Sports Illustrated: Inside Baseball: The Best of Tom Verducci

by Sports Illustrated

No sport has inspired better writing than baseball, and no one writes baseball better than Tom Verducci. As Sports Illustrated's lead baseball writer since 1993, Verducci has witnessed the achievements of the games greatest heroes and told their inspiring stories with unmatched passion and sophistication. He has enriched SIs readers with an insiders perspective on the game, examining subtle shifts in the ever-changing balance between pitchers and hitters, between slumps and streaks, between sacred records and the athletes trying to break them. Despite his deep affection for baseball, however, Verducci has never shied away from the hard truth about the game: his landmark piece about steroids, for instance, changed the baseball landscape forever.These 25 pieces span the generations from Sandy Koufax to Roger Clemens, from Ted Williams to Barry Bonds.They chronicle the important trends in the game and celebrate baseballs brightest stars and most breathtaking performances.They are the best work of a writer at the top of his game.

Genres: Baseball, Sports

318 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 2006

Reviews

[Tom Gase · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good collection of articles that author Tom Verducci did for Sports Illustrated from 1993 to 2005. If you are a fan of baseball, you must read this. I compare him to Roger Angell, with this book, it's that good. I especially liked the articles on Sandy Koufax, Pedro Martinez, the 2004 Red Sox, the 2003 Playoff Series and the article on Rickey Henderson. Good stuff.

[Fansmash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fan loves baseball. Any true baseball fan should love Verducci's writings about baseball.
Great collection of articles.
Some highlights:
+ Profile on Sandy Koufax (my favorite article here)
+ Profile on Pedro Martinez
+ Daryl Strawberry's and Dwight Gooden's troubles with substance abuse
+ Breaking SI story about steroids in baseball
+ Verducci's 5-days in Blue Jays training

[Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge baseball fan, so this book was entertaining. It is a lot of short stories about different baseball players in the era when I was growing up.

[Andre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Verducci is one of my favorite sports writers and this book of his writing on baseball has many of his best articles from Sports Illustrated.

[Mr. Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun collection of Verducci's articles. What's sad is that so much of what was written about seems like fiction due to the cloud of the PED era.