From the category archives:

Broadcasting

New year, new books

January 2, 2019

Welcome to 2019. I hope y’all had a great holiday season. “Pitchers and catchers” are still more than a month away, so I hope this list of forthcoming books will serve as a source of warmth and comfort until then. We seem to have the requisite number of material about former stars such as Jackie […]

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As you may have notice, these entries have been falling off in the last several weeks. My apologies. A new full-time job — very different from what I had been doing as the sports and features editor of a weekly community newspaper in suburban New jersey — has put new and strange demands on my […]

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What’s wrong with the national pastime? Seems like everyone has an opinion, but some strike me as more informed than others. That’s the feeling I came away with after reading Lincoln Mitchell‘s new book, Will Big League Baseball Survive?: Globalization, the End of Television, Youth Sports, and the Future of Major League Baseball. I can […]

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Pull up a book (Vin Scully)

November 9, 2016

I wonder if Curt Smith plans on issuing an updated version of his 2009 bio, Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story. Seems like it’s not only warranted, but given that Scully called it quits after the Dodgers’ final game of 2016 practically a necessity. Now Smith could include more tributes to the iconic […]

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An oldie but a goodie

October 25, 2016

Haven’t done one of these in a long time so here goes: From the New York Sportsday website, a review of A Baseball Guy: Former Kansas City Royals Farmhand, Scout, and Major League Coach Takes You Inside the Game He Loves, by Guy Hansen and Tom Gresham. From Lookout Landing, a Seattle Mariners-centric site, this […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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The All-Star break affects more than just the ball clubs. It leaves fans hungry for something to watch and puts a big burden on the MLB Network and other sports channels to find content. After all, there are only so many highlight-reel shows you can watch. So tonight at 9:30 (EST) ESPN airs Doc & Darryl, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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By Tim Kurkjian via Bookreporter.com.              

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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 […]

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Busy, busy, busy. That’s the only way to describe George Castle. The Chicago-based author of some 13 baseball-themed books for adult as well as younger readers, Castle recently released one of the most fun books I’ve come across in awhile: Baseball’s Game Changers: Icons, Record Breakers, Scandals, Sensational Series, and More. But there’s another one […]

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Or is it “coming down the pipe?” That would make sense, too. Of course, it would have to be a wide pipe… Been in conversation with Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News who does a marvelous job every year with his 30 baseball books in 30 days feature on his “Farther off the […]

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Bits and Pieces, Dec. 31, 2015

December 31, 2015

In a vain attempt to clear out my inbox, here is the final B&P for the year. Hope you’ve enjoyed learning about these things as much as I have. Don’t read anything political into the posting of this piece about “How Bernie Sanders brought professional baseball to Vermont,” via The Sporting News. From outsports.com, this […]

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Several years ago — before I even conceived of doing my 501 book — I saw a program on the then-fledgling MLB Network featuring Zev Chafets talking about the new Hall of Fame elections. Chafets was on in his capacity as author of the book Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the […]

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More or less. One of my appointment podcasts is Extra Hot Great, a smart, funny, and occasionally vulgar program on pop culture. One of my appointment TV shows is Jeopardy. Last night, Mark Blankenship, one of the regular panelists on EHG, was a contestant on Jeopardy. It’s like getting peanut butter on your chocolate. Blankenship […]

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The late sports radio pioneer Graham McNamee has been named the recipient of the 2016 Ford Frick award for excellence in broadcasting. From the Hall of Fame press release: Graham McNamee, whose national play-by-play of the World Series in the earliest days of radio transformed the one-time opera singer into a household name, has been […]

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Or, “My seat’s better than your seat.” Fight it  out among yourselves.

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