From the category archives:

History

Happy (?) Anniversary

April 1, 2015

Author John Rosengren sent this out to the members of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. I’m guessing he’d have no problem of me presenting it to you loyal readers as well. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the infamous brawl between Juan Marichal and John Roseboro.  You no doubt have seen the […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. So without further ado, here are the top ten baseball books as […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Over the past few years, I have become extremely interested in the subject of memory. There have been many theories about exactly what memory is, but the most prevalent seems to be that it fades over time, and even that the more you try to remember, the less accurate it becomes, like making photo copies […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. So without further ado, here are the top ten baseball books as […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Submitted for your interest from another semi-regular scan of new titles. It may seem unfair, but I do tend to judge e-books by their cover, especially when they are offered only in that format. It’s an indication of the time and effort the author/publisher puts into the project. Similarly, I’m basing my opinions strictly on […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

There are a handful of publishing houses that are known for their baseball titles. A few that come to mind immediately are Triumph, University of Nebraska Press, and McFarland. But none of these are exclusively engaged in baseball. Summer Game Books, a New Jersey enterprise founded by Walter Friedman, is such an outfit. In addition […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Bits and pieces, March 16

March 16, 2015

Curt Smith, author of several fine volumes about baseball broadcasters and broadcasting, offers this nostalgic essay on “Spring training: Baseball’s Brigadoon” in the Irondequoit Post. Publishers Weekly published their annual list of new baseball topics. Unfortunately, it’s only available to subscribers. I’ll see if I can find an end-around at some point. “Spring inevitably means […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. So without further ado, here are the top ten baseball books as […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Note: Wrote a version of this one for the March 12 issue of New Jersey Jewish News. * * * Major League Baseball bigwigs worry that the game is losing young fans at a rapid pace.  Among the issues are games that are just too long, lasting more than three hours and potentially lasting past […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Were’ getting to the point where the new baseball titles — at least the ones not dedicated to the fantasy side — will be coming out hot and heavy. Given the state of print journalism, I wonder how much space will be devoted to individual reviews. I think we’ll see items like this from the […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. So without further ado, here are the top ten baseball books as […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. So without further ado, here are the top ten baseball books as […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

“Birdos” book club

February 26, 2015

The Viva el Birdos blog, a St. Louis Cardinals-centric site, hosts a book discussion from time to time. Their first foray was Ed Achorn’s The Summer of Beer and Whiskey. The current selection is Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris. Intro here; discussion questions here. Bonus: Here’s a review from The New York Times […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Charles M. Conlon, the famous baseball photographer (he might have shot other subjects, too, but I only know him from baseball), produced some wonderful close-up portraits, a number of which are included in a couple of collections: Baseball’s Golden Age: The Photographs of Charles M. Conlon and The Big Show: Charles M. Conlon’s Golden Age […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. So without further ado, here are the top ten baseball books as […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

On the newstand

February 19, 2015

And, no, that’s not a typo, because I consider the “new” part to be the important concept. Visited my local Barnes and Noble, ostensibly to pick up the new issue of Rolling Stone for their Saturday Night Live feature. While there, I came across this: Ordinarily, I don’t bother with stuff like this, but it […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Enough is enough?

February 17, 2015

So now the NY Yankees are getting set to retire another number: Andy Pettitte’s 46. This has led to a couple of speculative ponderings. One, should they reward an admitted PED user? And, when is this retirement stuff going to stop?  

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. So without further ado, here are the top ten baseball books as […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Derek Jeter: Excellence and Elegance, compiled and edited by Tyler Kepner. Triumph, 2014. Jeter Unfiltered, by Derek Jeter with photographs by Christopher Anderson. Gallery Books, 2015. How do you tell the story of one of the most iconic players of his generation in a few hundred pages? As the Yankees’ future Hall of Fame shortstop […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

* Josh Wilker’s forthcoming book, Benchwarmer: An Anxious Dad’s Almanac of Fatherhood and Other Failures gets a thumbs up from Kirkus. Upshot: “This almanac of fatherhood (and other failures) is honest, relatable and humorous—an indispensable read for fathers (and sons) whose joy in life comes not from winning the big game but being alive to […]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-5496371-4']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();