From the category archives:

History

A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]

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Author appearance: Tyler Kepner will discuss “Baseball, Faith, and the Chase for World Series Glory” at Christ Church in Greenwich, CT, on Friday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. The event will be both in-person and livestream. For details, visit christchurchgreenwich.org. Bull Durham creator Ron Shelton was recently honored at the Coronado Island Film Festival In […]

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]

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Bits and pieces, Nov. 11, 2022

November 11, 2022

♦ Lots of baseball broadcasters write books, but they’re usually about the game. Not Steve Physioc of the Kansas City Royals. He’s written a number of novels. ♦ Dan Levitt talks about his new book, Intentional Balk: Baseball’s Thin Line Between Innovation and Cheating, written with Mark Armour on Awful Announcing. Look for my Bookshelf […]

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Baseball and veterans

November 11, 2022

Happy Veterans Day, everyone. There have been a number of good books linking baseball with wartime. Here are just a few: When Baseball Went to War From the Dugouts to the Trenches: Baseball during the Great War War Fever: Boston, Baseball, and America in the Shadow of the Great War Baseball’s War Roster: A Biographical […]

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(Book) Award Season begins

November 8, 2022

The CASEY Award hits the “big 4-oh” Anniversary in 2022. “It seems only appropriate that we should wind up with such an outstanding field of contenders for the CASEY in this milestone year,” said Spitball Editor-in-Chief Mike Shannon. “I think the CASEYs demonstrated long ago that no other sport produces great literature, year in and […]

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]

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♦   From Sports Collectors Daily: “Mickey Mantle:  A Life In Memorabilia acts as a museum tour through Mantle’s life.  It includes items from Lane’s extensive and valuable collection as well as stories from Mantle’s 18-year career. “‘This book is as close as one can get to these artifacts without actually holding them,’ [author Steven] Lane […]

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A History of the World Series, by Tyler Kepner, on Bookreporter.com.

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]

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The latest disappointment of the Mets losing in the Wild Card round after finishing with 101 wins during the regular season brought to mind Devin Gordon’s 2021 book So Many Ways to Lose: The Amazin’ True Story of the New York Mets―the Best Worst Team in Sports. I was in touch with Gordon and he […]

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More on Tyler Kepner’s new book: From the Washington Post, this review An video interview with Nestor, a very enthusiastic  Baltimore-based sportscaster From Kirkus From Shelf-Awareness.com There are dozens of titles about individual world series — the 1919 Black Sox Scandal immediately comes to mind — and lately it seems like local newspapers will rush […]

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♦ No surprise: Moneyball is included in this USA Today article on the “the four best business books by sports professionals” (although does Michael Lewis really qualify as such?). ♦ With all the hoopdeedoo about Aaron Judge breaking the “true” home run record, I doubt there is anyone more qualified to write about Roger Maris […]

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]

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♦  Currently reading Tyler Kepner’s new book about the World Series. He devotes a chapter to the lesser known players who acquit themselves gloriously on the emblazoned stage of the Fall Classic. But for every ball player who makes it this far into the calendar, there are hundreds, if not not thousands who never enjoy […]

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More than any other sports, baseball is inundated with stats. There are numerous books about the evolution of numbers in the game. I marvel that historians can look at the earliest box scores and extrapolate on the quality of the pioneers based on such limited information. Over time, the way statistics were gathered and interpreted […]

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]

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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]

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A day later than usual but I have a good excuse: being at the SABR convention in Baltimore is keeping me busy. * * * * A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time […]

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