Headnote: I’ve decided to bow to the times and include separate lists for e-books and audio books. Be aware that while many titles also appear in print versions, pretty much anyone can produce an e-book these days, so I’m not going to comment at all about the quality. As far as the audio goes, I’m […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
baseball photography,
Boston Red Sox,
Houston Astros,
Jane Leavy,
Michael Lewis,
New York Yankees,
Oakland As,
Ted Williams,
Trivia
Missed posting last week because of the trip. Headnote: I’ve decided to bow to the times and include separate lists for e-books and audio books. Be aware that while many titles also appear in print versions, pretty much anyone can produce an e-book these days, so I’m not going to comment at all about the […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
Boston Red Sox,
Detroit Tigers,
Houston Astros,
Jane Leavy,
Michael Lewis,
New York Yankees,
Oakland As,
Ted Williams
By now most of you are familiar with my caveats, so I’ll just mention them briefly: The list includes only print editions of books; calendars (even though Amazon includes them on their lists), no audiobooks (as much as I enjoy them), and no kindle (because I’m old school). Second, since the rankings are updated every […]
Tagged as:
baseball analytics,
Boston Red Sox,
Chicago Cubs,
David Ross,
Houston Astros,
New York Yankees,
Trivia,
World Series
Don’t know how I missed this one. Must have been making dinner.
Tagged as:
Jeopardy,
Yogi Berra
Jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding was the guest for Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me‘s Not My Job segment last week. So the writer thought it would be cute… PETER SAGAL: Second base is baseball, the great American pastime. SPALDING: Oh no. SAGAL: One of the worst baseball players ever was one Smead Jolley. Mr. Jolly was […]
Tagged as:
National Public Radio,
Smead Jolley
Last night, an entire category devoted to “Ways to reach first base.” The contestants answered each one correctly, although the $200 clue remained on the board after the first round. $400: 4 wide ones (What is a walk?) $600: Craig Biggio had it happen 285 times; ouch! (What is hit by pitch?) $800: A defensive […]
Tagged as:
Jeopardy
Yesterday on Jeopardy: Then I sat down to do the Times‘ crossword: Crazy, man. One of my Facebook friends suggested there should be a version of Jeopardy devoted solely to the national pastime. Baseball in Jeopardy? You’re welcome.
But I don’t know how to classify this bit of uber-trivia from Numbers Don’t Lie: Mets: The Biggest Numbers in Mets History, by Ross Cohen with Adam Raider. The chapter for “10” features Tom Seaver’s 10 consecutive strikeouts against the visiting San Diego Padres on April 22, 1970 and comes with this fun fact: Seaver […]
Tagged as:
New York Mets,
Tom Seaver
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
Tagged as:
baseball bats,
baseball equipment,
baseball library,
baseball plays,
baseball quiz,
ESPN,
George F. Will,
Jimmy Breslin,
Manny Ramirez,
New Republic,
New York Mets,
New York Times,
R.A. Dickey,
Richard Sandomir,
trivia
Twice this week, the national pastime was part of the unofficial national quiz show. On Wednesday, the topic was teams that had never won the World Series (although perhaps it was teams that had never been in the Series; I should have kept track). One of the answers was wrong at the time of airing, […]
Tagged as:
Arizona Diamondbacks,
Jeopardy,
Troy Tulowitzki
I tuned into the Yankee game on Friday just as Alex Rodriguez was coming to bat, looking for his 3,000th hit. Timing is everything: ARod launched a home run for the milestone. It was the third time a player hit a home run for the magic number, including former teammate Derek Jeter. The difference is […]
Tagged as:
Alex Rodriguez,
Zack Hample
Just finished thumbing through A History of Baseball in 100 Objects, the latest baseball release by Josh Leventhal, author of several other well-produced baseball titles. The objects included herein represent the game since before its “formal” recognized inception in the mid 1800s (and please don’t write about the exact DOB of the game). But the […]
Tagged as:
baseball history,
baseball memorabilia,
Milwaukee Braves,
Moneyball
So now the NY Yankees are getting set to retire another number: Andy Pettitte’s 46. This has led to a couple of speculative ponderings. One, should they reward an admitted PED user? And, when is this retirement stuff going to stop?
Tagged as:
Andy Pettitte,
Nw York Yankes
* Josh Wilker’s forthcoming book, Benchwarmer: An Anxious Dad’s Almanac of Fatherhood and Other Failures gets a thumbs up from Kirkus. Upshot: “This almanac of fatherhood (and other failures) is honest, relatable and humorous—an indispensable read for fathers (and sons) whose joy in life comes not from winning the big game but being alive to […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
Branch Rickey,
Field of Dreams,
Jackie Robinson,
Josh Wilker,
Roger Kahn,
W. P. Kinsella
Boy, these things really do come in threes, don’t they? Charlie Williams is the answer to a trivia question: Who was traded for Willie Mays? The 67-year-old pitcher died on Tuesday. No obituary, so far, from the NY papers, but I think (hope) it’s only a matter of time. Williams was actually born in Flushing […]
Tagged as:
Charlie Williams,
New York Mets,
San Francisco Giants,
Willie Mays
The Passover holidays have played havoc with my schedule, so there’s a lot to catch up on. First off, can you remember those Bicentennial Minutes that CBS used to broadcast in the months leading up to the big celebration? Well, Dan Epstein, author of the new Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
Chicago Cubs,
Cleveland Indians,
Dan Epstein,
George Will,
Montreal Expos. Jackie Robinson,
Roy Campanella,
SABR,
Tom Hoffarth,
Wrigley Field
Over the years, I’ve expressed disappointment in the changing times, when magazines about the fantasy baseball outnumber those about the “regular” game. Fantasy Sports is a multi-billion dollar business. With so much at stake, there have to be rules and governing bodies, otherwise there’s chaos. From time to time, I try to get with the […]
Tagged as:
Fantasy baseball,
Marc Edelman
This it the time of year when the baseball media offer their considered opinions on their favorite prospects. Sometimes they’re spot on, other times, not so much. So I thought, why not apply this to the upcoming “rookie crop” of baseball books? That is, titles that are making their debuts in 2014 — no reprints/reissues […]
Tagged as:
Al Clark,
Alex Rodriguez,
Andrew Zimbalist,
Atlanta Braves,
Babe Ruth,
Ben Zobrist,
Boston Red Sox,
Branch Rickey,
Brooklyn Dodgers,
Chicago Cubs,
Continental League,
Dirk Hayhurst,
Doug Harvey,
Fantasy baseball,
George F. Will,
House of David,
Jackie Robinson,
Joe DiMaggio,
John Roseboro,
Juan Marichal John Rosengren,
Los Angeles Dodgers,
Marilyn Monroe,
Minnesota Twins,
minor leagues,
Montreal Expos,
Mookie Wilson,
Nap Lajoie,
Negro Leagues,
New York Mets,
Nolan Ryan,
PED,
Pete Rose,
Roger Kahn,
Roy Campanella,
sabermetrics,
steroids,
Ted Williams,
Ty Cobb,
umpires,
Walter O'Malley,
Willie Mays,
Wrigley Field
The beverage, not the drug. Honestly, get your mind out of the gutter. From Mark Aubrey, my “proofreader,” comes this item on eBay: “1967 Coke Cap RARE PASSOVER variation Willie Stargell Pittsburgh Pirates HOFer” Asking price: $75. When I was a kid growing up in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, there was a kosher […]
Tagged as:
baseball collectibles,
bottle caps,
Coca Cola,
Coke