climax.

By Timothy Gene Sojka,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked 39 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

2023 Maxy Awards Winner

Stephen Detals played professional baseball before flaming out in whiskey-fueled catastrophe.

His father and grandfather killed themselves on their 39th birthdays. Stephen is 38. He battles alcoholism, abandonment, suicidal tendencies, and lethal family history to survive his impending birthday.

This novel chronicles the final eight days before Stephen Detals' 39th birthday. His relapse into addiction forces Stephen back to the Neches River and the Piney Woods of Southeast Texas. Detals returns home to face purported murderess and family matriarch, Rose Petal Detals, and unravel the secrets of the family and hometown he abandoned twenty years earlier.…


Book cover of Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball's Brightest Minds Created Sports' Biggest Mess

Jeff Fletcher Author Of Sho-time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani and the Greatest Baseball Season Ever Played

From my list on for fans who want to see baseball from all sides.

Why am I passionate about this?

Ever since I started playing Strat-O-Matic baseball as a 13-year-old and then realized that they actually pay people to write about Major League Baseball, it’s been my dream to be a baseball beat writer. I’ve been lucky enough to do it for 25 years. I’ve seen thousands of baseball games and I’ve spent thousands of hours talking to players, managers, coaches, and executives about the sport, but I still learn things from every baseball book I read. Hopefully these books teach you something and help you enjoy the game more.

Jeff's book list on for fans who want to see baseball from all sides

Jeff Fletcher Why did Jeff love this book?

If you think this book is just about the trash can-banging Houston Astros and how they stole signs on the way to winning the 2017 World Series, you’re wrong. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Drellich was covering the Astros long before all of that started, so he gives you a deep look at the organizational culture that led to the scandal.

By Evan Drellich,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Winning Fixes Everything as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The reporter who broke the Houston Astros' cheating scandal reveals how a baseball team could so dramatically descend into corruption, with never-before-told details of a broken management culture, the once-revered leaders who enabled it and the scandal itself.

Baseball, that old romantic game, has been defaced and consumed by corporate America. As Moneyball-thinking and Ivy League graduates grabbed hold of the sport, the Astros set out to build a cost-efficient winning machine on the principles of the outside business world, squeezing every dollar out of every transaction, player and employee.

In less than a decade, ex-Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow…


Book cover of The Bill James Handbook 2023

James Bailey Author Of Major League Debuts: 2023 Edition

From my list on annual releases to prep for baseball season.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been reading baseball annuals and previews since I was a kid and my must-haves were Street & Smith’s Baseball Yearbook and Bill Mazeroski’s Baseball. I was a contributing writer for several years to Ultimate Sports Publishing’s annual baseball magazines, which for a while came close to the old Mazeroski releases. I edited several of Baseball America’s Almanacs when I was on staff there and have written Top 30s for a number of the Prospect Handbooks. I get that everything is available online these days, but there’s something about having it all in one place, locked in for all time, there for reference whenever needed.

James' book list on annual releases to prep for baseball season

James Bailey Why did James love this book?

This one has been a staple since back in the early 1990s, when it was produced by STATS, Inc.

There are still the basics, such as career statistics for every major leaguer, lefty-righty breakdowns, leaders, fielding stats, and projections, but every year they add something new. There are essays on various topics—sabermetric and otherwise, breakdowns of pitchers’ repertoires, Fielding Bible Awards, injury risk projections, and so much more.

Come for the stats, get lost in everything else.

By Bill James, Sports Info Solutions,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Bill James Handbook 2023 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Analysis of how every single player in the majors performed last year and over their career and what we can expect from these vets in the future and the rookies projected to join them soon. Here is just some of what the 34th annual edition of The Bill James Handbook has to offer going into next season: More Original Research on Cool Topics; The Annual Fielding Bible Awards; Home Run Robberies; Hits Lost/Gained to the Shift; Manufactured Runs and RBI Percentages; Hitter and Pitcher Projections for next season.


Book cover of Ron Shandler's 2023 Baseball Forecaster: & Encyclopedia of Fanalytics

James Bailey Author Of Major League Debuts: 2023 Edition

From my list on annual releases to prep for baseball season.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been reading baseball annuals and previews since I was a kid and my must-haves were Street & Smith’s Baseball Yearbook and Bill Mazeroski’s Baseball. I was a contributing writer for several years to Ultimate Sports Publishing’s annual baseball magazines, which for a while came close to the old Mazeroski releases. I edited several of Baseball America’s Almanacs when I was on staff there and have written Top 30s for a number of the Prospect Handbooks. I get that everything is available online these days, but there’s something about having it all in one place, locked in for all time, there for reference whenever needed.

James' book list on annual releases to prep for baseball season

James Bailey Why did James love this book?

There is so much information in this book, which gets thicker every year. I’m not going to pretend I understand it all, but I’m learning a little more every time.

The player writeups are lighthearted but insightful. Sometimes it’s almost scary looking back and seeing some of the things they projected that were so spot on. My only complaint is that everyone else in my Strat-o-matic league reads it now. It used to be an advantage.

Now I have to read it just to keep up.

By Ron Shandler, Brent Hershey, Brandon Kruse , Ray Murphy

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ron Shandler's 2023 Baseball Forecaster as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For more than thirty years, the very best in baseball predictions and statistics.

The industry's longest-running publication for baseball analysts and fantasy leaguers, Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster, published annually since 1986, is the first book to approach prognostication by breaking performance down into its component parts. Rather than predicting batting average, for instance, this resource looks at the elements of skill that make up any given batter's ability to distinguish between balls and strikes, his propensity to make contact with the ball, and what happens when he makes contact-reverse engineering those skills back into batting average. The result is an…


Book cover of Baseball Prospectus Futures Guide 2023

James Bailey Author Of Major League Debuts: 2023 Edition

From my list on annual releases to prep for baseball season.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been reading baseball annuals and previews since I was a kid and my must-haves were Street & Smith’s Baseball Yearbook and Bill Mazeroski’s Baseball. I was a contributing writer for several years to Ultimate Sports Publishing’s annual baseball magazines, which for a while came close to the old Mazeroski releases. I edited several of Baseball America’s Almanacs when I was on staff there and have written Top 30s for a number of the Prospect Handbooks. I get that everything is available online these days, but there’s something about having it all in one place, locked in for all time, there for reference whenever needed.

James' book list on annual releases to prep for baseball season

James Bailey Why did James love this book?

Another now classic annual that dates back into the 1990s, Baseball Prospectus is chock full of informative essays and player and team breakdowns.

Their PECOTA projections are another handy tool for ferreting out which players to target for the upcoming season. Many of the writers have changed over the years, but the book is always a must to keep ahead of the competition.

By Baseball Prospectus,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Baseball Prospectus Futures Guide 2023 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Futures Guide 2023 features:
Detailed reports on top 10 prospects for every major-league team. Condensed reports on many additional key prospects for each team. Top talents 25 years old and younger for each team. Baseball Prospectus’ 2023 organizational rankings. Top 101 real-life and fantasy prospects. Top 50 players who entered pro baseball in 2023. Additional essays on various prospect and scouting related topics.


Book cover of The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham

Stephen S. Power Author Of The Dragon Round

From Stephen's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Book editor Knowledge seeker

Stephen's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Stephen S. Power Why did Stephen love this book?

I love books on the making of movies, reading a couple a year. This book is the best I’ve read, period. Not because it talks about a movie that I could quote all day long, but because it explores all the decisions and compromises Shelton made while creating the movie, and that’s something to learn from as a writer.

Knowing what a creator didn’t choose to do is as valuable as knowing what they did so you can consider what you would do in the same situation because that’s all writing really is: making decisions and compromises, large and small.

By Ron Shelton,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Church of Baseball as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

LA TIMES BESTSELLER • From the award-winning screenwriter and director of cult classic Bull Durham, the extremely entertaining behind-the-scenes story of the making of the film, and an insightful primer on the art and business of moviemaking.

"This book tells you how to make a movie—the whole nine innings of it—out of nothing but sheer will.” —Tony Gilroy, writer/director of Michael Clayton and The Bourne Legacy

"The only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the church of baseball."—Annie in Bull Durham

Bull Durham, the breakthrough 1988 film about a minor league baseball team, is widely…


Book cover of Baseball America 2023 Prospect Handbook

James Bailey Author Of Major League Debuts: 2023 Edition

From my list on annual releases to prep for baseball season.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been reading baseball annuals and previews since I was a kid and my must-haves were Street & Smith’s Baseball Yearbook and Bill Mazeroski’s Baseball. I was a contributing writer for several years to Ultimate Sports Publishing’s annual baseball magazines, which for a while came close to the old Mazeroski releases. I edited several of Baseball America’s Almanacs when I was on staff there and have written Top 30s for a number of the Prospect Handbooks. I get that everything is available online these days, but there’s something about having it all in one place, locked in for all time, there for reference whenever needed.

James' book list on annual releases to prep for baseball season

James Bailey Why did James love this book?

Since 2001, when Baseball America first expanded their prospect lists from 10 players per team to 30, this book has been required reading for fantasy league and Strat-o-matic draft prep.

BA writers have access to scouting directors, managers, coaches, and rival scouts, and the scouting reports are compiled from talking to numerous sources inside the game. Having written several team lists for them myself over the years, I know how much work they put into this book.

By The Editors at Baseball America,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Baseball America 2023 Prospect Handbook as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The 2023 Prospect Handbook is your guide to the next wave of MLB stars

The 2023 Prospect Handbook is your guide to the next wave of MLB stars. With complete scouting reports on more than 900 prospects, the Prospect Handbook is a must-have for superfans as well as fantasy players. Dominate your dynasty league and be the first to know about the stars of the 2020s and early 2030s.


Book cover of A Damn Near Perfect Game: Reclaiming America's Pastime

Jeff Fletcher Author Of Sho-time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani and the Greatest Baseball Season Ever Played

From my list on for fans who want to see baseball from all sides.

Why am I passionate about this?

Ever since I started playing Strat-O-Matic baseball as a 13-year-old and then realized that they actually pay people to write about Major League Baseball, it’s been my dream to be a baseball beat writer. I’ve been lucky enough to do it for 25 years. I’ve seen thousands of baseball games and I’ve spent thousands of hours talking to players, managers, coaches, and executives about the sport, but I still learn things from every baseball book I read. Hopefully these books teach you something and help you enjoy the game more.

Jeff's book list on for fans who want to see baseball from all sides

Jeff Fletcher Why did Jeff love this book?

I loved this book because Kelly gives his uncensored look behind the scenes at the way players view the game.

The other books in this list are told from the perspective of management, so this is the perfect complement to give you the full view at the state of baseball in the 2020s. Kelly tells you what he loves about the game, and what he thinks of the direction it has gone.

By Joe Kelly, Rob Bradford,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Damn Near Perfect Game as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Baseball’s most outspoken fireballer brings the high heat—calling out the hacks, cheats, and ridiculous rules that have tarnished the game—and pitches a-plus stuff on how to make baseball pure, fun, and damn near perfect.

Baseball has an image problem. The chorus of nonbelievers gets louder every year, and the Major Leagues have made an art of tuning them out. Enter Joe Kelly: a walking, talking, fast-ball-throwing embodiment of why baseball matters. He and his All-Star team of athletes and celebrities have some things to say about what’s gone wrong with our once great game and how to fix it.

A…


Book cover of The Book of Joe: Trying Not to Suck at Baseball and Life

Jeff Fletcher Author Of Sho-time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani and the Greatest Baseball Season Ever Played

From my list on for fans who want to see baseball from all sides.

Why am I passionate about this?

Ever since I started playing Strat-O-Matic baseball as a 13-year-old and then realized that they actually pay people to write about Major League Baseball, it’s been my dream to be a baseball beat writer. I’ve been lucky enough to do it for 25 years. I’ve seen thousands of baseball games and I’ve spent thousands of hours talking to players, managers, coaches, and executives about the sport, but I still learn things from every baseball book I read. Hopefully these books teach you something and help you enjoy the game more.

Jeff's book list on for fans who want to see baseball from all sides

Jeff Fletcher Why did Jeff love this book?

If you’re a Shohei Ohtani fan, you may also be a Los Angeles Angels fan, which means you are probably interested in Joe Maddon.

This book is not just Maddon’s ranting against the way baseball has changed over his 40-plus years in the sport, it also includes third-person narrative from Verducci, who interviewed other managers to get their perspective. For example, Astros manager A.J. Hinch detailed his pitching decisions in the 2019 World Series. That was one of my favorite parts of the book.

By Joe Maddon, Tom Verducci,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Book of Joe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

No one sees baseball like Joe Maddon. He sees it through his trademark glasses and irrepressible wit. Raised in the "shot and beer" town of Hazleton, PA, and forged by 15 years in the minors, Maddon over 19 seasons in Tampa Bay, Chicago, and Anaheim has become one of the most successful, most colorful, and most quoted managers in Major League Baseball. He is a workplace culture expert, having engineered two of the most stunning turnarounds in the past quarter century: taking the Rays from the worst record in baseball one year to the World Series the next and leading…


Book cover of Amerikaland

Devin Murphy Author Of The Boat Runner

From my list on books with super shady characters.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a total sucker for people who are so complicated I can’t get a read on them. This love comes from growing up without any extended family. When I heard little bits of my parents’ pasts, it felt like the world got more interesting, and I wanted to dig in to know everything there was to know about what shaped them and, by proxy, what shaped me. I’m drawn to shady characters who don’t want to give up the goods, as they present a joyful challenge by withholding mystery, and those types of characters are the ones I love to read and write about.

Devin's book list on books with super shady characters

Devin Murphy Why did Devin love this book?

This book stunned me by becoming something different over and over again.

The characters in Amerikaland are upright role models, but then we dip into their super complicated pasts. When their family pops up, the story begins to weave itself into a wild plot that requires unbelievable fortitude to endure. As the pages kept coming, I no longer had any idea what was going to happen next and felt like anything could happen. These people were driven by inner fires that could burn up the world at any moment.

I had to lay on the couch after this one as I felt completely gutted, but while lying down, I picked it up again and started rereading.

By Danny Goodman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Amerikaland as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In a reimagined present day, Sabine, a guarded, independent German tennis player, and Sandy, a Brooklyn-born Jewish baseball player, find themselves in New York City for World Day-a sporting event meant to celebrate international peace.


For years, Sabine was regarded as a tennis legend until an act of violence threatened her life and career. Now, she is determined to stand before the crowds once again a winner. Sandy is the beloved star of his hometown team, but a recent horrific antisemitic crime nearly unravels him.


Their lives are forever changed when a massive terrorist attack strikes World Day. As Sabine…