The author of such books as The As: A Baseball History; The Athletics of Philadelphia: Connie Mack’s White Elephants, 1901-1954; A Tiger in His Time: Hal Newhouser and the Burden of Wartime Ball; and Pete Rose: A Biography, died January 24 at the age of 91. From his obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer: [Jordan] was fanatical […]
It’s a daunting task, following in the footsteps of a legend. The players who came after Mickey Mantle or Ted Williams or Willie Mays didn’t have it easy. They were faulted for not being able to replicate the feats of their predecessors. How unfair. I was thinking about that when I came across this piece in […]
Tagged as:
Roger Angell
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]
Tagged as:
Ken Caminetti,
Rogerl Angell
Missed over the holiday weekend: the passing of the talented Mr. Wheeler, a writer who assisted on the autobiographies of superstars like Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson, and Mike Piazza, as well as his own thought-provoking work. Here’s The New York Times‘ obituary, contributed by Richard Sandomir. I had the pleasure of talking with Wheeler for […]
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Lonnie Wheeler
Going old school here as we return to an audio-only Conversations. A couple of years ago, I was engaged to work on the memoirs of a gentleman from the Middle East. He was in my town on an extended trip, staying at an Air BnB run by friends of ours. Just about every day after […]
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Bartolo Colon,
Michael Stahl
The author of The Boys of Summer and almost 20 other books died yesterday at the age of 92. Here’s his obituary from The New York Times by Bruce Weber. You know he will be the topic of numerous tributes from sport and literary outlets in the days to come. Here are just a couple: […]
Tagged as:
Brooklyn Dodgers,
Roger Kahn
No Place I Would Rather Be: Roger Angell and a Life in Baseball Writing, by Joe Bonomo (University of Nebraska Press, 2019) There are a handful of people I would love to have on as a guest for a Bookshelf Conversation, the podcast segment of this blog: James Earl Jones, Dennis Haysbert, John Thorn and, […]
Tagged as:
Roger Angell
Welcome to 2019. I hope y’all had a great holiday season. “Pitchers and catchers” are still more than a month away, so I hope this list of forthcoming books will serve as a source of warmth and comfort until then. We seem to have the requisite number of material about former stars such as Jackie […]
Tagged as:
Art Shamsky,
Baltimore Orioles,
Barry Zito,
Boston Red Sox,
Bud Selig,
Chicago Cubs,
David Cone,
Edgar Martinex,
Ernie Banks,
Harry Caray,
Jackie Robinsoin,
Los Angeles Dodgers,
Luis Tiant,
Mickey Mantle,
Moneyball,
New York Mets,
New York Yankees,
Pete Rose,
Pitching,
Roger Angell,
Ron Swoboda,
World Chanmpionship,
World Series,
Wrigley Field,
Yogi Berra
I’ve decided to bow to the times and include separate lists for e-books and audio books. Be aware that while many titles also appear in print versions, pretty much anyone can produce an e-book these days, so I’m not going to comment at all about the quality. As far as the audio goes, I’m a […]
Tagged as:
Baseball America,
baseball analysis,
baseball prospects,
baseball rookies,
Chicago Cubs,
college baseball,
Joe Maddon,
Little League,
Lou Gehrig,
Michael Lewis,
minor leagues,
New York Yankees,
prospects,
rookies
Ray Robinson was among the last of his generation of sportswriters and authors. I had the pleasure of speaking with him on several occasions in my capacity as sports editor for the NJ Jewish News. He passed away yesterday at the age of 96. Marty Appel, shown with Robinson (right) at the dedication of a […]
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Marty Appel,
Ray Robinson
About a year ago, I posted about the different covers for Bernard Malamud’s The Natural; they’re so pretty… Here’s something similar about the late Jimmy Breslin’s 1964 release, Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?: The Improbable Saga of the New York Met’s First Year, beginning with the original hardcover edition. I can’t vouch for the […]
Tagged as:
Casey Stenge;,
Jimmy Breslin,
New York Mets
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 […]
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Erik Sherman,
New York Mets
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
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Arnold Hano,
Baseball Cards,
Bill James,
David Simon,
Dock Ellis,
ESPN,
John Grisham,
Jon Leonoudakis,
Mark Ulriksen,
NPR,
Ray Negron,
Sports Illustrated,
Trouble With the Curve,
Zack Hample
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
Tagged as:
baseball fiction,
Chad Harbach,
Harvey Araton,
John Grisham,
Mordecai Brown,
New York Mets,
no-hitter,
Sandy Koufax,
Sparky Anderson,
Willard Mullin,
World Series,
Yogi Berra
The last time I spoke with Jon Leonoudakis for a Bookshelf Conversation, it was to discuss his 2012 project Not Exactly Cooperstown, a documentary about The Baseball Reliquary, a “nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history and to exploring the national pastime’s unparalleled […]
Tagged as:
Arnold Hano,
Jon Leonoudakis
In a vain attempt to clear out my inbox, here is the final B&P for the year. Hope you’ve enjoyed learning about these things as much as I have. Don’t read anything political into the posting of this piece about “How Bernie Sanders brought professional baseball to Vermont,” via The Sporting News. From outsports.com, this […]
Tagged as:
Baseball-Reference.com,
Bernie Sanders,
Bob Gibson,
Boston Red Sox,
Carlton Fisk,
Dusty Baker,
Lonnie Wheeler,
minor leagues,
Negro Leagues,
Roger Angell,
World Series
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
Tagged as:
baseball broadcasters,
baseball uniforms,
Bobby Valentine,
Boston Red Sox,
Casey at the bat,
Hofstra University,
Huffington Post,
New York Mets,
PED. Mental Floss,
Ryan Braun,
Tony Conigliaro
This is how I start off my review of Seeing Home: The Ed Lucas Story: A Blind Broadcaster’s Story of Overcoming Life’s Greatest Obstacles, by Ed Lucas and his son, Chris: “These days, the word ‘inspirational’ is tossed around a lot for things that really aren’t. But in the case of Ed Lucas, it somehow […]
Tagged as:
Christopher Lucas,
Ed Lucas,
Joe DiMagio,
Mickey Mantle,
New York Yankees,
Phil Rizzuto,
Sportswriting
is available on Amazon.com,
Throwback Thursday (aka, links dump)
September 10, 2015 · 1 comment
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
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