The Baseball Anthology: 125 Years of Stories, Poems, Articles, Photographs, Drawings, Interviews, Cartoons, and Other Memorabilia

This is basically an oral history of the national pastime from its inception to the present. Many players and events are described: Johnny Evers reminisces about the famous force-play that became ``Merkle's Boner'' to the world in 1908. Fred Lieb tells how the Yankees' pitcher Carl Mays killed the Indians' Ray Chapman with a submarine pitch (``I could see the left eye hanging from its socket'') in 1920. Hall-of-Famer Leo Durocher recalls how he put down an uprising of Brooklyn Dodgers to keep Jackie Robinson out of the big leagues by saying of their petition: ``You can wipe your ass with it.'' Hank Aaron remembers that when he came close to beating Babe Ruth's home-run record, he received ``Dear Nigger'' letters. But what makes this book special are the pictures, especially those in black-and-white: Jackie Robinson stretching at first base with Ebbets Field in the background; Willie Mays climbing the outfield wall to rob a player of a base hit; Casey Stengel sliding home with an inside-the-park home-run during the 1923 World Series; and, of course, the Babe hitting one out. A treat for the baseball aficionado, freelancer Wallace's book makes a nice companion volume to Baseball by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns (Nonfiction Forecasts, Aug. 15). Photos. BOMC dividend selection. (Oct.)