CASEY Award

Best Baseball Book of the Year

(For Best Baseball Book of the Year; sponsored by Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine

Finalists for the 2015 CASEY Award

CASEY Award Winners

2012 Casey Award Banquet 

The New CASEY Award

History of the CASEY Award

How the CASEY Award Process Works

Previous CASEY Award Judges

Previous CASEY Award Nominees

2009 Casey Award Banquet

Recently Reviewed Baseball Books

CASEY Award Winners

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New CASEY Award To Be Authentic Louisville Slugger!

Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine is proud to announce that, beginning with the program for 2009 baseball books, the CASEY Award will be an authentic Louisville Slugger baseball bat; imprinted with a new CASEY Award logo specially designed by Donnie Pollard, Spitball's second Art Director and longtime cover artist. The winner of the CASEY Award will also have his name imprinted into the barrel of the CASEY Award bat. According to Editor Mike Shannon: "Our previous CASEY Award, the bronze plaques, served us well, but the mold for them wore out and we were beginning to lose the details on the plaques. We needed an alternative, and Louisville Slugger stepped up to the plate. Louisville Slugger is one of the most famous and respected names in baseball, and we could not be more pleased or more proud to be associated with them. The winner of the CASEY Award will now receive a specially designed and imprinted Louisville Slugger as his prize, and I am certain that any author lucky enough to win one will be absolutely thrilled with it." 

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History of the CASEY Award

      The CASEY Award was inaugurated in 1983 by Mike Shannon and W.J. Harrison, the editors and co-founders of Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine, because up to that time there had never been any award specifically designated to honor the authors and publishers of outstanding baseball books.

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Previous CASEY Award Judges

Paul Adomites (1990), Charles Alexander (1989), Marty Appel (1998), Bob Bailey (1991), Mary Barney (2004), Paul Bauer (1991), Brian Baughan (2015), Mike Bielawa (1998), Peter Bjarkman (1989), John Boyle (1993), Bob Cairns (2014), Butch Callery (2006), Pete Cava (1999), Gary Cieradkowski (2013), Jim Charlton (1995), Tom Chase (1988), Avery Corman (2016), Richard Crepeau (1993) Jim Crowley (2011), Steve Cummings (1995), John Curtis (1994), John Derks (2023), Charles Einstein (1990), Larry Dickson (1985), Reid Duffy (2001), Chris Eckes (2005), Morris Eckhouse (2000), Scott Ferkovich (2014), Greg Gajus (2020), Joe Gazzo (2023),  Larry Gerlach (1992),  Tom Gilbert (2023), Jay Goldberg (2013), Kevin Grace (1986), Phil Gray (2005), Wayne Greene (1994), Jack Griener (2012), Dave Grob (2019), Richard Grossinger (1988), Tracy Hackler (2005), Chris Hanners (2001), Scott Hannig (2007), Mike Harmon (2024), W. J. Harrison (1983, 1984), Ernie Harwell (1995), Jack Heffron (2009), Paul Herbert (2000), Steve Hermanos (2017), Annie Hess (2010), Alex Holzman (1989), Jerome Holtzman (1993), Brooke Horvath (1986), Rollie Jacobsen (2007, 2008), Anne Jewell (2006), Lloyd Johnson (1996), Ron Kaplan (2010), Chris Karhl (2001), Kostya Kennedy (2021), Kevin Kerrane (1987), Doug Kimsey (2004), Gary Kitchell (2000), Rob Langenderfer (2021), Mike Leadbetter (2002), Michael Leahy (2019), Jon Leonoudakis (2012), Skip Lockwood (2022), Bruce Markusen (2002), Bob Mayberry (2018), Andy McCue (1992), Bill McGill (2007), Dick Miller (1996), Mike Miller (2018), Gary Morgenstein (2024), Willis Monie (2004), Alan Morris (2022), Tom Mortenson (1999), Tom Nahigian (2009), Dan Neville (2015), Rob Neyer (2020), Bob Obojski (1987), T.S. O'Connell (2003), Dan Okrent (1986), Wes Parker (2003), Lorine Parks (2020), Charlie Patton (1998), Tim Peeler (2010), Larry Phillips (2021), Bobby Plapinger (1990), David Plaut (1997), John Poff (2012), Rich Puerzer (2017), Rich Puff (1991), Larry Ritter (1997), Greg Rhodes (1985, 2008), Ray Robinson (1999), C. Paul Rogers (2013), Mark Rushing (1985), Luke Salisbury (2018), Joe Santry (2003), Zach Sanzone (2016), Mark Schraf (1992), Mike Shannon (1983, 1984), Jeff Singleton (2016), John Skurkay (2006), Leverett Smith (1987), Dennis Snelling (2015), Eric Soergel (2009), C.W. Spooner (2019), Wayne Stewart (2011), Andy Sturgill (2014), Judith Testa (2024), Wayne Tucker (2008), Al Turnbull (2017), Charles Vascellaro (1996), David Q. Voigt (1988), Mark Walling (2022), John Wend (2011), Paul White (1994), Mike Wickham (1997), Lisa Winston (2002).

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PREVIOUS CASEY AWARD NOMINEES

2023 CASEY Award Nominees

Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas * Jesse Cole * Dutton

Baseball Photography of the Deadball Era: Rediscovering the Early Lensmen and Their Indelible Images that Brought the Game from the Field to the Fans * Jim Chapman * Self-published

Baseball: The Turbulent Midcentury Years * Steven P. Gietschier * University of Nebraska Press

Daybreak at Chavez Ravine: Fernandomania and the Remaking of the Los Angeles Dodgers * Erik Sherman * University of Nebraska Press

The Fireballer: A Novel * Mark Stevens * Lake Union Publishing

From the Front Row: Reflections of a Major League Baseball Owner and Modern Art Dealer * Jeffrey H. Loria * PostHill Press

The New Ballgame: The Not-So-Hidden Forces Shaping Modern Baseball * Russell A. Carleton * Triumph Books

Spitter: Baseball’s Notorious Gaylord Perry * David Vaught * Texas A & M Press

Welcome to the Circus of Baseball: A Story of the Perfect Summer, at the Perfect Ballpark, at the Perfect Time * Ryan McGee * Doubleday

Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments * Joe Posnanski * Dutton

The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, and Unbreakable Friendship between John Glenn and Ted Williams * Adam Lazarus * Citadel Press.

2022 CASEY Award Nominees

The Book of Joe: Trying Not to Suck at Baseball and Life * by Joe Maddon and Tom Verducci * Twelve Books

Charlie Murphy: The Iconoclastic Showman Behind the Chicago Cubs * by Jason Cannon * University of Nebraska Press

The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham: Home Runs, Bad Calls, Crazy Fights, Big Swings, and a Hit * by Ron Shelton * Knopf

The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series * by Tyler Kepner * Doubleday

The Lineup: Ten Books that Changed Baseball * by Paul Aron * McFarland

Playing through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession that Changed Baseball Forever * by Dan Good * Abrams Press

Red Barber: The Life and Legacy of a Broadcasting Legend * by Judith R. Hiltner and James R. Walker * University of Nebraska Press

Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original * by Howard Bryant * Mariner

In Scoring Position: 40 Years of a Baseball Love Affair * by Bob Ryan & Bill Chuck * Triumph Books

True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson * by Kostya Kennedy * St. Martin’s Press

2021 CASEY Award Nominees

The Baseball 100 * by Joe Posnanski *The Avid Readers Press

The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell: Speed, Grace, and the Negro Leagues  * by Lonnie Wheeler * Abrams Press

The Bronx Zoom: Inside the New York Yankees' Most Bizarre Season *  by Bryan Hoch * Triumph Books

Cheated: The Inside Story of the Astros Scandal and a Colorful History of Sign Stealing  * by Andy Martino * Doubleday

Cobra: A Life of Baseball and Brotherhood * by Dave Parker and Dave Jordan * University of Nebraska Press

Escape from Castro's Cuba * by Tim Wendel  * University of Nebraska Press

Forty Years a Giant: The Life of Horace Stoneham * by Steven Treder  * University of Nebraska Press

Lights, Camera, Fastball: How The Hollywood Stars Changed Baseball * by Dan Taylor  * Rowman & Littlefield

Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series that Changed Baseball * by Luke Epplin * Flatiron Books

2020 CASEY Award Nominees

Billy Ball: Billy Martin and the Resurrection of the Oakland A's * by Dale Tafoya * Lyons Press

Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original * by Mitchell Nathanson * University of Nebraska Press

The Cactus League (a novel) * by Emily Nemens * Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Dalko: The Untold Story of Baseball's Fastest Pitcher * by Bill Dembski, Alex Thomas, & Brian Vikander * Influence Publishing

How Baseball Happened: Outrageous Lies Exposed! The True Story Revealed * by Thomas W. Gilbert * David R. Godine, Publisher

Issei Baseball: The Story of the First Japanese American Ballplayers * Robert K. Fitts * University of Nebraska Press

Mutt's Dream: Making the Mick (novel) * by Howard Burman * Ascend Books

Swing Kings: The Inside Story of Baseball's Home Run Revolution * by Jared Diamond * William Morrow

Tom Seaver: A Terrific Life * by Bill Madden * Simon and Schuster

The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife * by Brad Balukjian * University of Nebraska Press

 A Year of Playing Catch: What a Simple Daily Experiment Taught Me about Life * by Ethan D. Bryan * Zondervan Books

2019 CASEY Award Nominees

Ballpark: Baseball in the American City * Paul Goldberger * Alfred A. Knopf 

Baseball Revolutionaries: How the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings Rocked the Country and Made Baseball Famous  * Greg Rhodes, John Erardi, and Greg Gajus * Baseball Revolutionaries Press

Chumps to Champs: How the Worst Teams in Yankees History Led to the 90’s Dynasty * Bill Pennington * Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Homegrown: How the Red Sox Built a Champion from the Ground Up * Alex Speier * William Morrow

Inside the Empire: the True Power behind the New York Yankees * Bob Klapisch and Paul Solotaroff  *Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches * Tyler Kepner * Doubleday

The Legendary Harry Caray: Baseball's Greatest Salesman * Don Zminda * Rowman & Littlefield

Let’s Play Two: The Legend of Mr. Cub, The Life of Ernie Banks * Ron Rapoport *  Hachette Books

The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players * Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik * Basic Books

Oscar Charleston: The Life and Legend of Baseball’s Greatest Forgotten Player * Jeremy Beer * University of Nebraska Press

Scouting and Scoring: How We Know What We Know about Baseball * Christopher J. Phillips * Princeton University Press

They Bled Blue: Fernandomania, Strike-Season Mayhem, and the Weirdest Championship Baseball Had Ever Seen * Jason Turbow * Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

2018 CASEY Award Nominees

Baseball in a Grain of Sand: Seeing the Game through a Small Town Team * Bill Gruber * McFarland

The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created * Jane Leavy * Harper

The Chicken Runs at Midnight: A Daughter's Message from Heaven that Changed a Father's Heart and Won a World Series * Tom Friend * Zondervan

The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team that Helped Win World War II * Anne R. Keene * Sports Publishing

Game Faces: Early Baseball Cards from the Library of Congress * Peter Devereaux * Smithsonian Books

Gehrig & the Babe: The Friendship and the Feud * Tony Castro * Triumph Books

Gods of Wood and Stone: a Novel * Mark Di Ionno * Touchstone

Powerball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game * Rob Neyer * Harper

A Season in the Sun: The Rise of Mickey Mantle * Randy Roberts & Johnny Smith * Basic Books

Tom Yawkey: Patriarch of the Boston Red Sox * Bill Nowlin * University of Nebraska Press

Tony Perez: From Cuba to Cooperstown * John Erardi * Orange Frazer Press

Winning Ugly: A Visual History of the Most Bizarre Baseball Uniforms Ever Worn * Todd Radom * Sports Publishing

2017 CASEY Award Nominees

Casey Stengel: Baseball’s Greatest Character * Marty Appel * Doubleday

Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley’s Swinging A’s * Jason Turbow * Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame that Lasted Forever * Kevin Cook * Henry Holt

Lefty O’Doul: Baseball’s Forgotten Ambassador * Dennis Snelling * University of Nebraska Press

Leo Durocher: Baseball’s Prodigal Son * Paul Dickson * Bloomsbury

Lost Ballparks * Dennis Evanosky and Eric J. Kos * Pavilion

The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic * Richard Sandomir *Hachette Books

Smart Baseball: The Story behind the Old Stats that Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones that are Running It, and the Right Way to Think about Baseball * Keith Law * William Morrow

The Streak: Lou Gehrig, Cal Ripken Jr., and Baseball’s Most Historic Record * John Eisenberg * Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

The Year of the Pitcher: Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, and the End of Baseball’s Golden Age * Sridhar Pappu * Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

2016 CASEY Award Nominees

The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports * Jeff Passan * Harper

The Baseball Whisperer: A Small-Town Coach Who Shaped Big League Dreams * Michael Tackett * Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Bucky F*cking Dent (novel) * David Duchovny * Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Game Worn: Baseball Treasures from the Game's Greatest Heroes and Moments * Stephen Wong & Dave Grob * Smithsonian Books

The Last Innocents: The Collision of the Turbulent Sixties and the Los Angeles Dodgers * Michael Leahy * HarperCollins

The Only Rule Is It Has to Work: Our Wild Experiment Building a New Kind of Baseball Team * Ben Lindbergh & Sam Miller * Henry Holt

Playing with Tigers: A Minor League Chronicle of the Sixties * George Gmelch * University of Nebraska Press

The Selling of the Babe: The Deal that Changed Baseball and Created a Legend * Glenn Stout * Thomas Dunne Books

Terror in the City of Champions: Murder, Baseball, and the Secret Society that Shocked Depression-Era Detroit * by Tom Stanton * Lyons Press

Wild in the Strike Zone: Baseball Poems * Tim Peeler * Rank Stranger Press

2015 CASEY Award Nominees

The Betrayal: The 1919 World Series and the Birth of Modern Baseball * Charles Fountain * Oxford University Press

Big Data Baseball: Math, Miracles, and the End of a 20-Year Losing Streak * Travis Sawchik * Flatiron Books

Billy Martin: Baseball's Flawed Genius * Bill Pennington * Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

The Colonel and Hug: The Partnership that Transformed the New York Yankees * Steve Steinberg & Lyle Spatz * University of Nebraska Press

The Game: Inside the Secret World of Major League Baseball's Power Brokers * Jon Pessah * Little Brown

The Game Must Go On: Hank Greenberg, Pete Gray, and the Great Days of Baseball on the Home Front, 1941-1945 * John Klima * Thomas Dunne Books

The League of Outsider Baseball: An Illustrated History of Baseball's Forgotten Heroes * Gary Cieradkowski * Simon & Schuster

Split Season: 1981: Fernandomania, the Bronx Zoo, and the Strike that Saved Baseball * Jeff Katz * St. Martin's Press

Swing (novel) * Philip Beard * Van Buren Books

Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty * Charles Leerhsen * Simon & Schuster

2014 CASEY Award Nominees

Brooks: The Biography of Brooks Robinson * Doug Wilson * Thomas Dunne Books

The Chalmers Race: Ty Cobb, Napoleon Lajoie, and the Controversial 1910 Batting Title that Became a National Obsession * Rick Huhn * University of Nebraska Press

The Fight of Their Lives: How Juan Marichal and John Roseboro Turned Baseball's Ugliest Brawl into a Story of Forgiveness and Redemption * John Rosengren * Globe Pequot Press

Jackie and Campy: The Untold Story of Their Rocky Relationship and the Breaking of Baseball's Color Line * William C. Kashatus * University of Nebraska Press

Johnny Evers: A Baseball Biography * Dennis Snelling * McFarland

Mover and Shaker: Walter O'Malley, the Dodgers, and Baseball's Westward Expansion * Andy McCue * University of Nebraska Press

A Nice Little Place of the North Side: Wrigley Field at One Hundred * George Will * Crown Archetype

Nolan Ryan: The Making of a Pitcher * Rob Goldman * Triumph Books

Outsider Baseball: The Weird World of Hardball on the Fringe, 1876-1950 * Scott Simkus * Chicago Review Press

Pete Rose: An American Dilemma * Kostya Kennedy * Time Home Entertainment

Rickey & Robinson: The True, Untold Story of the Integration of Baseball * Roger Kahn * Rodale

1954: The Year Willie Mays and the First Generation of Black Superstars Changed Major League Baseball Forever * Bill Madden * Da Capo Press

2013 CASEY Award Nominees

Class A: Baseball in the Middle of Everywhere * Lucas Mann * Pantheon

Color Blind: The Forgotten Team that Broke Baseball's Color Line * Tom Dunkel * Atlantic Monthly Press

Going the Distance * Michael Joyce * State University of New York Press

Heart of a Tiger: Growing Up with My Grandfather, Ty Cobb * Herschel Cobb * ECW Press

Mickey and Willie: Mantle and Mays, the Parallel Lives of Baseball's Golden Age * Allen Barra * Crown Archetype

Mr. Wrigley's Ball Club: Chicago and the Cubs during the Jazz Age * Roberts Ehrgott * University of Nebraska Press

The Powers * Valerie Sayers * Northwestern University Press

Spitballing: The Baseball Days of Long Bob Ewing * Mike Lackey * Orange Frazer Press

The Summer of Beer and Whiskey: How Brewers, Barkeeps, Rowdies, Immigrants, and a Wild Pennant Fight Made Baseball America's Game * Edward  Achorn * Public Affairs

The Victory Season: The End of World War II and the Birth of Baseball's Golden Age * Robert Weintraub * Little, Brown and Company

2012 CASEY Award Nominees

Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan * Robert K. Fitts * University of Nebraska Press

Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick * Paul Dickson * Walker & Company

Connie Mack: The Turbulent and Triumphant Years, 1915-1931 * Norman L. Macht * University of Nebraska Press

Driving Mr. Yogi: Yogi Berra, Ron Guidry, and Baseball's Greatest Gift * Harvey Araton * Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Gil Hodges: The Brooklyn Bums, The Miracle Mets, and the Extraordinary Life of a Baseball Legend * Tom Clavin & Danny Peary * New American Library

Golden Boys: Baseball Portraits, 1946-1960 * Andy Jurinko {text, Christopher Jennison} * Skyhorse Publishing

The Last Natural: Bryce Harper's Big Gamble in Sin City and the Greatest Amateur Season Ever * Rob Miech * Thomas Dunne Books

The Might Have Been: A Novel * Joseph M. Schuster * Ballantine Books

Pinstripe Empire: The New York Yankees from Before the Babe to After the Boss * Marty Appel * Bloomsbury

Willie Mays Aikens: Safe at Home * Gregory Jordan * Triumph Books

2011 CASEY Award Nominees

The Art of Fielding (a novel) * Chad Harbach * Little, Brown & Co.

Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game * John Thorn * Simon & Schuster

The Big Show: Charles M. Conlon's Golden Age Baseball Photographs * Neal & Constance McCabe * Abrams

Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game * Dan Barry * Harper

Campy: The Two Lives of Roy Campanella * Neil Lanctot * Simon & Schuster

Fenway 1912: The Birth of a Ballpark, a Championship Season, and Fenway's Remarkable First Year * Glenn Stout * Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

The Greatest Minor League: A History of the Pacific Coast League, 1903-1957 * Dennis Snelling * McFarland & Company

The Kings of Casino Park: Black Baseball in the Lost Season of 1932 * Thomas Aiello * The University of Alabama Press

21: The Story of Roberto Clemente * Wilfred Santiago * Fantagraphics Books

56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports * Kostya Kennedy * Time Inc. Home Entertainment

2010 CASEY Award Nominees

The Amazing Tale of Mr. Herbert and His Fabulous Alpine Cowboys Baseball Club: An Illustrated History of the Best Little Semipro Baseball Team in Texas * University of Texas Press

Cardboard Gods: An All-American Tale Told through Baseball Cards * Josh Wilker * Seven Footer Press

The Empire Strikes Out: How Baseball Sold U.S. Foreign Policy and Promoted the American Way Abroad * Robert Elias * The New Press

The Immortals: An Art Collection of Baseball's Best * Dick Perez * Brilliant Graphics

The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood * Jane Leavy * Harper

The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron * Howard Bryant * Pantheon

Pie Traynor: A Baseball Biography * James Forr & David Proctor * McFarland

Target Field: The New Home of the Minnesota Twins * Steve Berg * MVP Books

Willie Mays: The Life, the Legend * James Hirsch * Scribner

59 in '84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had * Edward Achorn * Harper

 2009 CASEY Award Nominees

As They See 'Em: A Fan's Travels Through the Land of Umpires * Bruce Weber * Scribner

Catcher: How the Man Behind the Plate Became an American Folk Hero * Peter Morris * Ivan R. Dee

Chasing Moonlight: The True Story of Field of Dream's Doc Graham * Brett Friedlander & R. W. Reising * John F. Blair

The First Fall Classic: The Red Sox, the Giants and the Cast of Players, Pugs and Politicos Who Re-Invented the World Series in 1912 * Mike Vaccaro * Doubleday

Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O'Malley, Baseball's Most Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles * Michael D'Antonio * Riverhead

Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America's Pastime * Mark Frost * Hyperion

Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit * Matt McCarthy * Viking

Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend * Larry Tye * Random House

The Wizard of Waxahachie: Paul Richards and the End of Baseball as We Knew It * Warren Corbett * Southern Methodist University Press

The Yankee Years * Joe Torre with Tom Verducci * Doubleday

2008 CASEY Award Nominees

Almost a Dynasty: The Rise & Fall of the 1980 Phillies * William C. Kashatus * University of Pennsylvania Press

Ballet in the Dirt: The Golden Age of Neil Leifer * Taschen

Baseball's Greatest Hit: The Story of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" * Andy Strasberg, Bob Thompson & Tim Wiles * Hal Leonard

Classic Cubs: A Tribute to the Men and Magic of Wrigley Field * John Hanley & Chris De Luca * Cumberland House

Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees' First Dynasty * Daniel K. Levitt * University of Nebraska Press

Hammerin' Hank, George Almighty, and the Say Hey Kid: The Year that Changed Baseball Forever * John Rosengren * Sourcebooks

Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember * John Feinstein * Little Brown

Red Sox Threads * Bill Nowlin * Rounder Books

We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball * Kadir Nelson * Jump at the Sun/Hyperion

2007 CASEY Award Nominees

The Best Game Ever: Pirates vs. Yankees: October 13, 1960 * Jim Reisler * Da Capo Press

Branch Rickey: Baseball's Ferocious Gentleman * Lee Lowenfish * University of Nebraska Press

Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball * Norman L. Macht * University of Nebraska Press

Crazy '08 * Cait Murphy * HarperCollins

Level Playing Fields: How the Groundskeeping Murphy Brothers Shaped Baseball * Peter Morris * University of Nebraska Press

Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's Final Season * Jonathan Eig * Simon & Schuster

Senior Year: A Father, A Son and High School Baseball * Dan Shaughnessy * Houghton Mifflin

The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip through Buck O'Neil's America * Joe Posnanski * Morrow

Through a Blue Lens: The Brooklyn Dodgers Photographs of Barney Stein, 1937-1957 * Dennis D'Agostino & Bonnie Crosby * Triumph Books

Ty and the Babe * Tom Stanton * Thomas Dunne Books

2006 CASEY Award Nominees

Baseball * David Levinthal * Empire Editions

The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth * Liegh Montville * Doubleday

Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero * David Maraniss * Simon & Schuster

The Echoing Green: The Untold Story of Bobby Thomson, Ralph Branca and the Shot Heard Round the World * Joshua Prager * Pantheon

Fantasyland: A Season on Baseball's Lunatic Fringe * Sam Walker * Viking

A Game of Inches: The Game on the Field and the Game Behind the Scenes * Peter Morris * Ivan R. Dee

Money Pitcher: Chief Bender and the Tragedy of Indian Assimilation * William C. Kashatus * Pennsylvania State University Press

Sayonara Home Run: The Art of the Japanese Baseball Card * John Gall & Gary Engel * Chronicle Books

Spalding's World Tour: The Epic Adventure that Took Baseball Around the Globe * Mark Lamster * Public Affairs

A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports * Brad Snyder * Viking

2005 CASEY Award Nominees

Baseball before We Knew It * David Block * University of Nebraska Press

The Boys of Spring: Timeless Portraits from the Grapefruit League, 1947-2005 * Ozzie Sweet & Larry Canale * Sport Classic Books

Diamonds Around the Globe: The Encyclopedia of International Baseball * Peter C. Bjarkman * Greenwood Press

Juicing the Game: Drugs, Power, and the Fight for the Soul of Major League Baseball * Howard Bryant * VikingPenguin

Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig * Jonathan Eig * Simon & Schuster

Now I Can Die in Peace: How ESPN's Sports Guy Found Salvation ... 2004 Red Sox * Bill Simmons * ESPN Books

Satchel Paige's America * Willam Price Fox * The University of Alabama Press

Smithsonian Baseball: Inside the World's Finest Private Collections * Stephen Wong * HarperCollins

A Tale of Two Cities: The 2004 Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry and the War for the Pennant * Tony Massarotti & John Harper * The Lyons Press

3 Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager * Buzz Bissinger * Houghton Mifflin

2004 CASEY Award Nominees

The Bad Guys Won! * Jeff Pearlman * HarperCollins

The College World Series: A Baseball History 1947-2003 * W.C. Madden & Patrick J. Stewart * McFarland

History of the Junior World Series * Bob Bailey * The Scraecrow Press

Joe: Rounding Third & Heading for Home * Greg Hoard * Orange Frazer Press

The Last Best League * Jim Collins * Da Capo Press

The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty * Buster Olney * Ecco

Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution * Neil Lanctot * University of Pennsylvania Press

The Numbers Game: Baseball's Lifelong Fascination with Statistics * Alan Schwarz * Thomas Dunne Books

Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero * Leigh Montville * Doubleday

The Ticket Out: Darryl Strawberry and the Boys of Crenshaw * Michael Sokolove * Simon & Schuster

2003 CASEY Award Nominees

Beyond the Shadow of the Senators * Brad Snyder * Contemporary Books

Foul Ball: My Life and Hard Times Trying to Save an Old Ballpark * Jim Bouton * Bulldog Publishing

Glove Affairs: The Romance, History, and Tradition of the Baseball Glove * Noah Liberman * Triumph Books

Me and My Dad: A Baseball Memoir * Paul O'Neill w/Burton Rocks * Morrow

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game * Michael Lewis * Norton

The Perfect Game: American Looks at Baseball * Elizabeth V. Warren * Abrams

The Road to Cooperstown: A Father, Two Sons, and the Journey of a Lifetime * Tom Stanton * St. Martin's

Taking on the Yankees: Winning and Losing in the Business of Baseball, 1903-2003 * Henry D. Fetter * Norton

The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship * David Halberstam * Hyperion

The Tour to End All Tours: The Story of Major League Baseball's 1913-1914 World Tour * James E. Elfers * University of Nebraska Press

2002 CASEY Award Nominees

Barry Bonds: Baseball's Superman * Steven Travers * Sports Publishing, LLC

Baseball's Natural: The Story of Eddie Waitkus * John Theodore * Southern Illinois University Press

Black Baseball's National Showcase: The East-West All-Star Game, 1933-1953 * Larry Lester * University of Nebraska Press

Breaking the Slump: Baseball in the Depression Era * Charles Alexander * Columbia University Press

A Legend in the Making: The New York Yankees in 1939 * Richard J. Tofel * Ivan R. Dee

Louis Sockalexis: The First Cleveland Indian * David L. Fleitz * McFarland

Mickey Mantle: America's Prodigal Son * Tony Castro * Brassey's

Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy * Jane Leavy * HarperCollins

Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston * Howard Bryant * Routledge

Yankees Century: 100 Years of New York Yankees Baseball * Glenn Stout & Richard A. Johnson * Houghton Mifflin

2001 CASEY Award Nominees

Bushville: Life and Time in Amateur Baseball * Jerry Kelly * McFarland

The Duke of Havana: Baseball, Cuba, and the Search for the American Dream * Steve Fainaru & Ray Sanchez * Villard

The Final Season: Fathers, Sons, and One Last Season in a Classic American Ballpark * Tom Stanton * Thomas Dunne Book

Gateway to the Majors: Williamsport and Minor League Baseball * James P. Quigel Jr. & Louis E. Hunsinger Jr. * The Pennsylvania State University Press)

Hal Chase: The Defiant Life and Turbulent Times of Baseball's Biggest Crook * Martin Donell Kohout * McFarland

Marketing Your Dreams: Business and Life Lessons from Bill Veeck * Pat Williams * Sports Publishing Inc.

Musial: From Stash to Stan the Man * James N. Giglio* University of Missouri Press

Now Pitching for the Yankees: Spinning the News for Mickey, Billy, and George * Marty Appel * Total Sports Publishing

The Oldest Rookie: Big League Dreams from a Small-town Guy * Jim Morris & Joel Engel * Little, Brown and Company

Redleg Journal: Year by Year and Day by Day with the Cincinnati Reds Since 1866 * Greg Rhodes & John Snyder * Road West Publishing

2000 CASEY Award Nominees

Full Count: Inside Cuban Baseball * Milton H. Jamail * Southern Illinois University Press

Havana Heat * Darryl Brock * Total Sports

The Head Game: Baseball Seen from the Pitcher's Mound * Roger Kahn * Harcourt

Imagining Baseball: America's Pastime and Popular Culture * David McGimpsey * Indiana University Press

Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life * Richard Ben Cramer * Simon & Schuster

Lefty Grove: American Original * Jim Kaplan * Society for American Baseball Research

Perfect Silence * Jeff Hutton * Breakaway Books

Red Sox Century: One Hundred Years of Red Sox Baseball * Glenn Stout & Richard A. Johnson * Houghton Mifflin

Touching All the Bases: Poems from Baseball * Tim Peeler * McFarland

Cy Young: A Baseball Life * Reed Browning * The University of Massachusetts Press

1999 CASEY Award Nominees

Baseball's Pivotal Era 1945-1951 * William Marshall * The University of Kentucky Press

Brushing Back Jim Crow * Bruce Adelson * University Press of Virginia

A Clever Base-Ballist: The Life and Times of John Montgomery Ward * Bryan Di Salvatore * Pantheon

Our Tribe * Terry Pluto * Simon & Schuster

The Pride of Havana: A History of Cuban Baseball * Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria * Oxford University Press

A Six-Gun Salute: An Illustrated History of the Houston Colt .45s * Robert Reed * Lone Star Books

Slouching Toward Fargo * Neal Karlen * Spike

Smoke: The Romance and Lore of Cuban Baseball * Mark Rucker & Peter Bjarkman * Total/Sports Illustrated

Take Two and Hit to Right: Golden Days on the Semi-Pro Diamond * Hobe Hays * University of Nebraska Press

Those Damn Yankees * Dean Chatwin * Verso

Where They Ain't: The Fabled Life ... of the Baltimore Orioles * Burt Solomon * The Free Press

1998 CASEY Award Nominees

If They Don't Win It's a Shame * Dave Rosenbaum * McGregor Publishing

Jim Bunning: Baseball and Beyond * Frank Dolson * Temple University Press

Judge & Jury: The Life and Times of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis * David Pietrusza * Diamond Communications

Mickey Mantle: The Yankee Years: The Classic Photography of Ozzie Sweet * Larry Canale * Tuff Stuff Books

A Place for Summer: A Narrative History of Tiger Stadium * Richard Bak * Wayne State University Press

The Ripening of Pinstripes * Rodney Torreson * Story Line Press

Treasures of the Baseball Hall of Fame * John Thorn * Villard

Viva Baseball: Latin Major Leaguers and Their Special Hunger * Samuel O. Regalado * University of Illinois Press

When Johnny Came Sliding Home: The Post-Civil War Baseball Boom, 1865-1870 * William J. Ryczek * McFarland

Yankee Stadium: 75 Years of Drama, Glamor, and Glory * Ray Robinson & Christopher Jennison * Penguin/Studio

1997 CASEY Award Nominees

Baseball on the Border: A Tale of Two Laredos * Alan Klein * Princeton University Press

Baseball Records Registry * Joseph J. Dittmar *McFarland

Big Red Dynasty * Greg Rhodes & John Erardi * Road West Publishin

The Great Encyclopedia of 19th Century Major League Baseball * David Nemec * Donald I. Fine

Jackie Robinson: A Biography * Arnold Rampersad * Knopf

Lights On! The Wild Century-Long Saga of Night Baseball * David Pietrusza * The Scarecrow Press

Memories of Summer * Roger Kahn * Hyperion

Play for a Kingdom * Thomas Dyja * Harcourt Brace

Tony C.: The Triumph and Tragedy of Tony Conigliaro * David Cataneo * Rutledge Hill Press

Warsaw to Wrigley * Joseph A. Reaves * Diamond Communications

1996 CASEY Award Nominees

At Fenway: Dispatches from Red Sox Nation * Dan Shaughnessy * Crown

The Game that Was: The George Brace Baseball Photo Collection * Richard Cahan & Mark Jacob * Contemporary Books

Jackie Robinson: An Intimate Portrait * Rachel Robinson w/Lee Daniels * Abrams

The Joy of Keeping Score * Paul Dickson * Walker & Company

Seasons in Hell: ...The 1973-1975 Texas Rangers * Mike Shropshire * Donald I. Fine

Slide, Kelly, Slide: The Wild Life and Times of Mike "King" Kelly, Baseball's First Superstar * Marty Appel * The Scarecrow Press

The Veracruz Blues * Mark Winegardner * Viking

Wrigleyville * Peter Golenbock * St. Martin's Press

1995 CASEY Award Nominees

Banana Bats and Dingdong Balls: A Century of Baseball Inventions * Dan Gutman * Macmillan

Card Sharks * Pete Williams * Macmillan

Crosley Field: An Illustrated History of a Classic Ballpark * Greg Rhodes & John Erardi * Road West Publishing

The Cutoff * Jay Rogoff * The Word Works

The Dixon Cornbelt League * W.P. Kinsella * HarperCollins

Endless Summers: The Fall and Rise of the Cleveland Indians * Jack Torry * Diamond Communications

Fleet Walker's Divided Heart * David Zang * University of Nebraska Press

Great Time Coming * David Falkner * Simon & Schuster

Rogers Hornsby * Charles Alexander * Henry Holt

Walter Johnson: Baseball's Big Train * Henry W. Thomas * Phenom Press

Waterloo Diamonds * Richard Panek * St. Martin's Press

Wild and Outside * Stefan Fatsis *  Walker & Company

1994 CASEY Award Nominees

Baseball: An Illustrated History * Geoffrey C. Ward & Ken Burns * Knopf

The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues * James A. Riley * Carroll & Graf

Brittle Innings * Michael Bishop * Bantam

The Catcher Was a Spy * Nicholas Dawidoff * Pantheon

Cobb * Al Stump * Algonquin Books

Hardball * Daniel Coyle * Putnam

Inside the Strike Zone * Randall A. Hendricks * Eakin Press

Lords of the Realm * John Helyar * Villard

October 1964 * David Halberstam * Villard

The Politics of Glory * Bill James * Macmillan

1993 CASEY Award Nominees

Baseball's Golden Age: The Photos of Charles M. Conlon * Neal & Constance McCabe * Abrams

Diamonds: The Evolution of the Ballpark * Michael Gershman * Houghton Mifflin

The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball * Lloyd Johnson * Baseball America

Fridays with Red * Bob Edwards * Simon & Schuster

Hitter: The Life and Turmoils of Ted Williams * Ed Linn * Harcourt Brace

The Lip: A Biography of Leo Durocher * Gerald Eskenazi * Morrow

The Museum of Clear Ideas * Donald Hall * Ticknor & Fields

My Life as a Fan * Wilfred Sheed * Simon & Schuster

The New Phillies Encyclopedia * Rich Westcott & Frank Bilovsky * Temple University Press

Women at Play: The Story of Women in Baseball * Barbara Gregorich * Harcourt Brace

1992 CASEY Award Nominees

Baseball in the Movies * Hal Erickson * McFarland

The Brothers K * David James Duncan * Doubleday

The Cleveland Indian * Luke Salisbury * The Smith

Diz * Robert Gregory * Viking Penguin

Fenway * Peter Golenbock * Putnams

The Girls of Summer * Lois Browne * HarperCollins

Lost Ballparks * Lawrence Ritter * Viking Penguin

The Negro Baseball Leagues: A Photographic History * Phil Dixon w/Patrick J. Hannigan * Amereon House

Queen of Diamonds: The Tiger Stadium Story * Mike Betzold & Ethan Casey * A&M Publishing

When the Game Was Black & White: The Illustrated Story of Baseball's Negro Leagues * Bruce Chadwick * Abbeville Press

1991 CASEY Award Nominees

Baseball by the Books * Andy McCue * William C. Brown

Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century * Marc Okkonen * Sterling

Blue Ruin: A Novel of the 1919 World Series * Brendan Boyd * W.W. Norton

To Everything a Season: Shibe Park and Urban Philadelphia, 1909-1976 * Bruce Kuklick * Princeton University Press

Glory Fades Away: The Nineteenth-Century World Series Remembered * Jerry Lansche *Taylor

I Had a Hammer *Hank Aaron & Lonnie Wheeler * HarperCollins

Nolan Ryan: The Authorized Pictorial History * The Summit Group

Stolen Season * David Lamb * Random House

Tales of the Diamond: Gems of Baseball Fiction * Woodford Press

Ted Williams: A Portrait in Words and Pictures * Dick Johnson & Glenn Stout * Walker & Co.

1990 CASEY Award Nominees

The Art of Baseball * Shelley M. Dinhofer * Harmony

The Ballplayers * Mike Shatzkin, ed. * Morrow

The Baseball Business * James E. Miller * University of North Carolina Press

Baseball: The People's Game * Harold Seymour * Oxford University Press

Big Sticks * William Curran * Morrow

Hustle: The Myth, Life, and Lies of Pete Rose * Michael Sokolove * Simon & Schuster

If I Never Get Back * Darryl Brock * Crown

Men at Work * George Will * Macmillan

Prophet of the Sandlots * Mark Winegardner * Atlantic Monthly Press

1989 CASEY Award Nominees

The Babe: A Life in Pictures * Lawrence Ritter & Mark Rucker * Ticknor & Fields

Baseball Lives * Mike Bryan * Pantheon

Diamonds in the Rough * Joel Zoss & John Bowman * Macmillan

The Dickson Baseball Dictionary * Paul Dickson * Facts on File

El Beisbol * John Krich * Atlantic Monthly Press

Hank Greenberg: The Story of My Life * Hank Greenberg * Times Books

The Heart of the Order * Tom Boswell * Doubleday

The Pitch that Killed * Mike Sowell * Macmillan

Total Baseball * John Thorn & Pete Palmer, eds. * Warner Books

You Gotta Have Wa * Robert Whiting * Macmillan

1988 CASEY Award Nominees

The Baseball Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary Book * Gerald Astor, ed. * Prentice Hall

Blackball Stars * John Holway * Meckler

Bleachers * Lonnie Wheeler * Contemporary Books

The Cincinnati Game * Lonnie Wheeler & John Baskin * Orange Frazer Press

My Dad, the Babe * Dorothy Ruth Perone * Quinlan Press

The Further Adventures of Slugger McBatt * W.P. Kinsella * Houghton Mifflin

The Giants of the Polo Grounds * Noel Hynd * Doubleday

John McGraw * Charles Alexander * Viking

Season Ticket * Roger Angell * Houghton Mifflin

Winfield * Dave Winfield * W.W. Norton

1987 CASEY Award Nominees

Baseball: An Illustrated History * David Q. Voigt * Pennsylvania University Press

The Curious Case of Sidd Finch * George Plimpton * Macmillan

Diamonds Are Forever: Artists and Writers on Baseball * Peter H. Gordon, ed. * Chronicle Books

The Dodgers Move West * Neil Sullivan * Oxford University Press

The Fireside Book of Baseball, Vol. 4 * Charles Einstein, ed. * Simon & Schuster

A Flatland Fable * Joe Coomer * McGraw-Hill

Hardball: The Education of a Baseball Commissioner * Bowie Kuhn * Times Books

The Pitcher * John Thorn & John Holway * Prentice Hall

Sixty-One: The Team, The Record, The Men * Tony Kubek * Macmillan

Voices of the Game * Curt Smith * Diamond Communications

1986 CASEY Award Nominees

Baseball: A Comprehensive Bibliography * Myron J. Smith, Jr. * McFarland

A Baseball Winter * Terry Pluto & Jeffrey Neuman * Macmillan

The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract * Bill James * Villard Books

Heart of the Order * Tony Ardizzone * Henry Holt

The Iowa Baseball Confederacy * W.P. Kinsella * Houghton Mifflin

Joe DiMaggio: A Bio-Bibliography * Jack B. Moore * Greenwood Press

Joe & Marilyn: A Memory of Love * Roger Kahn * Morrow

The Short Season * David Falkner * Times Books

1985 CASEY Award Nominees

The Armchair Book of Baseball * John Thorn, ed. * Scribners

Bambi's Bombers * Don Olson * Noslo Publishing

Baseball America * Don Honig * Macmillan

Baseball's Best: The MVPs * Dave Masterson & Timm Boyle * Contemporary Books

Fathers Playing Catch with Sons * Donald Hall * North Point Press

Good Enough to Dream * Roger Kahn * Doubleday

Nine Innings * Daniel Okrent * Ticknor & Fields

The Thrill of the Grass * W.P. Kinsella * Penguin

Topps Baseball Cards * Warner Books

1984 CASEY Award Nominees

Baseball * Walter Iooss & Roger Angell * Abrams

Bums: An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers * Peter Golenbock * Putnams

Dollar Sign on the Muscle * Kevin Kerrane * Beaufort Books

Mighty Casey: All American * Eugene C. Murdock * Greenwood Press

Stengel: His Life and Times * Robert Creamer * Simon & Schuster

Ty Cobb * Charles Alexander * Oxford University Press

1983 CASEY Award Nominees

Baseball's Great Experiment * Jules Tygiel * Oxford University Press

The Celebrant * Eric Rolfe Greenberg * Everest House

Hoopla * Harry Stein * Knopf

Invisible Men * Donn Rogosin * Atheneum

Insider's Baseball * L. Robert Davids, ed. * Scribners

Take Me Out to the Ballpark * Lowell Reidenbaugh * The Sporting News

Who's on 3rd? The Chicago White Sox Story * Richard Lindberg * Icarus Press