Almost Perfect: The Heartbreaking Pursuit of Pitching’s Holy Grail

In a meticulously researched 16 chapters, Cox (Fightin’ Words) honors a select and largely overlooked club of 16 major-league pitchers bound by the label that serves as the book’s title. Each of these men came within a whisker of a perfect game only to fall short, sometimes under extraordinary circumstances. Cox holds up their brush with perfection as a mirror for the fallible human condition. The eclectic collection of stories validates the hyperbole as he largely avoids baseball authors’ treacly penchant for romanticizing their sport. The Harvey Haddix, Babe Ruth, and Armando Galarraga games will be known by many; only serious fans will likely remember most of the other 13. Cox adds considerable pre- and postgame context to these almost-perfectos to give his subjects and the national pastime depth. This is most satisfying in his personal interview with Milt Pappas. However, chapters can slow to a crawl with detailed play-by-play accounts, and the self-contained chapters limit Cox’s ability to offer much in the way of a unifying theme beyond the heartbreak of falling short so close to one’s goal. The ambitious effort will appeal to hard-ore fans but not engage new ones. [em](Feb.) [/em]