From the category archives:

History

Ever since Moneyball came out in 2003, most books analyzing the national pastime dealt with cold hard numbers. Putting a team together, it seems, is a lesson in math. But according to veteran journalist and author Joan Ryan, it’s a science. Chemistry, to be precise. (Full disclosure: I was never very good in that particular […]

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Missed last Friday’s BBS post with a good excuse: it was my birthday. But that’s long over now so… Note: 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 writing one). But close enough for […]

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Going old school here as we return to an audio-only Conversations. A couple of years ago, I was engaged to work on the memoirs of a gentleman from the Middle East. He was in my town on an extended trip, staying at an Air BnB run by friends of ours. Just about every day after […]

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Note: 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 writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

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Curt Smith and I go way back, relatively speaking. My first interview with him came in 2012 when he published Mercy!: A Celebration of Fenway Park’s Centennial Told Through Red Sox Radio and TV. In The Presidents and the Pastime: The History of Baseball and the White House — the subject of this Conversation — he […]

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Note: 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 writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

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Remember last time when I said I wasn’t going to make a whole, long intro because it was on the video and would be redundant? Nevermind. Now I’ve removed the intro from the video, preferring not to tell you what I’m going to tell you, telling you, and telling you what I wold you. You’re […]

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Note: 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 writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

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A column contributed by Ryan Tyler When it comes to the greatest baseball photos, our attention is often focused on what’s in the image. We tend to scrutinize every detail, like who’s pitching, who’s batting, who’s running after the ball, the emotions of the players, the audience, and so forth. But when you look at […]

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Note: 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 writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

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Tra la, it’s May, the lusty Month of May That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray… That’s from the Broadway production of Camelot, folks. Look it up. Note: 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 […]

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Note: 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 writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

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Welcome to the second installment of the video version of the Conversations. As Yogi Berra might have said, “Thank you, Pandemic, for making this project necessary.” Today I had the privilege of chatting with Anika Orrock, artist and author of The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. It’s a fascinating, all-encompassing look at […]

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Bookshelf Review: Rawhide

April 21, 2020

I’m am the poster child when it comes to falling down the rabbit hole. Whenever a book by a writer I especially respect refers to additional material, I will seek it out more often than not. While going through The Inside Game: Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves, Keith […]

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Last Ride of the Iron Horse: How Lou Gehrig Fought ALS to Play One Final Championship Season, by Dan Joseph (Sunbury Press, 2019) Perhaps it’s the morbid curiosity in me, looking for details about the tragic death of Lou Gehrig, which made Dan Joseph’s examination of the 1938 campaign hard to put down. For a […]

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Via Bookreporter.com.

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Note: 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 writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

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Getting an early start since I’m home and have binge-watched all I can stand for the moment. Didn’t post one of these last week, so curious to see how many — if any — brand new titles have made the list. So, shall we? Note: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists […]

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Mr. Tiger passed away Monday at the age of 85. Kaline, who made his debut with the team in 1953 at the age of 18 without ever having spent a day in the minors, was an 18-time All-Star, a 10-time Gold Glove recipient, a batting champion at the age of 20, and was elected to […]

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When I was a kid, I looked forward to another “opening day,” besides the one where the umpires yelled “Play ball!” for the game of the season. For me, it was almost more important when the first boxes of Topps cards arrived at my local candy store. I was once so excited to buy an […]

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