* Review and BBC segment on We Are the Ship

2008 title

The Cleveland Plain Dealer‘s review, which calls the children’s book “A big hit for baseball fans of all ages.” And the BBC, of all outlets, aired this lovely segment on the author, Kadir Nelson, in which the author/artist discusses his project and demonstrates his techniques.

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* Happy Birthday, Joe McCarthy

Birthday greetings

Born this day in 1887, McCarthy, one of the few managers in the Hall of Fame, led the Yankees to eight pennants and seven world championships. he also led the Chicago Cubs (one pennant) and the Boston Red Sox. The Amazon Report on Joe McCarthy: Joe Mccarthy: Achitect of the Yankee Dynasty

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* You heard it HERE first

2008 title

It’s not often you scoop The New York Times. Back in November of ’07, I wrote this review on Mike Vacarro’s 1941: The Greatest Year in Sports in which I wrote, “Of course, there’s always a problem, especially in the world of sports, of declaring anything ‘the greatest.’ But it does make for some interesting reflection […]

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* List of book reviews from Greg Spira

2007 title

This list appeared on the SABR listserve (?). Thanks, to Greg Spira for compiling this extensive collection. Some of these review may be duplicate of what I’ve already posted and I have made no changes in style or contents to his list.   “Links to many, many reviews (not features) of new baseball books reviews […]

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* On this day

History

in 1923, Babe Ruth hits the first home run at Yankee Stadium’s opening in front of over 72,000 fans. The two-run shot off Red Sox hurler Howard Ehmke helps beat Boston, 4-1. The ballpark cost $2.5 million, the price of a lousy utility player these days. With the closing of the ballpark after this season, […]

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* Happy birthday, Jim Eisenreich

Birthday greetings

The 49-year-old Eisenreich, a .290 hitter who played for several teams over a 15-year career, was perhaps more famous for dealing with Tourette’s Syndrome than his accomplishments on the field. His inspirational story is included in several books about the Phillies, for whom he played from 1993 (their pennant-winning season)-1996, as well medical books on […]

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* List: Crazy '08 author Cait Murphy's favorite baseball books

Lists

From the blog A Special Way of Being Afraid, this list, which, as might be expected, is heavy on historical material. Murphy’s romance with baseball books includes: The Glory of Their Times Touching Second, by Johnny Evers Ty Cobb, by Al Stump The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball by Jonathan Fraser Light The Ultimate Baseball Book […]

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* Please, just shoot me

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

From the New York Post, this item about a possible new tell-all steroids title by Kirk Radomski, former Mets clubhouse attendant. And this from the NY Daily News. “When will they ever learn/oh, when will they ever learn?”

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* Happy birthday, August ballplayers

Birthday greetings

First Salon, now Slate. Is anyone besides me old enough to remember the Quaker cereals Quisp and Quake? Same as Cap’n Crunch, only different shapes and cartoon characters. Anyway… Greg Spira contributes this thoughtful column on why so many American players are born in August, citing John Holway’s 2000 book, The Baseball Astrologer. Upshot: Since […]

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* 'Nother Nayer review

2008 title

From Salon.com’s resident sports guy King Kaufman (I’d like to see his birth certificate), this review/profile of Neyer and his latest.

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* Review: Why a Curveball Curves: The Incredible Science of Sports

2008 title

From The Wall Street Journal. Sure it covers other spors, too, but baseball comes first. “Former Popular Mechanics staffer and frequent contributor Frank Vizard admits to gravitating toward baseball, confessing in his introduction, ‘If Popular Mechanics can be said to have a favorite sport, it would be baseball, as that game has received the most […]

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* Happy Birthday, Cap Anson

Birthday greetings

The Hall of Famer, Class of ’39, was born this day in 1852. The Amazon Report for Cap Anson: Howard Rosenberg has done an exhaustive study of Anson, compiling a four-volume biography. Cap Anson 1: When Captaining a Team Meant Something Leadership in Baseball’s Early Years Cap Anson 2: The Theatrical and Kingly Mike Kelly: […]

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* Way high and outside

Because I can...

Because I used to keep model rockets on my bookshelf…

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* On this day

Bits and Pieces

in 1929, the Yankees become first team to wear digits on uniforms. Numbers are assigned based on the order in the lineup thus Earle Combs wore #1, Mark Koenig #2, Babe Ruth #3, Lou Gehrig #4, Bob Meusel #5, Tony Lazzeri #6, Leo Durocher #7, Johnny Grabowski #8, Benny Bengough #9, and Bill Dickey #10 […]

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* Happy Birthday, Jim Lonborg

Birthday greetings

The Boston ace who won the Cy Young in 1967 for leading his team to their first pennant in 30-plus years turns 66 today. I can still see his picture, shirt undone as he joins teammates in celebrating the pennant clincher. Unfortunately he suffered a broken leg in a skiing accident and was never the […]

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* This is what we spent tuition money for?

2008 title

Eric Seidman, a senior at Penn State, has written Bridging the Statistical Gap, which “takes readers inside the sport’s box scores and stat sheets,” according to this article in the university’s Daily Collegian Online. The book is expected to be released in May. Some topics include: Great Batting Average Debate: What batting average does and […]

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* Review: Clemente

Audio

In preparation for the April 21 PBS American Experience program on the late Latino superstar, here’s a New York Times’ review by George F. Will of David Maraniss’s 2006 biography. For a sample for the audio book, listen here: http://audible.edgeboss.net/download/audible/content/bk/sans/000683/bk_sans_000683_sample.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

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* Baseball book roundup: Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Legends

Reviews from other sources

Neyer’s latest is the subject of many glowing reviews, including: From Ducksnorts, a Padres-based blog, “I’m struck by three elements of Neyer’s work: how thorough his research is, how tightly the book’s layout integrates with its content, and how much he enjoys these stories even as he attempts to debunk them.” From River Ave. Blues, […]

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* NY Daily News offers Yankee Stadium "collectibles"

Newspapers

The tabloid is including the six-part magazine supplement on the House That Ruth Built in its Sunday papers. They do something like this every so often to boost sales. Nice touch. I think it’s worth the price of the edition. But remember, everything — commemorative magazines, thimbles, diner menus — is a “collectible” if you […]

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* Lest we forget: Tommy Holmes

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

The man who held the NL consecutive hitting streak until Pete Rose broke it in 1978, Holmes struck out 122 times in 4,992 at-bats during his 11-year career, spent mostly with the Boston Braves. Look at that number again. Some players strike out that much in a season. Holmes spent 30 years working in the […]

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