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, […]
Tagged as:
Al Kaline,
Bob Gibson,
Joe Morgan,
Lou Brock,
Tom Seaver,
Whitey Ford
When will this end? Tom Seaver. Jay Johnstone. Lou Brock. Al Kaline. Jimmy Wynn. And a host of others. And now, Bob Gibson, who passed away Friday at the age of 84. A Hall of Famer, seven-time All-Star, and two-time Cy Young winner, he spent his entire 17-year career with the St. Louis Cardinals. Here’s […]
Tagged as:
Bob Gibson
They say the Golden Age of a thing — in this case a sports thing — is often what you remember from your childhood, a time when you had a love for the game that wasn’t affected by too much “grown up” knowledge of salary disputes, gossip, scandal, etc. Roger Kahn got the ball rolling with The Boys of Summer, […]
Tagged as:
Bob Gibson,
Denny McLain,
Detroit Tigers,
Sridhar Pappu,
St. Louis Cardinals
By now, most of you are familiar with my caveats, so I’ll just mention it briefly: The list includes only print editions (no kindle or audio versions) because I’m old school. Second, since the rankings are updated every hour, these lists might not longer be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them. But […]
Tagged as:
Baseball Cards,
Baseball instruction,
batting,
Bob Gibson,
Chicago Cubs,
David Ross,
Denny McLain,
Hank Greenberg,
Rich Cohen,
Ted Williams,
World Series
Wow, has it really been more than a month since the last one of these? Yikes. As you may have notice, these entries have been falling off in the last several weeks. My apologies. A new full-time job — very different from what I had been doing as the sports and features editor of a […]
Tagged as:
Baseball Hall of Fame,
Baseball instruction,
batting,
Bob Gibson,
Chicago Cubs,
David Ross,
Denny McLain,
Hank Greenberg,
Rich Cohen,
Ted Williams,
World Series
Been a bit remiss in my own Bookshelf Conversations lately. But always happy to pass along what I’ve come across. Jonathan Hock’s new documentary Fastball recently hit the screens. I had the opportunity to watch a screener. Fascinating stuff. There’s a “Zelig moment” with Justin Verlander “visiting” Bob Feller during his famous “motorcycle showdown.” That […]
Tagged as:
Aroldis Chapman,
Bob Feller,
Bob Gibson,
David Price,
Fastball,
Jonathan Hock,
Justin Verlander,
Nolan Ryan,
Randy Johnson,
Steve Dalkowski,
Walter Johnson
In a vain attempt to clear out my inbox, here is the final B&P for the year. Hope you’ve enjoyed learning about these things as much as I have. Don’t read anything political into the posting of this piece about “How Bernie Sanders brought professional baseball to Vermont,” via The Sporting News. From outsports.com, this […]
Tagged as:
Baseball-Reference.com,
Bernie Sanders,
Bob Gibson,
Boston Red Sox,
Carlton Fisk,
Dusty Baker,
Lonnie Wheeler,
minor leagues,
Negro Leagues,
Roger Angell,
World Series
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
Tagged as:
baseball statistics,
Bob Gibson,
Derek Jeter,
Kansas City Royals,
Lonnie Wheeler,
Los Angeles Dodgers,
New York Yankees,
Roger Angell,
Sports Illustrated,
World Series,
Yogi Berra
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
Tagged as:
baseball statistics,
Bob Gibson,
Chicago White Sox,
Kansas City Royals,
Lonnie Wheeler,
Los Angeles Dodgers,
Oakland Athletics,
Roger Angell,
Sports Illustrated,
World Series
Missed last week because of vacation. Hey, I’m entitled. Anyway… NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be […]
Tagged as:
Bob Gibson,
Derek Jeter,
Kansas City Royals,
Lonnie Wheeler,
Los Angeles Dodger,
Michael Lewis,
Molly Knights,
New York Yankees,
Oakland Athletics,
Ted Williams,
Ty Cobb,
Yogi Berra
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
Tagged as:
Bengie Molina,
Bob Gibson,
Chicago Cubs,
Cincinatti Reds,
Derek Jeter,
Lonnie Wheeler,
Los Angeles Dodgers,
Moneyball,
New York Yankees,
Oakland Athletics,
Pittsburgh Pirates,
St. Louis Cardinals,
Ted Williams,
World Series,
Yogi Berra
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
Tagged as:
Bob Gibson,
Cincinatti Reds,
Derek Jeter,
Lonnie Wheeler,
Los Angeles Dodgers,
Moneyball,
New York Yankees,
Oakland Athletics,
Pittsburgh Pirates,
St. Louis Cardinals,
Ted Williams,
World Series,
Yogi Berra
Very little grass grows under Lonnie Wheeler’s feet. His second-most recent title, Intangiball: The Subtle Things That Win Baseball Games, was released on August 11 and less than two months later we have Pitch by Pitch: My View of One Unforgettable Game, the third book he has done with Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. (Actually, […]
Tagged as:
Bob Gibson,
Cincinnati Reds,
Lonnie Wheeler
Any middle-aged, self-respecting New York baseball fan knows the name Phil Pepe. He was the Yankees beat writer for the World Telegram & Sun from 1961-64, and for the Daily News from 1971-84. He’s enjoyed a long run on radio, too, serving as the sports voice for WCBS-FM when it was still an oldies station, […]
Tagged as:
Bob Gibson,
Bud Harrelson,
Hofstra University,
New York Mets,
Phil Pepe
I knew I was in trouble when one of the co-hosts of last night’s What’s On Second program on BlogTalkRadio didn’t know who the Smothers Brothers were (are, actually). I figured the SB’s were one of those cultural icons that transcended age, but I guess I was wrong. Then I look at GQ‘s poll of […]
Tagged as:
Bob Gibson,
GQ Magazine,
Tim Lincecum
Hall of Famers — and former Cardinals — Bob Gibson (75) and Whitey Herzog (79) share a birthday today. Books on Gibson: Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the Game is Played Stranger to the Game: The Autobiography of Bob Gibson From Ghetto […]
Tagged as:
Billy Sunday,
Bob Gibson,
White Herzog
When the superstars of baseball want their story told, they know where to go. Lonnie Wheeler has collaborated with such Hall of Famers as Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson, and, most recently, Gibson and Reggie Jackson in Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the […]
Tagged as:
Bob Gibson,
Hank Aaron,
Lonnie Wheeler,
Reggie Jackson
A Hall of Fame Pitcher & A Hall of Fame Hitter Talk About How the Game is Played, by Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson with Lonnie Wheeler (Doubleday, 2009) When I first heard about this book, I immediately wondered, who had the bigger ego? How was the process handled? Did Gibson tell Jackson to meet […]
Tagged as:
Bob Gibson,
Reggie Jackson
Including: ◊ Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America’s Pastime, by Mark Frost. Unabridged (13:56), narrated by Andrew Garman. Hear a sample: ◊ Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher and a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the Game Is Played , by Bob Gibson, […]
Tagged as:
audio books,
Bob Gibson,
Bruce Weber,
David Pallone,
Mark Frost,
Reggie Jackson