The Bookshelf Conversation: Brad Balukjian

Baseball Cards

I usually speak to my guests after they’ve completed their project, so this is a bit of a departure. It’s good to shake things up once in awhile. By the time you read this, Brad Balukjian, PhD, will be on a cross-country trek in preparation for his new book about a single pack of baseball […]

Tagged as: Al Cowens, Baseball Cards, Brad Balukjian, Carlton Fisk, Doc Gooden, Don Carman, Garry Templeton, Gary Pettis, In case you can't read the cards, in order, Jaime Cocanower, Lee Mazzilli, left to right, Rance Mulliniks, Randy Ready, Rich Hebner, Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Yeager, they are, Vince Coleman

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The face looks familiar (Alex Rodriguez’s home run)

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

I tuned into the Yankee game on Friday just as Alex Rodriguez was coming to bat, looking for his 3,000th hit. Timing is everything: ARod launched a home run for the milestone. It was the third time a player hit a home run for the magic number, including former teammate Derek Jeter. The difference is […]

Tagged as: Alex Rodriguez, Zack Hample

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Baseball Best-Sellers, June 19, 2015

2015 title

NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]

Tagged as: Bengie Molina, Billy Martin, Boston Red Sox, Derek Jeter, Joe DiMaggio, Jorge Posada, Los Angeles Dodgers, Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees, Oakland As, Pedro Martinez, Pittsburgh Pirates, Ty Cobb, World Series

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Throwback Thursday (aka, massive links dump, continued)

2012 title

Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]

Tagged as: baseball broadcasters, baseball uniforms, Bobby Valentine, Boston Red Sox, Casey at the bat, Hofstra University, Huffington Post, New York Mets, PED. Mental Floss, Ryan Braun, Tony Conigliaro

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Bookshelf Review: Mashi

2015 title

Mashi: The Unfulfilled Baseball Dreams of Masanori Murakami, the First Japanese Major Leaguer by Robert Fitts. University of Nebraska Press. 256 Pages, $28.95. Fitts — whose previous books on the game in the Land of the Rising Sun include Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball (2008) and the award-winning Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, […]

Tagged as: Japanese baseball, Masanori Murakami, Rob Fitts, San Francisco Giants

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Because he could put a whole lot of souvenirs on a bookshelf

"Oddballs"

I’ve often wondered about the people who negotiate to retrieve home run balls for the players, so thank you, Billy Witz  of the New York Times, for this fascinating piece about Yankees security guard/”collector” Eddie Fastook. How much leeway do you think Fastook has when negotiating for the piece of treasure? And if he considers […]

Tagged as: Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Eddie Fastook, New York Yankees

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Bookshelf Review: Strangers in the Bronx

2015 title

Strangers in the Bronx: DiMaggio, Mantle, and the Changing of the Yankee Guard by Andrew O’Toole. Triumph 304 Pages, $25.95 There has been a lot written about the “changing of the guard” when it came to the Commerce Comet replacing the Yankee Clipper, but nothing that approaches the overall depth of this bittersweet tale by […]

Tagged as: Casey Stengel, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees

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Hall of Fame hosts summer author series

2015 title

The Baseball Hall of Fame will host 11 Authors Series events throughout the season, bringing noted baseball authors to Cooperstown for special lectures and book signings. Among the highlights of the 2015 Authors Series is an appearance by former major league pitcher Masanori Murakami, the first Japanese-born player in the history of major league baseball. […]

Tagged as: Babe Ruth, Billy Martin, Boston Red Sox, Ed Lucas, Masanori Murakami, Tony Oliva, Who's Who in baseball

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New resource: Baseball History & Art

Baseball and pop culture

I love collecting first editions of magazines, so it was a nice surprise when I received this on Saturday, totally out of the blue  Very snazzy. The new offering from the  Helmar Brewing Company considers what publisher Charles Mandel calls “modern vintage” cards, although there’s lots of non-collectible features, too. Mike Shannon, editor-in-chief of the […]

Tagged as: Baseball Cards, baseball collectibles, Helmar Brewing Company

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The Bookshelf Conversation: Rob Fitts

2009 title

Books have been written about the use of baseball as an imperialist tool by the United States. We send people to foreign countries; they bring baseball with them, and pretty soon the residents of those foreign have embraced the game to a degree even more enthusiastic than back in the good ole U.S.A. Case in […]

Tagged as: Japanese baseball, Masanori Murakami, Rob Fitts, San Francisco Giants, Wally Yonamine

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Baseball Best-Sellers, June 12, 2015

2014 title

NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]

Tagged as: baseball instructional, Bengie Molina, Billy Martin, Boston Red Sox, Derek Jeter, H.A. Dorfman, Jorge Posada, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Oakland As, Pedro Martinez, Ty Cobb, World Series

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Throwback Thursday (aka massive links dump, continued)

2012 title

Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]

Tagged as: Baseball Cards, baseball statistics, Japanese baseball, John Thorn, New York Yankees, Rob Fleder, women's baseball

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Shameless self-promotion: Come say ‘hi’

2013 title

If you’re in the area of Paramus, NJ, this Sunday (June 14), drop by the BooksNJ event and say hi. I’ll be on a panel discussing the general topic “Who’s on first? Why baseball hits it out of the park” from 3:20 to 4 p.m., based on my 2013 release 501 Baseball Books Fans Must […]

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Baseball from the cow’s perspective

2015 title

Picked up an audio copy of Holy Cow: A Novel by David Duchovny, a kinder, gentler answer to Orwell’s Animal Farm (as opposed to a book about Phil Rizzuto). I won’t go into a whole lot of detail about the overall premise. Suffice it to say it’s told — quite entertainingly — from a the […]

Tagged as: David Dochovny, The Unnatural, X-Files

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Now hear this…again and again

2015 title

As much as I love listening to interview with authors, it gets to a point where they’re pretty much the same. I don’t know whether that’s a function of publicists sending out “talking points,” ostensibly to make the hosts’ jobs easier. I don’t know if the interviewers actually read all the stuff they get in […]

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That’s nice, but what we really want to know… (Bud Selig memoir)

2015 title

According to a story on the Sports Business Daily website, “Recently retired MLB Commissioner Bud Selig has hired Sandy Montag of IMG as his agent to represent him in selling the rights to a book about his life and baseball. Montag will also represent Selig for speaking engagements, consulting and other matters.” I was under […]

Tagged as: Bud Selig, PEDs

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Times for another baseball review

2015 title

Crazy how the NY Times posts its stories. A couple of weeks back, I wrote about their lack of baseball book reviews, despite the buzz about some of the bigger titles. So what happens? They published two on-line: Charles Leerhsen’s Ty Cobb  bio and Jon Pessah’s baseball business tome. Except the Leerhsen piece appeared in […]

Tagged as: Bill Pennington, Billy Martin

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The Bookshelf Conversation: Josh Leventhal

2015 title

Who doesn’t like pretty things? Museums, such as the Baseball Hall of Fame, are filled with them. But not everyone can get up to Cooperstown. For them, there are books like A History of Baseball in 100 Objects, by Josh Leventhal. Leventhal — whose previous books on baseball include The World Series: An Illustrated Encyclopedia […]

Tagged as: baseball memorabilia

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Baseball Best-Sellers, June 5, 2015

2014 title

NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]

Tagged as: baseball instructional, Bengie Molina, Billy Martin, Boston Red Sox, H.A. Dorfman, Jorge Posada, New York Yankees, Oakland As, Pedro Martinez, Pittsburgh Pirates, Ty Cobb, World Series

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Throwback Thursday (aka massive links dump, continued)

"Oddballs"

Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]

Tagged as: baseball books, baseball statistics, Brad Ausmus, Gabe Kapler, George Case, Life Magazine, Mike Francesa, Phil Mushnick, sabermetrics Willie Mays, Shawn Green, Stan Musial, The Simpsons, Time Magazine, Washington Senators, World Baseball Classic

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