Books in Brief: Baseball

Baseball, photographs by Walter Iooss Jr., text by Roger Angell (Abrams, 160 pp., $29.95)

Any fan will enjoy this oversized book of 133 baseball photos from Iooss’s two decades of work for Sports Illustrated, but it should bring pleasure even to those who don’t follow the National Pastime. It would be hard not to be moved by the pastoral images of striving seven-year-olds and even more intense 75-year-olds playing the game. And, although few of the pictures were shot away from Major League venues, most are not simply action shots of pitchers pitching, batters batting, and fielders fielding—good as those are. Iooss wisely aims his senses and his camera at what happens in and around ballparks: the players arriving, the wait in the clubhouse, batting practice, autograph sessions, killing time in the dugout. (One is a study of freckled hands loosely clasped behind the back and dangling a neat’sfoot-oiled and dirt-softened old mitt. Huck Finn for sure!) Sometimes Iooss pulls back to include the twilight sky above the parks, reminiscent of Dutch landscape painters, and at others he goes in as close as Frans Hals for boisterous portraits of the fans. Unfortunately, this book—just like the gloves and balls these days—was made in Japan, which probably explains the misinformation in many of the captions. Nevertheless, Roger Angell’s brief introduction is first-rate, as always.

BC

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Bert Culver

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Baseball, photographs by Walter Iooss Jr., text by Roger Angell (Abrams, 160 pp., $29.95)

Any fan will enjoy this oversized book of 133 baseball photos from Iooss’s two decades of work for Sports Illustrated, but it should bring pleasure even to those who don’t follow the National Pastime. It would be hard not to be moved by the pastoral images of striving seven-year-olds and even more intense 75-year-olds playing the game. And, although few of the pictures were shot away from Major League venues, most are not simply action shots of pitchers pitching, batters batting, and fielders fielding—good as those are. Iooss wisely aims his senses and his camera at what happens in and around ballparks: the players arriving, the wait in the clubhouse, batting practice, autograph sessions, killing time in the dugout. (One is a study of freckled hands loosely clasped behind the back and dangling a neat’sfoot-oiled and dirt-softened old mitt. Huck Finn for sure!) Sometimes Iooss pulls back to include the twilight sky above the parks, reminiscent of Dutch landscape painters, and at others he goes in as close as Frans Hals for boisterous portraits of the fans. Unfortunately, this book—just like the gloves and balls these days—was made in Japan, which probably explains the misinformation in many of the captions. Nevertheless, Roger Angell’s brief introduction is first-rate, as always.