This is a book about the last game played by 25 great baseball players. For most players, the kind of hitting the player did was highlighted although for pitchers, it was the pitching. Mr. Nogowski did not say how he determined who to include or the order in which he described the players; however all of them got into the Baseball Hall of Fame except for Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose. The players, in the order listed in the book, include: Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Walter Johnson, Joe Jackson, Dizzy Dean, Satchel Paige, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Cal Ripken Jr., Carlton Fiske, Rogers Hornsby, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Bob Feller, Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, Stan Musial, Carl Yastrzemski, and Ted Williams. Some of the players left after good games, and some stayed playing too long. Mr. Nogowski said that it was hard finding information about the final games played for many players.

Something about the player’s personality is described in each chapter. However, what he did after his playing days is generally not mentioned. After the description of the day for each player, a line-up with box score is given followed by the player’s statistics for each year played.

Instead of the random order, I would have preferred to have the players listed in chronological order. It was particularly awkward to have the description about Carl Yastrzemski precede that of Ted Williams, especially since Mr. Nogowski talked about Williams in describing Yastrzemski. ( )