From the category archives:

Biography

Trying to clear out the old mail box before the holiday: MLB historian John Thorn posted this photo on Facebook of a joint 1969 publication, ostensibly by Pete Rose and Denny McLain: At the time, Rose and McLain were the best in the game. Dayn Perry, author of a couple of baseball books of his […]

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Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. On with the show… Here are the top ten baseball books as […]

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If you’ve been a reader of this blog for awhile you know I’m all about the process. I love back-story and deconstruction. I want to know, like any reader, how authors come up with ideas, who their inspirations were. So it was with a sense of serendipity that I came across this yesterday at my […]

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On the horizon…

June 20, 2014

Made one of my occasional visits to Amazon for the purpose of seeing what new and exciting baseball titles or coming in the next several months. Here’s a sampling of some, excluding, as usual —  although with one major exception — books for younger readers. In nor particular order… * Baseball Explained. Phillip Mahoney, McFarland, […]

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Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. On with the show… Here are the top ten baseball books as […]

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Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. On with the show… The top ten baseball books as per Amazon.com, […]

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The top ten baseball books as per Amazon.com. Caveat 1: Print editions only (at least for now); I’m old fashioned that way. Caveat 2: Since the rankings are updated every hour, these lists might not longer be 100 percent accurate by the time you read it. But it’ll be close enough for government work. Caveat […]

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Looks like no one was interested enough in A Nice Little Place on the North Side to warrant the requisite five comments. Oh well. Let’s try it again with a copy of The Kid: The Immortal Life to Ted Williams, by Ben Bradlee Jr. A reminder about the rules: The fifth person to post a […]

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On this date: In 1952, Ted Williams plays his final game before leaving for military duty in Korea. In his last at-bat on “Ted Williams Day” at Fenway Park, he blasts a game-winning, two-run home run against Dizzy Trout of the Detroit Tigers. The home run gives the Red Sox a 5 – 3 victory. […]

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On this date in 2012, Bryce Harper made his debut for the Washington Nationals. Phenom: The Making of Bryce Harper The Last Natural: Bryce Harper’s Big Gamble in Sin City and the Greatest Amateur Season Ever Beltway Boys: Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, and the Rise of the Nationals So let’s see that’s three books in […]

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Lou Gehrig. Jackie Robinson. Two of the game’s most iconic players, celebrated for their courage under extreme conditions. Both the subjects of outstanding biographies by Jonathan Eig, and both of which appear in 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die Eig has worked as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Chicago magazine, […]

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A chance to look over the overlooked. * Not exactly “Throwback Thursday,” but this piece on the Peoria Journal Star website is an appreciation for The Bronx Zoo, published by relief pitcher Sparky Lyle (then with the NY Yankees) and Peter Golenbock. * And another one from PJS about Double Play, a memoir written by […]

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Seems most of the buzz lately is about Kostya Kennedy’s Pete Rose: An American Dilemma, John Rosengrens’s Marichal-Roseboro book, The Fight of Their Lives, and Jonah Keri’s Up, Up, and Away, the new history about  the Montreal Expos. Rosengren From Mike Bauman/MLB.com: “Book tells of redemption for Marichal, Roseboro“ This one from Allen Barra will […]

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Another book about Pete Rose? Seems more books have been published about (and by) the dishonored all-time hit leader than anyone except Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Jackie Robinson. But as Kostya Kennedy explained in our recent conversation, the job of the writer is to find something new to say or say in […]

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All of these came in this week from my “alma mater,” the University of Nebraska Press. So many books, so little time.    

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Bits and pieces, March 17

March 17, 2014

So do any of today’s games feature green uniforms/hats? Ugh. Anyway, Andy Wolfenson, author of Deadly Fantasy (which, full disclosure, I blurbed), will be at Here’s the Story, 1043 Stuyvesant Ave., Union, for a book signing on Friday, April 4 at 6:30 p.m. The Trumbull (CT) Library announced recently that this year’s One Book One […]

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Where’s the love?

March 14, 2014

Sorry for a second consecutive self-promotional item, but I have to admit I was a bit disappointed to see that 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die wasn’t part of ForeWord Magazine‘s Best of the Year Awards in the adult sports category. At least it didn’t make the final cut; I have no […]

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They’re starting to come in hot and heavy. Witness: John Rosengren, author of the The Fight of Their Lives: How Juan Marichal and John Roseboro Turned Baseball’s Ugliest Brawl into a Story of Forgiveness and Redemption, was arecent guest on WBUR’s Only a Game. OAG‘s host, Bill Littlefield included it in a trio of books […]

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Bits and pieces, March 3

March 3, 2014

John Feinstein, author of Where Nobody Knows Your Name: Life In the Minor Leagues of Baseball will be making the rounds on the various sports-talk radio and other shows. Here he is on Only a Game and on CBS’ Dallas-Ft. Worth affiliate. I know this will sound like sour grapes, but prolific guys like Feinstein (and […]

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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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