As Dan Epstein over at Big Hair & Plastic Grass reminds us, “On this date in 1973, Yankee pitchers Fritz Peterson (front) and Mike Kekich (second from left) shock their team, baseball, and the country with the announcement that they’ve swapped families — their wives, children and pets are all included in the deal.” Seems […]
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Fritz Peterson,
Mike Kekich
Don’t know how long this will last, but if you have a Kindle, I suggest you get over to Amazon and download Richard Doster’s novel Safe at Home for free ASAP. The story — about a young African-American trying to succeed on a minor league team in the deep South in the 1950s — is […]
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African Americans,
Fiction,
minor leagues,
Richard Doster
A day late, but with all due respect to Scully, who turned 84 yesterday. Curt Smith, the go-to writer on the history of baseball broadcasting, published Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story in 2009.
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baseball broadcasting,
Curt Smith,
Vin Scully
A (Winning) Season with the MIT Baseball Team, by Brooks C. Mendell. Aventine Press, 2009 This one has been sitting on the shelf for awhile, but with the 501 project in full swing, I’m trying to catch up with a vengeance, looking for little gems among the bigger fish. And we have a winnah! Beaverball […]
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Brooks Mendell,
MIT
Been meaning to post about this for a couple of days. Don’t know what kind of pickup this story has been getting outside the New York area, but hearts were all aflutter on Saturday because Yankees long-time catcher Jorge Posada — batting .165 and hitting in the number nine spot in the lineup against the […]
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Derek Jeter,
Joe Girardi,
Jorge Posada,
New York Yankee
The Yankee legend turns 86 today. You can’t have a baseball book about the Yankees post-war dynasty without Berra, who happens to be a nominal neighbor of mine in that we live in the same New Jersey town. One of his books is titled The Yogi Book: “I Really Didn’t Say Everything I Said. “ […]
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Dave Kaplan,
Yogi Berra
The Hall of Fame pitcher was born this date in 1871. The name was most appropriate: He completed 314 out of 381 game starts, averaging 24 wins over a relatively brief career of 10 years, including back-to-back 31+ seasons. And he didn’t even begin his big league career until age 28. Toss out an 8-8 […]
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Joe McGinnity
The New York Yankees outfielder turns 30 today. Granderson published a book for young kids, All You Can Be: Dream It, Draw It, Become It!, in 2009 while a member of the Detroit Tigers. Proceeds go to help his Grand Kids Foundation, which was established “to help fund educational field trips, art initiatives, science initiatives […]
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Curtis Granderson
“M” is truly an amazing initial for Hall of Famers, isn’t it? Mays, Mantle, Musial, Marichal, , McCovey, Mathewson, no to mention managers such as McCarthy, Mack and McGraw Connie Mack (Manager; inducted 1937) My 66 Years in the Big Leagues, by Mack (1950) Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball, Macht (2007) The […]
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Biz Mackey,
Christy Mathewson,
Connie Mack,
John McGraw,
Juan Marichal,
Mickey Mantle,
Negro Leagues,
Stan Musial,
Willie Mays,
Willie McCovey
No, not Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, but Ron Cey, the six-time all-star third baseman for the LA Dodgers, and later the Chicago Cubs and Oakland A’s, turns 63 today. I actually found a book “by” Cey: How To Play Third Base: A Movie In Your Pocket, published in 1977 and described by a used book store […]
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Billy Hamilton,
Ron Cey
“The Great Emancipator” would have been 72 today. Flood published his story — The Way It Is — in 1971, the year he retired from the game. Since then, several books about Flood’s role in creating the free agent dream (or nightmare, depending on your point of view), have been released with lesser or greater […]
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Curt Flood
Hall of Famer Early Wynn was born this date in 1920. He hung around for 23 Years, missing the whole 1945 season for military service. I was under the impression that he retired right after he won his coveted 300th game, but I was in error. He actually appeared in another15 games after his July […]
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Chicago White Sox,
Early Wynn,
Ralph Branca
The birthday boys include 10-time All-Star Steve Garvey, Hall of Fame pitcher Steve Carlton, and long (long) time manager Connie Mack. Garvey has a number of books by and about him, including My Bat Boy Days: Lessons I Learned from the Boys of Summer (Scribner, 2008); Garvey (Crown, 1986); and The Secret Life of Cyndy […]
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Connie Mack,
Steve Carlton,
Steve Garvey
Trying to catch up here: December 20 noted the birthdates of Fred Merkle (1888), Gabby Hartnett (1900; Gabby Hartnett: The Life and Times of the Cubs’ Greatest Catcher) and David Wright (1982; Mets Pride: For the Love of Mookie, Mike, and David Wright). Andy Van Slyke turns the big 5-oh today. Odd that his name […]
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Andy Van Sylke,
David Wright,
Fred Merkle,
Gabby Hartnett
The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com, as of Friday, Dec. 17 at 1 p.m. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 2 Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh […]
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Bill Madden,
Dirk Hayhurst,
Jane Leavy,
Michael Lewis,
Mickey Mantle,
Moneyball,
The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran
A whole bunch today, beginning with Fergie Jenkins, the Hall of Fame pitcher, who turns 68. You often read about how dark-skinned Hispanics players such as Robert Clemente or Vic Power were amazed by the prejudice they encountered in the 1950s and 1960s, coming from countries where none existed. I wonder how Jenkins felt, coming […]
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Carl Erskine,
Ferguson Jenkins,
Larry Doby
I’ve been putting this off for a long time, basically out of a sense that I had more important things to do, which is more a failing of mine than the actual truth. I’m speaking here of the fan memoir, a book of recollections and anecdotes taken not from the life of a famous athlete, […]
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baseball anecdotes,
Boston Red Sox