Joe Posnanski wrote for the Kansas City Star throughout my teenage years. In retrospect, I have come to realize that he is a big part of the reason that I became a Royals fan. Because during those years, the Royals were bad. Like, really bad. All the other kids at my middle school and high school would not be caught dead wearing Royals gear, that’s how embarrassing this baseball team was during those years.
Every weekend, my dad would buy the Sunday edition of the Kansas City Star. And every Sunday, I would snag the sports section out of that bulky stack of newspaper and spread out on the floor to read anything that looked even mildly interesting.
It was not long before I became a regular reader of Joe Posnanski’s columns, because this man can write. And he wrote about the Kansas City Royals in a way that I just could not help but love the team, no matter how badly they played. So when my parents gifted me a copy of Why We Love Baseball this past Christmas, I knew I was in for a treat.
The book is subtitled A History in 50 Moments, and the combination of the two titles sum up the book quite aptly. Posnanski writes about fifty moments over the course of the history of the game that demonstrate exactly why we love baseball so much. From Babe Ruth to Shohei Ohtani, from Shoeless Joe to Cal Ripken, Jr., this book curates the greatest moments and retells the stories behind them in a truly captivating style.
But the book doesn’t stop at just those fifty moments. As a bonus, Posnanski throws in multiple collections of five shorter stories. For example, “Five Barehanded Plays” or “Five Catches” or “Five Blunders.” And just before revealing the number one moment in the book, there is “A Moment for Every Team,” that way every fan can find something they can enjoy, regardless of which MLB team they might root for.
And that, I think, is the true value that this book presents: it is a book that any baseball fan can find pleasure in. I also love the fact that this book does not have to be read continuously to be understood. It is essentially a collection of short stories, and, as such, it can be picked up at one’s leisure, anytime the reader is in the mood for a little baseball.
And in the same way Posnanski made me fall in love with the Royals, this book will make any reader fall in love with baseball all over again.
I have this book in my stack of unread books. I might just have to move it up the list now…
The unread stack can feel insurmountable sometimes! But I do encourage the idea of moving this book up.
My dad mentioned this book to me too. I strangely first heard about Posnanski from a friend all the way in California. He had nothing but great things to say about him. You were lucky to have a such a great writer covering your team.
Very lucky, for sure. You can tell he loves baseball just in the way he writes about it.
Glad to see you praise this great book by an excellent author. I bought this book two years ago and like you I thoroughly enjoyed. It is truly a must read for any baseball fan.