Three Nights in August - Inside a Three Game Set in One of Baseball's Biggest Rivalries

Three Nights in August by Buzz Bissinger provides a great inside look at one of the great minds in baseball. Although I'm not personally a fan I am speaking of St. Lois Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa. The book covers a 3 game baseball series between the Cubs and Cardinals during the dog days of summer.

Overall I really liked having an insider's view of how to manage a baseball team. Particularly compelling was when LaRussa had to wrestle with whether to order one of his pitchers to throw at another player. Like him or hate him it's impossible to deny Larussa's pedigree when it comes to baseball knowledge - so if you don't like him get over it anyway and learn some new things about baseball.

I found the back drop interesting due to the fact that the three Cubs pitchers were the young and still very healthy Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and Carols Zambrano. This series actually takes place about two months after I added the little known Zambrano to my fantasy baseball team for what would become a 3 and a half year marriage. Not know outside of the NL central LaRussa was quick to point out that Zambrano may have been the best of the three - he was right.

This is a must read book for any baseball fan and you can pick up your own copy of Three Nights in August on eBay by clicking here.