Bits and pieces, Nov. 27

Another in an attempt to look over the over-looked news in baseball books.

I’ve only just begun listening to the unabridged audio book of Bill Bryson’s newest, One Summer: America, 1927, but if Richard “Pete” Peterson says it’s “a good read for Cards, Cubs fans,” that’s good enough for me. Kevin Baker, who worked with Reggie Jackson on his Becoming Mr. October, wrote this review for The New York Times book supplement. Baker’s own baseball work includes Sometimes You See It Coming: A Novel

Nicholas Dawidoff, author editor of some of my favorite baseball books, including The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg and Baseball: A Literary Anthology turning to football? Say it isn’t so!

I remember when the Mets had The Worst Team Money Could Buy. Now it seems to be the Blue Jays, whose 2013 disappointment has been chronicled in Shi Davidi and John Lott’s Great Expectations: The Lost Toronto Blue Jays Season, as reported by CTV News. Here’s an excerpt of the book from the National Post.

I still have to post the interview I did with the editor of the new Sports Illustrated Baseball’s Greatest. Actually I’m surprised there aren’t more pieces like this one from the Baltimore Sun about such books “disrespecting” local favorites or omitting them altogether.

Paul Dickson, the author of too many baseball titles to mention here, contributed this review of Steve Rushin’s The 34-Ton Bat: The Story of Baseball as Told Through Bobbleheads, Cracker Jacks, Jockstraps, Eye Black, and 375 Other Strange and Unforgettable Objects to The Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately, it’s behind a paywall. Maybe you can access via from other methods. In the meantime, here’s a review of the book, from the Eagle Tribune of N. Andover, MAss, that you can read.

And now for something completely different: Nothing’s Certain in Baseball and Life, “a collection of essays from baseball color commentator Ha Il-sung, 65, who describes his passion for the sport and how it influenced other aspects of his life.” This piece comes from the Korea Times.

Richard Michelson came out with a kids’ book on Lipman Pike: America’s First Home Run King a few years ago. Now he’s spearheading a movement to have Pike enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Here’s a piece on hyper-local baseball, a History of Chatham Minor Baseball Association in Canada.

An oldie but a goodie: Baseball Prospectus has rerelased Kevin Kerrane’s Dollar Sign on the Muscle: The World of Baseball Scouting, the classic about baseball scouts and their process, as reported by Andy McCullough on Sports on Earth.

Well, that about clears my plate. Speaking of plates, Happy Thanksgivukkah everybody.

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1 dmanderson19 December 2, 2013 at 4:37 pm: You are going to love the Bill Bryson book. I didn’t want it to end. I read it on Audible as well.
2 Ron_Kaplan December 3, 2013 at 10:01 am: While I haven’t gotten to the baseball part yet, the audio book is generally serviceable. My main complain is that it’s read by the author and I find his narration somewhat disappointing I know he was born in the U.S. and moved to Great Britain but the “hybrid” accent is unusually distracting. I try to rise above it, but it’s like seeing a horrible accident: you can’t avert your eyes.
3 dmanderson19 December 3, 2013 at 10:24 am: The accent didn’t bother me. I like that Bryson read the book (likely a way to save $ and get an audio version). It also meant fewer mispronounciations. Would a pro be better? Sure. But I also glad Jim Bouton read the audio version of Ball Four. I got more enjoyment out of it, especially when he would chuckle.
4 Ron_Kaplan December 3, 2013 at 10:34 am: Generally, I would agree with you: I like having the author read because s/he knows how it should “sound.” And I don’t hold them to the same standards as professional narrators, but I would like them to meet me half-way.