PSA for the PBBC, May 19, 2021

Headnote: In addition to the 12th being the day I water my mini-succulent plants, it’s also time for the latest update from the Pandemic Baseball Book Club. One of the thing I like about the Club is that it’s a kind of “one stop shopping.” Instead of posting about various authors, projects, and events, all I’m doing here is cutting and pasting their weekly newsletter. Do take a moment to read the author Q&A. I find them particularly interesting as they discuss the arduous process of bringing their projects to press.

By the way, here are “Bookshelf Conversations” I’ve had with some of the authors associated with the PBBC:

Visit the PBBC for the latest batch of authors with new books coming out this year.

The PBBC is expanding its roster. New authors of recent baseball books just coming into the fold—better late than never!—include Robert Whiting (Japanese baseball specialist), Tony Castro (Mickey Mantle specialist), Benjamin Hochman (St. Louis Cardinals specialist), Gaylon White (minor league baseball specialist) and Dan Taylor (baseball-in-the-Golden-Age-of-Hollywood specialist).

Welcome, everybody. And stay tuned—there’s more to come.

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ASK AN AUTHOR
David Krell
1962: Baseball and America in the Time of JFK (University of Nebraska, April 1, 2021)

What’s your book about?
Nineteen-sixty-two was more than the year that saw the débuts of the Mets, the Colt .45s and Dodger Stadium. America also enjoyed breakthroughs in literature, film, TV and space exploration, and teetered on the brink of nuclear war as President Kennedy faced down the Russians in the Cuban Missile Crisis. My book is about the intersection of baseball, popular culture and current events in one of the most interesting times in history.

Why this book? Why now?
Books have been written about 1921, 1941, 1949, 1956, 1960, 1968, 1969 and 1976, but none about 1962. Given the challenges that we endured during the past year, we’ve never needed nostalgia more. It was a privilege to chronicle a time when the country’s optimism was at its highest. John Glenn became the first American astronaut to orbit earth, which gave the country a shot of well-needed confidence in the space race against the Russians.

What’s one noteworthy thing you learned during research?
The incredible genesis of the Colt .45s was a combination of Houston wealth, political muscle, civic pride and marketing savvy. It also meant the end of the Buffaloes, a minor league institution. Somehow, that story had yet to be told in detail.

What surprised you?
The story of Bo Belinsky. He had it all: women, fame, money. He threw a no-hitter for the Angels during his rookie season. But Belinsky’s battle with alcoholism lasted for decades, and his career suffered as a result. Belinsky found sobriety and a home in Las Vegas, opening a car dealership after his career. Two decades after his death in 2001, his co-workers still talk with great affection about the Belinsky they knew.

Who had the biggest influence on this book?
The archivists who pointed me in the right direction during my research at the John Glenn Archives (The Ohio State University), the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, and Giamatti Research Center at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

How long did the book take?
It took four years to do the research and create the final draft.

What are some lessons you learned along the way?
Don’t be afraid to reach out to people for interviews—more often than not, they’ll be glad to share their time and their memories. Also, be realistic with your deadlines. It’s better to allot more time than you think it will take.

How did this process differ from those of your other books?
This one required more trips. I went to the University of Houston during the SABR National Convention to research the George Kirksey Archives. Kirksey was a public-relations executive who was instrumental in forming the Colt .45s, and his collection is amazing! It includes demographic studies, team newsletters and descriptions of the owners and their respective percentages of ownership in their given team.

I also visited the University of Georgia examine the papers of Dr. Mary Early, the first black graduate of UGA. She spent four decades in the Georgia school system as a music educator. There were also trips to the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, and the Giamatti Research Center at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY.

Do you have a favored work routine? Has that been affected by the pandemic?
Start early in the morning and budget for lots of breaks. I also try to focus on one thing per day. In this book, it might be cutting down interview excerpts about Route 66 on Monday, drafting the section about the Houston Colt .45s’ first game on Tuesday, and double-checking the endnotes of Chapter 1 on Wednesday to make sure they follow the Chicago Manual of Style format.

Buy 1962 here.

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OVER AT BASEBALL PROSPECTUS
This week our partnership with Baseball Prospectus brought us an excerpt from Jason Turbow’s Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic. The recent news about MLB threatening Oakland with the possible departure of the A’s should a new ballpark fail to materialize got Turbow thinking about Charlie Finley and the last time the A’s moved, so he picked up a passage off of the cutting-room floor describing exactly that.

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WHAT ELSE WE’RE DOING
Mark Healey wrote about the podcast he’s working on with his son, Jack: The Gotham Sports Machine.

Danny Gallagher wrote about Ozzie Virgil Sr., who broke the color line twice in the 1950s. He also wrote about a store in his hometown of Douglas, Ontario (the Canada Ontario, not the California Ontario).

Lincoln Mitchell wrote about the Republican party for Brussels Morning.

A bunch of hoo-ha went down this week regarding the unwritten rules, when Yermin Mercedes homered on a 3-0 pitch with his team leading by 11 runs in the ninth. Jason Turbow examined it, then examined the aftermath. (Spoiler alert: Tony La Russa botched things in pretty much every way they could be botched.)

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WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Houston Mitchell, assistant sports editor of The Los Angeles Times, called Greg Larson’s Clubbie “so good I wanted to recommend it to any of you who are baseball fans.” He also said that “It’s a great look at life in the minor leagues.”

Cooperstowners in Canada discussed Danny Gallagher’s book about the Expos, Never Forgotten.

Bob D’Angelo, the Sports Bookie, took a look at David Krell‘s 1962: Baseball and America in the Time of JFK.

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WHERE WE’VE BEEN
David Krell went onto the Romantic About Baseball podcast hosted by the PBBC’s own podcast producer, the great Adam MacKinnon.

Brad Balukjian went onto the Even Odds podcast—the “sports game show for degenerate trivia nerds”—to talk about The Wax Pack.

Luke Epplin was on Dave Zirin‘s Edge of Sports podcast this week to talk about Our Team.

John Shea went on The Rickey Henderson of Podcasts with host Alex Espinoza to discuss his 1992 book about Rickey, Off Base: Confessions of a Thief. They also got around to John’s new book with Willie Mays, 24.

PBBC stalwarts Frank Guridy and Lincoln Mitchell talk about the A’s situation in Oakland with the gang—including Craig Calcaterra, Steven Goldman and Tova Wang—over at the Say It Ain’t Contagious podcast. Lincoln also guested on the nationally syndicated radio show The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen, discussing politics and infrastructure.

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WHERE WE’LL BE
Lincoln Mitchell will be talking about his book, The Giants and Their City, with the Dusty Baker (Sacramento) and Lefty O’Doul (Bay Area) chapters of SABR on Saturday, June 5, at 1 p.m. EST. Contact him at lincoln@lincolnmitchell.com for the link.

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GET SHOPPING
This is a sweet goddamn mug. Make it yours.