Lest we forget: Wilford Brimley and Pete Hamill

August 6, 2020

Would have posted this sooner if not for power outages caused by the latest storm.

While neither of these latest casualties were professional ballplayers, they both had a cultural impact on the game.

Wilford Brimley, who passed away August 1 at the age of 85, appeared as Pop Fisher, manager of the woebegotten New York Nights, in the movie version of The Natural.

Fisher was the prototypical gnarled skipper, tough but with a soft spot.

Book Club: Snow in August | Beth Chayim ChadashimPete Hamill, New York journalist par excellence, was the author of one of my favorite baseball novels, Snow in August, the story of a young catholic boy who befriends a rabbi through Jackie Robinson’s first season. Hamill, who wrote for the New York Daily News and New York Post, also 85, died yesterday.

Here he is talking about the 2000 Subway Series between the Mets and Yankees on the Charlie Rose show with Keith Hernandez and Tim McCarver.

And here is the book turned into a Showtime movie! What a find.

 

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Tagged as: baseball fiction, Pete Hamill, Snow in August, The Natural, Wilford Brimley

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