Recapping Tom Hoffarth’s entertaining and educational series: April 1: The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports, by Jeff Passan April 2: Baseball Field Guide: An In-Depth Illustrated Guide to the Complete Rules of Baseball, by Dan Formosa and Paul Hamburger April 3: The Cardinals Way: How One Team […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
baseball history,
baseball injuries,
Dick Allen,
George Castle,
Glenn Stout,
Howard Megdal,
Los Angeles Dodgers,
St. Louis Cardinals
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 […]
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Babe Ruth,
Baseball America,
baseball analysis,
Fantasy baseball,
instructionals,
Michel Lewis,
Mike Matheny,
minor leagues,
New York Giants,
No-hitters,
Oakland Athletics,
Pitching,
St. Louis Cardinals,
Ted Williams
Graham Womack published this ranked list of the 25 greatest baseball books on The Sporting News site. When I wrote 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die, I made a decision not to put them in an order other than alphabetical to avoid having to defend my choices. Such a method invites arguments […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
Baseball Cards,
Baseball Hall of Fame,
baseball history,
baseball statistics,
Bill James,
Branch Rickey,
Brooklyn Dodgers,
Bucl O'Neil,
David Halberstam,
Jackie Robinson,
Jo DiMaggio,
John Thorn,
Mickey Mantle,
Negro Leagues,
New YorkYankees,
Roger Angell,
Roger Kahn,
Sportswriters
Sort list this time, as I’m pretty much caught up on most current events. ♦ Dwier Brown, who play Ray Kinsella’s dad in Field of Dreams was a recent guest on the Hall of Very Good podcast. (As a reminder, I also had a chat with Brown.) ♦ I keep meaning to brush up on […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
Boston Red Sox,
Dwier Brown,
Field of Dream,
Glenn Stout,
Howard Megdal,
New York Yankees,
St. Louis Cardinals
Lisa Iannucci at The GetMoreSports site included four baseball titles among her “Anticipated Sports Books of 2016.” Is it picayune to note that “anticipated” does not mean “looked forward to,” but merely “expected?” Anyway, the titles include (with the writer’s commentary): DiMag & Mick: Sibling Rivals, Yankee Blood Brothers by Tony Castro is due out […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
Joe DiMaggio,
Lenny Dykstra,
Mickey Mantle,
women in baseball
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:
Babe Ruth,
Bill James,
Calico Joe,
Chicago Cubs,
Federal League,
Ichiro Suzuki,
John Grisham,
John Thorn,
Robert Creamer,
sabermetrics
Funny how things work out. If I had parked in my usual spot at the library on Saturday, I would have missed a yard sale where I picked up this: This plastic Ruth figurine was part of a larger collection, but he seemed to be in the best shape. Many were missing bats or were […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth
I picked up a couple of books at the library recently and, lo and behold, found some baseball in ’em. 100 of the Worst Ideas in History, by Michael Smith and Eric Kasum, includes three items on the national pastime in the chapter “Stupidity at a Major League Level.” Each contains the following: “The genius […]
Tagged as:
7/11,
Babe Ruth,
Chicago White Sox,
Freakonomics,
Josh Gibson,
Pete Rose
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
I highly recommend Pocket as a way to hold onto links you come that you want to keep. Unlike bookmarks, Pocket keeps the entire page and makes it relative easy for you to find stuff you “pocketed.” I have keepers going back six years — more than 5,000 links — and I’ve decided it’s time […]
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Babe Ruth,
Bang the Drum Slowly,
baseball book reviews,
Baseball Cards,
baseball contracts,
baseball fiction,
baseball poetry,
Futurama,
Harry Turtledove,
New York Times,
Philip Roth,
TEGWAR,
Wall Street Journal
Submitted for your interest from another semi-regular scan of new titles. It may seem unfair, but I do tend to judge e-books by their cover, especially when they are offered only in that format. It’s an indication of the time and effort the author/publisher puts into the project. Similarly, I’m basing my opinions strictly on […]
Tagged as:
Al Schacht,
Babe Ruth,
baseball fiction,
baseball prospects,
Fantasy baseball,
general managers
Mickey Mantle. Sandy Koufax. Two heroic symbols of the Boomer generation. Two flawed figures, one of his own accord, one of poor luck. Jane Leavy has turned both of their stories into best-selling biograophies. So what does she do for an encore? Why not another icon, who wrestled with his own demons, although it didn’t […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
Jane Leavy,
Mickey Mantle,
Sandy Koufax
* Josh Wilker’s forthcoming book, Benchwarmer: An Anxious Dad’s Almanac of Fatherhood and Other Failures gets a thumbs up from Kirkus. Upshot: “This almanac of fatherhood (and other failures) is honest, relatable and humorous—an indispensable read for fathers (and sons) whose joy in life comes not from winning the big game but being alive to […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
Branch Rickey,
Field of Dreams,
Jackie Robinson,
Josh Wilker,
Roger Kahn,
W. P. Kinsella
Looking over the overlooked in baseball book (etc.) news… Wow, so much for the free exchange of ideas. Tried to access three items about baseball author appearances, book news, etc. but was blocked from each one because I’m not a paid subscriber. Bummer, man. Anyway… The Boston Globe ran this review of I Don’t Care […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
Bill Maden,
Burleigh Grimes,
Don Zimmer,
Harry Caray,
John Feinstein
The comedian has purchased a summer home in the Hamptons that previously belong to Babe Ruth.
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
Louis CK
Many books try to link a premise with a larger theme. If you try hard enough, you can find connections between any items. But Chris Donnelly does a better-than-most job of convincing readers How the Yankees Explain New York. Let’s be honest: a lot of people outside the Big Apple think its residents have a […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
Billy Martin,
George Steinbrenner,
New York Yankees
The Baseball Project was the guest on the April 22 Soundcheck, performing three songs off their latest album, 3rd. Tracks on the new release include: Stat From Nails To Thumbtacks Hola America! 13 The Day Dock Went Hunting Heads To The Veterans Committee Monument Park Box Scores They Don’t Know Henry The Babe They Are […]
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Alex Rodriguez,
Babe Ruth,
Larry Yount,
NPR,
Soundcheck,
The Baseball Project
The Passover holidays have played havoc with my schedule, so there’s a lot to catch up on. First off, can you remember those Bicentennial Minutes that CBS used to broadcast in the months leading up to the big celebration? Well, Dan Epstein, author of the new Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
Chicago Cubs,
Cleveland Indians,
Dan Epstein,
George Will,
Montreal Expos. Jackie Robinson,
Roy Campanella,
SABR,
Tom Hoffarth,
Wrigley Field
The top-ten baseball books as per Amazon.com. Caveat 1: Print editions only (at least for now); I’m old fashioned that way. Caveat 2: Since the rankings are updated every hour, these lists might not longer be 100 percent accurate by the time you read it. But it’ll be close enough for government work. Caveat 3: […]
Tagged as:
Babe Ruth,
Baseball Prospectus,
Chicago Cubs,
George Will,
Jonah Keri,
Kostya Kennedy,
Michael Lewis,
Moneyball,
Montreal Expos,
Oakland As,
Pete Rose,
Sports Illustrated,
Ted Williams,
Wrigley Field
Been a hectic week, so I’ve let a few things slide. First and foremost, the next books in Tom Hoffarth’s annually excellent 30-in-30 series: John Feinstein’s Where Nobody Knows Your Name and Ed Sherman’s Babe Ruth’s Called Shot. Here’s another Feinstein item from WRALSPortsfan.com. And maybe you can find the link in this piece from […]
Tagged as:
Al Clark,
Andrew Zimbalist,
Babe Ruth,
Bill Nowlin,
Boston Red Sox,
Ed Sherman,
George Plimpton,
Jeff Pearlman,
John Feinstein,
John Rocker,
Jonah Keri,
Montreal Expos,
Sports Illustrated,
umpires
Opinions vary
March 2, 2016
Graham Womack published this ranked list of the 25 greatest baseball books on The Sporting News site. When I wrote 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die, I made a decision not to put them in an order other than alphabetical to avoid having to defend my choices. Such a method invites arguments […]
Tagged as: Babe Ruth, Baseball Cards, Baseball Hall of Fame, baseball history, baseball statistics, Bill James, Branch Rickey, Brooklyn Dodgers, Bucl O'Neil, David Halberstam, Jackie Robinson, Jo DiMaggio, John Thorn, Mickey Mantle, Negro Leagues, New YorkYankees, Roger Angell, Roger Kahn, Sportswriters
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