Total Baseball
The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball: Seventh Edition
The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball: Seventh Edition
By John Thorn, Pete Palmer, Michael Gershman
When it first appeared, in 1989, Total Baseball was the most complete, most authoritative, and most informative—not to mention the biggest—baseball book ever published. It came into being because its creators saw that there was nothing else like it and because its publishers had faith that fans would want such a book—a virtual baseball library in one volume. In fact, it could be said that Total Baseball is the first true baseball encyclopedia because it offers not only the game's numbers but also the stories and statistical principles that underlie them.
In this seventh edition, Total Baseball builds wonderfully upon that foundation to provide new stories, new stats and a thorough review of all the data that went into the first six editions. The book is divided into two parts, the first consisting of prose features on subjects of interest to all baseball fans, from the general reader who wishes to know more about the game's trivia and lore to the advanced fan who wants to know about its humble beginnings and evolving institutions. The writing is absorbing, with the contributors all experts in their fields, as befits an encyclopedic reference work, and even the most knowledgeable reader will learn countless new things about the great game.
The same applies to the second part of the book, which contains the playing and pitching registers, a variety of rosters, a year-by-year statistical summary of major league play since 1871, and much more. The stats will please everyone from the casual fan to the devotee of sabermetrics, the latter likely to particularly appreciate the inclusion of lifetime situational statistics for all regular players from 1978 through 2000.
Total Baseball joins the game's most knowledgeable writers with the game's great historical database, built over two decades by Total Baseball co-founder Pete Palmer, and reflects the dedication and zeal of John Thorn, who pioneered the original concept and has cast a watchful eye and fine editor's touch over every edition since.
