The Hall of Nearly Great

The Hall of Nearly Great celebrates the careers of those who are not celebrated. It remembers the baseball greats who, failing enshrinement in Cooperstown, may unfairly be lost to history. It's for the players we grew up rooting for, the ones whose best years led to flags and memories that will fly together forever. Players like David Cone, Dale Murphy, Will Clark, Bobby Grich, Fred McGriff, Dick Allen, Luis Tiant, Dwight Evans, and 35 more. You already love many of these players, and after finishing The Hall of Nearly Great, you'll become a fan of many more.

Each of these players is remembered by a different All-Star writer, including Joe Posnanski, Jonah Keri, Rob Neyer, Will Leitch, and Jeff Passan, each lending their unique voice and passion to the players who left a mark on their personal baseball fandom. This collection of writers has contributed to Sports Illustrated, New York Magazine, ESPN, Yahoo, Baseball Prospectus, Fangraphs, NBC, and SBNation.

John Thorn, official MLB historian: Fans love to argue about who are the greatest players. In this splendid book some of the game€s top writers give a nod to players who have no plaques in Cooperstown, but were undeniably great. "Let us now praise famous men... all these were honored in their generations, and were the glory of their times."

Pat Lackey, Where Have You Gone Andy Van Slyke: Allow me to be the nth person to say how fantastic The Hall of Nearly Great is. Probably just gonna sit here reading all day instead of working.

Joe Sheehan, Sports Illustrated & The Joe Sheehan Newsletter: This is a great book by talented people, and you should buy it.

Table of Contents:
Ray Lankford, by Marc Normandin
Dale Murphy, by Joe Posnanski
Bobby Bonds, by Wendy Thurm
Lonnie Smith, by Jon Bois
Norm Cash, by Matthew Kory
Keith Hernandez, by David Roth
Brian Downing, by Sam Miller
Frank Viola, by Mike Bates
Eric Davis, by Craig Fehrman
Andy Messersmith, by Jeff Passan
Dennis Martinez, by Jonah Keri
Fernando Valenzuela, by Eric Nusbaum
Urban Shocker, by Owen Good
Don Mattingly, by Steven Goldman
Reggie Smith, by Jon Weisman
John Olerud, by Ted Berg
Kenny Lofton, by Cee Angi
Will Clark, by Grant Brisbee
Bernie Williams, by Ben Lindbergh
Graig Nettles, by Cliff Corcoran
Robin Ventura, by Jon Sciambi
Darrell Porter, by Will Leitch
Moises Alou, by R.J. Anderson
Eddie Cicotte, by Rob Neyer
Buddy Bell, by Jason Parks
Albert Belle, by Jonathan Bernhardt
Lenny Dykstra, by Emma Span
Ron Cey, by King Kaufman
Bobby Grich, by David Brown
Tony Phillips, by Jason Wojciechowski
Dick Allen, by Carson Cistulli
Bret Saberhagen, by Marc Normandin
Fred McGriff, by Tommy Bennett
Larry Hisle, by Bradford Doolittle
Brad Radke, by Bill Parker
Alan Trammell, by Craig Calcaterra
Chuck Knoblauch, by Cecilia Tan
Luis Tiant, by Josh Wilker
Bob Caruthers, by Old Hoss Radbourn
Rusty Greer, by Craig Brown
David Cone, by Jay Jaffe
Dwight Evans, by David Raposa
Ellis Burks, by Chad Finn

Published by Sky Kalkman & Marc Normandin
Edited by Marc Normandin & Jason Wojciechowski
Cover by Justin Bopp
Layout by Josh Frank