From the category archives:

“Oddballs”

A sad day indeed. No longer will we be able to read, in “hard copy” form, entries on baseball, contributed by such scholars as Jerome Holtzman, Benjamin Rader, and Richard Peterson. Other topics under the general heading of “baseball” include entries on Mel Allen, the Ken Burns documentary, Japanese baseball, Mexican baseball, the negro Leagues, […]

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Chris Jaffe at The Hardball Times commemorates the occasion. I remember the first time I saw the book, sitting on a table at a Barnes and Noble on East 86th Street near Third Avenue. It was like at first sight. I must admit, it was one of those books that I didn’t read read. Must […]

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My daughter, Rachel, an intern at Clear Channel, created this gallery of, ahem, “Baseball hotties” for the Z100 website.

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Where does the time go? This past Sunday, we celebrated the 500th episode of The Simpsons.(personally, I thought it was only meh). But Chris Jaffe over at Hardball Times noted that yesterday was 20 years since the softball-centric Homer at the Bat — with its own set of All-Stars — premiered. Among the athletes playing […]

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Songs and Images from the Early Years of America’s Favorite Pastime, by Jerry Silverman. Alfred Publishing Company, 2007. Fans of both old-tyme baseball and music will enjoy this one. Part-music book, part-collectible (for the reproduction of the sheet music covers), part-historical analysis, The Baseball Songbook is a collection of more than 40 tunes (mostly heretofore […]

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Wait Wait, Don’t Taft Me

January 24, 2012

(Maybe that should be “Don’t Taft me, bro.”) Our favorite NPR program featured piece of baseball this trivia in its “Not My Job” segment with guest Duke Fatir of The Four Tops. The three questions all had to do with “bottoms” (heh). * * * PETER SAGAL: Last question, President William Howard Taft had the […]

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Would be kind of neat to try with baseball books.

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Bits and pieces

January 3, 2012

Another quick attempt to catch up on past stories: This blogger appreciates Dave Jamieson’s Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession, but has a question. C. Trent Rosencrans at CBS’ Eye on Baseball created this lineup of fictional baseball all-stars from the movies, which is similar to the NY Times‘ Neil Genzlinger’s list […]

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Happy New Year, everybody! One of the “resolutions” I’m making this year is to challenge myself more. This mans doing things outside my comfort zone and pushing a bit more. This will include a return to the Podcast edition on a regular basis” and more “intellectual” pursuits than I might have considered in the past. […]

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From MLB/SBNation.

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Just in time for the holidays, here’s her reworking of a Christmas classic, made relevant to baseball fans.

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One of my long-overdue projects is an entry about the BBC, located at 67 East 11th Street in Manhattan. The tiny store run by Jay Goldberg is part gift shop, part gallery and features an eclectic collection of photos, sketches, and paintings, as well as the occasional sculpture or word-work. Goldberg, a former sports agent, […]

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Sung to the tune of “We didn’t Start the Fire,” by Bill Joel: New York Mets are shutting down, their old ballpark; won’t be found. What’s a proper way to say, “thanks for all that?” Why not host a concert, eh?, Get a mega-star to play. Google You-Tube videos: “Mets-Cubs” and “black cat.” Looking for a […]

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Cy Young or Cy Not? (Can’t believe I got four wrong!)

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Divine non-intervention

November 7, 2011

Bookshelf friend Tom Hoffarth (he of the annual “30 baseball books in 30 days” feature for the Los Angeles Daily News) posted this amusing item culled from David Javerbaum’s new book, The Last Testament: A Memoir. In short, don’t ask God to help your team; although he’s a sports fan, that’s below his pay grade. […]

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Back again…

November 5, 2011

Just returned from vacation in the Berkshires, Hancock, specifically. A very nice place just across from Jiminy Peak. Managed to get a lot of reading done, including two books that will be the subject of reviews. I wanted to give a shout out to Tom and Elizabeth of Elizabeth’s Restaurant in nearby Pittsfield. I bring […]

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Arnold Roth was kind enough to create the caricature I use for everything (including my passport photo), so I have him props whenever I can. This comes from his new blog, Humblug.  

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Kevin Youkilis has been on the disabled list for awhile now, but he’s not sitting around idle: And now available: The Making Of _____.

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I contributed a couple of pieces to Mental Floss (including the July-Aug. 2002 cover story for “The Spy Issue”) when they were just knee-high to more established magazines. So I have a soft spot for the publication even if they don’t answer my calls anymore (sniff, sniff). They’ve greatly expanded and now offer a bunch […]

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