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Branch Rickey

Bill Mardo in 1999. Mardo, who died Jan. 20 at the age of 88,  was a journalist who worked for the Communist publication The Daily Worker in the 1940s-50s. Along with fellow MOTs Lester “Red” Rodney and Nat Low, Mardo — born William Bloom — agitated for baseball to break the color barrier, which paved [...]

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  Just a thought. I’m listening to the audio version of George Vecsey’s Stan Musial: An American Life, narrated by Scott Brick. It brought something to mind. As every American — baseball fan or not — may know, Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play in the major Leagues (at least in the [...]

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Baseball movie news

December 16, 2011 · 0 comments

‘Tis the season for the various awards to start announcing their nominees. Surprisingly, Moneyball is up for four Golden Globe Awards, including best drama (!), actor in a movie drama (Brad Pitt), supporting actor in a movie (Jonah Hill), and best screenplay (Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian). Rob Neyer, SB Nation’s baseball editor and a [...]

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As in Tom Hoffarth’s one-a-day Book reviews: Day 7: The Baseball Hall of Fame Collection Day 8: Baseball — How to Play the Game Day 9: The Bill James Handbook 2011 Day 10: Baseball in the Garden of Eden Day 11: The Greatest Game Ever Pitched Day 12: Mexican American Baseball in Los Angeles Day [...]

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Intro: As previously stated, the recent election of Robert Alomar and Bert Blyleven got me to thinking: how many Hall of Famers have had books written about them or penned their own stories. Here are the results. Again, this is not an all-inclusive list; almost all juvenile titles have been omitted. * * * “R” [...]

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Branch Rickey was born this Dec. 20, 1881. When asked why he fought to make Jackie Robinson accepted in the Major Leagues, Rickey often told the story of a black teammate from his college days who was shunned by opponents. There are numerous books about Rickey, but perhaps none more detailed and insightful than Lee [...]

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I was doing some research about Allan Roth, the Stephen Hawking of statisticians and came across this article (ostensibly) written by Branch Rickey for LIFE magazine back in the 1940s, courtesy of Baseballthinkfactory.com. Rickey, ever the innovator himself, credits Roth with a new set of numbers by which to judge the players, including on base [...]

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In honor of All-Star week, NPR carried a few baseball-related items on WNYC this week. July 13 was a good day for Jewish sports authors. Both Howard Megdal (The Baseball Talmud) and Lee Lowenfish (Branch Rickey: Baseball’s Ferocious Gentleman) were interviewed on The Leonard Lopate Show. You can listen to the Megdal segment here: [audio [...]

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Jonathan Eig, author of Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinon’s First Season and Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig, does the honors for Michael Shapiro’s new book on the exit of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the ultimate entrance of the New York Mets.

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Branch Rickey: Baseball’s Ferocious Gentleman has been awarded the Seymour Medal as the best baseball history or biography of 2007. Also recognized as “finalists” were Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball by Norman Macht and Playing America’s Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line by Adrian Burgos, Jr. Author Lee Lowenfish will receive [...]

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I especially get a kick when I find references to baseball books from outlets that have essentially nothing to do with the game. Case in point, this review of Lee Lowenfish’s “excellent” biography from the Greater New York blog.

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