Three Nights in August

Do you like baseball? Do you like the details of the game and the history of it? Have you ever wondered about what exactly a manager does? If, so "Three Nights in August" by Buzz Bissinger is probably the book for you. Bissinger, with complete access granted by Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa, breaks down a late season three game series against the Cubs in 2003. Like Daniel Okrent's excellent "Nine Innings", Bissinger's book features digressions about players and history as well as delving into the manager's second guessing and overanalyzing his own decisions as well as the decisions the players make that are not what they just discussed two hours prior.

This is a fascinating book. Bissinger tells the story of this three game series which is both more important than just three baseball games because how it affects the pennant race and less important because the real battles occur on a play by play, batter by batter basis. Bissinger breaks down both and the result is a highly readable, interesting book about baseball and great manager.

For the baseball fan, this is a must read.
And then check out Okrent's "Nine Innings". You'd be surprised at how interesting a 1983 game between the Orioles and the Brewers can be.