From the category archives:

Biography

* Whole lot of Hirsch goin' on

February 12, 2010

Look for Jame Hirsch, author of the new Mays biography, to be making the media rounds in the weeks ahead (including an interview with the Bookshelf). It’s still a bit early in the reviewing process, but here is a sampling of links to get you started: An interview on WEEI sports radio, New England A […]

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

* TWIBB — Feb. 12

February 12, 2010

This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Feb. 12. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2010 1 Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend, by James S. Hirsch 2 Baseball America 2010 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects 3 2010 Baseball Forecaster (Ron Shandler’s Baseball […]

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The New York Times is the latest to run a review of James S. Hirsch’s new biography. The upshot: The result is an authoritative if sometimes listless book, one that’s less “Say Hey” than so-so. Like a long out to center field that scores a runner, however, it’s a book that gets the job done. […]

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

* Timing is everything

February 9, 2010 · 2 comments

Here’s to the Class of 2010. And I don’t mean the newest Hall of Famers. How cool is it that this year marks the release of biographies on some of the true icons of the game? The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron, by Howard Bryant The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End […]

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

* Review: Willie Mays

February 8, 2010

The Seattle Times gets props for being the first major publication to publish a review on the long-awaited book on the Hall of Famer, the first part of the baseball “trinity” in New York in the 1950s, as immortalized by Terry Cashman’s tune, “Willie, Mickey, and the Duke.” Upshot: “enormously entertaining and wide-ranging biography.” Thanks […]

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Courtesy Sports Illustrated and Barnes and Noble.

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The man considered by more than a few to be the “real” all-time home run king turns 76 today. At the risk of appearing lazy (I prefer to consider it “recycling”) here’s a link to last year’s birthday tribute to Hammerin’ Hank with a list of books about the Hall of Fame slugger. Howard Bryant’s […]

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

* Bits and Pieces

February 4, 2010

Baseball GB posted this review of Joe Posnanski’s book The Machine. USA Today‘s “Game On” blog ran this Q&A/profile on James S. Hirsch, author of the much-anticipated bio of Willie Mays. More on the film project that won’t die: Michael Lewis’ Moneyball. And a mini-review from a New Zealander on the book. Former Yankees Jim […]

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

It’s been way to long since a “serious” biography about Willie Mays was published. That’s about to be remedied with Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend by James S. Hirsch, to be published this month by Scribner. Bruce Weber, author of As They See’ Em, wrote this piece for the Sunday Times. Perhaps it’s because […]

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

TWIBB — January 29, 2009

January 29, 2010

This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, January 29. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2010 1 Baseball America 2010 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects 2 2010 Baseball Forecaster (Ron Shandler’s Baseball Forecaster) 3 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by […]

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

I was honored by the request to pen the foreword for Jews and Baseball, Vol. 2: The Post-Greenberg Years, 1949-2008, by Burton and Benita Boxerman and published by McFarland. The first volume, subtitled Entering the American Mainstream, 1871-1948, was published by McFarland in 2007. Like its predecessor, this new “must-have” serves as a thorough resource […]

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

* Let me be Curt

January 25, 2010

Baseballisms.com ran this audio interview and profile of the prolific author Curt Smith, whose latest book, Pull Up A Chair: The Vin Scully Story, is a must-read for those fascinated by the veteran broadcaster.

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

You may not have heard of this one, since he never pitcher in the Major Leagues, but for those interested in Cuban baseball, here comes Pedro Luis Lazo, el Rascacielos de Cuba (Pedro Luis Lazo, the Cuban Skyscraper”) about the star hurler for Pinar del Rio, by Antonio Martínez De Osaba.

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

TWIBB — January 22, 2010

January 22, 2010

This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, January 23. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2010 1 2010 Baseball Forecaster (Ron Shandler’s Baseball Forecaster) 2 Baseball America 2010 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 3 Satchel: The Life and Times […]

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Mike Silva offers some easy listening about baseball, including an interview with Ira Berkow on his latest book, Summers in the Bronx: Attila the Hun and Other Yankee Stories; author and historian John Thorn; and Peter Golenbock on Billy Martin.

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The Mattoon, IL Journal Gazette/Times-Courier ran this review of Ira Berkow’s bio of Lou Brissie, who came back from devastating war injuries to pitch effectively in the Major Leagues.

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

* TWIBB — January 16, 2010

January 16, 2010

This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Saturday, January 16. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2010 1 2010 Baseball Forecaster (Ron Shandler’s Baseball Forecaster) 2 Baseball America 2010 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 3 Moneyball: The Art of Winning […]

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

When the superstars of baseball want their story told, they know where to go. Lonnie Wheeler has collaborated with such Hall of Famers as Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson, and, most recently, Gibson and Reggie Jackson in Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the […]

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The pioneering African-American writer/broadcaster was a favorite around our household in the days of a kinder, gentler sports-talk radio format. Rust, who also appeared on WNBC-TV news programs, died Jan. 12 at the age of 82. From the New York Times‘ obituary by Richard Goldstein: In his 1976 book “Get That Nigger Off the Field!,” […]

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

I don’t know what else there is to say about McGwire. Some, like Joe Posnanski (twice) and my literary hero, Tony Kornheiser, are more forgiving. Mr. Tony spoke about the “confessions of Mark McGwire” on both Pardon the Interruption and his eponymous radio program on ESPN 980 in DC. Others, like Ken Rosenthal, are much […]

0Shares

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-5496371-4']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();