Throwback Thursday (aka, links dump)

Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood that famous quote from Forrest Gump. If it’s a box of chocolate covered cherries, don’t you know exactly what you’re going to get?)

On the one hand, I’m happy to report that I’m catching up/running out of these old links. On the other hand, it’s been cool reminiscing.

I highly recommend Pocket as a way to hold onto links you come that you want to keep. Unlike bookmarks, Pocket keeps the entire page and makes it relative easy for you to find stuff you “pocketed.” I have keepers going back six years — more than 5,000 links — and I’ve decided it’s time to start cleaning house so here are some submitted for your amusement, perusal, and education. Some are not current, but in a sense, they’re timeless. Note: Sometimes individual sites remove the content or simply cease their existence, so Pocket isn’t 100 percent foolproof.

• Carroll Conklin has written several books highlighting the “heroes” of individual franchises during the 196os.
• Instream Sports ran this Q&A with Marty Appel upon the publication in 2012 of his massive Yankees team history, Pinstripe Empire. Note: the book has since been released in a revised paperback edition. Here’s my review from Bookreporter.com on the original.
• Stanley Teitelbaum, author of books about sports and ethics, published “Clemens’s Acquittal Does Not Restore His Name” on the Huffington Post.
• Remember John Rocker? No? Here’s a reminder, via David Roth on The Classical.
• Haven’t heard much about Mike Trout this year. Maybe we’re taking him for granted. Here’s a deep analysis of one of his outstanding catches from his Rookie of the Year season in 2012.
• Another piece from the Classical, this one by Josh Wilker, author of Cardboard Gods.
• Here’s a review of John Grisham‘s vanity baseball novel, Calico Joe. This critic obviously like it a lot better than I did; my sentiment is that if anyone else had done this, it wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near the attention. Upshot: “If you read just one baseball novel this summer, allow John Grisham’s “Calico Joe” to expertly and efficiently transport you into a time and place as magical as any ballgame you fondly remember, in a world that, for better and worse, looks a lot like our own.”
• From NPR, this profile/audio interview with R.A. Dickey, then a popular member of the NY Mets, following the release of his memoir, Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity, and the Perfect Knuckleball.
• I met Singer/songwriter Dan Bern a few years back at a retreat about Jews and baseball where he performed a couple of songs from his Doubleheader album. Here’s more info.

My favorite cut:

• One more from The Classical: An interview with Chris Cortez, producer of No No: A Dockumentary about Dock Ellis‘ LSD-infused no-hitter in 1970. By the way, 15 years earlier — Aug. 9, 1965 — Sandy Koufax pitched his fourth and final no-hitter, a 1-0 perfect game against the Chicago Cubs, whose own pitcher, Bob Hendley, allowed just one hit. Now there’s a record that will never be broken.