This is a remarkable book absolutely stuffed to the rim with facts, data, anecdotes, quotations, and wonderfully trivial  information about the national pastime.

Posnanski, born the year I graduated from college, and a former writer for Sports Illustrated and the Kansas City Star was twice named the best sports columnist in America by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In all, he has been nominated 26 times for APSE Awards, and he also has won in the features and projects categories. In 2009, he won the National Headliners Award for sports column writing, and he won back-to-back National Headliners Awards in 2011 and 2012 for Online Writing. In January 2012, the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA) named Posnanski National Sportswriter of the Year. In 2014 and 2016, he won Sports Emmy Awards as part of NBC’s Olympic coverage.  In short, he’s an All Star at his chosen position.

The “50 Moments” book is his eighth, and it’s rather amazing.  There are actually way more than 50 moments, 108 by Posnanski’s count in the Introduction.  Not surprisingly, he notes that there are also 108 stitches on one side of a baseball, and that observation serves as a good summary for the book—detailed, surprising, fascinating, and ultimately, not very important or useful in one’s existence in the universe but delightful as an escape.

Oh, how Posnanski captures the joy, the statistical depth, and the characters that have made baseball the national pastime for more than 150 years.  You can argue with his choice of the 50 moments, but most of them would be on everyone’s list—Hank Aaron’s 715th homer (#1), Willie Mays’ catch in the 1954 World Series (#5), Jackie Robinson’s debut breaking the color barrier in 1947 (#2), Bill Mazeroski’s World Series winning home run for the Pirates in 1960 (#9), Robinson’s steal of home contested until he died by Yogi Berra (#33).  But there are also obscure and fascinating moments as well:  Harvey Haddix throwing 12 perfect innings in 1959 and losing the game (#31); Ted Williams going 6 for 8 on the final day of the 1941 season to finish at .406, the last hitter to go .400; and sadly, Bill Buckner’s error enabling the Mets to beat the Red Sox in the 1986 World Series, a sad label for a guy who had 2,715 hits, a batting title, and league leading doubles twice.

But Posnanski’s skill is the deep dive he’s taken into these moments.  There are asterisks galore with obscure facts.  For example, we learn that Jackie Robinson wasn’t the fastest kid in his family.  His brother, Mack won the silver medal in the 200 meter race right behind Jesse Owen in the 1936 Olympics.  We also learn the names and later life histories of the two teen agers who jumped from the stands and circled the bases with Hank Aaron when he hit his 715th home run. We are provided with endless trivia questions as in “which pair of brothers won more games, Gaylord and Nelson Perry or Phil and Joe Niekro?

I loved the book which brought back dozens of vivid memories from my childhood (I can still name the starting lineup for the 1959 White Sox who won the pennant against the hated Yankees.) as well as up to date senior memories.  A quick look at the fine index under the letter A gives you a sense of the detail and delicious stories throughout the book: Jim Abbott, Cleveland Alexander, Moises Alou, Joe Altobelli, Sandy Amoros,Elvis Andrus, and Brad Asmus— each with a story and a contribution to this glorious history.

If you love sports and especially baseball, you will definitely enjoy Posnanski’s book.