From the category archives:

History

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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Erik Sherman, author of Kings of Queens: Life Beyond Baseball with ’86 Mets, will be the featured guest at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse in Manhattan on Tuesday, April 5, at 7 p.m. Just had a flashback: When I was a very wee lad, my dad used to drive a delivery truck and would take me […]

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Been a bit remiss in my own Bookshelf Conversations lately. But always happy to pass along what I’ve come across. Jonathan Hock’s new documentary Fastball recently hit the screens. I had the opportunity to watch a screener. Fascinating stuff. There’s a “Zelig moment” with Justin Verlander “visiting” Bob Feller during his famous “motorcycle showdown.” That […]

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Haven’t been posting much lately but I have a good excuse. No, really, I have a better reason. Just contracted to do a book focusing on Hank Greenberg‘s 1938 season in which he put up a valiant fight to break Babe Ruth‘s single-season home run record of 60. The as-yet untitled project will also take […]

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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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Forgive the nihilism, but such is the meaninglessness of life. I was about to line the bottom of the birdcage this morning and just happened to notice that one of the pages carried the obituary for “Tom Knight, 89; Knew It All About Brooklyn Baseball.” The 750-plus-word New York Times tribute was written by by […]

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Ken Burns was on the show yesterday to discuss his upcoming documentary on Jackie Robinson, to be aired next month on PBS.   If they’d just done this a few days earlier, it would have been a perfect feature for Black History Month. But I can also understand that you don’t want to publicize something […]

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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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♦ As you know, I normally do not include books written for kids on this blog, but in this case — The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game — I’ve made an exception because of the special “teaching moment” involved and the fact that, unlike a lot of other titles […]

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Opinions vary

March 2, 2016

Graham Womack published this ranked list of the 25 greatest baseball books on The Sporting News site. When I wrote 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die, I made a decision not to put them in an order other than alphabetical to avoid having to defend my choices. Such a method invites arguments […]

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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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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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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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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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Bits and pieces, Feb. 18, 2016

February 18, 2016

♦ The Minnesota Spokesman Record, an African-America newspaper, posted this review of They Played for the Love of the Game: Untold Stories of Black Baseball in Minnesota, published by Frank M. White. ♦ The Lincoln (NE) Journal Star provided this piece on Roger Angell‘s memoir, This Old Man: All in Pieces. I still maintain 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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A number of authors of upcoming books will be taking their turn at bat at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse in Manhattan. All events are scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25: Roberta Newman and Joel Nathan Rosen, Black Baseball, Black Business: Race Enterprise and the Fate of the Segregated Dollar Thursday, March 3: Howard Megdal, […]

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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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Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]

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