Jamie Vaught: As Christmas approaches, a selection of sports books for the fans on your gift list

When I was a kid, I occasionally got sports books for Christmas. One of the first I remember was a hardcover about baseball superstar Willie Mays. And when I got much older, I even asked my mom for a special book for Christmas and got it. The title of this 1990 book was Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association by Terry Pluto. That was over 30 years ago and this 450 page volume was pure fun.

And I still enjoy reading sports and other non-fiction. What about you? With Christmas just around the corner, are you looking for a nice holiday gift for a sports fan who loves to read? I have prepared a list of possible sportsbooks for you to consider.

• The Biggest Stage: World Series History by Tyler Kepner (Doubleday, $30) is a vivid portrait of baseball at its most subtle and intense, filled with humor, scholarship, analysis and compelling behind-the-scenes stories from 117 years of the Fall Classic. The World Series is the most enduring showcase in American team sports. This is where legends are made, where celebration and devastation can depend on a foul fly ball or a grounder under a first baseman’s glove. 310 hardcover pages delve into essential stories dating back to the beginning in 1903, adding insights from Hall of Famers like Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Jim Palmer, Dennis Eckersley and many others who have thrived—and failed— when it mattered most. The author has covered every World Series game over the past two decades for The New York Times.

• Joe’s Book: Trying not to get mad at baseball and life by Joe Madden and Tom Verducci (Twelve, $30) is a memoir of a fascinating baseball journey, an inside look at the changing game, and a handbook on leadership and life. Nobody sees baseball like Madden, a three-time MLB Manager of the Year. Raised in the beer-and-beer town of Hazleton, Pa., and forged by 15 years in the minors, Madden over 19 seasons in Tampa Bay, Chicago and Anaheim became one of the most successful, most colorful and most quoted managers in the majors baseball league. He is an expert on workplace culture who engineered two of the most stunning turnarounds of the past quarter century: taking the Rays from the worst record in baseball one year to the World Series the next and leading the Cubs to their first World Series title in 108 years.

• House of Champions: The History of Kentucky Basketball’s Home Courts by Kevin Cook (University Press of Kentucky, $26.95) reveals the rich history and colorful details of the buildings that have hosted UK basketball. The 350-page paperback book combines archival research and numerous interviews with players and coaches who played in those halls. A number of fascinating backstories are revealed, including the excitement of Alumni Gym’s opening night in 1925, the troubled acquisition of land by the black community to build Memorial Coliseum, and the painstaking inscribing of nearly 10,000 names of World War II and Korean War heroes in Kentucky to be displayed along the Coliseum’s pedestrian ramps. The narrative concludes with a fascinating overview of the development of Rupp Arena: its inner workings, the prominent figures involved, and how the initial conversation about its construction began over a slice of Jerry’s pie in 1968. The author holds degrees in engineering and US history.

• Nick Saban’s Leadership Secrets: How Alabama’s Coach Became the Greatest in History by John Talty (Matt Holt Books, $25) highlights the keys to Saban’s winning strategy and offers readers a blueprint for forging their own paths to success using the coach’s leadership lessons. The 245-page hardcover chronicles Saban’s journey to the top of college football and reveals some of the magic behind what keeps him on top through original interviews and never-before-heard anecdotes. The author is a senior sports editor and SEC Insider for the Alabama Media Group.

• The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson by Jeff Pearlman (Mariner Books, $29.99) is a fascinating biography of a former superstar in both the NFL and Major League Baseball. Based on over 700 original interviews with people from Jackson’s professional and personal life and access to a trove of long-lost Jackson interview transcripts in the bowels of Auburn University’s library, the 484-page hardcover captures as never before the elusive truth of a carrier of Heisman Trophy. The best-selling author of nine previous books is a former senior writer for Sports Illustrated and a columnist for ESPN.com.

• Together: The Amazing Story of Carolina Basketball’s 2021-2022 Season by Adam Lucas, Steve Kirchner and Matt Bowers (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Athletics, $37.50) takes North Carolina fans through one of the most dramatic years in program history. With words and photos filled with behind-the-scenes moments, the 160-page hardcover reveals how first-year coach Hubert Davis, who made history as the program’s first black head coach in April 2021, and his Tar Heels went through ups and downs and conference season lows before the team’s incredible run through March Madness.

• Barkley: A Biography by Timothy Bella (Hanover Square Press, $29.99) is a comprehensive biography of former college basketball player and NBA star Charles Barkley, one of the most interesting and outspoken athletes of the past 50 years. Passionate, outspoken, iconoclastic and gifted both on and off the court, the former superstar made a lasting impact not only on the world of basketball, but on pop culture in general. Raised by his mother and grandmother in Leeds, Alabama, Barkley struggled in his early years to fit in until he found a sense of community and purpose in basketball. And he became a bold agitator for social change, unafraid to grapple, often brazenly, with even the toughest cultural issues facing our nation today.

• Kentucky Hustler by Terry Hatton and Jeremy Rice (Paisley Mountain Press, $19.95) is an adventure memoir written by the son of former Great Britain basketball player Vernon Hatton. The younger Hatton discusses his life as a notorious ticket scammer, among other things, who grew up in a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints family not far from the UK campus. Told in three acts, the paperback is a first-person memoir about basketball, street bravado, religious tenacity, and living up to your father’s expectations while never forgetting to love and laugh with your family.


And don’t forget my new and sixth book titled, Forever Mad About Cats: The Incredible Journey of a Kentucky Sports Journalist Overcoming Adversity. Yes, shameless plug on your part. 408 hardcover pages is a fun book about British basketball as well as football. The new volume, retailing at $25.95, is also part of my memoir of my long, adventurous career as a reporter for the Wildcats while overcoming personal hardships — a devastating hearing loss from birth. In addition to my personal struggles dealing with my severe hearing loss, the new book contains many fascinating stories and interviews with the Wildcats, including Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall, Dan Issel, Cawood Ledford, Tubby Smith, John Calipari, Paul ” Bear” Bryant, Ray Correll, Blanton Collier, Fran Curchi, Jerry Claiborne, Vic Adams, Mark Stoops, Macie Morris, Oscar Chibue (and his high school coach Rick Mancino), among others.