Ballet in the Dirt: The Golden Age of Baseball by Neil Leifer is a stunning beautiful collection of photos from the 1960s and 1970s. From his beginnings as a teenage photographer selling his photos to Sports Illustrated to established sports photographer, Leifer’s book covers all of the greats of that era The photos are divided into five main sections: The Game, Heroes, Rivalry, World Series, and Biography. Some of the photos are so striking that you can’t help but stare. A couple of my favorites are a candid shot of Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow in stands at a game and a two-page panorama of the fans storming the field after the Mets won the 1969 World Series. The forward by former minor leaguer-turned-film-maker Ron Shelton is a good read, and the captions by author (and Society for American Baseball Research member) Gabriel Schecter are succinct and informative. I have to get this book for my husband for Christmas, then I can justify spending $40 on yet another book–although the price is worth it (it’s practically 300 pages, which is quite thick for a coffee table book).
Ballet in the Dirt
published by Taschen, ISBN #978-3-8228-4550-9
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