I was at my local Barnes and Noble recently and noticed the new March/April edition of baseball Digest on the rack. Shows how long it’s been since I last picked up a copy. The design had changed from the standard “digest” size to a regular magazine. Boo! One of the nice, nostalgic things about the old BD was that it fit so nicely in a jacket pocket.
For me, the March and April issues — back when they published every month — were the best. March was when the rookie “Scouting Reports” came out. As you can see from the 1968 edition, Johnny Bench made the front cover, along with lesser players (although Stan Bahnsen was pretty good for a brief while). Jerry Koosman was the most marquee player on the back, with no real names on the inside. (And then you have to ask: these were the best they could come up with?)
That was then... |
... this is now. |
Among the veteran sportswriters who contributed articles to the above issue were George Vass and Bob Broeg, although to be fair, the other gentlemen might have been celebrities in their local markets.
Player profiles included Steve Barber, Skip Lockwood, George Scott and Mickey Lolich. There was also a piece about the economics of the game: “Cardinals’ 1968 Salaries Total Record $800,000!”
The April issues were devoted to The “Latest! Most Complete!” information — the BD version of the baseball annual, including page after page of statistics and 40-man rosters. Of course, by the time these hit the newsstands, the actually rosters had changed dramatically. Fifty-cents! What a bargain.
It’s also a hoot to go back and look at the advertisements. A set of Topps cards for that year sold for $13.95
Amazingly, the interior look of the magazine remains pretty true to its roots. The paper has the same grainy newsprint feel, as opposed to glossy. There are still lots of tables and factoids to fill space. Still a section devoted to rules and odd plays. And still a “Baseball Quick Quiz” and “The Fans Speak out”/letters to the editor, which has forever been a place for thoughtful Q&As.
There must have been some reason for the size switchover. Perhaps it just wasn’t economical to produce the smaller page trim. Whatever. I just know I miss the “comfort food” that was the little, now old, Baseball Digest.
By the way, you can read many back issues via Google books.
is available on Amazon.com,
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I, too, liked the size of Baseball Digest. I used to sneak it into church (along with the stax from the Sunday paper), put it in the song book and read, read, read.
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