From the category archives:

Biography

Jane Leavy’s new biography, The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, was officially released today, so look for lots of reviews in the days and weeks ahead. Here’s one from Henry D. Fetter in The Wall Street Journal. Upshot: What drives “The Last Boy” forward is the author’s quest to answer […]

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To Hall of Famer Joe Cronin, who was born this date in 1906. Cronin was one of those baseball lifers who excelled as a player and then went on to have a lengthy career as a manager and front office executive. Joe Cronin: A Life in Baseball, by Mark Armour From Sandlots to League President: […]

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Happy birthday, Joe. Can’t believe you’re 70 today. The title of his book — Joe, You Coulda Made Us Proud, written with Berry Stainback and published in 1975 — was perfect. He was pretty good — a three time All-Star and Golve Glove winner — but had the bad timing to be on the Yankees […]

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Everything old is new again

October 8, 2010

From NorthernNJ.com, this story about author Kal Wagenheim and the re-release of his 1970s biography, Clemente!

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So yesterday I wrote about Jane Leavy’s new book on Mickey Mantle, published by Harper Collins, which got the “excerpt treatment” from Sports Illustrated. Since I have yet to get my copy, I started looking around to see if there were other excerpts available. I eventually found my way to Leavy’s page on the Harper […]

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TWIBB: Oct. 8, 2010

October 8, 2010

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 8. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis 2 Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu: John Updike on Ted Williams, […]

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Baseball gets the cover treatment as it heads into the post-season. Tom Verducci does a profile on Rays’ ace David Price Joe Sheehan on the Phillies and Giants pitching, and Twins and Rangers Bruce Chen on the Reds But of more interest to the Bookshelf is this excerpt from Jane Leavy‘s new bio, The Last […]

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Jonathan Mahler, author of Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City, wrote this profile of Texas Rangers president and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan in this Oct. 3 Sunday Times Magazine. I like Ryan. He’s old school. None of the pitch-count BS. […]

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TWIBB: Oct. 1, 2010

October 1, 2010

Can’t believe the season is almost over. The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 1. Title Rank General Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu: John Updike on Ted Williams, by John Updike 1 The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 2 Moneyball: […]

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Literary birthday greetings

October 1, 2010

To Hall of Famer Rod Carew, who turns 65 today. Carew, by Carew with Ira Berkow Rod Carew’s Art and Science of Hitting Also marking the occasion, Mark McGwire, who perhaps could have been a Hall of Famer, turns 47. There were two “waves” of books about Big Mac. The first came in 1998 when […]

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Birthday greetings

September 30, 2010

To beloved Brooklyn Dodger Johnny Podres, born this date in 1932. Johnny Podres: Brooklyn’s Yankee Killer And to Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, born in 1926. Roberts, one of the last great complete game practitioners, died just this past May. He penned, My Life in Baseball,with the help of C. Paul Rogers III, in 2003.

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Birthday greetings

September 13, 2010

Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka turns 30. Dice-K: The First Season of the Red Sox $100 Million Man Former Yankee favorite Bernie Williams is 42. The Journey Within (since you can put a CD on your bookshelf.)

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Birthday greetings

September 5, 2010

To two Hall of Famers. Bill Mazeroski, whose home run in the 1960 World Series remains one of the game’s most dramatic moments,  turns 74. Twin Killing: The Bill Mazeroski Story, by John T. Bird Napolean Lajoie, born this date in 1874. He published Napoleon Lajoie’s Official Base Ball Guide in 1906. Surprisingly, there seems […]

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Playing a little catch-up here: Aug. 30 Hideo Nomo, 42: Nomo: The Tornado Who Took America by Storm, by Edmon Rodman Frank Robinson, 75: Robinson has published a couple of his own titles, including My Life Is Baseball (1975), Frank: The First Year (1976), and Extra Innings (1988). Other titles about Robinson include Russ Schneider’s […]

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Birthday Greetings

August 28, 2010

Several “ballplayers with books” mark a birthday today including: Ron Guidry, 60. He published Guidry, his autobio with Peter Golenbock in 1985 and was the subject of Maury Allen’s kids book, Ron Guidry, Louisiana Lightning in 1979. And the recently-retired Lou Pinella, 67, Gudry’s Yankee teammate, has a couple of books himself, including Sweet Lou: Lou […]

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TWIBB: Aug. 27, 2010

August 27, 2010

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Aug. 27. Title Rank General Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 1 The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran, by Dirk Hayhurst 2 The Game from Where I Stand: A Ballplayer’s Inside View, by Doug Glanville […]

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Belated birthday greetings

August 25, 2010

Cal Ripken, Jr., 50. Ripken is big on instructionals for younger players, as well as life lessons learned from the game. The Only Way I Know Baseball’s Iron Man: Cal Ripken JR. a Tribute The Longest Season Tim Salmon, 42, also celebrated yesterday. Always an Angel: Playing the Game With Fire and Faith And Harry […]

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Birthday greetings

August 22, 2010 · 1 comment

Celebrating today are Hall of Famers Carl Yastrzemski (71), Paul Molitor (54), and Ned Hanlon. “Yaz” has several titles associated with his name, including Yastrzemski (Icons of Major League Baseball); Yaz: Baseball, the Wall, and Me; and Batting (1972, with Al Hirshberg). He’s also an integral piece of any book written about the 1967 “Impossible […]

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Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had, by Edward Achorn (Smithsonian, 2010). If contemporary fans can’t relate when their baseball-loving parents tell them about Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays or, going back farther, when the grandfolks talk about DiMaggio or Jackie Robinson, how do you think they’d react when […]

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According to this Michael McCann story on the Sports Illustrated website. Clemens “was indicted Thursday on six counts of federal perjury, false statement and obstruction of Congress charges. While Clemens is undoubtedly worried about the prospect of a conviction and possible prison sentence — under Title 18 of the U.S. Code, a defendant convicted on […]

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