From the category archives:

Hall of Fame

Mazel tov, Jim Leyland

December 5, 2023

The former World Championship manager was elected to the Hall of Fame by the contemporary era committee for managers, executives, and umpires. He becomes the 23rd manager in the hall. After making his debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986, Leyland led the Florida Marlins to a World Series title in 1997 and won two […]

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♦   It’s been a very long time since I wrote about the Baseball Project, “a supergroup that includes several former members of R.E.M. and makes music exclusively about the sport,” according to this new article from The New Yorker. ♦   Hot on the heels of the new Netflx documentary The Saint of Second Chances this […]

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We lost two major baseball writers with the passing of Rick Wolff, 71, on April 10 and St. Louis Post Dispatch veteran scribe Rick Hummel, 77, on May 20. Wolff published numerous books on coaching and sports psychology. He collaborated with his son on Harvard Boys: A Father and Son’s Adventures Playing Minor League Baseball […]

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Used to be around this time of year you could look forward to the baseball annuals from Street & Smith, Athlon, Lindy’s, and a host of other magazine publishers. Of course, back in the day there were many others put out by the likes of The Sporting News, Major League Baseball, Bill Mazeroski, with Baseball […]

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]

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A look at things to come?

November 25, 2022

There are 14 first-timers on the Hall of Fame Ballot this year. I doubt any of them will make it on this go-around. (I think it’s time to eliminate the rule that says you’re automatically on the ballot if you play for at least ten seasons.) Only one of these has a book about him. […]

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They say you should never meet your heroes lest you be disappointed but I’d take that chance. There are just a handful of writers I would want to share a drink with: Leonard Koppett, the first scribe I ever wrote to asking advice; Shirley Povich, because he managed to have an outstanding career in the […]

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]

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PSA for the LOC

October 5, 2021

As in Library of Congress. Just received this email from Darren Jones, reference librarian for that august institution and am happy to pass it along: Dear Baseball Enthusiasts: With the start of the 2021 World Series later this month, we want to share with you some online resources from the Library of Congress about the […]

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Another look at some of the baseball books to look forward to for the rest of the year and beyond, via Amazon. No claims that this is a complete list. No bells and whistles this time. And no books that come out annually, such as the Baseball America almanac, prospects, etc. Winning Fixes Everything: The […]

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New: An asterisk serves to let you know that the author is a member of the Pandemic Baseball Book Club. I enthusiastically recommend you visit the site, sign up for their newsletter, and buy some merch. A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by […]

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New: An asterisk serves to let you know that the author is a member of the Pandemic Baseball Book Club. I enthusiastically recommend you visit the site, sign up for their newsletter, and buy some merch. A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by […]

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]

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Just renewed the domain for another year, so to make it worthwhile I guess I should be posting more often, and not just “Lest We Forget.” I don’t seem to have the free time to read as I did when I was working as a journalist, which is kind of weird, considering these days I’m […]

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]

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Are you kidding me? I only heard about this today, even though Sutton, a 300-game winner and Hall of Famer, passed away Monday at the age of 75. Here’s his obituary from the Los Angeles Times by Bill Shaikin. As Richard Sandomir’s notes in his obit in The New York Times, this makes nine Hall […]

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]

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Lest we forget: Icons Lost

December 30, 2020

The MLB Network has put together a bittersweet tribute to six Hall of Famers we lost this year. Highly recommended. (Phil Niekro’s passing must have been too recent to be included.) I know I should be surprised, but I was still shocked to see how much Tim McCarver has aged. Less so for Johnny Bench, […]

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Note: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

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