The Armchair Book of Baseball

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1985. Second printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Good. James Stevenson. Format is approximately 7.5 inches by 9.25 inches. xii, 388 pages. Illustrations. Foreword by Peter V. Ueberroth. DJ has wear, soiling, tears and chips. This is one of The Armchair Library. A collection of articles and commentaries about America's favorite pastime. Among the writers represented are: Roger Angell, Russell Baker, Moe Berg, Ira Berkow, Roy Blount, Thomas Boswell, Jim Bouton, Robert Creamer, Joseph Durso, Curt Flood, Bartlett Giamatti, Stephen Jay Gould, Roger Kahn, Kinsella, Ring Lardner, Eugene McCarthy, James Michener, Zander Hollander, Shirley Povich, Pete Rose, Philip Roth, William Safire, Irwin Shaw, Wilfrid Sheed, Red Smith, Gay Talese, John Updike, and George F. Will. John A. Thorn (born April 17, 1947) is a German-born sports historian, author, publisher, and cultural commentator. Since March 1, 2011, he has been the Official Baseball Historian for Major League Baseball. Thorn is the author and editor of numerous books, including Total Baseball: The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball, Treasures of the Baseball Hall of Fame, The Hidden Game of Baseball, The Glory Days: New York Baseball 1947?1957, and The Armchair Book of Baseball. His 2011 book, Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game was an in-depth chronicle of the seminal development and pioneers of the sport. A New York Times review of the latter book referred to Thorn as "a researcher of colossal diligence."

Thorn is also the co-author with Pete Palmer and Bob Carroll of The Hidden Game of Football and with them co-editors of Total Football. His book New York 400, a graphic history of the city timed for its quadricentennial, created with the Museum of the City of New York and Running Press, was published in September 2009. Thorn is a columnist for Voices, the publication of the New York Folklore Society.

He founded Total Sports Publishing and served as its publisher from 1998?2002. Among the topics covered are Ron Darling, No-hitter, New York Yankees, Steinbrenner, Bruce Gardner, Reggie Jackson, Ballparks, Henry Waugh, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, George Brett, Ty Cobb, Richards Vidmer, Sportswriters, Carl Erskine, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Designated Hitter, Josh Gibson, Sam Rick, Marty McHale, Rod Kanehl, Joe DiMaggio Rube Waddell, Yankee Stadium, Bleachers, Chicago Cubs, George Brunet, and Frank Chance.