| We’re avowed fans of baseball writing around these parts. Hell, it’s right there in our name. Which makes it especially fun when folks from other idioms of whom we’re longtime fans end up in this space. You know, as one of us.
For years and years we got much of our baseball info from NBC’s Hardball Talk blog, less because they were breaking news than that they framed things just the right way nearly every time, explaining not only the details of what was happening but offering sensible perspectives from which to approach it. That tone was set by Craig Calcaterra, who for a decade helmed the Hardball Talk empire.
When NBC killed Hardball Talk in 2020 in the wake of the pandemic, it turned out to be a fleeting blow. Shortly thereafter, Craig launched his Substack newsletter, Cup of Coffee, which contains all the goodness of the old blog plus a whole lot more.
Another benefit to self-employment: Craig had time to write a book, which, while not exclusively about baseball, has a lot of baseball in it. It’s called Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at its Own Game, and yesterday was publication day. We celebrate by talking to Craig about it. Read on.
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ASK AN AUTHOR
Craig Calcaterra
Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at its Own Game (Belt Publishing, April 5, 2022)
What’s your book about?
Rethinkng Fandom is a self-help book for people who have come to loathe the negative things which surround sports but who do not want to give them up. A “How to be a fan without it killing you” manifesto.
Why this book? Why now?
We know so much more about sports now than we ever have, and that includes the business and politics and shady practices and questionable ethics that surround them. In light of that, it’s pretty easy to see the dark side of sports. It can be alienating, in fact. One quite logical response to all of that is to simply give up being a fan. But I don’t want people to give up being sports fans! I think that, on balance, sports and sports fandom are good things for people and society. What I want is for people to think harder and more critically about sports, and to make sure sports don’t have an outsized hold on their attention and mood. Most of all, I want to give fans the tools to keep from being taken advantage of by what I refer to in the book as “The Sports Industrial Complex” — leagues, teams, sports media and politicians who cynically use sports for their own purposes — that takes sports fans’ attention and money for granted.
What’s a noteworthy thing you learned doing the research?
Everyone knows that Yankee Stadium, like a lot of stadiums, has a private lounge for its most exclusive suite ticket holders, but I learned that Yankee Stadium has a separate, more exclusive private lounge within that private lounge, reserved for only those who have seats in the front row of those suites. That ballpark was not built for you and me, buddy.
Who had the biggest influence on this book?
Probably Anne Trubek, the founder and director of Belt Publishing. Belt does things very differently than most publishers. If they didn’t, this book wouldn’t exist, because I did not have a book pitch or even a super coherent idea for how to anything together at first. Anne was familiar with the writing I did at NBC and for my newsletter, and suggested over a period of many months that if I put my mind to it, I could make a book out of the various obsessions which tend to flow through the stuff I’ve written and tweeted about and ranted about on radio shows and podcasts over the years. Given that Belt had never put out a sports book, this was an insanely irresponsible thing for her to encourage, but I think it worked.
How long did it take to write?
The actual writing only took about two months, probably because (a) most of the issues I cover in the book are things I’ve thought about, and in a few cases have written about before; and (b) I’m someone who writes close to 20,000 words a week just for my newsletter alone, so getting things down on paper has never been a big issue for me. The hardest part was the organizing and editing. Anyone who writes 20,000 words a week is, by definition, terribly undisciplined. Unlike newsletters and blog posts, books have to end at some point.
Was there anything you felt was extremely difficult to cut? There was a chapter — and then just part of a chapter — which dealt with how fans are conditioned to view athletes based on race. The whole deal in which Black athletes are said to be “gifted” and white athletes are said to be “hard working” or “grinders” and all of that. I wanted to talk about that as part of a larger conversation about how we as fans treat athletes, and how it fosters negativity and toxicity around sports. I ended up cutting it because after taking a step back I realized that maybe a white, middle-aged dude is not the best person to write that. I mean, I have written about that — I still touch on race and racism in the book — and I think it’s a crucially important topic, but I believe people need to listen more to Black voices about such things as opposed to people like me. In the end, I think sports and race are too important to be a mere chapter in what is, largely, a breezy and mostly lighthearted book.
Do you have a favored work routine? Has that been affected by the pandemic?
I’m a 9 a.m.-to-5 p.m. writer (well, 5 a.m. to around 4 p.m., anyway). I sit on my couch typing away, usually with a cat on my lap, preferably after the kids have gone to school and my wife has gone to work, because I’m easily distracted. The first couple of months of the pandemic were rough on that score, as my wife was working from home and my kids were on remote learning, but I’m not exactly writing dense prose or aspiring to fine art with what I do so I get by pretty well no matter what’s going on.
Buy Rethinking Fandom here.
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NOW UP AT PBBCLUB.COM
Victory on Two Fronts: The Cleveland Indians and Baseball Through the World War II Era
Scott Longert adds to his collection of Cleveland Indians books with Victory on Two Fronts, detailing the historic and wild ride of the ballclub through the war years. It begins with Bob Feller becoming the first major leaguer to enlist, continues with the appointment of player-manager Lou Boudreau, who had no coaching or managing experience, and bottoms out with a sixth-place finish in 1946, 36 games off the pace. Just two years later, however, thanks in part to the additions of Larry Doby and Satchel Paige — making Cleveland the first American League team to integrate — the team won the World Series.
Longert discusses his book with fellow Cleveland baseball nerd Luke Epplin (Our Team), who also wrote about Cleveland baseball during this era.
Watch it here, or listen to the podcast.
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TWITTER, MAN.
If you missed our Twitter highlights this week, we have you covered. Here are just a few of the gems posted by our new feedmaster, Mitchell Nathanson (Bouton).
Give us a follow!
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WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT US
The Cleveland Plain Dealer continues to love Luke Epplin’s Our Team.
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WHERE WE’VE BEEN
Andy McCue joined fellow PBBCer Rob Neyer (The Umpire is Out) on SABRcast to discuss Stumbling Around the Bases.
Jason Cannon talked about Charlie Murphy on Justin McGuire’s Baseball by the Book podcast. Neyer and McGuire in back-to-back items — it’s hard to find quality podcasts friendlier to baseball authors than those guys.
Luke Epplin spoke to the City Club of Cleveland.
Jim Overmyer (Queen of the Negro Leagues) spoke about Effa Manley with Warren Rogan on the Sports’ Forgotten Heroes podcast.
Andrea Williams (Baseball’s Leading Lady) spoke at Vanderbilt University for Jackie Robinson Day, specifically discussing integration and the demise of the Negro Leagues. We’ll have a link soon, we hope.
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WHAT ELSE WE’RE DOING
Ralph Carhart’s (The Hall Ball) next book, a SABR volume entitled Not an Easy Tale to Tell: Jackie Robinson on the Page, Stage and Screen is scheduled to be released on April 14, and is available for presale.
Jim Overmyer (Cum Posey of the Homestead Grays) has an account of the first organized baseball game by new Hall of Famer Bud Fowler (and the first for any African American player, period) at the SABR Games Project.
Peter Dreier wrote an article, “Jackie Robinson and the Jews,” for the Jewish Journal, and a piece about baseball’s labor wars for Dissent.
Gary Cieradkowski published a story about a little-known relief pitcher who helped the Yankees win two World Series titles.
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JOKE OF THE DAY
Courtesy of our pal, Rob Elias:
Two old guys, George and Harry, were passionate baseball fans.
Before they died, they made a promise to each other. Whoever died first had to come back and let his friend know if there was baseball in heaven.
When George died, sure enough, he soon returned to report back to Harry.
“I’ve got good news and bad news,” George said. “There is baseball heaven!”
“That’s great!” said Harry. “What’s the bad news?”
“You’re scheduled to pitch on Friday,” George replied.
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WHERE WE’LL BE
April 9: Danny Gallagher will be signing copies of his new Expos book, Bases Loaded, at the Indigo store in Oshawa, Ontario, beginning at 11 a.m. local time.
April 11: Ralph Carhart (The Hall Ball) will appear on the History Channel’s flagship podcast, History this Week, to discuss Jackie Robinson’s life and career before he joined the Dodgers. Stay tuned to next week’s newsletter for a link.
April 12: Scott Longert (Victory on Two Fronts) will be on WCSB FM radio in Cleveland, talking about Victory on Two Fronts. 9:45 a.m. local time.
April 13: Peter Dreier will guest on “Air Talk with Larry Mantle” on LA NPR station KPCC at 10:40 a.m.
April 14: Lawrence Baldassaro will discuss his book, Tony Lazzeri, and Italian ballplayers in general, at an I AM Books event, moderated by Dick Johnson, curator of the Sports Museum of New England. Zoom on in, 7 p.m. local time.
April 15: On opening day for the Guardians, Scott Longert will be live on Cleveland’s WKYC-TV on the noon newscast to discuss Cleveland baseball history.
April 19: Peter Dreier will be discussing his new books at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, via Zoom.
April 25: Peter Dreier will be speaking at Chaucer’s Books in Santa Barbara at 6 p.m.
April 27: Peter Dreier and Rob Elias will address the SABR Pacific Coast Chapters at 7 p.m. PST.
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GET SHOPPING
You might recognize this shirt from such videos as, well … check out the site. Our authors wear these things all the time. You know why? Because baseball people have a keen fashion sense, and this shirt falls right in line with that. Also, it’s like crazy soft and comfy and will immediately become the favorite piece of clothing you own. It can be yours — just head on over to the PBBC shop.
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is available on Amazon.com,
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