And now for something completely different: Part 2

2010 title

Ron Kaplan’s Baseball Bookshelf: The Podcast! In the second part of the podcast, we chat with Jeff Gillenkirk, author of Home, Away, which follows a review of the book.  http://www.ronkaplansbaseballbookshelf.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/GillenPodcast061210.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

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Hall of Fame offers Author’s Series program

Annoucements

The Hall of Fame’s Summer Authors’ Series kicks off June 19 and continues throughout July and August. The program brings several noted writers to the Hall of Fame’s Bullpen Theater for special lectures as fans can hear first-hand how their stories became part of written history. These presentations allow visitors to learn the story behind […]

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Bookshelf review: Mike and Mike’s Rules for Sports and Life

2010 title

by Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, with Andrew Chaikivsky. ESPN Books, 2010 A caveat and a confession: While “hate” may be too strong a word, I “intensely dislike” sports-talk radio. The idea of (supposedly) grown men and women getting apoplectic on the air over Oliver Perez or Ron Artest or Bill Belichick, et al…not my […]

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These weeks (June 7, 14) in Sports Illustrated

2010 title

June 14: A piece on catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s troubles getting the ball back to the pitcher MLB poll: Which outfielder has the best arm? What’s up with all this great pitching? Wave of the Future, by Tom Verducci. More on the MLB draft here, here, here, and here. Joe Posnanski on Stephen Strausburg June 14 […]

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Bookshelf review: Home, Away

2010 title

by Jeff Gillenkirk. Chin Music Press, 2010 Just in time for Father’s Day, Home, Away is the tale of the sacrifices we make for our children. In the case, it’s a multi-million dollar contract that pitcher Jason Thibodeuax is giving up to raise his wayward son, Rafe, the product of the first romantic encounter the […]

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Birthday greetings, June 8

"Oddballs"

To Van Lingle Mungo, made famous in a song by Dave Frishberg: And to Eddie Gaedel, because he could probably fit on a bookshelf.

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Birthday greetings, June 7

2009 title

To Thurman Munson, who would have been 63, believe it or not.

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Anthology call for chapters: Baseball in Class

Academic/scholarly journals

Ron Kates/Middle Tennessee State University (rkates@mtsu.edu) This scholarly multidisciplinary anthology examines the intersection of baseball and class in American and global cultures. While embracing the rich history of themes of class and class conflict in baseball fiction, poetry, and drama, this collection also seeks to extend the discussion throughout other disciplines, some even far afield […]

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Because an iPad (if you could snag one) could fit on your book shelf

Because I can...

Better leave it there, because you can’t take it to Yankee Stadium. According to the team’s posted security measures: “The following items are prohibited: Any soft-sided bag larger than 16 inches by 16 inches by 8 inches, including diaper bags, backpacks and purses Briefcases, coolers and hard-sided bags and containers Glass, cans and plastic bottles […]

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Sneak peek: the NY Times annual baseball book feature

2010 title

Marc Tracy, who writes for the online Tablet magazine, publishes the Times‘ big baseball roundup, which appears in the June 6 issue. This year’s titles include: Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu, a 50th anniversary reprinting (in book form) of John Updike’s iconic paean to Ted Williams in his last game Mint Condition, by Dave Jamieson […]

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Cards making a comeback?

Baseball Cards

No, not the St. Louis “Redbirds,” but the little pieces of cardboard from our youth (which for some is farther in the past than others). The Bookshelf has previously posted about Josh Wilker’s Cardboard Gods and David Jamieson’s Mint Condition. Here’s some more food for thought. The Baseball Hall of Fame is currently featuring a […]

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Bookshelf Review: The Last Lion

2010 title

My review of Bill Madden’s riveting profile of the Yankees owner was published on Bookreporter.com. You can read it here.

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Birthday Greetings, June 5

Baseball in war time

Those who share my birthday include: The late Mike Coolbaugh, whose death from a line drive in a minor league game was achingly chronicled by S.L. Price in Heart of the Game: Life, Death, and Mercy in Minor League America. Lou Brissie, whose amazing comeback from devastating injuries suffered during World War II was the […]

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Birthday Greetings

"Oddballs"

To Phil Linz, 71, because I keep several harmonicas on my bookshelf. Kinda feel sorry for him. He spent seven seasons in the majors, but when he dies, the obituary will highlight the Harmonica Incident. Of course, Linz would probably disagree, since it’s kept him in the spotlight for all these years.

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TWIBB: June 4, 2010

2010 title

This top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, June 4. Title Rank General Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of  Baseball, by Bill Madden 1 The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime, by Jason Turbow with Michael Duca 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, […]

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I’d flip to get one of these

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

The Brooklyn Cyclones evidently still like Ike Davis, who played for the Mets’ Single-A affiliate in 2008, hitting .256 with 15 doubles, 17 RBIs and 17 runs scored in 58 games. So what higher tribute than to honor him with his own bobble head? Oh, but not just any bobble head: The game will be […]

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Bits and pieces

2010 title

Yankees.baseball-news-update.com posted reviews of two titles: Dayn Perry’s Reggie Jackson, and 1921, by Spatz and Steinberg. While the writer deems both to be “serious and thoughtful volumes displaying highly impressive research….  neither book quite fully succeeds.” A celebrity first pitch I’d love to see: A profile in Smithsonian Magazine outs Harper Lee, author of the […]

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National Pastime Radio

2010 title

George Will put in an appearance on The Brian Lehrer Show in April (how did I miss that), to discuss the re-release of Men at Work, first published 20 years ago. Say what you will about Will’s politics, he loves his baseball and can discuss it without engaging in overly vainglorious verbosity. You can hear […]

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The Cooperstown Baseball Symposium

Academic/scholarly journals

Former NY Times reporter Claire Smith will be the keynote speaker at the 22nd Annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, which kicks off (pardon the football metaphor) on Wednesday, June 2 and runs til Friday, June 4. Having attended one of these, I can tell you that it’s great fun, despite the scholarly […]

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For the Boys on Memorial Day

2010 title

I ran this Q&A with Gary Bedingfield, author and host Baseball in Wartime, last November in honor of Veteran’s Day. Thought I’d do post again to commemorate Memorial Day. In addition, I received a sweet little video recently which also has some WW II content. Around the League, 1939-1946 was filmed and later narrated by […]

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