by Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig
There's nothing a baseball fan likes better than a good argument. This book by two historians of the game (Ritter wrote The Glory of Their Times and Honig Baseball When the Grass Was Real) includes brief profiles and mediocre pictures. But the choice is the thing. The authors can be faulted for cynically picking still-active players who do not deserve to rank with Ruth, Mathewson and Aaron but might sell some books. George Foster, Fred Lynn, George Brett and Steve Garvey, for instance, have hardly achieved Top 100 status yet. Choosing Tony Oliva, "Duke" Snider, Joe Sewell and Herb Score is questionable, too, when Harmon Killebrew, Lefty O'Doul, Willie McCovey, Lou Boudreau, Hoyt Wilhelm and Eddie Mathews were omitted. But then, quibbling is the name of this game. Welcome to the new season. (Crown, $14.95)
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