From the category archives:

Because I can…

Testing, testing

July 15, 2010

Take the quiz. Lotsa luck.

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Baseball and cricket, together again for the first time.

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Ron Kaplan, hyphenate

July 13, 2010

Add “poet” to the resume.

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Ran this on my other blog on Jews and Sports: Bob Sheppard, the voice of the New York Yankees for some 60 years, passed away yesterday at the age of 99. Sheppard, who was known in certain circles as “the voice of God” for his diction, timber, and dulcet tone was not Jewish, but thanks […]

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Some people would think it an honor to have a t-shirt giveaway devoted to them. Not Dallas Braden. The Yankees began a three-game series against the A’s last night; Braden was not scheduled to start any of the Games for Oakland. Is it me, or does it seem like Braden is getting a reputation as […]

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A favor to commenters

July 3, 2010

Greetings, folks. Love all the nice comments (event the kvecthing), but if I could ask your indulgence: instead of leaving the comments on Facebook, leave them directly here. Merci bien, as they used to say at Jarry Park.

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So my softball team participated in a playoff game last night. We lost a heart-breaker, up by three runs going into the bottom of the final frame to the team that finished in first place. Don’t get me started. Anyway, I bring this up in conjunction with Stephen King’s baseball novella. A passage from this […]

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No book about Cletus Elwood, born this date in 1915. I just thought the name was cool.

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Congratulations to Dan Epstein, this month’s Facebook Fan prize winner of Satch, Dizzy, and Rapid Robert:The Wild Saga of Interracial Baseball Before Jackie Robinson, by Timothy Gay. Epstein is the author of Big Hair and Plastic Grass and a previous guest on the Bookshelf. The July giveaway will be a copy of Will Leitch‘s Are […]

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There are several popular drinking games around; one of my favorite focuses on the television show Lost. Since there are so many similar themes in baseball books, I though I’d try my hand a creating one of my own. So with your kind indulgence: If someone refers to Jaques Barzun and/or the quote: “Whoever wants […]

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if not a tiny scoreboard. Mental Floss, a bright and funny publication in which a couple of my articles have appeared (and one day again, I hope. Hint, hint, Mental Floss; I have no shame) published this brief history on the evolution of the scoreboard. The piece also links to some other cool baseball items, […]

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Better leave it there, because you can’t take it to Yankee Stadium. According to the team’s posted security measures: “The following items are prohibited: Any soft-sided bag larger than 16 inches by 16 inches by 8 inches, including diaper bags, backpacks and purses Briefcases, coolers and hard-sided bags and containers Glass, cans and plastic bottles […]

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Spent yesterday at Book Expo America. It’s an interesting gathering that gathers industry professionals and book lovers from all over the world (and beyond, judging  by a few costumes). Although I love to see what’s going on in general, I gravitate towards those published who produce baseball titles. I wondered how the book world would […]

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Birthday greetings

May 21, 2010

to Josh Hamilton, who turns 29 today. and Monty Stratton, born this date in 1912. It will take a bit of doing, but you can watch the entire movie, The Stratton Story, starring my favorite, Jimmy Stewart, on YouTube. Here’s part one:

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Congratulations to Richard Beverage, this month’s Facebook Fan prize winner of an autographed copy of Dan Fost’s Giants Past & Present. The May giveaway will be a copy of Sean Manning’s entertaining Top of the Order: 25 Writers Pick Their Favorite Baseball Player. Tell your friends!

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“Olney make believe…” Sorry, I can never keep that name straight. The natural tendency is to dyslex it into “only.” ESPN baseball writer/broadcaster Buster Olney was the guest on the latest Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me‘s “Not My Job” segment. I felt kind of badly for him. There was zero response to Peter Sagal’s introduction. […]

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Heard about the video of Carl Kassel of NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me throwing out the first pitching before a Cardinals’ game last week. I got to thinking, how many of the Cardinals — or any pro athletes — have heard of the program? How many of them have ever heard of NPR? How […]

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In a nutshell

April 14, 2010

Of course, in my case, it’s more a math thing than science.

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I used to collect baseball caps, but with a rule: Unless I received them as a present, I had to acquire them in the city in which the team played, that is, no taking the easy way out by buying them at the mall or online. It’s not a huge collection: Dodgers (gift; thanks, Steve), […]

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Hey, I totally commiserate. I am the world’s worst speller, as any follower of The Bookshelf must have learned by now. So have some compassion for these guys. To say nothing of all the player’s names misspelled over the years. You try spelling Kluszewski! This falls under the aegis of Uniwatchblog.com, so here’s their take […]

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