From the category archives:

Annoucements

SABR Day is fast approaching. The Elysian Fields Chapter (Northern New Jersey) will hold its annual event at historic Hinchcliffe Stadium in Paterson, NJ, on Saturday, February 7. The roster of guests includes artists Todd Radom, Ellen Lindner, and Brian Kong.             Each of the trio has their own unique […]

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Here’s to the winners

January 21, 2026

Sort of. As a fan of a certain age, I have trouble reconciling the  stature of more recent players voted into the Hall of Fame against some of the legends of the game. Are we really comparing modern candidates with the likes of Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, or Mickey Mantle, to name just three? I know […]

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Todd Radom, Ellen Lindner, and Brian Kong will be the featured guests as the Elysian Field Chapter celebrates “SABR Day” at the Muth Museum located in Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, NJ, on Saturday, February 7. Radom, a former Bookshelf Conversation guest for Winning Ugly: A Visual History of Baseball’s Most Unique Uniforms, has a new […]

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♦   Depending on when you read this, and where you live, your can still take advantage of this: On Monday, October 6, at 5 pm, the New York State Museum in Albany will present John Thorn, the Official Historian of Major League Baseball, for a special evening presentation on baseball’s deep connection with New York […]

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]

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Don’t forget dad!

June 4, 2025

I am one of those unfortunates whose birthday falls around the time of another traditional gift-giving holiday. We often get short-shrifted. Boo hoo, right? Well, here’s a way to celebrate the baseball-loving pater: Ballpark Digest just announced a BOGO sale on books. See the details here.

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Starting July 14, the price of a First-Class Forever stamp is going from 68 cents to 73 cents. Too bad I can’t stock on this nifty Hank Aaron model, but it’s not due out until the 31st. With the All-Star Game fast approaching, this interview with Kevin Baker, author of The New York Game from […]

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♦  As mentioned in  a previous post, the period around opening day is full of reading suggestions for greater and lesser fans of the game. Here’s one from the Chicago Tribune citing the baseball works of Brashler, Plimpton, and Updike (sorry, paywall). ♦  Here’s another: The Economist published “Six Great Books About Baseball,” which includes […]

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Happy Spring, everybody! ♦   Kevin Baker‘s latest book, The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City, was recently reviewed in The New York Times. Baker — who will be a guest on the “Bookshelf Conversation” in the near future — has written several novels about New York in the 19th century […]

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Since you can out baseball cards on your bookshelf… SABR’s Baseball Cards Research Committee has bestowed its highest honor — the Jefferson Burdick Award — to legendary artist Dick Perez. From the Committee’s announcement: While Dick is best known to many collectors for his fifteen-year run (1982-96) creating Donruss Diamond Kings, these cards only scratch […]

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When is this book coming out?

November 28, 2023

Be honest: How many of you out there had heard of Baseball United? I hadn’t until it popped up today in my Google search. According to the very well-produced BU website, “With a footprint of 2 billion people – 1 billion of whom are cricket fans – the Middle East and South Asia is the […]

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♦  Soon to be a major motion picture? “For Maggi, 1st MLB hit proves ‘you can do anything’” ♦  The ReviewGeek judges Cross Game, by Mitsuru Adachi, among the best sport mangas. ♦  Speaking of the late Vin Scully, how will you do on this quiz about baseball broadcasters from the Chicago Sun-Times? Warning: it […]

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Used to be around this time of year you could look forward to the baseball annuals from Street & Smith, Athlon, Lindy’s, and a host of other magazine publishers. Of course, back in the day there were many others put out by the likes of The Sporting News, Major League Baseball, Bill Mazeroski, with Baseball […]

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James E. Brunson III, Jane Leavy, and Daniel Okrent have been named recipients of the Society for American Baseball Research’s esteemed Henry Chadwick Award, “established to honor the game’s great researchers … for their invaluable contributions to making baseball the game that links America’s present with its past.” Leavy is the author of biographies about […]

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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. 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 […]

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]

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The Society for American Baseball Research is celebrating its golden anniversary with a series of series. As it pertains to the mission statement of this site, here’s the take on the top 50 books of the last half-century, released earlier today. The project was spearheaded by Andy McCue, who offers this introduction: There have been […]

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Haven’t done one of these for a while… 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 newsletter. This one was received on March 2. […]

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Something to look forward to. Recently received the Spring/Summer catalog from the University of Nebraska Press, publishers of my own 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. These folks traditionally come up with thoughtful and somewhat unusual topics, but for their upcoming season, there seems to be a higher number of pertinent titles […]

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