From the category archives:

Lists

Several children’s titles here.

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“Baseball books for a snowy day” include: Last Days of Summer, by Steve Kluger (a novel) Shoeless Joe, by W.P. Kinsella (the basis for Field of Dreams) Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig,” a biography by Jonathan Eig Waiting for Teddy Williams, by Howard Frank Mosher (novel) Eight Men Out, by Eliot […]

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Maybe it’s the long lazy days, the lack of intensity, that lends itself to so many friendly interviews. These days I listen to the ESPN Baseball Today podcast, hosted by Peter Pascarelli, which includes at least two friendly little per show, often with a player and a manager. This morning I as I was driving […]

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According to Christian Science Monitor film critic Peter Rainer: With the new baseball season almost upon us, this is a perfect time to recommend a few standout movies about the sport – not that there have been many. Some of the most acclaimed, like “Field of Dreams” and “The Natural,” are so overblown they might […]

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From Rich Karlgaard’s “Digital Rules” column on Forbes.com, this brief recommendation for Frank Deford’s latest: You’re Entitled early each spring to read at least one good baseball book. Slide into Frank Deford’s novel, The Entitled, now out in paperback (Sourcebooks). This fine work ranks with Field of Dreams and The Natural. His praise, indeed, but […]

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Bits and pieces

March 18, 2008

From WickedLocal.com, the Web site for the Lakeville (Mass.) Call and Enterprise, this list of favorite baseball titles. From WNBC.com, this brief profile about 100-year-old Bill Werber, believed to be the oldest ex-major leaguer. Werber published his autobiography in 2000, when he was a mere babe of 92. Memories of a Ballplayer: Bill Werber and […]

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It's a crazy business

January 29, 2008

Two items on the business side of the game: mentalfloss on odd contract clauses The Business of Baseball’s list of “most effective minor league promotions“

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The All-Literary Team

January 20, 2008

I originally did this several years ago for Fastball.com, a now-defunct web site. Pitchers Roger “Samuel” Clemens, Josh “Samuel” Beckett, Craig “Larry” McMurtry,Jerry “Saint” Augustine, Casey “William” Blake Catcher Mike “F. Scott” Fitzgerald First Base Bud “Tom” Clancy Second Base Ed “Ernest” Hemingway Shortstop Bill “Bertrand” Russell Third Base Bill “James” Joyce Leftfield Buster “Henry” […]

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A breath of fresh air

January 18, 2008

In a recent “Inside Baseball” column, Sports Illustrated‘s John Donovan gives fans something in which they can take comfort: The All-Clean Team. The list includes: Alex Rodriguez Ken Griffey, Jr. Albert Pujols Frank Thomas Vladamir Guerrero Greg Maddux Pedro Martinez Ichiro Suzuki He tosses kudos to a few more, including Jeter, Glavine, Smoltz, Vizquel, Randy […]

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Since we’re heading into awards season, this seemed appropriate:The Gummies, picking the best and worst baseball card-related items of the year. Unfortunately, there’s no explanation for the picks, nor a list of the other nominees that were in the running.

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The Casey Award

January 10, 2008

The CASEY Award was inaugurated in 1983 by Mike Shannon and W.J. Harrison, the editors and co-founders of Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine, to honor the authors and publishers of outstanding baseball books, a heretofore unrealized notion. Seven books were named as finalists for the first CASEY: Baseball’s Greatest Experiment, The Celebrant, Hoopla, Invisible Men, […]

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Every time the High Holidays come around, you can be sure you’ll be reading stories about Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg, the two greatest Jewish baseball players of all time. Both refused to compromise their religious beliefs to play on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews — Edgar Guest even penned […]

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Happy birthday, Bill Lee

December 28, 2007

The Spaceman turns 61 today. Books by or about Lee include: Baseball Eccentrics: The Most Entertaining, Outrageous, and Unforgettable Characters in the Game, with Jim Prime (Triumph, 2007) The Wrong Stuff, with Richard Lally (Paperback edition by Three Rivers Press, 2006) Have Glove, Will Travel: The Adventures of a Baseball Vagabond, with Richard Lally (Paperback […]

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Three book reviewers for The New York Times weigh in with their top choices of the year. Not much of a surprise that there are no baseball titles deemed worthy of inclusion (not even on their list of 100 Notable books for 2007.) I actually have a few of the titles listed, including Michael Chabon’s […]

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Yet another list…

December 27, 2007

Film critic Richard Roeper’s best and worst baseball films of all time: Best (In order of preference) Worst (In alpha order*) The Natural The Babe Bull Durham The Babe Ruth Story Field of Dreams The Bad News Bears Go to Japan Bang the Drum Slowly The Fan Pride of the Yankees Fear Strikes Out Major […]

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Another "top" list

December 21, 2007

From the BookFinder.com blog comes this loist of classic titles deemed the best on the game. “Compiling a list of books about baseball has only two inherent difficulties: where to begin, and where to end. In the final press release we would only be able to mention ten titles. Imagine my despair as I looked […]

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From Delaware Online, this list of five good reads to keep a fan warm during the off-season. The subjects range in “age” from the early 1900s to the mid 1990s, with, mercifully, no mention of cheating or steroids. The Glory of Their Times, by Lawrence Ritter John McGraw, by Charles C. Alexander The Era, by […]

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Here come the top ten lists

December 15, 2007

One-Minute Book Reviews offers a list of their choice for the 10 best books of 2007. Surprisingly, it includes a baseball title. Not so surprisingly, it’s not really about baseball; it’s really about poetry — haikus specifically — with baseball themes. Baseball Haiku: American and Japanese Haiku and Senryu on Baseball (Norton, $19.95), edited and […]

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Compiled by Peter L. de Rosa. Includes works prior to 2000 in the categories of: General Histories Reference Works Anthologies and Collections Biographies Memoirs and Oral Histories Season and Team Histories Novels and Related works Specialized Works Periodicals Simulations and Games Movies and Documentaries  

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Two baseball titles account for 10 percent of “Books That Changed Men’s Lives,” according an Oct. 3 entry on Amazon Bookstore’s Blog. I’m guessing these are not in any kind of order, but Michael Lewi’s Moneyball is listed second. I daresay the most unusual addition to the eclectic list (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns? The […]

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