From the category archives:

History

* An educated opinion

April 13, 2010

Doug Glanville is a busy guy these days. Not only does he have a new book out (From Where I Stand; quite good, look for a review soon), but he’s recently joined the staff on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight. He still managed to find time to contribute this list of his favorite baseball books to The […]

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Which may just be where some of these guys do keep them. The Yankees are playing their home opener as I type this. Prior to the game, the 2009 World Champions received their booty in the form of Series rings. In his article in today’s New York Times, Harvey Araton writes about Andy Pettitte, for […]

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* Time for Times

April 11, 2010

A couple of book-related items in today’s New Yotk Times sports section: In the print edition, Tim Wendel wrote  “They Could Throw That Speedball,” as part of the “Spotlight” column, about the difficulties in coming up with the definitive answer to the question, “who was the fastest pitcher in history?” With all due respect to […]

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* TWIBB — April 9

April 9, 2010

This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, April 9. Title Rank General The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran, by Dirk Hayhurst 1 The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime, by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca 2 Willie Mays: […]

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Baseball is once again a art of the NPR syllabus. Steven Goldman and Jay Jafee of Baseball Prospectus made an appearance of The Brian Lehrer Show on April 2. The same day on Soundcheck, Jonathan Schaefer discussed the connection between baseball and music with Jeff Campbell, whose record label Hungry for Music releases compilations of […]

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In addition to my mini-review on Timothy Gay’s latest baseball title in the baseball , here is a sampling of others: Steve Penn, Kansas City Star: “There’s nothing like a good baseball story. And the era of barnstorming, when black players competed against white players despite the color ban, is full of good baseball stories.” […]

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Not Chief Bender or Wahoo, but Commander-in-Chief. President Obama is scheduled to throw out the first pitch at the Nationals home opener today. This year marks the 100th anniversary since Pres. William Howard Taft made his “delivery” at the Senators-Philadelphia Athletics inaugural on April 14, with Walter Johnson on the receiving end. The Associated Press […]

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Paraphrasing a great line from a TV show from long ago (I know forget which one, might have been M*A*S*H), i I were stranded on a dessert island and could only have one book, it would be the dictionary, because it has all the other books in it. That’s kind of the way I feel […]

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* Now hear these

March 31, 2010

Several authors are making the rounds on radio shows and podcasts lately (I’ll be posting my interview with Danny Peary, co-author of Roger Maris: Baseball’s Reluctant Hero, shortly.) Among them: Danny Peary on New York Baseball Digest. Chris Donnelly, author of the book the Best Series Ever, the story of the 1995 ALCS between the […]

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* TWIBB — March 26

March 26, 2010

This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, March 26. Title Rank General Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend, by James S. Hirsch 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 2 Baseball Prospectus 2010 3 Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession, by Dave Jamieson […]

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* Bits and pieces

March 25, 2010

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY behind here, so in an attempt to catch up, and let you all know I’m still here, I submit, for starters, a list of recent items: Our old friend Zack Hample is busy with his own writings (note to self: get cracking on the manuscript), but he has had time to glance through a […]

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There are a couple of books out this year that deal with athletes — Roger Maris and Hank Aaron– who were vilified by the press and the public for the audacity in approaching the home run numbers put up by Hall of Famer Babe Ruth, albeit for different reasons. Maris, who broke the single season […]

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* Hats off to Larry

March 21, 2010

Congratulations to Larry Tye, whose biography Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend was named winner of Spitball Magazine‘s Casey Award and the Seymour Medal from the Society for American Baseball Research. Read (most of) it on Googlebooks.

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This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, March 19. S Title Rank General Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend, by James S. Hirsch 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 2 Baseball Prospectus 2010 3 Kiss It Good-Bye: The Mystery, The Mormon, and the Moral of […]

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Fill in the blank

March 18, 2010

Had to get a tire replaced this morning. While sitting in the waiting room, I picked up a recent copy of The Sporting News which carried feature about the questionnaires the publication would hand out to players each year in preparation for the defunct Baseball Register. This article included reproductions of the forms from Willie […]

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* Review: Willie Mays

March 1, 2010

The Sunday Times Book Review leads off with a full page about James Hirsch’s bio (which leads some to ask, why is it necessary to review the same book twice, given the limited review space). The review, by long time New York writer Pete Hamill, is quite glowing in its praise, although he doesn’t actually […]

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* TWIBB — Feb. 26

February 26, 2010

This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Feb. 26. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2010 1 Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend, by James S. Hirsch 2 Baseball America 2010 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects 3 2010 Baseball Forecaster (Ron Shandler’s Baseball […]

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* RK Review: Willie Mays

February 25, 2010

The Life, The Legend, by James. S. Hirsch. Scribner, 2010. The long-anticipated (authorized) biography of the Say Hey Kid was worth the wait. Hirsch, a former journalist for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal certainly didn’t have an easy time in getting the gig. He had been after Mays for almost seven […]

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This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Feb. 19. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2010 1 Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend, by James S. Hirsch 2 Baseball America 2010 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects 3 2010 Baseball Forecaster (Ron Shandler’s Baseball […]

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* TWIBB — Feb. 19

February 19, 2010

This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Feb. 19. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2010 1 Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend, by James S. Hirsch 2 Baseball America 2010 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects 3 2010 Baseball Forecaster (Ron Shandler’s Baseball […]

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