The only thing as good as speaking personally with Bert Sugar, is listening to and savoring the tapes afterward. America’s greatest producer of sports books of all varieties, has penned another. Actually, he has gathered all the information and edited The Baseball Maniac’s Almanac.

The lengthy subtitle is — “The absolutely, positively, and without question the greatest book of facts, figures, and astonishing lists ever compiled.” It is that and more. Sugar has left no statistic uncovered or under-appreciated. It begins with an astonishing 25 pages of contents. It’s a dizzying compilation of every facet of the game. If a statistical category is not there, it doesn’t exist. Some of my favorites include: Players who hit safely in at least 135 games in one season (you won’t find a DiMaggio or a Ted Williams); winningest managers by first letter of last name; batting leaders by players under 6 feet tall.

You’ll find in alphabetical order, managers named Unglaub, Valentine and Zimmer, but no Xerxes or anyone else with a name beginning with X; detailed explanations of unassisted triple plays; players hitting for the cycle in order, i.e. single, double, etc. (that had to be tedious); and players who stole second, third and home in the same inning.

Some of these feats such as stealing for the cycle were on the spurious side.

“In 1917, Red Faber with the White Sox,” Sugar said, “was playing in a rain-threatened game. He was trying to get thrown out but the other team wouldn’t throw the ball. Honest to God.” That’s hilarious.

In this book, you’ll discover who Alan, Mitchell, Edward, George, Patrick, Henry Gallagher was. Come on, you’ve gotta know that one? You’ll be introduced to Doc Casey, Harry Steinfeldt, Heinie Zimmerman, Solly Hoffman and Otto Williams. They all played third base, in order, for the Cubs in the Tinker- to Evers- to Chance era. There were four others.

Babe Ruth was an extraordinary pitcher before he became a colossal home run hitter.

“He played both right field and left field,” Sugar said, “and he had it in his contract he wouldn’t play the sun field (where the sun shines in your eyes). In many parks, he played right, and in Fenway, he played left.”

For the record, Ruth played 1,133 games in right field and 1,054 in left. Sugar is at his best when he describes Johnny Noonan — one of those with an unassisted triple play.

“He was a first baseman,” Sugar said. “And he’s running all over the place tagging people out including two vendors.”

Sugar’s now consumed with preparing a list of anti-triple crown winners. “Did anybody,” he asked, “ever lead the league in lowest average, the least RBIs and least home runs?” Don’t put it past him.

You might be able to get through this postseason without The Baseball Maniac’s Almanac, but it will be a lot more fun if you don’t.