best new baseball humanists

[calexpat]

So in the "stick to the numbers" thread just about everyone agreed that neyer's and sheehan's attempts to write about the dreamy, pastoral, humanistic aspects of baseball--a la Angell, Kinsella, Kahn, etc.--failed. Which young baseball writers can do that (other than will of course)? Or is it a thing of the past?

[Pilgrim]

I like Thomas Boswell, even though he gets persnickety at times. Other than that, I'm not really aware of anyone writing consistently "lyrical" stuff about the game.

I don't know if it's a thing of the past, but I think in the current media atmosphere, there just aren't too many outlets for writing like that. Angell's stuff in The New Yorker is about the closest....but most baseball journalism isn't about "think pieces" anymore, but either statistical analysis, gossip, industry politics, etc.

I detest George Will, but that's just me.

[SmedIndy]

Baseball fiction is a tough sell, I think (sorry Will). And the new stuff is either statistical or strictly historical.

[pwdennis]

I am such a baseball diehard that I will read just about anything written about the game. The number of books I have purchased and discarded on baseball must number in the thousands. Since space is an issue (I also collect LPs and CDs) I only save my absolute favorites on baseball. Obviously this includes everything by Roger Angell, both of Jim Brosnan's books, Tom Boswell, WP Kinsella, George Will (also my favorite political writer), Bill James, Pete Palmer and Ring Lardner.

Most baseball bios and autobios are garbage but I read them anyway. Other than books on baseball stats, my two favorites are PENNANT RACE and THE LONG SEASON, both by Jim Brosnan. Long before BALL FOUR became famous, these books were out there "telling it like it is" and they were far more interesting and better written than BALL FOUR.