The Team by Team Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball
By Dennis Purdy
Forward By Tony LaRussa
Available: Now, $22.95
The Team by Team Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball is one of the best reference guides currently available. It has everything a person would ever want to know about every one of the 30 current Major League teams.
Arranged in alphabetical order by city, the book examines every area of each team. Each chapter starts with a detailed history of the teams, some going back as far as the mid-1800s. Purdy even has the history of most teams before they joined the National or American Leagues. He then goes into the team stats: Purdy lists each team’s record, finish, attendance, manage’s record, and win-loss record against their opponents.
One of the fun parts of the book is each team’s Franchise Highlights, Low Points, and Strange Distinctions. It ranges from players having career years to the most obscure trivia, such as: on April 27th, 2005, second baseman Mark Grudzielanek became the player with the longest last name (12 letters) to hit for the cycle. The previous record was Carl Yastrzemski (11 letters).
The final team area is the Special Achievements section. Each franchise’s career leaders, award winners, team records, and other personal achievements are noted. Any stat you could think of is covered; any award is too. If you wanted to know how many All Star games your team hosted? It’s listed. Did you want to know what rookie hit the most home runs in a season for your team? It’s listed. One of the best parts here is the primary pitching staff and starting lineups for each team, as far back as the history of the team goes.
The final part for each book is the significant players for each franchise. Some players are featured multiple times, but most are with their best team. Each team, including the Diamondbacks and Devil Rays, have players listed (each expansion team has 4 players). The players range from original stars (Eppa Rixey of the ’21-’33 Reds) to current All Stars (Trevor Hoffman in San Diego).
