* Here's something you don't see everyday

Fiction

Baseball fan ficiton! In this case, it comes from Aaron Shinsano at the East Windup Chronicle blog.

Read the full article →

* This week (May 25) in Sports Illustrated

Magazines

The main baseball story is a feature by  Tom Verducci on Randy Johnson. Wish they’d post the pictures with the articles.

Read the full article →

* Another reason to join SABR: Free books

"Oddballs"

From the SABR List-serve: Marc Okkonen’s terrific pictorial book, 2000 Cups of Coffee, is now available for download on the members-only portion of the SABR website. You can find a link to it as soon as you log onto the members’ page. This book contains images of approximately 2,000 major leaguers of the 1900-1949 era. […]

Read the full article →

* Now hear this: Curt Smith

2009 title

Curt Smith, who has a professed fondness for the boys in the baseball booth, has published another in-depth biography about an broadcasting icon. In Pull Up A Chair: The Vin Scully Story (Potomac), Smith — who has covered other industry stars as Mel Allen and Dizzy Dean— combines his admiration for the man was had […]

Read the full article →

* Review: St. Louis Cardinals Past & Present

2009 title

From the Cardinal-centric blog, The Cardinal Nation. Upshot: [Author Doug] Feldmann’s passion and knowledge of Cardinals baseball really comes through. His parents grew up in St. Louis and southern Illinois respectively, so he appreciates the regional breadth and success of the franchise.

Read the full article →

* Shades of Crash Davis

"Oddballs"

In this article on the Atlanta Braves’ Brian Barton, the write pretty much brands the ballplayer an egghead. Last summer, during his first full season in the major leagues, he read 17 books. He recently finished off the 900-page “Roots” by Alex Haley. Which made me think of this line from Bull Durham by Max […]

Read the full article →

* Another "uh-oh" moment for Steinbrenner author

Uncategorized

That is, according to this entry onthe Yankee-centric RiverAvenueBlues blog regarding Peter Golenbock’s latest release,George: The Poor Little Rich Boy Who Built the Yankees Empire. Why isn’t George higher up on my reading list? Other than having more interesting books ahead of it, there’s another reason: factual accuracy. Murray Chass (h/t BBTF) points to Goldenbock’s […]

Read the full article →

* Can I get fries with that, Mickey?

"Oddballs"

Having eaten at Mickey Mantle’s Manhattan restaurant, I found this review of a two-year old book by owner William Liederman interesting yet curious (because of the timing). Nothing to especially recommend it other than the subject matter. It’s a throwback to the days of Toot Shor‘s.

Read the full article →

* RK Reviews: ForeWord Magazine

2009 title

The May/June issue of ForeWord Magazine, a publication that specializes in small and university presses, carries my feature on nine 2009 baseball titles, including: Under the March Sun: The Story of Spring Training High-Flying Birds: The 1942 St. Louis Cardinal Babe Ruth: Remembering the Bambino in Stories, Photos & Memorabilia Yankee Colors: The Glory Years […]

Read the full article →

* Coming soon to a bookstore near you: Satchel

2009 title

Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend by Larry Tye, due June 9. For more information, visit LarryTye.com.

Read the full article →

* RK Review: A-Rod

2009 title

The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez, by Selena Roberts (Harper Collins) There’s a telling reference in Selena Robert’s new expose on Alex Rodriguez: [Rodriguez] pursued his investments with the same conflicted soul. He projected a Mister Rogers benevolence, but he was more like Mr. Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life. Reading A-Rod, I got the […]

Read the full article →

* Review: Dodgers Past and Present

2009 title

The Sons of Steve Garvey Blog posted this review of Steve Traver’s new book, one of his many projects this year. Upshot: …Dodger fans might already be quite familiar with most of the tales Travers recounts, and he often doesn’t go into the depth necessary to capture the drama of a moment or emotion of […]

Read the full article →

* Movie Review: Sugar

Movies

From the K.C. Star, which gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars. Upshot: …the movie achieves a rare sense of realism. Plus, since it refuses to follow a formula, we have no idea where the story is headed. It is rare when a film takes us in a direction we might not have been […]

Read the full article →

* RK Reviews: Bookreporter baseball feature

2009 title

Time for my annual spring round up, via Bookreporter.com. This year’s batch includes: As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the World of Umpires, by Bruce Weber Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O’Malley, Baseball’s Most Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles, by Michael D’Antonio Faith and Fear in […]

Read the full article →

* Author interview: Bert Randolph Sugar

2009 title

Sports Crackle Pop, “an independent sports blog with a focus on the sports world in relation to pop culture,” posted this interview with the author of a new book about the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Read the full article →

* Author appearance: Tom Stanton

Author appearance

The award-winner author will be at Ye Olde Courthouse in Omer, Mich. on June 2. Stanton has published such titles as The Final Season (about the last year of Tiger Stadium), The Road to Cooperstown, which  touches on his relationship with his father, and their journey and visit to the hall of fame, and the […]

Read the full article →

* Double your (reading) pleasure

2009 title

From mediabistro.com, this double profile of authors Michael Shapiro (Bottom of the Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball from Itself) and Robert E. Murphy (After Many a Summer: The Passing of the Giants and Dodgers and a Golden Age in New York Baseball).  Shapiro previously published The Last Good […]

Read the full article →

* This week (May 18) in Sports Illustrated

Magazines

Take a guess at the cover story. If you picked anything other than Manny Ramirez — such as the exciting marquee matchup between the Capitals and Penguins, or Cleveland flying through the NBA playoffs — you’d be WRONG. (Please God, don’t let Selena Roberts get ahold of this one.) Tom Verducci gets cover-story honors with […]

Read the full article →

* Because I keep some spare change on the shelf…

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

It’s a little off-base (ha ha), but I found this blog entry on the chances of Ryan Zimmerman breaking DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak amusing. Of course, it may all be over by the time you read this.

Read the full article →

* Video of Clemens on new book? Sort of.

2009 title

I never understood why some radio sports talk shows feel the need to televise their programs. Basically you’re just looking at the host talking, or the guest, if there is one in the studio, sitting there on a static shot. Wow. In this case, Mike and Mike in the Morning interview Roger Clemens on the […]

Read the full article →
script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-5496371-4']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();