The best baseball books of 2018 | Our favorites of the year

Closing up 2018, we take a look back at some of our favorite baseball books from the year. Our favorites take on an international flair, representing baseball's diverse regions from Louisiana, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.

Alou: My Baseball Journey - Felipe Alou with Peter Kerasotis

Felipe Alou teamed up with Peter Kerasotis to take a deep personal dive into his storied baseball career for "Alou: My Baseball Journey". The Dominican native reveals painful details about his life that makes his legacy journey a tale to behold. Kerasotis joined the Baseball Happenings Podcast to discuss how he linked up with Alou to write his story.

They Call Me Pudge - Ivan Rodriguez with Jeff Sullivan

Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, the 2017 Hall of Fame inductee perfectly captures the fiery playing spirit that propelled his 21-year major league career with his autobiography, "They Call Me Pudge". In our review, we looked at how his narrative showed just how deeply devoted Pudge was to the game.

Blue Monday: The Expos, The Dodgers, and the Home Run that Changed Everything - Danny Gallagher

Danny Gallagher looks into the Montreal Expos only playoff appearance and how the season was capped by the infamous "Blue Monday" incident. Gallagher gives fans a behind-the-scenes look at one of Montreal's most beloved teams through exclusive player interviews from both the Expos and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He appeared on the Baseball Happenings Podcast to explain how he was able to get so many players to share their experiences for the book.

Gator: My Life in Pinstripes - Ron Guidry with Andrew Beaton

In “Gator: My Life in Pinstripes”, Ron Guidry exposes the wild ride of his 14 seasons on the hill with the New York Yankees by pulling back the curtain on the Bronx Zoo, George Steinbrenner's impossible expectations, and his kinship with Yogi Berra. In our review, we discover how Guidry recovered from almost walking away from the game early in his career to become a Cy Young Award winning pitcher.

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Book Review: They Call Me Pudge - Ivan Rodriguez with Jeff Sullivan

The intense emotion displayed on Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez ‘s face on the cover of his new biography “They Call Me Pudge," perfectly captures the spirit with which he played throughout his 21-year major league career. Newly minted in 2017 as a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Rodriguez became part of an exclusive group, joining only Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, and Mike Piazza as the living catchers currently enshrined in Cooperstown.

They Call Me Pudge / Triumph Books

It is obvious after reading through the early chapters of “They Call Me Pudge,” that Rodriguez’s story is one of commitment to the game. From a young age, he showed an insatiable desire not only to play the game, but to love the training that made him into a Hall of Famer. His legendary workouts including making 150-mile roundtrips from Key Biscayne to Key Largo, kept his engine pumping when many thought he was out of gas.

Rodriguez stressed that it was his dedicated training and not anything else that kept him as the top player at his position for two decades. Multiple times during the book, he vehemently denied using steroids.

"Let's make that as crystal clear as possible — I never took steroids," Rodriguez said. "If anyone says differently, they are lying. Here's what I did do: I worked my ass off. I was a guy who played the game the right way. I was disciplined in my workouts and my diet. I worked as hard as I could to do the best that I could - every day for 20-plus years. I loved the game of baseball."

Perusing deeper into Rodriguez’s book uncovers the strategies of the Hall of Fame catcher, as he carefully breaks down how he handled a nubile World Series pitching staff with the Florida Marlins, as well as how he approached Barry Bonds during their faceoff in the 2003 National League Division Series.

“If you don’t have to pitch to him — meaning it’s not bases loaded in a tie game in the ninth inning —put him on first base,” he said. “If you need to pitch to him, our deepest sympathies. And don’t strain a neck muscle or anything turning around.”

When the Texas Rangers thought that Rodriguez was on the decline, he bet on himself, signing a one-year deal with the Marlins in 2003. His leadership steadied their pitching staff, guiding them to an improbable World Series Championship.

Once again left to fend for himself at the end of the season, Rodriguez proved doubters wrong when he signed with the Detroit Tigers in 2004. Detroit’s team doctors felt that Pudge was only worthy of a two-year contract due to his injury history. In order to make the deal work, he gave up guaranteed money to sign a four-year, $40 million contract. This time, Pudge came out a winner, as the Tigers went to the World Series in 2006.

“I knew I was healthy,” he said. “I know I could play the five years, depending on if they picked up the option. And I played eight more years after that. I mean, the doctors can tell you whatever they want to say, but it’s how you feel that counts.”

Omnipresent throughout the book is the fact that Pudge was always a gamer. When he wasn’t playing baseball, he was breaking down video, going over scouting reports, or watching highlights on ESPN. If you are looking for tales of carousing, innuendo, or hi-jinks, look elsewhere, but if you want an inspirational story of how a kid with a golden throwing arm made it to the Hall of Fame all the way from Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, feel free to step in the batter’s box with “They Call Me Pudge.”

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How Jorge Posada was almost traded for Ivan Rodriguez

Jorge Posada was once dangerously close to becoming a member of the Texas Rangers. Going through recently-minted Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez's new book, "They Call Me Pudge," Rodriguez explains how right before the 1997 trade deadline he was going to be traded to the New York Yankees.

"I was sitting with Juan [Gonzalez] on the flight, and he was begging me to talk with team president Tom Schieffer," Rodriguez said. "I later found out that I was about to be traded to the New York Yankees for catcher Jorge Posada and pitcher Tony Armas Jr."

Posada / Rodriguez 2008 Upper Deck Card / Upper Deck

The next morning Rodriguez met with Schieffer and signed a five-year, $42 million contract, avoiding the exchange of franchise catchers. While the two would later become teammates with the Yankees in 2008, both Rangers and Yankees fans would have a difficult time imagining their franchises with out their star catchers at the peak of their careers.

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Ivan Rodriguez to sign with the Astros

MLB.com reports that catcher Ivan Rodriguez will sign with the Astros pending a physical exam after the World Baseball Classic. "Pudge" is currently batting .600 for the Puerto Rican team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. The Astros have been auditioning many of their prospects in hopes of solidifying the catching position after the departure of Brad Ausmus to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Houston was one of the few teams able to offer Rodriguez their number one catching position. Hopefully durability is not an issue, as Rodriguez will be entering his 19th Major League season. His recent performance at the WBC hopefully indicates that Pudge is poised to have a strong 2009 season after batting .219 during the last two of months of 2008 with the Yankees.

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Corporate Sponsors on Uniforms at the World Baseball Classic

"Now batting, #7 sponsored by Best Buy, Ivan Rodriguez." It's not exactly how it went down during the opening day of the World Baseball Classic, but Best Buy patches were rather conspicuous on the uniforms sleeves of the Puerto Rican team in their game against Panama. While uniform sponsorship is prevalent during winter ball, one has not seen sponsors on uniforms during spring play. If this trend passes with little fanfare during this year's World Baseball Classic, how soon will we begin to see uniform sponsorship in Minor or Major League Baseball?
While the foreign countries may be used to having sponsors on their uniforms during league play, I am curious as to how the Americans will react to seeing their favorite players play under the logo of a major corporation. Is the Puerto Rican team ahead of the curve regarding opportunities to generate advertising revenue, or are they tainting the game by having sponsors on their uniforms?

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