Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments
Joe Posnanski
Dutton Books
Copyright 2023 by the author

The title is something of a misnomer. The book is not a collection of essays on how great baseball is, nor is it a historical chronicle of key events in the history of the game.

Over and over again, with his many books and articles and essays and blog posts, Joe Posnanski has shown himself to be a master at telling stories. Here, he puts that skill to work, with what turns out to be over 100 stories of baseball at every level.

Sure, there are plenty of things from the Major Leagues and World Series. But that’s not all there is to baseball. A Little Leaguer learns the knuckleball from and old star, and uses it to toss a perfect game…. A real potato makes an appearance on the field in a minor league game…. A team pulls of the perfect “hidden ball” trick in the College World Series.

And the stories he finds…. A request for an autograph turns in to a decades-long friendship. A journeyman player hits a home run for his late father on Fathers’ Day. An ad-libbed line in a movie becomes one of its funniest moments. Yes, Posnanski includes a few moments from movies – because, seriously, what sport has better and more varied movies?

L to R: The Pride of the Yankees (1942), Bull Durham (1988), The Rookie (2002), Major League (1989), Field of Dreams (1989), The Natural (1984). A League of Their Own (1992)

There are moments from the past that have earned their own names – The Catch. The Called Shot. The Shot Heard ‘Round the World – and moments from more recent times that belong in that esteemed group: The Double. The Bat Flip. The Rick Camp Game. Moments that will bring tears to your eyes from either sentiment or joy or outright laughter.

(Speaking of which, this one, where the entire Pittsburgh team had a colossal Brain Fart, should have gotten a mention – at least Javier Baez made an appearance for another Moment)

In his introduction, Posnanski notes that the poem “Casey at the Bat” was written in 1888. The events described are still familiar to anyone who has even a passing knowledge of the game. A late-inning rally brings a team’s star slugger to the plate as the potential winning run; even a mere single would tie the game…. You can readily hear your team’s broadcaster describing the action. In 1888, though, Coca-Cola, Hershey bars, and paper clips had yet to be introduced. Basketball didn’t exist. The Stanley Cup had yet to be awarded. There was no such thing as a “forward pass” in football. But people had been playing baseball for decades.

The fact that Baseball has been around so long with so little change – to the point where we can directly compare a player from 1923 with one from 2023 – means that the sport must have something going for it.

Guess we’ll always love Baseball.