The Casey Award (stylized as CASEY) is an annual literary award that has been given to the best baseball book of the year since 1983. The award was created by Mike Shannon and W. J. Harrison, editors and co-founders of Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine because, up until then, there was no award given to authors and publishers of distinguished baseball literature; it is considered to be the most prestigious award that can be given to a baseball book.A History of Spitball Magazine - Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine
Award process Baseball books, both non-fiction and fiction, are nominated by a panel of three judges under five main criteria: literary quality, informational content, analytical content, originality, and artistic appeal. After a shortlist is finalized, the judges vote on the book which has given "the greatest contribution to baseball literature". It is then presented at the annual CASEY Award Banquet held in Cincinnati, Ohio in January.
Previously, the winner received a bronze plaque which manufactured by the Newman Brothers Company in Cincinnati and featured Nap Lajoie holding a quill, the original logo of the award which was designed by magazine's first art director, Blair Gibeau. In 2009, the bronze plaques were replaced by authentic Louisville Slugger baseball bats imprinted with a new CASEY Award logo designed by the magazine's second art director and longtime cover artist Donnie Pollard.
Winners and finalists 1980s Source:CASEY Award - Winners and Finalists YearAuthor(s)BookResult1983Eric Rolfe GreenbergThe CelebrantWinnerJules TygielBaseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His LegacyFinalistHarry SteinHooplaFinalistDonn RogosinInvisible Men: Life in Baseball's Negro LeaguesFinalistL. Robert DavidsInsider's Baseball: The Finer Points of the Game, as Examined by the Society for American Baseball Research FinalistLowell ReidenbaughTake Me Out to the BallparkFinalistRichard LindbergWho's on 3rd? The Chicago White Sox StoryFinalist1984Peter Golenbock Bums: An Oral History of the Brooklyn DodgersWinnerWalter Iooss & Roger AngellBaseballFinalistKevin KerraneDollar Sign on the MuscleFinalistEugene C. MurdockMight Casey: All AmericanFinalistRobert CreamerCasey Stengel: His Life and TimesFinalistCharles AlexanderTy CobbFinalist1985Roger KahnGood Enough to DreamWinnerJohn ThornThe Armchair Book of BaseballFinalistDon OlsonBambi's Bombers: The First Time AroundFinalistDaniel OkrentNine Innings: The Anatomy of Baseball as Seen Through the Playing of a Single GameFinalistDave Masterson & Timm BoyleBaseball's Best: The MVPs FinalistDonald HallFathers Playing Catch with SonsFinalistDonald HonigBaseball America: The Heroes of the Game and the Times of Their GloryFinalistW. P. KinsellaThe Thrill of the GrassFinalistNoneTopps Baseball CardsFinalist1986Bill James The Bill James Historical Baseball AbstractWinnerMyron J. Smith, Jr.Baseball: A Comprehensive BibliographyFinalistTerry Pluto & Jeffrey NeumanA Baseball Winter: The Off-Season Life of the Summer GameFinalistTony ArdizzoneHeart of the OrderFinalistW. P. KinsellaThe Iowa Baseball ConfederacyFinalistJack B. MooreJoe DiMaggio: A Bio-BibliographyFinalistRoger KahnJoe & Marilyn: A Memory of LoveFinalistDavid FalknerThe Short Season: The Hard Work and High Times of Baseball in the SpringFinalist1987Peter H. GordonDiamonds Are Forever: Artists and Writers on BaseballWinnerBowie Kuhn & Marty AppelHardball: The Education of a Baseball CommissionerFinalistGeorge PlimptonThe Curious Case of Sidd FinchFinalistJohn Thorn & John HolwayThe PitcherFinalistDavid Q. Voigt Baseball: An Illustrated HistoryFinalistCharles EinsteinThe Fireside Book of Baseball, Vol. 4FinalistTony Kubek & Terry PlutoSixty-One: The Team, The Record, The MenFinalistNeil Sullivan The Dodgers Move WestFinalistJoe CoomerA Flatland FableFinalistCurt SmithVoices of the Game: The First Full-Scale Overview of Baseball Broadcasting, 1921 to the PresentFinalist1988John Holway Blackball Stars: Negro League PioneersWinnerRoger AngellSeason Ticket: A Baseball CompanionFinalistLonnie WheelerBleachers: A Summer in Wrigley FieldFinalistCharles AlexanderJohn McGrawFinalistDorothy RuthMy Dad, the BabeFinalistW. P. KinsellaThe Further Adventures of Slugger McBattFinalistNoel Hynd The Giants of the Polo GroundsFinalistLonnie Wheeler & John BaskinThe Cincinnati GameFinalistGerald AstorThe Baseball Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary BookFinalistDave Winfield & Tom ParkerWinfield: A Player's LifeFinalist1989Mike SowellThe Pitch That Killed: Carl Mays, Ray Chapman and the Pennant Race of 1920WinnerLawrence Ritter & Mark RuckerThe Babe: A Life in PicturesFinalistMike BryanBaseball Lives: Men and Women of the Game Talk About Their Jobs, Their Lives, and the National PastimeFinalistJoel Zoss & John BowmanDiamonds in the Rough: The Untold History of BaseballFinalistPaul DicksonThe Dickson Baseball DictionaryFinalistJohn KrichEl BeisbolFinalistHank Greenberg & Ira BerkowHank Greenberg: The Story of My LifeFinalistThomas BoswellThe Heart of the OrderFinalistRobert WhitingYou Gotta Have WaFinalistJohn ThornTotal BaseballFinalist
1990s Source: