Books on sports big with local authors

Update: Several titles were added after this article first appeared on the morning of Oct. 2.

Folks from the Philadelphia area have long loved to talk sports.

More than ever, they seem to be writing books about sports, too.

And maybe there's no better time to read one than during an Eagles bye week, after the Phillies have clinched, before the baseball playoffs begin.

More than a dozen came out just since last fall - including several on the world champion Phillies - and coming soon is one on the greatest plays in Eagles history.

Let's start the list with four new books by five authors you can meet at tomorrow's Collingswood Book Festival (www.collingswoodbookfestival.com):

Deadlines and Overtimes, a collection of columns by retired Inquirer sportswriter/prose poet Bill Lyon.

The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies, by Comcast SportsNet's Ray Didinger and WIP's Glen Macnow, a couple of book machines. Didinger co-wrote The Eagles Encyclopedia and last year released One Last Read, a collection of his Daily News columns. Macnow co-authored with other WIP hosts The Great Philadelphia Fan Book (with Anthony Gargano), The Great Philadelphia Sports Debate (Angelo Cataldi), and The Great Book of Philadelphia Sports Lists (Big Daddy Graham).

The Big One, an in-depth look at a fishing tournament, by Haddonfield's David Kinney.

Ray & Me, a children's book by Haddonfield's Dan Gutman that reimagines how a major-leaguer got killed by a pitch.

And that's just a start.

The best-selling sports book with a local tie is Shooting Stars, the new memoir of NBA superstar LeBron James, written with Inquirer columnist Buzz Bissinger (he just returned to the Sunday Currents section). He's the famed author of Saturday Night Lights, the nonfiction book about Texas football that inspired a movie and a TV series with the same name.

The Phillies' World Series win also primed the publishing pumps, with DVDs from the team, and Champions! A Look Back at the Phillies Triumphant 2008 Season, a coffeetable keepsake of photographs and writing from the Inquirer and Daily News.

A player, an ex-player and a network sports analyst joined the same parade.

Chris Coste, the catcher who left the Phils after the title season, tells his inspiring life story in The 33-Year-Old Rookie: My 13-Year Journey From the Minor Leagues to the World Series.

Phillies broadcaster Gary Matthews, a member of the Phils' 1983 World Series team, offered Phillies Confidential: The Untold Inside Story of the 2008 Championship Season.

Worth The Wait: Tales of the 2008 Phillies is by ESPN's Jayson Stark, the stats-and-trivia maven and ex-Inquirer writer who also wrote The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History.

Can't forget - thanks to a reader for the reminder - Remembering Harry Kalas: Wonderful Stories From Friends Celebrating a Great Life by Rich Wolfe. It was originally sold in WaWas, but is also available online.

Another Phils broadcaster, Chris Wheeler, tells his own story in View from the Booth: Four Decades with the Phillies, just out last month.

Another baseball book, just released, comes from legendary players Reggie Jackson and Bob Gibson. Although outfielder Jackson never played for the Phils, he was born in Wyncote and went to Cheltenham High. The book is Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the Game is Played.

Philadelphia never forgets football, of course.

Coming out soon is Game Changers: The 50 Greatest Plays in Philadelphia Eagles Football History by Ruben Frank of the Burlington County Times and Mark Eckel of the Trenton Times, both often heard on WIP.

An account of the rivalry between Central Bucks East and C.B. West turns into a story about team captains serving in Iraq in Fading Echoes by Mike Sielski, a columnist for the Bucks County Courier Times and affiliated newspapers.

Out last fall was How Football Explains America by ESPN's Sal Paolantonio, a former Inquirer reporter, who co-wrote with Frank The Paolantonio Report: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players, Teams, Coaches, and Moments in NFL History.

New next month is On Any Given Sunday: A Life of Bert Bell by Robert S. Lyons, co-author of The Eagles Encyclopedia. Bell helped launch the Eagles and the Steelers, then became commissioner of the National Football League.

Out in paperback is The Perfect Season: How Penn State Came to Stop a Hurricane and Win a National Football Championship, by Mike Missanelli, another ex-Inquirer writer, now afternoon drive host on 950ESPN.

How about some golf?

A Course Called Ireland: A Long Walk in Search of a Country, a Pint, and the Next Tee is a new book by Philadelphia Tom Coyne, who teaches creative writing at St. Joe's.

Or how about a little hockey?

Last month, Middle Atlantic Press came out with Pelle Lindbergh: Behind the White Mask, an account of the life of the promising Flyers' goalie who died in a car crash. Local Flyers blogger / sportswriter Bill Meltzer helped write it. The original version was in Swedish.

That's not enough? Then consider a couple of more guys with Philly ties.

Just out is Muhammad Ali and the Greatest Heavyweight Generation, by former Philadelphia Daily News boxing writer Sam Cushman.

Pat Williams, former Sixers general manager, is a one-man publishing machine. This year, the Orlando Magic exec offers Extreme Dreams Depend on Teams, a kind of pep talk about group efforts, and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inside Basketball: 101 Great Hoop Stories From Players, Coaches and Fans.