Review of "All Stars of the Outfield," by Milton J. Shapiro

 Review of

All Stars of the Outfield, by Milton J. Shapiro ISBN 0671322664

Four out of five stars

Room for disagreement, but not much

 Any selection of the greatest baseball players at each position is always subject to dispute. Nevertheless, the selections here cannot be argued with in general, only their relative positioning. The players are put into four categories: the big three, the second team, odd man out and yesterday’s trio. Every single player can arguably be declared a member of the best three-man outfield of all time.  

 The book was published in 1970, so there is reason to justify the inclusion of more modern platers. The members of the big three are Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays and Stan Musial. Members of the second team are Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams. Note that Aaron and Mays were still active at the time of publication. The odd man out is Mel Ott and the players in yesterday’s trio are Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and Tris Speaker.

 Rather than engage in a debate regarding inclusion and ranking, the best thing to do is to simply read and enjoy the short biographies of the players. While it is now a bit dated, it is still fun to read about the exploits of some of the best players to ever cover the outfield grass.