From the category archives:

History

Mike Silva offers some easy listening about baseball, including an interview with Ira Berkow on his latest book, Summers in the Bronx: Attila the Hun and Other Yankee Stories; author and historian John Thorn; and Peter Golenbock on Billy Martin.

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* Bits and pieces

January 18, 2010

Haven’t done one of these for awhile, so here goes: The Dallas Morning News ran this review of The Wizard of Waxahachie by Warren Corbett, the biography of baseball lifer Paul Richards. Upshot: “Those who love baseball’s strategies and myriad statistics probably will relish this book. The author blends them seamlessly into an entertaining, warts-and-all […]

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* TWIBB — January 16, 2010

January 16, 2010

This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Saturday, January 16. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2010 1 2010 Baseball Forecaster (Ron Shandler’s Baseball Forecaster) 2 Baseball America 2010 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 3 Moneyball: The Art of Winning […]

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When the superstars of baseball want their story told, they know where to go. Lonnie Wheeler has collaborated with such Hall of Famers as Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson, and, most recently, Gibson and Reggie Jackson in Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the […]

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The pioneering African-American writer/broadcaster was a favorite around our household in the days of a kinder, gentler sports-talk radio format. Rust, who also appeared on WNBC-TV news programs, died Jan. 12 at the age of 82. From the New York Times‘ obituary by Richard Goldstein: In his 1976 book “Get That Nigger Off the Field!,” […]

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I don’t know what else there is to say about McGwire. Some, like Joe Posnanski (twice) and my literary hero, Tony Kornheiser, are more forgiving. Mr. Tony spoke about the “confessions of Mark McGwire” on both Pardon the Interruption and his eponymous radio program on ESPN 980 in DC. Others, like Ken Rosenthal, are much […]

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* TWIBB — January 8, 2010

January 8, 2010

This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com on Friday, January 8. HAPPY LATE YEAR! Title Rank General 2010 Baseball Forecaster (Ron Shandler’s Baseball Forecaster) 1 Baseball Prospectus 2010 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 3 Baseball America 2010 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the […]

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“The Hawk” was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame today. Now get gets to add that to his autograph. Dawson released an autobio in 1994 (with Tom Bird) that was published by Zondervan, a religious house, ostensibly for kids. Look for a new title soon. From the Hall of Fame press release (with […]

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Actually, most are not exactly new, but re-released in paper back editions. But I guess they’re all new if you haven’t read them yet (this sounds like one of those “if a tree falls in the woods…” bits). The only one that might qualify is A Game of Inches: The Stories Behind the Innovations That […]

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* Review: The Gashouse Gang

January 4, 2010

How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series – and America’s Heart, by John Heidenry. An odd inclusion (posted Jan. 2) for something so august as The Huffington Post (does this mean there’s hope for my work appearing there?), especially since the book came […]

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* TWIBB — January 1, 2010

January 1, 2010

This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com on Friday, January 1. HAPPY NEW YEAR! Title Rank General The Yankee Years, by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 2 The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story […]

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Semi-shameless self promotion: this assessment was written by James Bailey and yours truly. Titles include: Heart of the Game: Life, Death and Mercy in Minor League America As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend Catcher: How the Man behind the Plate […]

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* Happy birthday, Sandy Koufax

December 30, 2009

The poster-boy for Jewish sports of the boomer generation turns — wait for it — 74 today! Hard to believe he’s been away from the game for more than 40 years, but his legacy goes on. Even today, parents invoke the Hall of Fame pitcher: “If Sandy Koufax could miss the World Series for Yom […]

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* TWIBB — December 26

December 26, 2009

This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com on Saturday, December 26. Title Rank General Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 1 The Yankee Years, by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci 2 Baseball Americana: Treasures from the Library of Congress 3 Baseball Prospectus 2010 4 The Bill James Handbook 2010 […]

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* Bits and pieces

December 24, 2009

Mike Silva of NY Baseball Digest recently posted this 2007 audio interview he did with former major leaguer Terry Leach. Leach, a side-arming reliever who pitched for several teams, including the Mets, wrote about his experiences in Things Happen for a Reason: The True Story of an Itinerant Life in Baseball. Long-time baseball analyst Peter Gammons, […]

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Baseballisms.com, which is quickly becoming a favorite site, published this audio interview with Lowenfish, author Branch Rickey: Baseball’s Ferocious Gentleman. Other authors appeared on Baseballisms include Tim Wiles, Judith Testa, Peter Golenbock, Jerry Poling, Jane Heller, Sue Macy, Tim Shea, and others. Another site that features frequent author interviews, albeit not audio, is the online […]

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* Bits and pieces

December 18, 2009 · 2 comments

Still trying to catch up from Yankee Fantasy Camp, so we’ll take it a few steps at a time: Richard Barbieri writes an intersting “This annotated week in baseball history” for The Hardball Times that deserves mention. The same can be said for Rob Neyer’s postings at ESPN.com, in particular his daily doses (Friday Filberts, […]

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* TIBB — December 18

December 18, 2009

This week in baseball books, featuring the best-sellers according to Amazon.com on Friday, December 18. Title Rank General The Yankee Years, by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci 1 The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, by Joe Posnanski 2 Moneyball: The Art […]

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The book is slated for a March 2010 release. From the catalog: Silver Seasons and a New Frontier: The Story of the Rochester Red Wings, Second Edition, by Jim Mandelaro and Scott Pitoniak. Taking us back to the early nineteenth century, when baseball was played in the meadows and streets of Rochester, New York, Silver […]

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See how well you can do on this Mental Floss quiz about the 1988 film version of Eliot Asinof’s classic about the 1919 Black Sox. I had a perfect score; I’m just sayin’.

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