* New York, New York, a hell of a (baseball) town

2009 title

Sorry, give me a minute here. The Mets just lost their game with the Yankees when Luis Castillo dropped a two-out POP UP that allowed two runs to score. TWO HANDS, dammit!! Anyway, my review of several books that encompass the Yankees and Mets during interleague weekend appear on the latest posting of Bookreporter.com. Titles […]

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* Happy birthday, Hideki Matsui

Birthday greetings

The Yankees slugger turns 35 today. Two books tell his story: Hideki Matsui: Sportsmanship, Modesty, and the Art of the Home Run and Godzilla Takes the Bronx: The Inside Story of Hideki Matsui. Gee, without looking at the book cover, I wonder which title was written by a Japanese and which by a U.S author.

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* Author Q&A: Michael Shapiro

2009 title

Metsmerizedonline posted this interview with the author of Bottom of the Ninth.

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* Poetry. In motion?

2009 title

Although I write a weekly hiaku for my newspaper on the week’s Torah reading, I rarely touch poetry. It’s too subjective.(Here’s my favorite, which I heard on an old Tony Kornhieser radio program: “Haikus can be fun /but sometimes they don’t make sense: /Refrigerator.” Hee.) Anyway, that said, here’s an article from the Hudson Reporter […]

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*A blast from the past

"Oddballs"

Another piece of trivia: Phil Rizzuot was a guest on the premier of the popular TV game show, What’s My Line? (Feb. 2, 1950). I was tickled by the formality between the host and the panelists. Compare that with today’s beauts like Deal or No Deal.

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* A-Rod a bust

2009 title

According to this item by Don McKee in the Philadelphia Inquirer: In case you have to buy a present for someone you really don’t like much, take a look at Selena Roberts’ unauthorized biography of Alex Rodriguez. According to the Associated Press, A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez has been a major disappointment. Since […]

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* Are there too many books on steroids?

2008 title

Yes, according to this post from The Tao of Stieb, a Toronto-based blog. Last month, we had some time to kill at a Chapters megastore….What we were met with was depressing enough to make us literally (and I mean literally) recoil and walk away. The baseball section was a wall that was almost completely filled […]

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* Review: Pull Up a Chair

2009 title

The Ventura County Star posted this review on Curt Smith’s new Vin Scully biography. Upshot: Some people say “God is in the details.” Others say “the devil is in the details.” With Smith’s writing both are present. Those of us who look forward to poring over every facet of Scully’s life won’t be disappointed; Smith […]

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* New book examines Big Red Machine's architect Howsam

2009 title

From the Cincinnati Enquirer, this piece about a new biography on Bob Howsam by author Daryl Smith. I wonder if there was a reason the writer doesn’t actually mention the title of the book in the article? The Amazon Report: Making the Big Red Machine: Bob Howsam and the Cincinnati Reds of the 1970s

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* More National Pastime Radio

2009 title

“Three baseball books are discussed: A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez by Selena Roberts, American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime by the staff of the New York Daily News, and The Yankee Years by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci.” You read and listen to the […]

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* Now hear this: Zev Chafets

2009 title

Here’s the audio interview with Zev Chafets, author of Cooperstown Confidential. http://rksbaseballbookshelf.wordpress.com/files/2009/06/zevchafets_raw.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

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* Author interview: Zev Chafets

2009 title

The cover of Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and The Inside Story of The Baseball Hall of Fame features four circa 1920 players with their heads cropped off. How appropriate, since a lot of what Zev Chafets has to say turns conventional wisdom on its head. Chafets, the founding managing editor of the Jerusalem Report and […]

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* Review: The Spitball Knuckleball Book

2009 title

From my rival, BaseballBookReview. Upshot: Overall, The Spitball Knuckleball Book by Tom E. Mahl is a welcomed addition into the library of baseball books that exist, and will certainly make both a wonderful read for fans with an interest in the game’s history, as well a wonderful resource for those who want to dig deeper […]

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* National Pastime Radio

2009 title

Several baseball items have popped up on NPR shows in recent days: Larry Tye, author of the new biography Satchel: The Life and Times of An American Legend, was a guest on Fresh Air. You can hear the show here as well as read an excerpt from the book. *** Brian Lehrer had this segment […]

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* PTI on Ibanez accusations

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

I love Pardon the Interruption, and not just because the show tends to tend to agree with my point of view and vice versa. On yesterday’s show, Messers Wilbon and Kornheiser weighed in on the Raul Ibanez steroids situation, which I had addressed earlier in the afternon. (Funny, but the whole situation stemmed from a […]

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* A lesson in logic

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

I may be mis-remembering my old classes, so bear with me. Players who are over a “certain age” and are enjoying a good year probably take performance enhancing drugs. The Phillies’ Raul Ibanez is over a “certain age” and is enjoying a good year. Therefore, Raul Ibanez is probably taking PED. This is what it’s […]

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* Fidrych films hits the tour circuit

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

A new documentary about the late Tigers pitcher is set to make its debut, appropriately enough, in Detroit. More on the project.

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* Announcement: Lecture series on Black Baseball

Annoucements

Pride and Passion: The African American Baseball Experience All events are free and open to the public. Events will be held in the Veterans Room of the Oak Park Public Library, 834 Lake Street, Oak Park IL unless noted elsewhere. May 10 – June 30 in Library Gallery: Stephen Green, an Oak Park resident and […]

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* Yo lo tengo!

Academic/scholarly journals

You would have thought someone would have published this years ago. Oh wait, someone did. Somewhere, many years ago when the Montreal Expos were in their heyday, I had a French-English baseball dictionary. Wish I could get my hands on that again.

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* A trio of reviews

2009 title

from TomatoNation.com, this piece which incldues something new (American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime, by Jeff Perlman), something old (The Last Nine Innings: Inside the Real Game Fans Never See, by Charles Euchner) and something older (Seasons In Hell: With Billy Martin, Whitey Herzog and “The […]

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