There’s a lot of material that’s fallen by the wayside as I try to keep this blog fresh with the latest in baseball book publishing information. But in the words of the revered philosopher, Regis Philbin, “I’m only one man!” So I’m using this space to try to catch up. Some of the items might be a wee bit moldy, but they’re pertinent nonetheless.
I had a little loose change, so in a pique of boredom, I bought a Mike Piazza bobblehead doll on eBay. I was actually pleasantly surprised. It was much sturdier than I remembered these things.
So, as I usually do, I got all het-up about these things and did a lot of reading and viewing. Some are pretty accurate (as mucha s they can be); others, such as this one of Kaz Matsui, are a little scary. Some of these are cute mementos, but looking in guides such as Warman’s Bobbing Head Field Guide (makes it sound like bird watching), one sees some are damned expensive.
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On the Media produced this program in August, 2006 about baseball announcers. PBS produced Stealing Home, a documentary about Cuban baseball . The site features a transcript for the program, sources for further research, and a screensaver, which I haven’t seen.
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Stephen C. Wood and J. David Pincus, co-authors of Reel Baseball, have a companion Web site that features movies from 1989-2002. Another place to discover more about “classic” baseball feature films is ClassicMovies.org.
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In 2006, the Business of Baseball Web site feature an exhaustive forum with “32 voices” — writers, commentators and others in the know — about the State of the Game. Some of the more recognizable names (at least to me) include:
- Alex Belth, author of Stepping Up: The Story of All-Star Curt Flood and His Fight for Baseball Players’ Rights
- Will Carroll, The Juice: The Real Story of Baseball’s Drug Problem and Saving the Pitcher
- Jerry Crasnick, License to Deal
- Gary Gillette, ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, and The Ultimate Yankees Companion
- Jonah Keri, Baseball Between the Numbers
- Ron Neyer, The Big Book of Baseball Blunders, The Big Book of Baseball Lineups, and, most recently, The Big Book of Baseball Legends
- Joe Sheehan, Baseball Prospectus
- John Thorn, Total Baseball, The Hidden Game of Baseball, The Complete Armchair Book of Baseball (add “complete” to “greatest” for words in book titles that rarely live up to their promise. If the book is “complete,” why is a second volume often published?)
- Andrew Zimbalist, Baseball and Billions, May the Best Team Win, In the Best Interests of Baseball?
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Speaking of exhaustive, kudos to Bill Burgess and the folks at Baseball-Fever.com, for this list of key sportswriters in baseball history. The scores of writers mentioned include the publications for whom they wrote as well as other biographical information and pictures. This list is too copious to reproduce here, but it’s well worth the visit to see this historic “who’s who” of baseball writing, expecial in the days predating broadcast coverage, when the written word was the only means available to spread the gospel of the game to the American public.
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This year marks the 45th anniversary of Eliot Asinof’s iconic Eight Men Out. Who knew that the 1919 Black Sox scandal would still generate so much interest 90 years later, with a feature film and dozens of books about the event? In fact, gambling is still considered the worst thing that could happen to the upright game of baseball in particular and sports in general. That’s why Pete Rose is still persona non grata despite his statistical accomplishments.
You can hear an audio excerpt here: [audiohttp://audible.edgeboss.net/download/audible/content/bk/blak/000069/bk_blak_000069_sample.mp3]
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From Keyman Collectibles, this piece on classic baseball paperbacks of the 1940s-50s.
is available on Amazon.com,
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