This date in baseball books: May 16

Recently received a copy of On This Day in Baseball History: a Day-By-Day Account of Baseball’s Most Indelible Moments, by something called the “Baseball Time Machine.” This gave me an idea for some more content for the blog. (Years ago I used to do “Happy Birthday” entries for players with books by or about them. Time to get back to that, too, I suppose.)

There have been a number of books like On This Day including:

The Baseball Timeline, by Burt Solomon (2001)
The Baseball Timeline: The Day-By-Day History of Baseball, from Valley Forge to the Present Day, also by Solomon (1997)
Baseball Timeline: A Chronological History Of All The Teams, Stars & Seasons In Major League Baseball, by Lloyd Johnson (1992)

This is one genre that will never be complete until the sport is gone for good.

Since many players pop of several times for various “indelible moments” over the course of their careers, I’m going to be very picky-and-choosy, with all due respect. And I’ll probably make up more rules as I go along.

So on this date, May 16:

In 1957, Billy Martin and some Yankee teammates celebrate his 29th birthday in what became known as the infamous Copacabana incident that would lead to the fiery infielder’s trade a short time later: Billy Martin: Baseball’s Flawed Genius, by Bill Pennington (2015)

In 1965, Jim Palmer wins his first game and hits his first home run for the Baltimore Orioles in a 7-5 win over the Yankees: Together We Were Eleven Foot Nine: The Twenty-Year Friendship of Hall of Fame Pitcher Jim Palmer and Orioles Manager Earl Weaver , by Palmer with Jim Dale (1996)

In 2012, Jamie Moyer, at 49, becomes the oldest Major Leaguer to drive in a run to help his Colorado Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-1: Just Tell Me I Can’t, by Moyer with Larry Platt (2013).