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
Once in a while it’s good to remember that the Baseball Bookshelf is not just about books, but about movies, magazines, collectibles, and illustrations, all of which can also find a spot there on. So here’s baseball artist Graig Kreindler, whom I first “met” seven years ago when I did a profile on him for […]
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Graig Kreindler,
Lou Gehrig,
Yogi Berra Museum
Nicholas Dawidoff has pretty much done it all when it comes to non-fiction writing: memoir, biography, anthology. And done it all well. The Flyswatter, a sentimental recollection of his grandfather, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 2003. His first book, The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg, is considered the […]
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anthology,
Bergino Baseball Clubhouse,
Moe Berg,
Nicholas Dawidoff
Jealousy reared its ugly head once again when I saw the full-page review of Josh Ostergaard‘s The Devil’s Snake Curve in The New York Times‘ Sunday book supplement in June. It brought back memories of Chad Harbach’s 2011 debut novel, The Art of Fielding, which garnered him tremendous kudos, not to mention a huge advance. (The […]
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Josh Ostergaard,
Kansas City Royals,
New York Yankees
Few things bring a smile to my face more than memories of Montreal. My maternal family hails from that city and I spent many happy times there, including five summers working at Camp Maromac in the Laurentian Mountains. So it’s only natural I would become a fan of the Montreal Expos. And disappointed when they […]
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Jonah Keri,
Montreal Expos,
Washington Nationals
Last week, I spoke with Jason Kendall, the former major league veteran and co-author of the new book, Throwback: A Big-League Catcher Tells How the Game Is Really Played. This week, we have his collaborator, Lee Judge, who blogs about the KC Royals for the Kansas City Star, but is perhaps more widely recognized as […]
Tagged as:
Jason Kendall,
Lee Judge
This is a typical Jason Kendall photo. It is a picture of intensity and passion. There are a few books out there, ostensibly written by pro athletes describing how to play the game. Joe DiMaggio published one (Baseball for Everyone), so did Bob Feller (Pitching to Win). But those were just white bread, without nuance, […]
Tagged as:
baseball analysis,
Catching,
Jason Kendall,
Kansas City Star,
Lee Judge
Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. On with the show… Here are the top ten baseball books as […]
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Baseball instruction,
Bernard Malamud,
Chicago Cubs,
George F. Will,
Jason Kendall,
Lee Judge,
Mariano Rivera,
Michael Feinstein,
minor leagues,
Moneyball,
New York Yankees,
Oakland As,
Ted Williams,
The Natural,
Wrigley Field
One of my favorite movie quotes comes from Men in Black when Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) is trying to recruit police officer Edwards (Will Smith): Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you […]
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baseball writing,
Hal Bodley,
USA TODAY
Many books try to link a premise with a larger theme. If you try hard enough, you can find connections between any items. But Chris Donnelly does a better-than-most job of convincing readers How the Yankees Explain New York. Let’s be honest: a lot of people outside the Big Apple think its residents have a […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
Billy Martin,
George Steinbrenner,
New York Yankees
The top ten baseball books as per Amazon.com. Caveat 1: Print editions only (at least for now); I’m old fashioned that way. Caveat 2: Since the rankings are updated every hour, these lists might not longer be 100 percent accurate by the time you read it. But it’ll be close enough for government work. Caveat […]
Tagged as:
Chicago Cubs,
George F. Will,
Jason Kendall,
Kostya Kennedy,
Mariano Rivera,
Michael Feinstein,
minor leagues,
Moneyball,
New York Yankees,
Oakland As,
Pete Rose,
Ted Williams,
Willie Randolph,
Wrigley Field
Veteran actor Dwier Brown appeared as John Kinsella, the father of Kevin Costner’s character, Ray, in the 1989 classic Field of Dreams. He was only on screen for about five minutes at the end, but for many, those are the most powerful moments, with the ability to turn otherwise composed men and women into misty-eyed […]
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Dwier Brown,
Field of Dreams
I first met Judy Lynn Johnson at Hoftsra University’s symposium marking the 50th anniversary of the NY Mets. Along with Jason Antos, we presented papers on literature about the team; hers was a lot more literary than either Jason’s or mine. So it was a pleasant surprise to learn that she was publishing a baseball […]
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baseball memoir,
Judy Lynn Johnson,
women and baseball
Lou Gehrig. Jackie Robinson. Two of the game’s most iconic players, celebrated for their courage under extreme conditions. Both the subjects of outstanding biographies by Jonathan Eig, and both of which appear in 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die Eig has worked as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Chicago magazine, […]
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ALS,
Jackie Robinson,
Jonathan Eig,
Lou Gehrig
As of the end of the 2013 season, Jewish athletes had accounted for about 170 of nearly 19,000 Major Leaguers. So you wouldn’t expect the new “Chasing Dreams: Baseball & Becoming American” exhibit at the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia to have the breadth of material one would see in Cooperstown. Nevertheless, […]
John Feinstein is one of the more prolific sportswriters of this generation. He has published more than 25 books on college and pro basketball, college and pro football, tennis, golf, and, of course, baseball. His 2008 title, Living on the Black, a doubleheader of a biography on Mike Mussina and Tom Glavine, pitchers on the […]
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John Feinstein,
minor league baseball
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 […]
Tagged as:
John Roseboro,
John Rosengren,
Jonah Keri,
Juan Marichal,
Kostya Kennedy,
Montreal Expos,
Pete Rose
is available on Amazon.com,
The Bookshelf Conversation: Jonathan Eig
April 21, 2014
Lou Gehrig. Jackie Robinson. Two of the game’s most iconic players, celebrated for their courage under extreme conditions. Both the subjects of outstanding biographies by Jonathan Eig, and both of which appear in 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die Eig has worked as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Chicago magazine, […]
Tagged as: ALS, Jackie Robinson, Jonathan Eig, Lou Gehrig
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