This time, it’s personal. I am the poster boy for the “long suffering Mets fan.” I recall being on vacation with my wife, Faith, at the end of 1991 and hearing about the acquisitions they were pulling off, big stars like Eddie Murray, Bobby Bonilla, and Bret Saberhagen, among others, as well as a new […]
Tagged as:
New York Mets,
New York Yankees
Even though I had been collecting a few cards in the mid 1960s, this is the one that stands out in my mind: Mike Shannon from the 1967 Topps set. Shannon, who was associated with the Cardinals for almost 60 years as a player and broadcaster, passed away Saturday at the age of 83. Here’s […]
Tagged as:
Mke Shannon
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]
Tagged as:
Ted Williams
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]
♦ Hope everyone is doing well out there can that they got their taxes done in time. Now for some pleasant diversion. ♦ I’m surprised something like this didn’t come from Triumph Publishers: The St. Louis Cardinals: Everything You Need to Know. It seems right up their alley and could be purposed for every team. […]
Tagged as:
Jackie Robinson,
Jackie Robinson Story
The Pandemic Baseball Book Club was a product of its time. I don’t have to remind anyone of the toll the Coronavirus took on this planet. So singling out a small sector (authors) and a smaller sub-sector (baseball authors) might seem silly. But the PBBC under the stewardship of Jason Turbow — offered a way […]
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]
Whenever I think about the work in Lee Lowenfish’s new book, Baseball’s Endangered Species: Inside the Craft of Scouting by Those Who Lived It, I am always reminded of the scene from Moneyball where old battles with new: In my conversation with Lowenfish, I referenced my own images of scouts from movies like The Stratton […]
The first thing you have to have is a catcher. Because if you don’t have a catcher, you’re going to have a lot of passed balls and you’re going to be chasing the ball back to the screen all day. Casey Stengel on the decision to make Hobie Landrith the expansion New York Mets first […]
Tagged as:
Hobie Landrith,
New York Mets
Not a ballplayer, manager, or coach. But the actor, who died at the age of 81 on Saturday, played a famous figure in Major League history. Or rather infamous. Learner portrayed the gambler Arnold Rothstein in the 1988 feature film, Eight Men Out. Here’s his obituary from The New York Times by Lauren McCarthy.
Tagged as:
Michael Lerner
From Forbes: “Vintage Baseball Volumes To Bring High Prices At Rare Books Fair.” From Valley News, which covers the Vermont/New Hampshire area: “Baseball odyssey: Book recounts summer of epic road trip.” From the Culpeper, VA Star Exponent: “Pete Hill: Black Baseball’s First Superstar features Culpeper Hall of Fame slugger In Publisher’s Weekly, author David Kelly […]
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]
To paraphrase from a Thomas Boswell classic, “Time Begins on Opening Day.” In Michael Ortman‘s case, multiply that times 50. One of the things I wanted to ask the author of Opening Day: 50-for-50: One Fan, One Game, A Half-Century of Baseball Stories was how his approach to the game has changed over time. Like […]
Tagged as:
Baltimore Orioles,
Opening day,
Washington Nationals,
Washington Senators
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]
Tagged as:
Bo Jackson,
Reggie Jackson
Happy spring! Daniel R. Levitt and Mark Armour, authors of Intentional Balk: Baseball’s Thin Line between Innovation and Cheating, received their 2023 SABR Seymour Medal — honoring the best book of baseball history or biography published during the preceding calendar year — during the 30th annual NINE Spring Training Conference on Saturday, March 4 […]
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]
Heard on NPR’s Morning Edition show, March 6: “Evan Drellich’s new book sheds light on the Houston Astros cheating scandal.” I usually don’t mix baseball with politics with baseball (unless it’s in a good way), but this is important enough to me that I don’t care if I ruffle a few feathers by […]
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]