* Baseball Talmud finds a new (W)FAN

Audio

Howard Megdal, he of The Baseball Talmud, was interviewed on the Marc Malusis Show on WFAN. You can here it here: http://rksbaseballbookshelf.wordpress.com/files/2009/04/howardmegdalwfan.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

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* Looks like Sheffield = rewrite

Older title

Congrats to Gary Sheffield for hitting home run number 500 last night at City Field. It’s about time this one got a rewrite anyway. Since it came out in 2000, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Sammy Sosa, Raphael Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, and Frank Thomas have all joined the exclusive club. Of […]

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* See the game, BE the game

collectibles

I feel guilty enough about doing this, let lone playing video games. But I’m sorely tempted by MLB 09 The Show. The NY Times gave it a very positve vibe in today’s paper. There’s also a trailer. But you have to love the commercial with Tim Lincecum and his doppelganger for Major League Baseball 2k9 […]

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* This week in Sports Illustrated (April 20)

Magazines

Baseball items include: The evolution of MLB salaries: “Opening Day payroll this year—$2,655,395,194 total for the 30 clubs—was $31 million less than in 2008, a 1.2% drop and only the third year-to-year decline since the 1994 strike.” Bill Jenkins’ profile of Nick Adenhart What’s up with Cliff Lee, last year’s AL Cy Young winner? “Hit […]

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* What the hell, one more Boston item

Magazines

After all Patriot’s Day is coming up (April 19)… This month’s issue of Boston magazine features 2008 Rookie of the Year Dustin Pedroia as the cover boy. “The Obsessive’s Guide to the Sox,” proclaims the banner. Among the articles: “67 Things You didn’t Know About the Local Nine.” Why 67? Something to do with the […]

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* Isn't he Darling?

2009 title

Ron Darling, former Mets star and author of The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball, Pitching, and Life on the Mound, was on The Daily Show last night. The more I watch the interview segments of the program, the less I like the job Jon Stewart does as host. he’s fine for the “news” items, but […]

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* Now there's something you don't see every day

2009 title

In the trivia department, Chicago White Sox teammates Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko hit back-to-back homers for the 300th round-tripper of their careers. Hitting No. 300 in the same game would have been impressive enough, but back to back? Brings to mind Griffeys Sr. and Jr. pulling the same stunt on Sept.4, 1990. Too bad […]

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* More Boston news

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

This time in the form of a new documentary about Luis Tiant. The Boston Globe published this piece today about The Lost Son of Havana. Upshot: The movie, scheduled to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York April 23 and to open in New England at the Boston Independent Film Festival April 25, […]

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* Announcement: Another new Red Sox title

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

From David Vincent: Bill Nowlin and David Vincent announce the publication of their new book titled “The Ultimate Red Sox Home Run Guide.” The volume is published by Rounder Books and is available through many fine retailers. The guide takes a look at Red Sox homers from the regular season to the postseason, with nearly […]

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# Announcement: New Red Sox book

Annoucements

From Mark Armour of SABR: I would like to announce the publication of the new book “Lefty, Double-X, and The Kid: The 1939 Red Sox, a Team in Transition,” edited by Bill Nowlin and published recently by Rounder Books. (Anticipating the usual question, “Gee Mark, why did you decide to do a book about a […]

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* National Pastime Radio: Get me to the church on time

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

The March 31 episode of All Things Considered considered the story of the 140-year-old organ at St. Malachy Church in Philadelphia, which was damaged when the ceiling collapsed 12 years ago, damaging. Now, a fundraiser for the organ’s repair will have a baseball theme because the original builder’s grandson wrote the words to Take Me […]

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* Lest we forget: Harry Kalas

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

It’s been a rough week for baseball fans. Nick Adenhart, Mark Fidrych, and Harry Kalas, all gone. Kalas was one of those “voices of God” that a few are blessed with (Charlton Heston and John Vernon also comes to mind). Whether he was broadcasting the Phillies games or doing the voice-over for NFL Films, Kalas […]

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* Lest we forget: Mark Fidrych

Lest We Forget

What a shocker to learn The Bird had passed away so suddenly. I remember seeing Fidrych beat the Yankees on an ABC Monday Night Baseball telecast in 1976 during a day off from the summer camp where I coached the softball team. His antics drew rave reviews from the announcers and appreciation from the fans. […]

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* Another reason why people hate the media

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

In today’s NY Times, Joshua Robinson has a little piece, “Piazza Leaves Quickly, and Quietly, After Ceremony.” He writes  about the ceremonial first pitch battery of Tom Seaver and the former Mets catcher. While Tom Terrific hung out afterwards to shmooze, Piazza, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen. Escorted by security, he went from the […]

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* Bruce Weber on National Pastime Radio

2009 title

Bruce Weber is making the rounds for his new book on umpires. This week, it’s Fresh Air. As an added bonus (like a box of cereal), the page comes with an excerpt from his book, As They See ‘Em, which was selected for NPR’s “Books We Like.” More recent baseball items from NPR: Secret Dirt’s […]

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* Bruce Weber offers a safe bet for an outstanding look at umpiring

2009 title

Would baseball fans want a world in which all the calls on the field could be made by Questec-type devices or the Cyclops machines used in tennis? Are umpires part of the game or outside it? Are they, as one baseball personality suggested, pieces of human equipment, like bases: necessary but not thought about that […]

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* This week in Sports Illustrated

Magazines

The cover story features the NCAA hoops tourney, as could be expected, but from kids at what might be the start of a pro career, the only baseball story in the April 13 issue looks at Jamie Moyer, at the other end of the spectrum.

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* RK Review: The Unwritten Rules of Baseball

2009 title

The Etiquette, Conventional Wisdom, and Axiomatic Codes of Our National Pastime, by Paul Dickson (Collins, 2009) It’s Passover time, so forgive me a comment relating to the traditions of the holiday: There’s a song we sing at the Seder called “Dayenu.” It means, basically, “it would have been enough.” If God had done A and […]

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* RK Review: Take Me Out to the Ball Game

2009 title

The Story of the Sensational Baseball Song, by Amy Whorf McGuiggan. University of Nebraska Press, 2009. This slim volume would seem to be the companion for last year’s Baseball Greatest Hit. While the latter was almost a who’s who, what;’s what and where’s where of the game’s unofficial anthem, McGuiggan’s slim volume concentrates more on […]

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* Da books

Biography

The Chicago Blog posted this brief piece considering a couple of off-the-beaten-path baseball titles, including Professor Baseball and Veeck as in Wreck, both of which present the game as belonging to the common man, rather than elite athletes and multi-millionaires.

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