Headnote: One of the thing I like about the Pandemic Baseball Book Club is that it’s a kind of “one stop shopping.” Instead of posting about various authors, projects, and events, all I’m doing here is cutting and pasting their weekly newsletter. Do take a moment to read the author Q&A. I find them particularly interesting as […]
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Pandemic Baseball Book Club
So is this like a day/night doubleheader? I posted a Bookshelf Conversation with Marty Appel today and I was the guest on Baseball By the Book, hosted by Justin McGuire to talk about my first project. Who says Mondays are blue?
When I saw this segment pop up in my iTunes podcast list, I was surprised. Surprised that Leonard Lopate would want Lenny Dykstra on as a guest, and surprised that Dykstra would appear. I do not know him at all other than the profiles I’ve read about him but my impression is that he’s not […]
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Lenny Dykstra,
Leonard Lopate,
National Public Radio,
New York Mets,
NPR,
s
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
Been a bit busy lately with the two author events, so I know I’ve fallen behind. You never know where inspiration will come from. According to this public radio story, Haruki Murakami came up with the idea for his first novel, Hear the Wind Sing, as the result of a 1978 pro game in Japan, […]
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Ball Four,
Bruce Bochy,
David Halberstam,
Derek Jeter,
Fritz Peterson,
Haruki Mirukami,
Jackie Robinson,
Jim Bouton,
Jimmy Breslin,
Jorge Posada,
New York Yankees,
Steohen Kings,
Washington Nationals
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
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Adam Greenberg,
Baseball Hall of Fame,
baseball managers,
Chicago Cubs,
Florida Marlins,
Forbes,
Grantland,
kunckleball,
Matt Harvey,
Piuttsburgh Pirates,
R.A. Dickey,
Shawn Green,
Stephen Strasburg,
Tim Wakefield,
Tony LaRussa,
Will Ferrell,
Zev Chafets
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
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baseball and politics,
Baseball Cards,
Baseball Propsectus,
Bill Veeck,
Brooklyn Dodgers,
Carl Mays,
Chad Harbach,
Detroit Tigers,
Ebbets Field,
Jim Abbot,
Josh Lewin,
Molly Lawless,
Paul Dickson,
Ray Chapman,
St. Louis Cardinals,
Texas Rangers,
The Art of Fielding,
Tim Wendell
Been following the adventures of Brad Balukjian, who’s traveling the country in search of his baseball heroes for a book project. He was a guest on a recent edition of Slate’s excellent sports podcast, Hang Up and Listen. We had a Bookshelf Conversation prior to his departure and I hope to have another one upon his […]
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Andi Dorfman,
baseball history,
Brad Balukjian,
Game of Thrones,
George R.R. Martin,
Joe Girardi,
John Klima,
Josh Murray,
Lonnie Wheeler,
Matt Nadel,
minor leagues,
NY Yankees,
The Bachelorette
I was listening to a Leonard Lopate interview with Greg Proops, a comic featured on the popular TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway, host of The Smartest Man in the World podcast, and, most recently, author of The Smartest Book in the World: A Lexicon of Literacy, A Rancorous Reportage, A Concise Curriculum of […]
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Greg Proops,
Leonard Lopate
Haven’t done one of these in awhile. Of course, I haven’t done much of anything for awhile what with working on the new non-baseball sports book. So here are a few items from recent weeks. If people knew how Michael Lewis got the inspiration to write Moneyball, I wonder if that would have made a […]
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baseball autographs,
baseball collectibles,
Baseball Hall of Fame,
C.C. Sabathia,
Christy Mathewson,
Michael Lewis,
Moneyball,
Nolan Ryan,
Paul Auster,
Ty Cobb,
Willie Mays
Last Friday marked the 25th anniversary of the World Series earthquake in San Fransisco which occurred just minutes before Game One of the face-off between the host Giants and cross-bay Rival Oakland As. And we have not one, but two documentaries to commemorate the occasion. One, The Day The Series Stopped, was produced under ESPN’s […]
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1989 World Series,
Jon Leonoudakis,
Oakland As,
San Francisco Giants,
World Series earthquake
A chance to look over the overlooked. * Not exactly “Throwback Thursday,” but this piece on the Peoria Journal Star website is an appreciation for The Bronx Zoo, published by relief pitcher Sparky Lyle (then with the NY Yankees) and Peter Golenbock. * And another one from PJS about Double Play, a memoir written by […]
Seems most of the buzz lately is about Kostya Kennedy’s Pete Rose: An American Dilemma, John Rosengrens’s Marichal-Roseboro book, The Fight of Their Lives, and Jonah Keri’s Up, Up, and Away, the new history about the Montreal Expos. Rosengren From Mike Bauman/MLB.com: “Book tells of redemption for Marichal, Roseboro“ This one from Allen Barra will […]
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John Roseboro,
John Rosengren,
Jonah Keri,
Juan Marichal,
Kostya Kennedy,
Montreal Expos,
Pete Rose
Yes, another book about Pete Rose. This one is by Kostya Kennedy, author of 56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports, so I expect good things. One line that particularly caught my eye in the piece: “Kennedy told me his publicists don’t want him to talk about the book before its release […]
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Dirk Hayhurst,
John Feinstein,
Kostya Kennedy,
Pete Rose,
Stephen King,
Stewart O'Nan
Daniel Shoptaw, who hosts Cardinals70, a blog dedicated to the St. Louis franchise, was kind enough to have me as a guest on his recent podcast, which you can hear here. And if that wasn’t enough, he also took the time to review the book.
‘Tis the season when authors start popping up on NP programs, and I hope to join their ranks this year. Mike Piazza was on Fresh Air last week to discuss his memoir, Long Shot. You can read/listen here. Robert Fitts, who was recently named winner of SABR’s prestigious Seymour Medal, was a guest on last […]
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Japanese baseball,
Mike Piazza,
Only a Game,
Robert Fitts,
Trading Bases
The president of NYU, where my daughter is a student, took a turn on The Colbert Report to discuss his new book, Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game. To be honest, I’m more of a Daily Show kind of guy. If given a choice at a guest shot, I’d prefer that […]
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Baseball and religion,
Colbert Report,
John Sexton,
Steven Colbert
♦ The Louisville Courier-Journal posted this Q&A with Katya Cengel, author of Bluegrass Baseball: A Year in the Minor League Life. ♦ Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News, blogged about Not Exactly Cooperstown, a documentary about The Baseball Reliquary by Jon Leonoudakis (look for a review of the film as well as a […]
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Baseball Reliquary,
Jon Leonoudakis,
Rob Neyer,
Tim Wendell
♦ Bruce Spitzer, author of the sci-fi-ish novel about Ted Williams rising from the dead, was on Beyond the Game, a White Plains community access cable channel. ♦ ♦ Received a copy of Ronnie Joyner‘s new Hardball Legends and Journeymen and Short-Timers: 333 Illustrated Baseball Biographies yesterday. It’s a throwback to the days when newspapers […]
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Allen Barra,
Bruce Spitzer,
Cal Ripken,
Doug Glanville,
Ted Williams
is available on Amazon.com,
