From the category archives:

Baseball and pop culture

Times reviewer’s disdain for baseball is ‘unnatural’

April 2, 2014

Last month I received a copy of Chasing Dreams, the companion volume to the baseball exhibit at the National Museum of American Jewish History. Thumbing through it, I found this  portrait of Bernard Malamud, author of The Natural, one of the highest regarded baseball novels of all time. A few days afterwards, the cover story […]

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Tagged as: Bernard Malamud, Cynthia Ozick, Daniel Okrent, New York Times, The Natural

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Baseball book ‘prospects’

February 27, 2014

This it the time of year when the baseball media offer their considered opinions on their favorite prospects. Sometimes they’re spot on, other times, not so much. So I thought, why not apply this to the upcoming “rookie crop” of baseball books? That is, titles that are making their debuts in 2014 — no reprints/reissues […]

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Tagged as: Al Clark, Alex Rodriguez, Andrew Zimbalist, Atlanta Braves, Babe Ruth, Ben Zobrist, Boston Red Sox, Branch Rickey, Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Continental League, Dirk Hayhurst, Doug Harvey, Fantasy baseball, George F. Will, House of David, Jackie Robinson, Joe DiMaggio, John Roseboro, Juan Marichal John Rosengren, Los Angeles Dodgers, Marilyn Monroe, Minnesota Twins, minor leagues, Montreal Expos, Mookie Wilson, Nap Lajoie, Negro Leagues, New York Mets, Nolan Ryan, PED, Pete Rose, Roger Kahn, Roy Campanella, sabermetrics, steroids, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, umpires, Walter O'Malley, Willie Mays, Wrigley Field

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Bits and pieces, Feb. 7

February 7, 2014

“Roy Berger, a baseball aficionado since his childhood days growing up in New York, has written a humorous and popular first person look at the world of fantasy baseball camps, The Most Wonderful Week of the Year.” Now I realize this piece comes from a marketing company, but I’m still looking forward to reading it […]

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Tagged as: fantasy camp, Hank Greenberg, John Rosengren, New York Yankees

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Smithsonian exhibit invites visitors to ‘Root, Root, Root’ for the Hometown Team

February 7, 2014

Editor’s Note: Not exclusively baseball, but pertinent enough to include here. The New Jersey Council for the Humanities, in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution Museum on Main Street Program and six host locations in New Jersey, welcomes the newest Smithsonian traveling exhibition, Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America, to the Garden State in 2014. What […]

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The Bookshelf Conversation: Mark Ulriksen

January 21, 2014

As the saying goes, I don’t know art, but I know what I like, and I like Mark Ulriksen‘s work. The California-based artist has a unique style which has earned him a number of covers for publications like The New Yorker. His approach is entertaining and humorous while being reverential at the same time. Ulriksen’s […]

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Tagged as: baseball art, Mark Ulriksen, The New Yorker

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Almost in time for the holidays: Baseball Bookshelf giveaway

December 19, 2013

Sometimes I wish publishers would be a little more detail-oriented when sending review copies. Most recently I have received three copies of Ben Bradlee Jr.’s The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams, and two of Steve Rushin’s The 34-Ton Bat. So in an effort to share the wealth (and not clutter up the house […]

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The problem with society today

December 5, 2013

Football-looking image, but the sentiment applies to baseball as well.

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Announcement: Negro Leagues baseball exhibit opens

August 9, 2013

The Cleveland County Arts Council, 111 S. Washington St., Shelby, OH, will host Baseball as Art: A Negro League Retrospective through Aug. 29. From ShelbyStar.com: The Arts Council is hosting the exhibit in conjunction with the American Legion World Series Tournament. This exhibit features six diverse artists that share a love of baseball and the […]

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Happy quasquicentennial, Casey!

June 6, 2013

A fair share of the recent Cooperstown Baseball Symposium considered myriad aspects of Casey at the Bat, which celebrates its 125th anniversary this month. The esteemed sportswriter Frank Deford was the keynote speaker for the event. Deford contributed a speculative article, “Huge Commotion in Mudville” to the July 18, 1988 issue of Sports Illustrated. Shortly […]

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Tagged as: Casey at the bat, Ernest Thayer, Frank Deford

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