Baseball Best-Sellers, August 4, 2023

2022 title

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.az (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]

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Mo Money, Mo Money, Mo Money

Analytics

One of my go-to quotes about my dessert island book comes from  and episode of M*A*S*H in which Hawkeye answers the question with “The dictionary; it has all the other books in it.” This year marks the 20th anniversary since the publication of Michael Lewis’ Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. I doubt […]

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Soapbox Time: Broken records

2023 title

Welcome to a new feature when this old man spouts off about things in the game that have become annoying. Since a lot of them are eventually covered in books or other items you can put on a bookshelf, I deem it appropriate. I get a  good portion of my leads from Google alerts of […]

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Baseball Best-Sellers, July 28, 2023

2022 title

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. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]

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Baseball Best-Sellers, July 21, 2023

2022 title

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. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]

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The Bookshelf Conversations #167: John Rosengren

"Bookshelf Conversations"

As I sadly acknowledge in the video, history should be a lot older than me. Fifty years takes up a major portion of my life which means I’m old. Anyway… John Rosengren, author of The Greatest Summer in Baseball History: How the ’73 Season Changed Us Forever, had to explain the use of “forever,” one […]

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Baseball Best-Sellers, July 14, 2023

2022 title

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. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]

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Baseball Best-Sellers, July 7, 2023

2022 title

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. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]

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A(n All-)Star is born

2020 title

From The Seattle Times — based in the city which will host the 2023 midsummer classic– this list of “Great baseball movies and books in honor of MLB All-Star Week” featuring the usual suspects, at lest when it comes to films, with the possible exception of Sugar and Damn Yankees (kids, ask your grandparents. I […]

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Baseball Best-Sellers, June 23, 2023

"Bookshelf Conversations"

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. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]

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“My mother threw them out.” An oft-told tale.

Baseball Cards

Every now and then I think of what might have been. I paid for my wife’s engagement ring with the money I received by selling my 1968 Topps set. A good investment. People of my generation know what other goodies came with the cards at a time when it was rare to just buy a […]

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China and Coral (“Moneyball” and “Bull Durham”)

Anniversaries

Those are the “traditional names” for the 20th and 35th anniversaries. As mentioned in the BBS post from Friday, we are celebrating two “milestones” in baseball pop culture. Moneyball gets china for marking the 20th since its publication. Doesn’t it seem like we’ve been hearing about that for a lot longer? Friday’s entry refers to […]

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Baseball Best-Sellers, June 16, 2023

2022 title

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. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]

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The things some people might keep on a bookshelf

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

But they probably tried to fence them. HT to Lisanne R. who sent me this curiously vague story from the Montclair Local about the arrest “of the individuals responsible for the 2014 robbery of priceless memorabilia from the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center.” The story is very sparse on details, other than the gratitude […]

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What are the odds?

2023 title

This is a question I often ask in the face of an unusual event. At the age of 75, Ron “The Penguin” Cey has found a second act, including a podcast and new book, Penguin Power: Dodger Blue, Hollywood Lights, and a One-in-a-Million Big League Journey. Now you know how I feel about “superlative” titles, […]

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Bits and Pieces, June 14, 2023

2023 title

I love these studies that take a “scholarly” look at the game. So much time spent on such a relatively unimportant slice of life. You heard me. I said what I said. Coming soon (I hope) to a theater near you: The League, a documentary about Black baseball. The film — from director Sam Pollard […]

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Baseball Best-Sellers, June 9, 2023

2022 title

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. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]

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Calling all readers

My '501' book

The time has come for a revised edition of 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. Huzzah! The plan is to add material, as opposed to replacing some of the existing titles. I’m looking for suggestions for books that have been released since 501 came out in 2013. I’m going this route because […]

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Bits and Pieces, June 7, 2023

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

♦ The Atlantic published an article on the current state of the game as the cover story of its July/August issue. Funny, the online version is titled “Moneyball Broke Baseball” while the cover seems to offer a slightly more upbeat spin with “How Baseball Saved Itself.” ♦ This is the time of year when we […]

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Lest We Forget: Roger Craig

History

Before Roger Craig was an innovative coach and manager, he was a pitcher for the fledgling New York Mets (and before that a Brooklyn Dodger) who led the NL in losses with 24 in 1962 and 22 the following year. He also pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals in ’64, the Cincinnati Reds in ’65, […]

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