Baseball Memories: 1900-1909

With baseball memorabilia becoming a big business, there should be an appreciative audience for this informative volume. Okkonen ( Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century ) has collected a prodigious number of photos of early-20th-century managers, coaches, players, baseball writers, ballparks and fans--the book includes almost 2000 illustrations. There are overviews of the National and American leagues and a year-by-year chronology of the major events in the game. Most entertaining are sidelights on the early days: when hats and suits were de rigueur for male fans, one sportswriter was photographed wearing a top hat; before the NL club in Chicago settled on ``Cubs'' as a nickname, it was variously known as ``Remnants'' and ``Orphans.'' (Feb.)