Joe Posnanski’s The Soul of Baseball is more than a sports book—it’s a road trip through memory, legacy, and love for the game, told through the incomparable voice of Buck O’Neill.

Posnanski spends a year traveling with Buck late in his life as the 93-year-old ambassador tours the country keeping the memory of the Negro Leagues alive. Buck is a natural-born storyteller, charming every crowd and every reader with his warmth and grace. But beneath that joy runs a quiet ache—he’s outlived nearly everyone he played alongside, and the burden of preserving their stories now rests on his shoulders alone.

The book captures that bittersweet mix of celebration and loss. You feel Buck’s energy and optimism, even as time catches up. When the Hall of Fame announcement comes near the end—and what follows soon after—it’s impossible not to get misty-eyed. I did.

Even if you’ve never kept a scorebook or cared about batting averages, The Soul of Baseball works because it’s about humanity as much as history. It’s about storytelling, dignity, and the stubborn belief that joy can outlast injustice.

Highly recommended—baseball fan or not.

4 out of 5 stars