PSA for the PBBC, May 26, 2021

Headnote: One of the thing I like about the Pandemic Baseball Book 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.

This is World War I examination week, as we dive deep into Jim Leeke’s book The Best Team Over There about the wartime exploits of Grover Cleveland Alexander, and the deleterious affect they had on him through the remainder of his life and career.

How shall we examine it, you might ask? Reading onward, dear newsletter subscriber, to find Jim’s thoughts about his book immediately following this intro. Continue by heading to our website to view a fantastic conversation Jim had about his book with fellow deadball-era author Don Zminda.

Prefer to listen in while walking the dog? We have that for you, too.

And away we go.

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ASK AN AUTHOR
Jim Leeke
The Best Team Over There: The Untold Story of Grover Cleveland Alexander and the Great War (University of Nebraska, April 1, 2021)

What’s your book about?
The Best Team Over There explores World War I through the eyes of Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander and other athletes in his field-artillery regiment in France in 1918. It follows Ol’ Pete through training and into combat, and examines how his service “over there” affected the rest of his turbulent life and marriage.

Why this book? Why now?
I never intended to write another WWI baseball book. Then, during every interview, podcast, or public event I did when my book From the Dugouts to the Trenches came out in 2017, I was asked about Alexander. Literally every single time. Although I’d mentioned Pete in earlier books, I didn’t know a great deal about him. All that interest prompted me to dig deeper. The Best Team Over There is a hybrid story, as much about the military as about baseball. I hope that it interests both audiences.

What’s one noteworthy thing you learned doing research?
Alexander probably could have avoided army service had he revealed his medical history, which included a traumatic brain injury and epilepsy. Speaking up might have damaged his career, though, so he went through the draft and became a good soldier.

What surprised you?
What always surprises me—although it shouldn’t any longer—is how few baseball historians have been willing to explore a veteran’s service in any depth, at least concerning WWI. I think this reflects a lack of understanding of the armed forces and veterans among Americans in general, and that gap is growing wider.

How long did the book take?
I took about a year to write it, although some of the research came from earlier projects. I’ve been researching ballplayers during the Great War for more than a dozen years, since discovering an old bound compilation of the Stars and Stripes, the great Army newspaper published in Paris. Its sports page was fascinating but short-lived. Lieutenant Grantland Rice shut it down for the duration so he could get back to his own artillery unit … but that’s another story.

What’s the most memorable interview you conducted for the book?
I spoke with a neurologist about Alexander and his complicated medical history. We met over lunch and discussed what was known, what wasn’t known, and what was likely. I spent several years as a copywriter for multinational pharmaceutical companies, and am comfortable reading medical data and talking with specialists. The challenge for me as a writer is to put the pertinent information into plain language.

What are some lessons you learned along the way?
When I was participating in a panel discussion about ballplayers as role models at the Cooperstown Symposium in 2019, somebody asked me about sports reporting during WWI. I said something about noticing a great deal of hypocrisy from virtually every quarter, and was startled when the audience applauded. Readers don’t want manufactured heroes or scoundrels, but accounts that are as straightforward as possible.

How did this process differ from the other books you’ve written?
I became personally invested in making Pete’s story accessible to as many readers—not only baseball fans—as possible. I’m a U.S. Navy veteran, and while my service wasn’t nearly as harrowing as Pete’s, I understand much of what he saw and experienced. I tried to infuse the narrative with those moments that any veteran will recognize.

Buy The Best Team Over There here.

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WHAT ELSE WE’RE DOING
Eric Nusbaum wrote about Lenny McLean, aka “The Guv’nor,” England’s unlicensed boxing king, for his Substack newsletter, Sports Stories. Its great and it’s free. Go subscribe.

Lincoln Mitchell wrote about Israel and the New York City mayoral race for CNN.

Lincoln also joined fellow PBBC author Frank Guridy—plus Adrian Burgos Jr., Craig Calcaterra, Steven Goldman and Tova Wang—on the Say It Ain’t Contagious podcast to talk about unwritten rules as they exist beyond the boundaries of baseball.

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WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT US
Luke Epplin‘s wild ride continues. His book, Our Team, garnered a standalone review at the Wall Street Journal, as well as a mention in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel‘s 40 New Books for Summer reading list.

Also, Our Team was the No. 1 Amazon baseball bestseller two months after publication, which is pretty freaking awesome.

The Lincoln Journal-Star had an abundance of nice things to say about Erik Sherman‘s Two Sides of Glory. Which, let’s face it, isn’t such a tall order for a book this good.

Tom Hoffarth continues his excellent and ongoing baseball book reviews by examining two San Francisco-centric PBBC titles: Lincoln Mitchell‘s The Giants and Their City and Steve Treder‘s Forty Years a Giant.

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WHERE WE’VE BEEN
Lawrence Baldassaro appeared on MLB Network’s “High Heat” with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo to discuss his book, Tony Lazzeri: Yankees Legend and Baseball Pioneer.

David Krell was interviewed by Bill Donohue of WGBB 1240 AM (Long Island) for his show Sports Talk NY about 1962: Baseball and America in the Time of JFK. (The interview starts at the 22:00 mark.)

Luke Epplin continued his world domination by going onto Jim Day’s Hot Corner podcast for the News-Gazette in Champaign, Ill.
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GET SHOPPING
So the weather’s getting hotter and maybe you don’t need that soft, sweet PBBC-branded hoddie (so soft! so sweet!) like you might have in March. The good news is we have equally soft-and-sweet PBBC-branded t-shirts and tank-tops available that are perfect for summertime wear. (Soft! Sweet!) Have you recently wanted to be the envy of all your friends? That goal is attainable, right here at our online shop.