Now Batting, Number...: The Mystique, Superstition, and Lore of Baseball's Uniform Numbers

Every baseball announcer and enthusiast should have a copy of this book! Some of the best stats and stories about baseball numbers I have every seen. A truly great book and one that true baseball fanatics cannot do without! Seriously, BUY THIS BOOK IF YOU LOVE THE GAME!

Now Batting Number...: The Mystique, Superstition, And Lore Of Baseball's Uniform Numbers by former semi-pro baseball player (where he wore #4) and self-described obsessed fan Jack Looney is a very specialized baseball history that has as its particular focus the numbers on baseball jerseys. Jack explains why ball players were numbered in the beginning of baseball in the latter decades of the 19th century, and follows the evolution of uniform numbering to the serious aspect of baseball that it has become today. Superbly illustrated throughout with full-color photography, Now Batting, Number... is paced with hundreds of anecdotes and "infobits", myths and legends, "insider" stories, and the particulars behind why players choose a specific number, to produce a 560-page compendium that is a "must read" for all dedicated baseball fans, and a seminal contribution to academic and community Sports History reference collections.

If you're a baseball freak like me you'll appreciate this book. I don't how this guy got all this information, but some really great stories. He must have interviewed every equipment manager in major league baseball. As a major Cardinals fan, I have to say that if Pee Wee Reese and Phil Rizzuto are in the Hall, this book confirms that Marty Marion should be too!

I just read this book and this is a must have for anyone who loves baseball. It makes Bill James analysis look like the complicated jargon that it is. I heard it took the author almost 20 years to compile all the information and it's endorsed by Cooperstown. It's the new baseball bible for fanatics!