The story of one of baseball’s greatest heroes has come to print, and the author is coming to Cooperstown.
New York Times best-selling author James S. Hirschwill discuss his new book Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend onFriday, July 30, at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown as part of the Museum’s continuing Authors’ Series program. The book, which was authorized by Mays, takes a look at one of the game’s most celebrated and beloved players.
The 1 p.m. program will be held in the Museum’s Bullpen Theater and a book signing will follow the program, with copies of the book available in the Museum Bookstore.
Hirsch is a former reporter for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of four non-fiction books, including the New York Times bestseller Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter.
The Hall of Fame’s Summer Authors’ Series continues throughout July and August. The program brings several noted writers to the Hall of Fame’s Bullpen Theater for special lectures as fans can hear first-hand how their stories became part of written history. These educational presentations allow visitors to learn the story behind the stories.
Rookie right-hander Stephen Strasburg has been placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Washington Nationals because of inflammation in his pitching shoulder.
Thursday’s move is retroactive to July 22, a day after he made his last appearance. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft was scratched minutes before he was to make his 10th major league start Tuesday, because his right shoulder felt stiff while he was warming up in the bullpen.
Strasburg is 5-2 with a 2.32 ERA, 75 strikeouts and 15 walks in 54 1-3 innings since making his major league debut June 8.
Remember in his debut, the announcers kept opining how long manager Jim Riggleman would allow him to pitch?
Hall of Fame pitcher and current Senator Jim (Your tax dollars at work) Bunning remembers a time when men were men.
Curious as to whose head will be the first to roll if Strausburg has lingering problems.
“Omar Minaya may upgrade pitching, but middling New York Mets are better off waiting to make moves,” Filip Bondy, New York Daily News
“Forget about Mets dealing for Lily and Myers,” Joel Sherman, New York Post
“Time for Mets to make moves,” Larry Brooks, New York Post
“Top 10 New York Mets busts since 2001,” Bleacher Report
With the trading deadline just days (hours!) away (ESPN.com has a countdown clock), there’s a boatload of commentaries and articles like this floating around. Can’t recall so much buzz as I’ve seen this year. Part of that, of course, is the the demand for 24/7 material (yeah, thanks a lot, MLB Network). Gotta fill the time somehow.
I imagine the situation is similar for a lot of teams (perhaps not the bottom-dwellers), but as a Mets fans, I can say I’m tired of the same old song. Minaya has alternately been castigated and given a free pass (“Hey,” some pundits wrote, “it wasn’t his fault that the team filled a entire wing at Queens General Hospital).
But when does that wear off? I’m not saying make change for change’s sake (although sometimes that’s not necessarily a bad thing), but the present situation — especially given the team payroll — is unacceptable, especially when compared with the relative success in recent years of teams with much smaller financial obligations.
The mag includes pieces on Orel Hershiser, Stan Musial (by Joe Posnanski), and the print edition has a page comparing the managerial careers of Lou Pinella vs. Lou Brown, probably more well known by the actor who portrayed him, James Gannon. Gannon died July 16 at the age of 70 (NY Times obituary by Bruce “As They See ‘Em” Weber.)
Peter Sagal, staunch Red Sox fan and host of NPR’s Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me, paid “tribute” to the late Yankee owner George Steinbrenner on his July 17 program. Herewith, a transcript of the segment from the “Who’s Carl this time” portion of the program:
Sagal: Your last quote is from a man who was talking about his former boss, a man who passed away this week.
Carl Kasell: The phone would ring in the middle of the night, and you knew it was either him or a death in the family. And after a while, you started to root for a death in the family.
Sagal: Who was that beloved boss who died?
Contestant: George Steinbrenner.
SAGAL: Exactly right. The legendary owner of the Yankees died this week at the age of 80, and I hope you’ll grant me a moment to be serious about this because nobody – but nobody – in my memory did more than Steinbrenner for our beloved national pastime. And by that I mean, hating the New York Yankees.
(patriotic fife music enters)
Why? Without Steinbrenner, Yankee hating would have become empty, pointless, an antique sport like harness racing or lawn tennis. But with Steinbrenner making the Yankees the most obnoxious, tyrannical, bloated, purely evil sports franchise since the disbanding of the Tampa Bay Devil Nazis… Yankee hating was revived, and whole new generations of fans have grown up to scream obscenities at the sight of a pinstripe. He may be gone, but I know I’ll have Steinbrenner to thank when my little daughters look up at me some day and say, Papa, are the Yankees Satan’s baseball team? And I will say, yes, sweetheart. Why yes, they are. Thank you, George.
Moe Rocca: Lovely eulogy.
Sagal: Thank you.
Charlie Pierce: I never argue with a man who brings his own soundtrack.
The Brooklyn Dodger pitcher who famously lost a ground ball in the sun during the 1952 World Series died on July 15 at the age of 80. His obituary, written by Richard Goldstein, appeared in yesterday’s New York Times.
Like many of his teammates, enjoyed a renewed popularity through books such as Roger Kahn’s The Boys of Summer and Peter Golenbock’s Bums.
Flipping through the dial last night when I cam across Ronald Reagan starring as Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander in The Winning Team, a 1952 bio-pic.
Alexander played from 1911-1930 and pitched in the 1915, ‘26, and ‘28 World Series, the last two as an elder member of the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s particularly noted for striking out Tony Lazzeri with the bases loaded in the seventh inning of the last game to give the Cards a 3-2 win.
Like many films of this kind, it’s the story of success, followed by failure, followed by redemption. The dialog is a it hokey (never really liked Doris Day, who played Mrs. Alexander, that much).
A few things struck me as odd: for one thing, the film incorporated actual baseball footage, no doubt gleaned from newsreels. But they played fast and loose with the timelines, using footage from games that seemed to have occurred in the 1940s, judging by the uniforms. (Then again, Ray Liotta played Shoeless Joe Jackson as a righty and without a South Carolina accent…).
In addition, the hold baseball had on the country in those days seems unbelievable. Towards the end, Day (who naturally gets to sing in the film), is on her way to the train station where she will meet her husband after the final game of the ‘26 Series. But the streets are so crowded with fans watching the scoreboards erected in the heart of Manhattan, it’s difficult to find and cab and traverse through the roads. When she discovers that Old Alex is on the mound, she has the driver take her to “the Yankee Stadium,” as it was called in those days, urging him to drive faster, despite the traffic jams. More amazingly, everyone seems to recognize her and is willing to bend over backwards to help here, even though her husband is on the opposing team. Ah, Hollywood.
Also missing — and this was acknowledged by host Robert Osborne — Warner Brothers did not want pitcher’s actual ailment — epilepsy — mentioned in the movie. They’d rather have the audience believe the athlete was plagued by alcoholism and neurological damage caused by blow to the head by an errant baseball.
Several ballplayers appeared in the film, including Bob Lemon, Peanuts Lowery, George Metkovich and Jerry Priddy.
As old-fashioned as films like The Winning Team or The Pride of the Yankees It’s difficult for younger, more media savvy people, to realize the impact of the movies prior to the widespread availability of television.
– July 1: Geoff Blum, Astros: Injured his elbow while putting on his shirt.
– July 14: Russell Branyan, Mariners: Injured his toe when a hotel room table fell on it.
– July 14: Mike Pelfrey, Mets: Missed a start as a result of stiff neck from a plane ride after the All-Star break.
– July 15: Mat Latos, Padres: Strains his left side while trying to hold back a sneeze.
– July 26: Chris Coghlan, Marlins: Tears meniscus in his left knee while shoving a shaving cream pie in the face of a teammate.
Now can you imagine if the Cardinals had to add their future Hall of Famer to the list because of this stunt on the Letterman show? (And, yes, that’s Dennis Leary on the “mound.” Wouldn’t it have been great if he could have been pitching to Kevin Youkilis?)
UPDATE: In the Mets game tonight, Pujols is noticeably ailing from what appears to be a sore left side. Coincidence? Hmmm.
Another collection of photos based on exhibited pieces.
An analysis, broken down by various categories. From McFarland, so you know someone has done a lot of research, whether it’s necessary or not. Remember, you can’t spell “analysis” without “anal.”
Several thoughtful essays by one of the masters of the baseball performance analysis.
Although I have trouble with the use of words like “best” and “greatest” in titles, when it comes to anthologies, I’m a bit more flexible.
The editors of such collections do a fine job assembling excellent works from magazines, newspapers, etc., saving a pack-rat like me from collecting even more material.
Two new books celebrate exceptional sportswriting: [...]
Been away so long I hardly knew the place. Gee, it’s good to be back home…
Made a quick trip to Ft. Lauderdale to cover a tryout for an Israeli pro basketball team, then it was over to Hotdelphia for a family reunion. Had a chance to read What Else but Home, by Michael Rosen, which [...]
Been on the road the last couple of days, so I missed this. They say things happen in threes, so let this be the end of it.
Ralph Houk, Yanks Manager, Dies at 90
In my "day job," I'm the features and sports editor for a weekly New Jersey newspaper. I'm also the editor of the Bibliography Committee Newsletter for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).
I did a piece on the award-winning cartoonist Arnold Roth and he was nice enough to "immortalize" me.
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Congratulations to Dan Epstein, author of Big Hair and Plastic Grass, June's Facebook Fan winner of Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert: The Wild Saga of Interracial Baseball Before Jackie Robinson, by Timothy Gay.
The July giveaway will be Are We Winning? Fathers and Sons in the New Golden Age of Baseball, by Will Leitch
The veteran sportswriter died Friday at the age of 72.
Yes! The double “Where are they now” issue!
Flipping through the dial last night when I cam across Ronald Reagan starring as Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander in 
The Mental Floss website offers these quizzes:
, by Lee Panas
, by Dorothy Seymour Mills
, by Tristram Potter Coffin.
, by Peter Golenbock
Same time every year
July 29, 2010 · View Comments
With the trading deadline just days (hours!) away (ESPN.com has a countdown clock), there’s a boatload of commentaries and articles like this floating around. Can’t recall so much buzz as I’ve seen this year. Part of that, of course, is the the demand for 24/7 material (yeah, thanks a lot, MLB Network). Gotta fill the time somehow.
I imagine the situation is similar for a lot of teams (perhaps not the bottom-dwellers), but as a Mets fans, I can say I’m tired of the same old song. Minaya has alternately been castigated and given a free pass (“Hey,” some pundits wrote, “it wasn’t his fault that the team filled a entire wing at Queens General Hospital).
But when does that wear off? I’m not saying make change for change’s sake (although sometimes that’s not necessarily a bad thing), but the present situation — especially given the team payroll — is unacceptable, especially when compared with the relative success in recent years of teams with much smaller financial obligations.
Just sayin’.
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