More Moneyball, with interest

2011 title

Okay, this time I mean it. These will be the last links to some interesting pieces about the new film. From Forbes, “Can Brad Pitt Pitch ‘Moneyball’ to Box Office Glory?” From Entertainment Weekly‘s “Inside Movies” column, “‘Moneyball’: How audiences fell back in love with screenwriting.” From Pop Matters, “Moneyball: By The Numbers” From The […]

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ESPN does The Bartman

2011 title

No, not the music video from The Simpsons, but one of their excellent “30 for 30” documentary films. Catching Hell, which also tells the story of Bill Buckner’s ill-timed error in game Six of the 1986 World Series,  airs tomorrow on ESPN at 8 p.m. EST. It is one of the entries in the Baseball […]

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Review: Mark Kurnalsnky’s bio on Hank Greenberg

2011 title

The Jewish Review of Books (shouldn’t that be Review of Jewish Books?) ran this review of Mark Kurlansky’s recent biography, Hank Greenberg: The Hero Who Didn’t Want To Be One. The piece begins with a reference to Mark Helprin’s short story, “Perfection,” which “re-imagined Bernard Malamud’s “Natural” as an adolescent Holocaust survivor whose otherworldly ability […]

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Fathers playing catch with sons, Internet edition

Bloggers

Jeff Gillenkirk, author of the novel Home, Away about a baseball star dad who puts everything on the line to raise his son, expands on some of those lessons in a new, non-fictional blog, Dads at Bat (“Thoughts about fatherhood, baseball and the American family”).

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This week (Sept. 29) in Sports Illustrated

2011 title

As promised, here are the baseball-related items from the current issue, which features the release of Moneyball as its cover story. Austin Murphy on “Brad Pitt Deals“ Tom Verducci on “The Art of Winning An (Even More) Unfair Game“ And a brief history of Sabermetrics Also, Joe Posnanski on uber Cubs fan Steve Hirschtick.

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Moneyball: The reviews are in

2011 title

I’m not going to dwell on this much more. This being the day of the release, the dailies  have issued their critiques. The New York Times made it one of their “Critics Picks.” (Here’s a sneak peak of a profile on Billy Beane slated to run in this Sunday’s NYT Magazine. The New York Daily […]

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Books for bewildered Astros fans

Biography

Take heart, Houston. You may have the worst team in the Majors this season, but you can relive past glorious and otherwise amuse yourselves by reading these Astros-related titles, posted by Ray Kerby and Darrell Pittman on AstrosDaily.com.

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Literary birthday greetings: Tommy Lasroda and Larry Dierker

Autobiography/memoirs

Lasorda, the “Dodgerest” of them all, turns 84 today. I Live for This: Baseball’s Last True Believer The Artful Dodger Dierker, All-Star pitcher and later manager for the Houston Astros, turns 65. This Ain’t Brain Surgery: How to Win the Pennant Without Losing Your Mind My Team: Choosing My Dream Team from My Forty Years […]

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Who should review?

2011 title

I’ve been in a cave most of the time, so it’s just now dawning on me: When it comes to movies and books like Moneyball and The Art of Fielding (which you just know is going to be turned into a feature film before too long), who should be considered the more credible reviewers? Should […]

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Cooperstown to host sixth annual Film Festival

2011 title

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will recognize the twin traditions of baseball and film when, for the sixth consecutive year, it hosts the Baseball Film Festival in Cooperstown, Sept. 30-Oct. 2. Fourteen films, with themes ranging from Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson to the 2003 National League Championship Series, will be screened […]

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“Oh wad some power the giftie gie us to see oursel’s as others see us!”

2011 title

Fascinating piece by Andy Martino in the NY Daily News about how the subjects are portrayed in the book and movie. Kind of like listening to yourself on a tape recorder and asking, “Do I really sound like that?” There have been several articles noting the differences between  the real Paul DePodesta and the interpretation […]

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Congratulations, Mariano

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

The Yankee closer nonpareil became the all-time saves leader when he sealed yesterday’s 3-0 win against the Twins. In his honor, a few appropriate titles for your consideration: Bullpen Diaries: Mariano Rivera, Bronx Dreams, Pinstripe Legends, and the Future of the New York Yankees Heroes of the Bullpen: Baseball’s Greatest Relief Pitchers Pen Men: Baseball’s […]

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Moneyball, reassessed

Classic title

With the movie set to premiere this week, look for articles like these from various baseball/sabermetric/other sites re-examining the book to see if the principles are still valid. “Where does Moneyball stand now?” from BeyondtheBoxscore “For the Love of Moneyball: The Failure of Sabermetrics In the Absence of Necessary Resources,” from AthleticsNation “Your Field Guide To […]

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Does the Sports Illustrated curse apply to movies?

2011 title

Hope not, because Moneyball gets the honors for the Sept. 26 issue. The stories aren’t up yet, but I’ll post when available.

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A new round for Moneyball

2011 title

With the movie about to make its debut this week, look for an increase in sales (especially if they put Brad Pitt on the cover of a new edition). I’m sorry to miss the premiere tomorrow (the newspaper goes to press on Tuesdays), but I hope to catch it on Friday (looking forward to see […]

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Mission accomplished: Phase One

501 Baseball Books...

The 501 titles for the manuscript have been selected! Now comes the part where I put it all into the format required by the publisher There are actually a few more 501; I imagine as I tinker and fine tune, I will replace a few. One of the pleasant problems has been rediscovering old favorites […]

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And now a message from our artist

"Oddballs"

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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A Yank in the AUS

Documentary

Actually several former Yankees — including Hall of Famers Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, and Phil Rizzuto — made a trip to Austria during the strike season of 1994. The story was capture on film and is in the process of being produced as A Baseball Story Never Told, a documentary by Randy Reynolds, who accompanied […]

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Moron the Mets’ 9/11 hat fiasco

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

If there’s one thing I hate, it’s spin for the sake of saving one’s a**. Of course, this could be something coming out of Bud Selig’s PR machine, but according to an article in the New York Post claims the Commissioner’s office never threatened the Mets with fines if they wore caps honoring the first […]

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Literary birthday greetings: Dave Kaplan

Because I can...

Dave “No Relation” Kaplan is the executive director of the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center, which has hosted some excellent author discussions over the years. (Allen Barra, author of Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee, and Neil Lanctot, author of Campy: The Two Lives of Roy Campanella, will explore the lives and legacies of baseball’s two […]

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