Ever wonder what the greatest sports books of all time are? As an avid reader and sports fan, you’ve probably devoured your fair share of sports memoirs, biographies, and narratives over the years. But with so many options out there, it can be tough to determine which are truly the best of the best.
Not to worry, we’ve got you covered. We looked at decades of sports books to identify the 10 best sports books ever written. From vivid memoirs to cultural critiques, this list has it all. Whether you’re a fan of basketball, baseball, tennis or beyond, these books capture the passion, drama and inspiration of sports in a way that will stick with you long after the final page. These are the 10 best sports books of all time.
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
Friday Night Lights is a modern American classic. This book by H.G. Bissinger follows the story of the 1988 Permian High School Panthers football team from Odessa, Texas.
Odessa is a town obsessed with high school football. The whole community rallies around the Panthers each week. As you read, you’ll feel the electricity in the air on game nights and understand why Friday night football is so central to the town’s identity.
Ball Four by Jim Bouton
Ball Four is Jim Bouton’s groundbreaking baseball memoir that provides an insider’s look at the 1969 season with the Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros.
Published in 1970, the book was controversial for its time because Bouton openly discussed the less-than-professional antics of players. However, his candid stories about life in the big leagues made Ball Four an instant classic.
The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn
The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn is considered a baseball classic and one of the greatest sports books ever written. Published in 1972, it chronicles the Brooklyn Dodgers team from 1952 to 1957, focusing on some of the biggest stars like Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, and Jackie Robinson.
As a kid growing up in Brooklyn, you were probably a Dodgers fan. They were your local team, the boys of summer you cheered for from the bleachers. Kahn was a beat writer who covered the Dodgers during their heyday, so he writes about the team with a sense of nostalgia, bringing you back to the postwar era when baseball was America’s pastime.
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis
Moneyball is the classic underdog story of how the Oakland A’s, a small-market baseball team with a tiny budget, turned to statistics and analytics to level the playing field against big-spending rivals like the New York Yankees. Written by Michael Lewis, Moneyball follows the A’s general manager Billy Beane as he builds a winning team in the early 2000s based not on intuition and traditional scouting methods but on hard data and statistics.
Beane realized that the A’s couldn’t compete by paying top dollar for star players. Instead, he focused on players who were undervalued in the market according to metrics like on-base percentage. He assembled a team of players who got on base a lot, even if they didn’t seem like typical all-stars. This “moneyball” approach allowed Beane to get wins on the cheap by finding hidden value where other teams weren’t looking.
The Natural by Bernard Malamud
The Natural by Bernard Malamud is a classic 1952 novel that explores themes of morality and ethics in baseball. It tells the story of Roy Hobbs, an aspiring baseball player from rural Pennsylvania with raw, natural talent.
As a teenager, Roy’s baseball skills and ambition lead him to try out for the Chicago Cubs. On his way there, he meets a woman named Iris on the train who seduces him. Her jealous ex-lover then shoots Roy, delaying his baseball dreams for over a decade.
Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella
Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella is a magical story of baseball, dreams and second chances. The story follows Ray Kinsella, an Iowa farmer who hears a voice telling him to build a baseball field on his farm and seeks out the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson.
Ray is obsessed with baseball and idolizes Shoeless Joe, the famous Chicago White Sox player who was banned from baseball for allegedly helping fix the 1919 World Series. One day, Ray hears the voice while in his field saying, “If you build it, he will come.” Believing it means Shoeless Joe, Ray plows under his corn and builds a magnificent baseball field.
The Bronx Is Burning by Jonathan Mahler
The Bronx Is Burning by Jonathan Mahler chronicles one of the most tumultuous years in New York City’s history. Focusing on 1977, Mahler dives into the Son of Sam murder spree, a devastating blackout, and the New York Yankees’ World Series victory. At the center of it all is the Bronx, which had deteriorated into a symbol of urban blight.
As the Son of Sam terrorizes the city, New Yorkers grow increasingly paranoid. The killer taunts police and tabloids with cryptic letters, warning that his next victim could be anyone. The NYPD launches a massive manhunt but struggles to catch a break in the case. The city is on edge, wondering where he might strike next.
A Season on the Brink by John Feinstein
A Season on the Brink chronicles the turbulent 1985-86 basketball season of the Indiana Hoosiers and their fiery coach Bobby Knight. At the time, Knight was already controversial but still revered for leading the Hoosiers to three NCAA championships. This behind-the-scenes look at the team provides a glimpse into Knight’s intense and often combative coaching style.
As an embedded journalist with the team, Feinstein enjoyed unprecedented access to practices, locker rooms, team meetings, and games. He captures the highs and lows over the course of the season in vivid detail. The Hoosiers finished with a lackluster record of 21-8, failing to win either the Big Ten title or make the Final Four for the first time in years. The losing season highlighted Knight’s abrasive coaching methods and stubborn refusal to change.
The Golf Omnibus by P.G. Wodehouse
The Golf Omnibus is a delightful collection of golf-themed short stories, essays and musings penned by acclaimed British humorist P.G. Wodehouse. First published in 1912, this omnibus provides a glimpse into golf’s formative years in the early 20th century.
Wodehouse’s writing is a masterclass in wit and whimsy. His stories capture the trials and tribulations of the duffer, portraying familiar scenes of slices, hooks and tricky putts with tongue firmly in cheek. Any golfer will recognize the all-too-familiar struggles of Wodehouse’s characters.
Only the Ball Was White by Robert Peterson
Only the Ball Was White by Robert Peterson is a must-read sports book. Published in 1970, this pioneering work examines the role of African-American athletes in baseball’s segregated era.
As Jackie Robinson famously broke MLB’s color barrier in 1947, this book takes you back to a time when baseball, and society, were deeply segregated along racial lines. Peterson profiles many of the era’s greatest Negro League stars, like Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Cool Papa Bell, who were denied a chance to showcase their talents on baseball’s biggest stage due to the color of their skin.
There we have it, our list 0f 10 best sports books. What do you think about our picks? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below: