Mickey Mantle. Sandy Koufax. Two heroic symbols of the Boomer generation. Two flawed figures, one of his own accord, one of poor luck. Jane Leavy has turned both of their stories into best-selling biograophies. So what does she do for an encore? Why not another icon, who wrestled with his own demons, although it didn’t […]
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Babe Ruth,
Jane Leavy,
Mickey Mantle,
Sandy Koufax
(Note: My review of Allen Barra’s latest appears on Bookreporter.com, and reprinted for your convenience below, with a few additional comments.) Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris may have been “the M&M boys” for a summer or two in the early 1960s, but Mantle, aka the “Commerce Comet,” and the “Say Hey Kid” (Willie Mays) were […]
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Allen Barra,
Jane Leavy,
Mickey Mantle,
Willie Mays
Raise your hand if you, like me, are tired to the cliche about the thinnest publication being a treatise on Jewish sports heroes (or some riff thereon). It is therefore with an understandable sense of pride that I recommend Jewish Jocks: An Unorthodox Hall of Fame. While this collection of 50 essays isn’t just about […]
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Al Rosen,
Dahlia Litwick,
David Margolick,
Jane Leavy,
Mark Leibovich,
Marvin Miller,
Mose Solomon,
Robert Weintraub,
Sandy Koufax,
Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy,
The Epstein
[Note: My spring baseball roundup appears on Bookreporter.com and is reposted here as individual reviews for your convenience.] Former Sports Illustrated executive editor Rob Fleder assembled his own literary All-Star team for Damn Yankees: Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World’s Most Loved (and Hated) Team. The roster includes such “players” as Roy Blount Jr., […]
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Charley Pierce,
Colum McCann,
Daniel Okrent,
Jane Leavy,
New York Yankees,
Rob Fleder,
Roy Blount Jr.,
Sports Illustrated,
Tom Verducci,
Will Leitch
Spent a pleasant evening at the Yogi Berra Museum last month (even if it did come at the expense of missing my softball game). Some members of the “cast” of Damn Yankees — the book, not the classic musical that’s making the rounds at community theaters again — were on hand to entertain a small […]
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Damn Yankees,
Dan Barry,
Jane Leavy,
Rob Fleder,
Will Leitch
Some of the contributions for the new collaboration Damn Yankees: Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World’s Most Loved (and Hated) Team are dewy-eyed tributes, either about the team in general, or a player in particular, or a personal moment with a family member, bonding over a shared love. On the other end of the […]
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Charlie Pierce,
Damn Yankees,
Daniel Okrent,
Jane Leavy,
Rob Fleder,
Roy Blount Jr.,
Sports Illustrated
Thanks to Dan Barry, one of the contributors to this collection of essays, for alerting to this excellent book trailer: Barry will join fellow contributors Will Leitch, Jane Leavy, and Rob Fleder, editor of Damn Yankees at a discussion and booksigning on April 18 at the Yogi Berra Museum in Little Falls, NJ. For more […]
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Damn Yankees,
Dan Barry,
Dave Kaplan,
Jane Leavy,
Rob Fleder,
Will Leitch
Just received an advance copy of Damn Yankees: Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World’s Most Loved (and Hated) Team, edited by Rob Fleder (Ecco). The book, due out in April, features contributions from some of my favorite writers (although, to be technically correct, the “Major League” probably refers to their status as tops in […]
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Charley Pierce,
Dan Barry,
Jane Leavy,
Leigh Montville,
New York Yankees,
Roy Blount Jr.,
Tom Verducci,
Will Leitch
Jane Leavy, author of biographies on Mickey Mantle and Sandy Koufax, published this piece about Julia Ruth Stevens — Babe Ruth’s daughter — on the Grantland website.
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Babe Ruth,
Jane Leavy,
Julia Ruth Stevens
If you’re on Facebook, check out the Baseball Book Club group: We here at the Baseball Book Club know it’s hard to find time to read books, so we want to offer encouragement. The idea is simple. Members of the club will select a title to focus on as the Book of the Month and […]
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Jane Leavy,
Reading Groups
Allen Barra, author of several notable baseball titles himself, offers this list of top five baseball fiction titles, including: Ring Around the Bases, by Ring Lardner Sometimes You See It Coming, by Kevin Baker The Brothers K, by David James Duncan Squeeze Play, by Jane Leavy (author of The Last Boy and Sandy Koufax: A […]
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Allen Barra,
Brothers K,
Jane Leavy,
Kevin Baker,
Robert Coover
The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Feb 25, at 1:30 p.m. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2011 1 Baseball America 2011 Prospect Handbook: The 2011 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (Kindle version) 3 The Last […]
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Baseball America,
Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back,
Dirk Hayhurst,
Hardball Times Baseball Annual,
Jane Leavy,
Michael Lewis,
Moneyball,
The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran
This is the time of year when you can expect to see a glut of articles and reviews on authors and new titles and old favorites. So here’s the first from the Christian Science Monitor. The lineup (because there are nine titles, get it?) incldues: The Natural, by Bernard Malamud Bang the Drum Slowly (Second […]
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Christian Science Monitor,
Jane Leavy,
Jim Bouton,
Moneyball
The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Feb 4, at 10 a.m. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2011 1 Baseball America 2011 Prospect Handbook: The 2011 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (Kindle […]
Tagged as:
Baseball America,
Dirk Hayhurst,
Hardball Times Baseball Annual,
Jane Leavy,
Jim Bouton,
Mickey Mantle,
Moneyball,
The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran
The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Jan. 28 at noon. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2011 1 Baseball America 2011 Prospect Handbook: The 2011 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 2 The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane […]
Tagged as:
Baseball America,
Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back,
Hardball Times Baseball Annual,
Jane Leavy,
Jim Bouton,
Mickey Mantle,
Moneyball,
The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran
From Glenn Stout, via Facebook: The deadline for submissions to The Best American Sports Writing 2011, to be guest edited by Jane Leavy, is February 1, 2011. Please send all submissions according to the guidelines that appear in any recent edition or on my website, www.glennstout.net. Naturally, my big complain with this otherwise excellent series […]
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Jane Leavy,
sports anthology
I’d been hoping to post this a lot sooner, but due to a number of technical glitches, including a new computer and some lost software, yada yada yada… Anyway, submitted for your entertainment is an interview, in two parts, with Jane Leavy, author of the bestselling biography, The Last Boy, Mickey Mantle and the End […]
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Jane Leavy
The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Jan. 7, at 1 p.m. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Baseball Prospectus 2011 2 Baseball Forecaster 2011, by Ron Shandler 3 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis […]
Tagged as:
Baseball America,
Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back,
Hardball Times Baseball Annual,
Jane Leavy,
Jim Bouton,
Moneyball,
Ron Shandler,
The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran