Baseball Digest: The Classic Still Going Strong

By Mike Whiteman October 25, 2025 If you've read enough of my writing though the years, you'll know that while I'm very interested and enthusiastic about the current Yankees, my passion is baseball history. As far back as I could remember, I'd read anything I could about the stars of yesterday. I was fortunate that my parents recognized this, and realizing it was a good thing for a kid to read they kept me well supplied in material throughout my childhood. A mainstay for me was The Ultimate Baseball Book, edited by Daniel Okrent and Harris Lewine. It showed me that the history of the game was more than just the Yankees, and the old photos were spectacular. The Neft/Cohen The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball was a favorite Christmas present and is still a reference I use to this day. While both resources were cornerstones, in 1982 I was introduced to a long time companion: Baseball Digest. A monthly magazine totally devoted to baseball? Yes! I was just amazed paging through my first issue and reveling in the cover to cover baseball. Each issue opened with the section of baseball letters - The Fans Speak Out. There were many devoted and engaged readers as evidenced by the five, six, seven pages of letters - and the editors responded. Then would be many feature articles of the current game, with a healthy dose of historical ones as well. Every issue had the ten question Baseball Quick Quiz, a crossword puzzle, and the regular "So You Think You Know Baseball" question about baseball rules. Another regular favorite of mine was "The Game I'll Never Forget", a firsthand recollection of players' favorite games. Every month I looked forward to this delivery in the mailbox, and would bury my head in it immediately. Homework could wait. What I didn't realize then was that Baseball Digest had been around since 1942, when Philadelphia A's outfielder Elmer Valo graced the cover. Across the bottom of early issue covers stated "64 Pages - And Every Word Baseball".

Through the years, I noticed that not only was the content baseball, but almost all of the advertisements were as well. I would often page through the magazine pondering which of the great baseball products I would purchase once I was grown up and had real money. Along with baseball cards and Strat-O-Matic baseball, Baseball Digest it was a staple of my childhood and teenage years. As I moved on to college and work, my subscription lapsed, but I'd often buy it at a newsstand or bookstore, especially the March rookie issue and April season preview. A few years ago, I decided to get back to subscribing. I was drawn in primarily to the inclusion of the electronic archive, which has every issue every published cover to cover. The archive has been invaluable to my writing here and with SABR, where I've participated in some book projects. It has also just been fun. There's nothing like paging through a 1950s issue reading contemporary reporting of Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Ted Williams, etc. A quick look at the archive and the covers through the years is a great and unique look at the history of the game over the past 80 years. Today's Baseball Digest looks a little different than the one of my youth. It's a bit bigger (8x10 inches as opposed to the original 5 3/8 x 7 1/2 size), and is now printed in full color.

The letters are still there, as are the quiz, crossword puzzle, and "The Game I'll Never Forget". An archive article is also featured each issue. It only comes every other month now, but the archive softens that blow. It's still a great read. I fact, last night I worked on the crossword puzzle from the current issue while watching Game One of the World Series. If you're a baseball fan I can't recommend Baseball Digest enough. Even after over 80 years, the classic is still going strong.