Haven’t done one of these in a long time so here goes: From the New York Sportsday website, a review of A Baseball Guy: Former Kansas City Royals Farmhand, Scout, and Major League Coach Takes You Inside the Game He Loves, by Guy Hansen and Tom Gresham. From Lookout Landing, a Seattle Mariners-centric site, this […]
Tagged as:
Cleveland Indians,
George F. Will,
Guy Hansen,
Kansas City Royals,
Mickey Cochrane,
Pittsburgh Pirates,
Seinfeld
There have been dozens of guys like Jimmie Reese, Birdie Tebbets, and many others who are known as “baseball lifers.” They spend their entire professional career in the game perhaps starting out as a player before moving into scouting or coaching/managing, or the front office. I have found there are baseball lifers among authors as well. […]
Tagged as:
baseball writers,
Peter Golenbock
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
Tagged as:
baseball fiction,
Bernard Malamud,
Brian Kenny,
instructionals,
Lenny Dykstra,
managing,
Michael Lewis,
Mike Mathany,
Moneyball,
Oakland Athletics,
Pitching,
St. Louis Cardinals,
Ted Williams
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
Tagged as:
Bernard Malamud,
Brian Kenny,
instructionals,
Lenny Dykstra,
managing,
Michael Lewis,
Mike Mathany,
Moneyball,
New York Mets,
Oakland Athletics,
Pitching,
Ron Darling,
St. Louis Cardinals,
Ted Williams,
World Series
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
Tagged as:
Bernard Malamud,
Brian Kenny,
independent leagues,
instructionals,
Lenny Dykstra,
managing,
Michael Lewis,
Mike Mathany,
Moneyball,
Oakland Athletics,
Pitching,
St. Louis Cardinals,
Tim Kurkjian
Once in awhile a book will come along purporting to be “the next big thing” in how people perceive, discuss, and/or enjoy the national pastime. These are usually written by someone in the broadcasting industry, which makes sense. After all, these people have seen hundreds of games a year; who better to offer insight with […]
Tagged as:
Brian Kenny
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
Tagged as:
Bernard Malamud,
Brian Kenny,
independent leagues,
instructionals,
Lenny Dykstra,
managing,
Michael Lewis,
Mike Mathany,
Moneyball,
Oakland Athletics,
Pitching,
St. Louis Cardinals,
Tim Kurkjian
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
Tagged as:
Bernard Malamud,
Brian Kenny,
independent leagues,
instructionals,
Lenny Dykstra,
managing,
Michael Lewis,
Mike Mathany,
Moneyball,
Oakland Athletics,
Pitching,
St. Louis Cardinals,
Tim Kurkjian
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
Tagged as:
Detroit Tigers,
independent leagues,
instructionals,
Lenny Dykstra,
managing,
Michael Lewis,
Mike Mathany,
Moneyball,
Oakland Athletics,
Pitching,
St. Louis Cardinals,
Ted Williams,
Tim Kurkjian,
Tom Stanton
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 […]
Tagged as:
Lenny Dykstra,
Leonard Lopate,
National Public Radio,
New York Mets,
NPR,
s
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
Tagged as:
amateur baseball,
baseball analysis,
baseball fiction,
Bernard Malamud,
ESPN,
H.A. Dorfman,
instructionals,
Los Angeles Dodgers,
Michel Lewis,
Mike Matheny,
Oakland Athletics,
Pitching,
Shoeless Joe Jackson,
St. Louis Cardinals,
Tim Kurkjian
You can read the introduction to Part One here. The sentiment remains the same. http://www.ronkaplansbaseballbookshelf.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Bookshelf-Michael-Leahy-Part-Two.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Tagged as:
Los Angeles Dodgers,
Michael Leahy,
Sandy Koufax,
Vietnam War
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
Tagged as:
baseball analysis,
ESPN,
Frank "Big Hurt" Thomas,
Jim Palmer,
Michel Lewis,
Mike Matheny,
New York Mets,
Oakland Athletics,
Pitching,
Ron Darling,
St. Louis Cardinals,
Tim Kurkjian,
Ty Cobb,
World Series
If you’re lucky, once in a while on your literary travels, you will come across a book that will be unlike anything you’ve read before. This is especially true if you concentrate on a specific genre or theme like mystery novels, biographies about your favorite personality or, oh, I don’t know, let’s just say baseball […]
Tagged as:
Dick Trazcewski,
Jeff Torborg,
Los Angeles Dodgers,
Lou Johnson,
Michael Leahy,
Sandy Koufax,
Tommy Davis,
Wes Parker
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
Tagged as:
baseball analysis,
ESPN,
instructionals,
Jim Palmer,
Los Angeles Dodgers,
Michel Lewis,
Mike Matheny,
Milwaukee Brewers,
Oakland Athletics,
Pitching,
St. Louis Cardinals,
Ted Williams,
Tim Kurkjian,
Ty Cobb
Many of us play Strat-o-matic or some other fantasy version of the game. Robert Coover wrote the classic baseball fiction, The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. Well, Coover has company in Jeff Polman, who recently released Twinbill: Further Immersions in Historical Baseball Fiction — his fourth book — which includes a speculative […]
Tagged as:
Hank Greenberg,
Jeff Polman
Full disclosure: Howard Megdal and I go back a fair piece. I did a story on him when he published The Baseball Talmud: The Definitive Position-by-Position Ranking of Baseball’s Chosen Players and we’ve kept in touch over the years. In a sense, I consider him my “rabbi,” the consigliere type as opposed to than something […]
Tagged as:
Excelle Sports,
Howard Megdal,
New York Mets,
St. Louis Cardinals
You can pretty much count on a new book or two about the Yankees of Mets every year. But 2016 has a bonanza with titles covering not only the latter’s success in 2015, but the 30th anniversary of the World Championship 1986 squad. On of these comes from Erik Sherman, who worked with Mookie Wilson’s […]
Tagged as:
Erik Sherman,
New York Mets
Often imitated, never equaled, the author of the book that “started it all” turns 77 today. “Bulldog” was kind enough to share his thoughts with an incarnation of the Bookshelf Conversation in 2010. You can listen to all three parts here.
Tagged as:
Jim Bouton
♦ The Minnesota Spokesman Record, an African-America newspaper, posted this review of They Played for the Love of the Game: Untold Stories of Black Baseball in Minnesota, published by Frank M. White. ♦ The Lincoln (NE) Journal Star provided this piece on Roger Angell‘s memoir, This Old Man: All in Pieces. I still maintain this […]
Tagged as:
Baseball Cards,
minor leagues,
Negro Leagues,
Roger Angell,
Topps,
Washington Senators
is available on Amazon.com,
