Books on the Giants

Yep, I read it. Didn’t like it much … He needed a copy editor, badly. But the stories were good!

The best book is Willie’s Time by Charles Einstein. I can’t say enough about this lyrical, gorgeous book. Go read it next!

Depending on how far back you want to go, The Giants of San Francisco, by Art Rosenbaum and Bob Stevens

Not about the Giants per se, but Jon Miller’s book Confessions of a Baseball Purist is awesome.

I think Tales from the San Francisco Giants Dugout by Nick Peters is a pretty good one.

Also, I mentioned this on another thread, but The Celebrant by Eric Rolfe Greenberg is a pretty good fictional book about Christy Mathewson and a little about the 1919 World Series. The main character is fictional, but the story is built around real historical facts so it’s a nice blend of fact and fiction. It’s pretty cool. It’s a little depressing, though…

I keep meaning to get the 50th Anniversary book that Brian Murphy did.

I figure if I’m really a hard-core Giants fan, I should have a section like this on my bookshelf anyway.

SF Giants history “to read” list so far -

1 – San Francisco Giants: Where Have You Gone? – by Matt Johanson
2 – Willie’s Time – by Charles Einstein
3 – Comeback – by Dave Dravecky
4 – The Giants of San Francisco – by Art Rosenbaum & Bob Stevens
5 – Tales from the San Francisco Giants Dugout – by Nick Peters
6 – The Celebrant – by Eric Rolfe Greenberg (fiction)
7 – San Francisco Giants: 50 Years – by Brian Murphy

Just Good books on baseball list –

1 – Confessions of a Baseball Purist – by Jon Miller

keep the suggestions coming, I’ve looked for something like this online and on google with no luck at all

but Crazy ’08 by Cait Murphy is a really good book about the 1908 season. It has a lot of good stories about Christy Mathewson and Three Fingers Brown. Also, there is a whole chapter on the Merkle game.

Away Games: The Life and Times of the Latino Ballplayer has a lot of stuff about the early Latino Giants baseball players. The Alous are mentioned often, as is Cepeda and Marichal. It’s just a great book anyway, written by former Sac Bee writer Marcos Breton.

 …. for all the wrong reasons.

I liked Bobby Thomson’s Few and Chosen: Defining Giants Greatness Across The Eras. He chooses a top 5 for each position plus RHP, LHP, reliever and Manager, elaborating on each with anecdotes and stories. Oh, and a foreward by McCovey.

SF Giants history "to read" list so far -

1 – San Francisco Giants: Where Have You Gone? – by Matt Johanson
2 – Willie’s Time – by Charles Einstein
3 – Comeback – by Dave Dravecky
4 – The Giants of San Francisco – by Art Rosenbaum & Bob Stevens
5 – Tales from the San Francisco Giants Dugout – by Nick Peters
6 – The Celebrant (fiction) – by Eric Rolfe Greenberg
7 – San Francisco Giants: 50 Years – by Brian Murphy
8 – This Copyrighted Broadcast – by Hank Greenwald
9 – Unforgettable!: The Giant’s Spectacular 2002 Pennant-Winning Season – by San Francisco Chronicle
10 – Few and Chosen: Defining Giants Greatness Across the Eras – by Bobby Thomson

Just Good books on baseball list (usually with notable chapters on the Giants included) –

1 – Confessions of a Baseball Purist – by Jon Miller
2 – The Golden Game: The Story of California Baseball – by Kevin Nelson & Hank Greenwald
3 – Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game – by Michael Lewis
4 – Crazy ’08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History – by Cait N. Murphy
5 – Away Games: The Life and Times of a Latino Ballplayer – by Marcos Breton & Jose Luis Villegas

Doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the Giants (I think there are some mentions of Mays) but you should read The Soul of Baseball by Joe Posnanski (about Buck O’Neil).

S.F. Giants, An Oral History by Mike Mandel

Great photos and stories. Always hated Bobby Murcer because his one line entry was:

“I was never a Giant.”

I picked up The Original Giants, or something like that, at the library. I’m not too sure about it.