From the category archives:

History

My daughter attends NYU, which is where I eventually learned of this course taught by the school’s president, John Sexton, during a Parent’s Weekend last fall. “Baseball as a Road to God” is this subject of a front page story in today’s New York Times. Hoping to sit in on one of the sessions, I […]

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Review roundup, April 20

April 20, 2012

♦ Tom Hoffarth’s latest: Summer of ’68: The Season that Changed Baseball — And America — Forever, by Tim Wendel. Upshot: “Halberstam-esque.” High praise, indeed. ♦ WBEZ, the NPR presence in Chicago, posted this mini-review of 100 Things Cubs Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. ♦ Similarly, Bronx Baseball Daily posted this review […]

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Review roundup, April 19

April 19, 2012

♦ The latest on Tom Hoffarth’s 30/30 list: Double No-Hit: Johnny Vander Meer’s History Night Under the Lights, by James W. Johnson. Upshot: “Details come to life here, and thankfully, we find out much more about “The Dutch Master” than a box score can show.”  

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Review roundup, April 18

April 18, 2012

♦ Tom Hoffarth’s latest in his 30/30 feature: Cuban Star: How One Negro-League Owner Changed the Face of Baseball, by Adrian Burgos, Jr. ♦The Columbus (IN) Republic ran this review of The Might Have Been.  

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Jackie Robinson Day

April 15, 2012

‘Nuf said.

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Review roundup, April 14

April 14, 2012

♦ The latest in Tom Hoffarth’s 30/30 feature: A People’s History of Baseball, by Mitchell Nathanson. Upshot: “The book jacket says Nathan writes with “passion and occasional outrage.” Sometimes it comes off as more bittnerness [sic] or misdirected anger. ♦ The Chicago-Sun Times posted this review of Grisham’s Calico Joe. Upshot: “In baseball terms, Calico […]

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History is not supposed to be something I’ve lived through. History is supposed to be something that happened well before I was born. It was therefore with a mix of nostalgia and dread that I read Tim Wendell‘s Summer of ’68: The Season That Changed Baseball–and America–Forever. 1968 was the first year I really started […]

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The Baseball Reliquary program on Bill Veeck and his contributions to the game opens today in Arcadia, Calif. Paul Dickson, whose new biography, Bill Veeck: Baseball’s Greatest Maverick, will be at the event. His essay on Veeck has appeared in several publications over the past few days.  

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Some of the contributions for the new collaboration  Damn Yankees: Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World’s Most Loved (and Hated) Team are dewy-eyed tributes, either about the team in general, or a player in particular, or a personal moment with a family member, bonding over a shared love. On the other end of the […]

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Gelf magazine begins the season with a “Varsity Letters Baseball Night” on Thursday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m., at The Gallery at LPR, 158 Bleecker St. (between Sullivan St. and Thompson St.), NYC. Four writers of recent baseball books will read from and talk about their work, including New York Times columnist Dan Barry (interview […]

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Can it really be 25 years ago since Al Campanis appeared on what might just be the most (in)famous episode of Nightline (when it was a real news program)? Campanis, then the general manager of the LA Dodgers, was on to discuss the lefacy of Jackie Robinson and ended up losing his job for his […]

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Review roundup, April 2

April 2, 2012

♦ Bill Jordan at Baseball Reflections on Tim Wendel’s Summer of 68. ♦ Tom Hoffarth kicked off his annual “30 book in 30 days” feature yesterday with Baseball Prospectus 2012. Today’s book is Trading Manny: How a Father & Son Learned to Love Baseball Again, by Jim Gullo. (Here’s another review from The Oregonian.) ♦ Sticking […]

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Another book about Yogi Berra? Yup, and one that shouldn’t be missed. Harvey Araton published Driving Mr. Yogi: Yogi Berra, Ron Guidry, and Baseball’s Greatest Gift as an extension of a column he had written for The New York Times last year, about the annual ritual in which the former Yankee ace would pick up […]

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Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman remains the only Major Leaguer to die from injuries sustained during a game, the result of being hit in head by a pitcher from Carl Mays, then with the New York Yankees, on August 17, 1920. (It should be noted that some consider the death of “Doc” Powers — a […]

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I have a soft spot for ballplayers who remain on one team for their entire career. Especially in the post reserve clause era, when athletes often look for the biggest paycheck, if not the best fit. Loyalty is a hard thing to come by these days. How many Cardinals fans expected Albert Pujols would re-sign […]

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Over the past few days, a number of interesting items have come my way. Summer of ’68: The Season That Changed Baseball–and America–Forever, by Tim Wendel, makes me feel old. “History” should only apply to events that took place before I was born. This was the first year I really started paying attention to baseball […]

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Bits and pieces, March 19

March 19, 2012

Alex Belth, author of Stepping Up: The Story of All-Star Curt Flood and His Fight for Baseball Players’ Rights and Lasting Yankee Stadium Memories: Unforgettable Tales from the House That Ruth Built, conducted this in-depth interview with Rob Fleder, editor of the new collection of essays, Damn Yankees: Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World’s […]

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The author of Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, & Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan will discuss his latest book at Oblong Books & Music, 6422 Montgomery St., Rhinebeck, NY on Saturday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m. For more information, call 845-876-0500.  

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Mr. Postman: New arrivals

March 17, 2012

Several new titles arrived over the past week including: Before the Curse: The Chicago Cubs’ Glory Years, 1870-1945, by Randy Roberts and Carson Cunningham A People’s History of Baseball, by Mitchell Nathanson Bill Veeck: Baseball’s Greatest Maverick, by Paul Dickson (Of The Dickson Baseball Dictionary fame) The Big Show: Charles M. Conlon’s Golden Age Baseball […]

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Thanks to Dan Barry, one of the contributors to this collection of essays, for alerting to this excellent book trailer: Barry will join fellow contributors Will Leitch, Jane Leavy, and Rob Fleder, editor of Damn Yankees at a discussion and booksigning on April 18 at the Yogi Berra Museum in Little Falls, NJ. For more […]

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