Joe Posnanski

Near the end of the book, I took an informal poll of coworkers: Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, and Satchel Paige got votes as the best ever; they rank 2, 1, 4, and 10 in Joe's estimation, suggesting that, Family Feud style, he's got a good list. But what is this really about?

The Baseball 100 isn't a history, in the usual sense, though it is Posnanski's story of the sport. It's a list, obviously, purportedly ranking players from all eras against one another (though that's admittedly show more subjective, almost intended to start arguments). What's it about? The players -- each essay is a short biography and discussion of the career, a little bit of amazing. Yet each is so much more: the book is a discussion of greatness: what is it, what does it require? It's about relationships, fathers and sons, players and fans, social roles. It's about memory and myth, too, because too many of the best players were excluded from competition, so we have no way to really know how Negro Leaguers compared except what comes down as legend, and the very real loss this unjustified exclusion caused for us all.

And it is, before I've even finished, one of my favorite books. show less

Joe Posnanski’s The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America is a warm and wonderful ode to the Negro Leagues and to O’ Neil, one of the great advocates for the long overdue recognition of Negro League players, and one of the finest ambassadors of baseball itself. Posnanski, with his usual flair for storytelling and his evident love of the game, chronicles the year he spent crisscrossing the country with Buck on his goodwill tour. The book is filled with stories of show more the Negro Leagues, some hilarious and some somber, that capture the essence of what it was like to play ball in that era, shut out from competing in the Major Leagues until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. Posnanski provides insight into O ‘Neil’s heart and soul. This is not quite a biography of the man, but it paints a beautiful portrait of him. show less

As equally fascinating as it is frustrating, "The Baseball 100" should be a joy to read for baseball fans.
Author Joe Posnanski threads interesting anecdotes with baseball statistics to support his top 100 baseball players. Spoiler Alert: Like me, I'm pretty sure most serious baseball fans will take exception with some of Posnanski's choices. Big deal. The point is, he spent a number of years thinking about, researching, and compiling this list. Many fans (again like me) may take more show more exception to where some of these greats are listed instead of who is left off the list.
The anecdotes are great and the stats are compelling. Good work, Joe, even though I don't agree with everything! show less

I love lists. I particularly love lists when the creator states up front that the list is not so much a best of ranking but a list with a rough hierarchy but also some whimsy (DiMaggio at number 56 for obvious reasons having nothing to do with actual ranking is the example he cites in his introduction). As such, The Baseball 100 by Joe Posnanski should theoretically elicit no argument. Yeah, right, this is baseball and everything is open to argument. And that is the joy of lists, baseball, show more and especially lists about baseball.

This is no mere list however. Each entry is a mini biography of sorts, highlighting the player and his accomplishments. These are fascinating little sketches and that makes the reader understand, if not appreciate, each player that much more.

Like any lifelong baseball fan I have a lot of opinions about who is here and who isn't, where the ones here are ranked, and what constitutes greatness. Yet even when I disagree with something Posnanski asserts I also acknowledge that his rationale does. indeed, make sense for what he is doing. This is his list and I appreciate the opportunity to see the list and I truly enjoyed reading about the characters that populated baseball over the years.

I would highly recommend this to any baseball fan. Some chapters will bring back memories, some will be little history lessons, but all of them will be a fun and informative trip into a player's life and career.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less