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TWIBB: March 18, 2011

March 18, 2011 · 2 comments

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, March 18, at 4 p.m. Title Rank General Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game, by John Thorn 1 The Extra 2%: How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First, by Jonah Keri […]

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Don’t look for his name on Baseball-Reference.com. Harvey Dorfman, who specialized in helping players achieve peak mental conditioning, died earlier this week at the age of 75. I was wondering why he had multiple books on Amazon’s best-selling baseball chart when I did the TWIBB entry; now I understand. Dorfman had a major influence on […]

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TWIBB: March 4, 2011

March 4, 2011

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Feb 25, at 1:30 p.m. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2011 1 Baseball America 2011 Prospect Handbook: The 2011 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (Kindle version) 3 Moneyball: The […]

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John Thorn, who today was named as Major League Baseball’s official historian, will be one of several authors presenting at the March 5 meeting of SABR’s Casey Stengel Chapter. The day-long event — which is open to the public — will be held at the Mid-Manhattan Branch of the NY Public Library (Fifth Avenue and […]

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The Lou’s

February 26, 2011

I don’t know, what name would you suggest for an award to honor the best baseball performances? At Oscar time, Jim Caple of ESPN’s Page 2 offers his take on “Academy Awards for Baseball Movies” (he dubbed his awards the “Oscar Madisons”). No real surprises here, although I would have selected Costner over Matthau, Davis […]

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Intro: As previously stated, the recent election of Robert Alomar and Bert Blyleven got me to thinking: how many Hall of Famers have had books written about them or penned their own stories. Here are the results. Again, this is not an all-inclusive list; almost all juvenile titles have been omitted. * * * “M” […]

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TWIBB: Feb. 25, 2011

February 25, 2011

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Feb 25, at 1:30 p.m. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2011 1 Baseball America 2011 Prospect Handbook: The 2011 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (Kindle version) 3 The Last […]

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“M” is truly an amazing initial for Hall of Famers, isn’t it? Mays, Mantle, Musial, Marichal, , McCovey, Mathewson, no to mention managers such as McCarthy, Mack and McGraw Connie Mack (Manager; inducted 1937) My 66 Years in the Big Leagues, by Mack (1950) Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball, Macht (2007) The […]

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TWIBB: Feb. 18, 2011

February 18, 2011

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Feb 18, at 3:30 p.m. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2011 1 Baseball America 2011 Prospect Handbook: The 2011 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (Kindle […]

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Like Bob Uecker, Garagiola was a so-so catcher who made more of a name for himself in retirement. He served as a co-host for The Today Show from 1967 to 1973 and again from 1990 to 1992. He also hosted several game shows, as well as working as an announcer for NBC Game of the […]

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The Literary All-Stars

February 11, 2011 · 2 comments

Several years ago, I published this list on the now-defunct fastball.com. Resubmitted for your consideration in case you missed it the first time around. UPDATE: Feb, 14 –An alert reader noted that Josh Beckett might have been a better chocie than the short-careered Robbie. Just goes to show how long ago I created this list. […]

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Hal Richman didn’t waste any time when I asked him if he could have envisioned celebrating the 50th anniversary of his iconic baseball game, Strat-O-Matic. “Absolutely not,” he said, after some initial laughter over the absurdity of the situation. Hundreds of the game’s fans from across the country will participate in tomorrow’s “2011 Strat-O Opening […]

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The Wali of Wallop, the Rajah of Rap, the Caliph of Clout, the Wazir of Wham, the Colossus of Clout, Maharajah of Mash, the Behemoth of Bust, the King of Crash, the Colossus Of Clout, the King Of Swing, the Terrible Titan, the Kid of Crash, the Jovial Giant and, of course, the home run […]

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TWIBB: Feb 4, 2011

February 4, 2011 · 1 comment

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Feb 4, at 10 a.m. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2011 1 Baseball America 2011 Prospect Handbook: The 2011 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (Kindle […]

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TWIBB: Jan. 28, 2011

January 28, 2011

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Jan. 28 at noon. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2011 1 Baseball America 2011 Prospect Handbook: The 2011 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 2 The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane […]

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It’s not Kevin Youkilis, but Bob Uecker, who turns 76 today. I guess it’s a catcher-thing. Perhaps sitting behind the plate, with the whole field out in front of you, you have the perspective for contemplation. That’s why guys like Uecker, Joe Garagiola and Yogi Berra (albeit perhaps unwittingly) have such sense of humor. All […]

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TWIBB: Jan. 21, 2011

January 21, 2011

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Jan. 21 at 9 p.m. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2011 1 Baseball America 2011 Prospect Handbook: The 2011 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 2 The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by […]

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“The Great Emancipator” would have been 72 today. Flood published his story — The Way It Is — in 1971, the year he retired from the game. Since then, several books about Flood’s role in creating the free agent dream (or nightmare, depending on your point of view), have been released with lesser or greater […]

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TWIBB: Jan. 14, 2011

January 14, 2011

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Jan. 14, 1:37 p.m. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Baseball Prospectus 2011 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 3 Baseball Forecaster 2011, by Ron Shandler 4 […]

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TWIBB: Jan. 7, 2011

January 7, 2011 · 2 comments

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Jan. 7, at 1 p.m. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Baseball Prospectus 2011 2 Baseball Forecaster 2011, by Ron Shandler 3 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis […]

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