Coming down the pike … again (2021 baseball titles)

As I mentioned in the previous post, I was looking into baseball titles that came out during the year. So why not kill two birds with one stone with my occasional looks ahead.

So looking ahead to 2021, in no particular order:

Cobra: A Life of Baseball and Brotherhood, by Dave Parker and Dave Jordan
The Captain & Me: On and Off the Field with Thurman Munson, by Ron Blomberg and Dan Epstein
Maris & Mantle: Two Yankees, Immortality, and The Age of Camelot, by Dave Castro
42 Today: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy, edited by Michael G. Long
The Spaceman Chronicles: The Life of the Earthling Bill Lee, by Scott Russell
Lights, Camera, Fastball: How the Hollywood Stars Changed Baseball, by Dan Taylor
1930: The Story of a Baseball Season When Hitters Reigned Supreme, by Lew Freedman
Cheated: The Inside Story of the Astros Scandal and a Colorful History of Sign Stealing, by Andy Martino
So Many Ways to Lose: The Amazin’ True Story of the New York Mets―the Best Worst Team in Sports, by Devin Gordon
Comeback Season: My Unlikely Story of Friendship with the Greatest Living Negro League Baseball Players, by Cam Perron
The Great Bambino: Babe Ruth’s Life in Pictures, by Sam Chase
11 in ’11: Epic Comebacks, a Hometown Hero, and a Miracle World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals, by Benjamin Hochman
Mount Rushmore of the New York Mets: The Best Players by Decade to Wear the Orange and Blue, by Brett Topel

Just a few observations:

♦ Surprised it took so long for an Astros cheating book to come out. Then again, The Echoing Green came out 50 years after the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World.”

♦ Looking most forward to Cobra. I highly recommend the MLB documentary, The Cobra at Twilight. Then there’s the new Blomberg book. Epstein really had his work cut out, trying to “cat-herd” the loquacious “Designated Hebrew.”

♦ There can’t be too many books about Jackie Robinson’s legacy, but the proof will be in the presentation.

♦ Another book about Mantle and Maris? Although I am intrigued by the Camelot angle. I hope that’s a significant part of Castro’s latest offering.

♦ And another book of Babe Ruth photos? It’s been done (The Babe: A Life in Pictures, by Lawrence Ritter, 1988). Curious to see the difference. Odds are a number of new images have come to light over the past 30 years.