When it comes to poetry, I readily admit my deficiency. But my ignorance didn’t stop me from seeking out two of the best poets as guests on The Bookshelf Conversations. E. Ethelbert Miller and Bill Littlefield helped kick off (can you say that when talking about baseball?) the recent Baseball Poetry Festival, held May 2-4 […]
Tagged as:
Bill Littlefield,
E. Ethelbert Miller
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 […]
The Pandemic Baseball Book Club was a product of its time. I don’t have to remind anyone of the toll the Coronavirus took on this planet. So singling out a small sector (authors) and a smaller sub-sector (baseball authors) might seem silly. But the PBBC under the stewardship of Jason Turbow — offered a way […]
According to this AP story, there is “not a single active player left from the 20th century.” And in case you didn’t get that the first time, the writer emphasizes, “Not one.” So unless someone like Bartolo Colon or Andrian Beltre decide to make a comeback… To be honest, I followed the game better when […]
Tagged as:
Bardball,
baseball poetry
I’ve decided to bow to the times and include separate lists for e-books and audio books. Be aware that while many titles also appear in print versions, pretty much anyone can produce an e-book these days, so I’m not going to comment at all about the quality. As far as the audio goes, I’m a […]
Tagged as:
Chicago Cubs,
H.A. Dorfman,
Joe Maddon,
Keith Hernandez,
Michael Lewis
Spitball — “The Literary baseball Magazine” — recently announced the slate of finalists for the 2016 CASEY Award: The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports by Jeff Passan The Baseball Whisperer: A Small-Town Coach Who Shaped Big League Dreams by Michael Tackett Bucky F*cking Dent (novel) by David Duchovny Game […]
We’re getting to the time of year when spring training is about a month away and publishers are warming up as well. The bulk of baseball titles won’t be released until after opening day, but the handful of glossy magazines, which seem to be dwindling year by year, will be on newsstands shortly. Last week […]
Tagged as:
Baseball Art & History,
Spitball Magazine
In the Seinfeld episode, “The Boyfriend,” Jerry and his friend George Costanza encounter guest star and Mets player Keith Hernandez at their gym. GEORGE: look at this guy. Does he have to stretch in here? JERRY: You know who that is? That’s GEORGE: Keith Hernandez? The baseball player? JERRY: Yeah, that’s him. GEORGE: Are you […]
Tagged as:
baseball poetry,
Boston Red Sox,
Dick Flavin
Hi, there, been awhile. Allow me to introduce… I won’t go that far. Yeah, you know, summertime and all. Have actually been doing some non-baseball reading (I know, right?) but have been trying to get back into the swing of things. Based on the disappointment of receiving the annual report on 501 Baseball Books Fans […]
Tagged as:
Boston Red Sox,
Cleveland Indians,
Dick Flavin,
Jonathan Knight
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
Tagged as:
baseball fiction,
baseball instrucionals,
Bernard Malamud,
Filip Bondy,
Los Angeles Dodgers,
Michael Lewis,
Molly Knight,
Moneyball,
New York Yankees,
Pedro Martinez,
Pittsburgh Pirates,
Ty Cobb
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
Tagged as:
Bardball,
Dirk Hayhurst,
Harvey Araton,
James Bailey,
Judy Lynn Johnson,
Pitchers and Poets,
Susan Petrone,
Yogi Berra
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. As a reminder, I highly recommend Pocket as a way to hold onto links you come that you want to keep. Unlike bookmarks, […]
Tagged as:
Ball Four,
baseball poems,
Carter Capps,
Derek Jeter,
ForeWord magazine,
Jim Bouton,
Montreal Expos,
New York Yankees
The “poet laureate”/PA announcer for the Red Sox was the guest for the “Not My Job” segment of last week’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, which was broadcast from the Wang Theater in the City Performing Arts Center in Boston. You can read the transcript or listen to Flavin — along with host Peter Sagal, […]
Tagged as:
Boston Red Sox,
Dick Flavin,
NPR,
Peter Sagal,
Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
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 […]
Tagged as:
Casey at the bat,
Ernest Thayer,
Frank Deford
Since I write a weekly Torah haiku as part of my many functions at the New Jersey Jewish News, I thought I’d give some props to Diane Firstman, who blogs at the thoughtful and often “out there” Value Over Replacement Grit for her season preview haikus posted at ESPN.com. Brewers BrewCrew is Hartless And Gamel […]
Literary birthday greetings: 1953 – Dan Quisenberry, pitcher; All-Star (d. 1998) On Days Like This: Poems, by Quisenberry, Helicon Nine Editions, 1998. Also on this date: 1905 – In Lynn, Massachusetts, Rube Waddell prevents a fire by carrying a burning stove out of a store and throwing it into a snow bank. Three days later […]
On this date: 1893 – The first recorded version of Casey at the Bat, as recited by Russell Hunting, hits the music charts. DeWolf Hopper’s more famous version will not be released until October 1906. 1969 – Attorney Bowie Kuhn is named commissioner, succeeding Spike Eckert. Kuhn receives a one-year contract paying him $100,000. Major […]
Tagged as:
Bowie Kuhn,
Casey at the bat,
Ernest Thayer
Not much on poetry (although I do a weekly Haiku for my newspaper), but every once in awhile I get the urge, especially experimenting with newly-discovered (for me) forms. So here’s my lament, which appears Bardball.net. It’s just a tad bit dated, given recent financial news, but what the heck… Reyes gone. Life goes […]
Since I wasn’t on the What’s on Second Internet radio show this week, I had to get my “me” fix in somehow. My ode to [now former] Mets pitcher Ollie Perez was included in Bardball.com’s 2010’s Greatest Hits!, a collection of baseball poetry. So it’s Frost, Longfellow, Kaplan. End of story. That’s all you need. […]
Tagged as:
baseball poetry,
Franklin Pierce Adams,
Gary Gillette,
James Finn Garner,
Total Baseball
Throwback Thursday (Massive links dump, continued)
April 23, 2015
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. As a reminder, I highly recommend Pocket as a way to hold onto links you come that you want to keep. Unlike bookmarks, […]
Tagged as: Ball Four, baseball poems, Carter Capps, Derek Jeter, ForeWord magazine, Jim Bouton, Montreal Expos, New York Yankees
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