From the category archives:

Baseball in war time

I’ve always been interested in books about the World Wars. There’s a debt to the members of the armed forces than can never adequately be paid. On the other hand, as regular readers of this blog know, I’m not a huge fan of baseball fiction. But whenever there’s something that combines the two, I’ll give […]

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My latest review on Luke Epplin’s Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball appears on Bookreporter.com. Look for an interview with the author in the near future.

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Bit and pieces, Feb. 3, 2021

February 3, 2021

Remember these? ♦ I must admit, this is probably not something I would read, given my admitted non-English major inferiority complex when it comes to talking about baseball fiction, but the recently-released Jack Madison: The Shaping Of His Life, by Larry R. Wiles looks like it has some “life lessons” to offer, especially during Black […]

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And so we begin again. Hope everyone had as happy and healthy a New Year as is possible under these circumstances. Looking forward to a new season full of interesting topics handled by talented writers. A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the […]

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Note: 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 writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

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Note: 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 writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

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Not going to go into a whole long intro. Seems redundant since it’s already in the video. But here’s the review I posted a while back about The Batter’s Box: A Novel of Baseball, War, and Love, by our guest, Andy Kutler.  

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The Batter’s Box: A Novel of Baseball, War, and Love, by Andy Kutler (Warrior’s Publishing, 2019) Those of you who have been following this blog for a while know my aversion to reviewing fiction. I am not educated in creative writing and feel ill-equipped to judge the hard work of others. Unless it’s really bad. […]

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Note: 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 writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

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M*A*S*H note

October 28, 2019

One of my comfort TV shows is M*A*S*H. If I’m home (and awake) when it airs on ME TV (hold the jokes, please), that’s what I’m watching. The episodes are usually played sequentially, so it was especially interesting that “A War for All Seasons” (season nine, episode six) was on tonight’s schedule. This one follows […]

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New year, new books

January 2, 2019

Welcome to 2019. I hope y’all had a great holiday season. “Pitchers and catchers” are still more than a month away, so I hope this list of forthcoming books will serve as a source of warmth and comfort until then. We seem to have the requisite number of material about former stars such as Jackie […]

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I looked at a lot of video clips when writing about the recent passing of John Mahoney, the actor who played Kid Gleason, manager of the 1919 Chicago White Sox, in the film version of Eliot Asinof’s Eight Men Out. I was specifically looking for the courtroom scene but couldn’t find it. I did find […]

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Here’s an interview with one of my favorites: Dan Epstein with Clayton Trutor of the Down the Drive blog. From the Chester County Press, “Steve Potter recently released his book, “2nd Annual Phillies Minor League Digest: A Fan’s View” as a recap to the 2017 minor league season. The book includes team review of each […]

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A couple of months ago, I posted about some of the new books being published in 2018. Since then, Amazon has put up a few more titles. You’re welcome. In order of release, and sticking to the same restrictions as I have often stated… The Science of Baseball: Modeling Bat-Ball Collisions and the Flight of […]

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These are my favorite posts, taking a look at what new baseball books are on the horizon. A few notes: Traditional print rules the land here here. There may be a Kindle edition involved, but no Kindle-only titles are included herein. Second, Amazon does not want top make my life easier. I practically never include […]

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Shameless self-promotion alert: Happy to announce that Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War officially launched at midnight. I’ll be posting links to events, interviews, and reviews (both favorable and un-; already received one of the latter from someone who was disappointed that a) it wasn’t a full biography […]

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Now available: At long last I’m happy to announce the official release of my latest book, Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War. Support your local  local bookstore and tell your friends! Merci. Save Save Save Save

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What we were fighting for

November 11, 2016

How appropriate is it that the end of Band of Brothers takes place on the baseball diamond? After all, what were we fighting for? Mom, apple pie, the girl next door, and baseball?

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In honor of Veterans Day

November 11, 2016

This entry originally appeared in 2010 but is still relevant today. As we observe Veterans Day, I just wanted to put give a  shout out to the men and women who have sacrificed in the service of their country. A sampling of the literature on the subject: Ted Williams at War An American Journey: My […]

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Bits and pieces, Feb. 18, 2016

February 18, 2016

♦ The Minnesota Spokesman Record, an African-America newspaper, posted this review of They Played for the Love of the Game: Untold Stories of Black Baseball in Minnesota, published by Frank M. White. ♦ The Lincoln (NE) Journal Star provided this piece on Roger Angell‘s memoir, This Old Man: All in Pieces. I still maintain this […]

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