The Baseball Maniac's Almanac - 4th Edition: The Absolutely, Positively, and without Question Greatest Book of Facts, Figures, and Astonishing Lists Ever Compiled

by Bert Randolph Sugar (Editor), Stuart Shea (With), Ken Samelson (With)

An addictive read that is sure to spark conversation wherever baseball is spoken, this updated edition of The Baseball Maniac’s Almanac is part reference, part trivia, part brain teaser, and absolutely the most unusual and thorough compendium of baseball stats and facts ever assembled—all verified for accuracy by the Baseball Hall of Fame. In its pages, renowned sportswriter Bert Randolph Sugar presents thousands of fascinating lists, tables, data, and stimulating facts. Inside, you’ll find:

Highest batting averages not to win batting titles
Home-run leaders by state of birth
Players on last-place teams leading the league in RBIs, by season
Most triples by position, season
Winners of two “legs” of triple crown since last winner
Oldest pitchers with losing record, leading league in ERA
Career pitching leaders under six feet tall
Managers replaced wile team was in first place
Hall of Famers whose sons played in the majors
Babe Ruth’s yearly salary
Players with palindromic surnames
And so much more!

Not just a collection of facts or records, this is a book of glorious fun that will astound even the most bookish baseball fan. Read up and amaze your friends!

Genres: Baseball, Nonfiction

428 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Bert Randolph Sugar was a boxing writer and sports historian.

Reviews

[Graydon Vyse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not as I would consider a story but I loved it because it has every stat I could want to know about any player. I read it start to finish and I can randomly pull stats out of the back of my head randomly. If you play baseball and want something to pick up and put down every now and then get this book. I would recommend this book to you if you play baseball if you do not then I would not read it. All it has is statistics that would bore a soccer player to death. So you need to read this book only if you play baseball.

[Greg L Goldstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not a maniac, but I pick up this book often, open to a random section, and enjoy the crazy lists put together by my old pal Bert Randolph Sugar (now deceased) and Ken Samelson.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not great literature, but a lot of fun! Baseball "figure filberts" will love this. Normally sane people will wonder why. Let's take some entries randomly from throughout the book to illustrate:

Page 37: Shortstops with at least seven consecutive 20-home run seasons (Cal Ripken, Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Miguel Tejada, Ernie Banks)

Page 83: Players with 400 home runs and 10 steals of home in a career (Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth)

Page 126: Pitchers with combined total of 500 strikeouts/walks in a season (Bob Feller, Nolan Ryan [four times:])

Page 215: Players with both Little League and Major League World Series Teams (Boog Powell, Jim Barbieri, Rick Wise, Carney Lansford, Ed Vosburg, Charles Hayes, Dwight Gooden, Derek Bell, Gary Sheffield, Jason Marquis, Jason Veritek)

Page 227: Players born on Leap Year Day (Feb. 29) (Ed Appleton, Al Autry, Jerry Fry, Paul Giel, Bill Long, Terrence Long, Pepper Martin, Ralph Miller, Steve Mingori, Ray Parker, Dickey Pearce, Al Rosen)

The last part of the book features team-by-team histories.

All in all, a lot of fun if you dig baseball minutiae. . . .

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Bert Sugar and love baseball, this is great

[Jeff Moffatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for baseball history nuts!