I’ve found that many of the best baseball books are not written by the beat reporters or the sports journalists, but rather by writers from different fields (George Will and David Halberstam to name two), as they seem to layer an extra dose of freshness and enthusiasm for the game atop their well-honed literary skills. Maury Klein’s Stealing Games: How John McGraw Transformed Baseball with the 1911 New York Giants fits right in that category. Klein, a renowned historian of American business and economy, has written an erudite yet wholly accessible paean to a classic team and one of the preeminent managers of the deadball era. The first third of the book traces McGraw’s path from his hardscrabble beginnings through his playing days as a hard-nosed shortstop and manager in Baltimore, and then chronicles McGraw’s scientific tactical approach to the game, his sharp eye for talent, and the player trades and acquisitions that laid the groundwork for that remarkable 1911 New York Giants team, carefully built with a dual emphasis on speed and pitching. That team stole an amazing 347 bases and boasted a powerful starting staff that included the Hall of Famers Christy Mathewson (26-13), and Rube Marquard (24-7). The final two thirds of the book provides a month-by-month account of the season and World Series played against Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics. Stealing Games paints a colorful narrative of one of the most exciting teams from that bygone era. ( )