From the category archives:

Team profile

TWIBB: Jan. 21, 2011

January 21, 2011

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Jan. 21 at 9 p.m. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2011 1 Baseball America 2011 Prospect Handbook: The 2011 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 2 The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by […]

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TWIBB: Dec 31, 2010

December 31, 2010

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Dec. 31,2010. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis, by 2 Baseball Forecaster 2011, by Ron Shandler 3 Baseball Prospectus 2011 4 Beyond […]

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Literary birthday greetings

December 21, 2010

Trying to catch up here: December 20 noted the birthdates of Fred Merkle (1888), Gabby Hartnett (1900; Gabby Hartnett: The Life and Times of the Cubs’ Greatest Catcher) and David Wright (1982; Mets Pride: For the Love of Mookie, Mike, and David Wright). Andy Van Slyke turns the big 5-oh today. Odd that his name […]

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TWIBB: Dec. 17, 2010

December 17, 2010

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com, as of Friday, Dec. 17 at 1 p.m. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 2 Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh […]

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TWIBB: Dec. 10, 2010

December 10, 2010

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Dec. 10, at 11 a.m. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 2 Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh […]

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Picture this

December 9, 2010 · 1 comment

One of my favorite off-beat baseball sites is Craig Robinson’s Flip Flop Flyball. (I wrote about Robinson and his work awhile back.) Rather than the usual staid numbers, Robinson — a graphic artist originally from Great Britain — takes unusual items and turns them into colorful graphic representations. Among the topics he’s considered on the […]

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The popular Chicago Cubs and White Sox third baseman died Wednesday at the age of 70. At the heyday of my fanhood — 1969 — the Cubs were the hated enemy and Santo was the epitome of the arrogant, self-entitled rival, deeming the Mets unworthy to shine the shoes of the Chicagoans. But later in […]

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TWIBB: Dec. 3, 2010

December 3, 2010

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Dec. 3 at Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh Hamilton with Tim Keown 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by […]

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(Sorry, no nickname. This is becoming more and more of a problem as the players get younger.) Robert James Monday (how do you get Rick from that? You get Rick from Richard; you get Bob from Robert) turns 65 today. A solid outfielder for the Athletics (he was the number one overall pick in the […]

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TWIBB: Noc. 19, 2010

November 19, 2010

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Nov. 19 at 10 a.m. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh Hamilton and Tim Keown 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, […]

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TWIBB: Nov. 12, 2010

November 12, 2010

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh Hamilton and Tim Keown 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, […]

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Cubs owner goes Undercover

November 7, 2010

Todd Ricketts, one of the owners of the Chicago Cubs, goes undercover within one of baseball’s most famous franchises and fights for the chance to redeem himself after being let go on the second day on UNDERCOVER BOSS, Sunday, Nov. 7 on CBS! Related articles Chicago Cubs Exec Throws a Curve to ‘Undercover Boss’ (dailyfinance.com) […]

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TWIBB: Nov. 5, 2010

November 5, 2010

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Nov. 5 at Noon. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh Hamilton and Tim Keown 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, […]

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Bits and pieces

October 15, 2010

Roy Halladay’s no-hitter in the NLDS naturally brought back memories of Don Larsen perfect game in the 1956 World Series (and forgive a soapbox moment, but I wish they would stop lumping all post-season records together; Halladay’s marvelous game does not make him and Larsen the only pitchers to throw no-hitters in the playoffs, as […]

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To Hall of Famer Joe Cronin, who was born this date in 1906. Cronin was one of those baseball lifers who excelled as a player and then went on to have a lengthy career as a manager and front office executive. Joe Cronin: A Life in Baseball, by Mark Armour From Sandlots to League President: […]

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TWIBB: Oct. 8, 2010

October 8, 2010

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 8. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis 2 Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu: John Updike on Ted Williams, […]

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TWIBB: Oct. 1, 2010

October 1, 2010

Can’t believe the season is almost over. The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 1. Title Rank General Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu: John Updike on Ted Williams, by John Updike 1 The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 2 Moneyball: […]

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The Yankee Hater Memoirs, 1953-2005, by Gene Hutmaker and (with some reluctance) Michael A. Hutmaker, VirtualBookWorm, 2006. Not every author has the luxury — or even necessity — of working with a large publishing company. More and more these days, writers are going solo, finding alternate ways of getting their  work to the public. Gene […]

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Celebrating Ball Four

September 20, 2010

From Terry Cannon, executive director of the Baseball Reliquary, which hosted the Sept. 18 event honoring the 40thn anniversary of the literary classic: Yesterday’s “Ball Four Turns Forty” program…was a marvelous and magical day.  An SRO crowd (approximately 175 attendees) witnessed two wonderful panel discussions and the world premiere screening of “The Seattle Pilots: Short […]

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TWIBB: Sept. 17, 2010

September 17, 2010

The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Noon on Friday, Sept. 27. Title Rank General Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 1 Ball Four, by Jim Bouton 2 The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime by Jason Turbow and Michael […]

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