Baseball has always had supreme rulers. The New York Yankees, with 27 world championships, are generally acknowledged as baseball’s most dynastic franchise, beginning with their rush to greatness in the early 1920s. Even teams more known for their ineptitude — the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs — once dominated the national pastime. But are […]
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Dan Schlossberg,
Hal Bock,
Howard Megdal,
Marty Appel,
New York Yankees,
St. Louis Cardinals
Full disclosure: Howard Megdal and I go back a fair piece. I did a story on him when he published The Baseball Talmud: The Definitive Position-by-Position Ranking of Baseball’s Chosen Players and we’ve kept in touch over the years. In a sense, I consider him my “rabbi,” the consigliere type as opposed to than something […]
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Excelle Sports,
Howard Megdal,
New York Mets,
St. Louis Cardinals
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 […]
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Babe Ruth,
baseball history,
baseball injuries,
Dick Allen,
George Castle,
Glenn Stout,
Howard Megdal,
Los Angeles Dodgers,
St. Louis Cardinals
Took one of my rare trips into the jungles of Manhattan to see Howard Megdal, he of the new book The Cardinals Way: How One Team Embraced Tradition and Moneyball at the Same Time at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse. It’s always great to reconnect with old friends. Jay Goldberg, Bergino’s congenial owner/event host is always […]
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Greg Prince,
Howard Megdal,
Lee Lowenfish,
Maccabiah Games
A number of authors of upcoming books will be taking their turn at bat at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse in Manhattan. All events are scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25: Roberta Newman and Joel Nathan Rosen, Black Baseball, Black Business: Race Enterprise and the Fate of the Segregated Dollar Thursday, March 3: Howard Megdal, […]
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black baseball,
Howard Megdal,
Larry Doby,
New York Mets,
Oakland Athletics,
St. Louis Cardinals
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 […]
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Babe Ruth,
Boston Red Sox,
Dwier Brown,
Field of Dream,
Glenn Stout,
Howard Megdal,
New York Yankees,
St. Louis Cardinals
If he had just been a Jewish ballplayer, dayenu, it would have been enough. If he had just been arguably the best pitcher of his generation, dayenu. But when Sandy Koufax declined to take the mound for the first game of the 1965 World Series? More than enough. Fifty years later, Koufax’s decision to sit […]
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Art Shamsky,
Bergino Baseball Clubhouse,
Filip Bondy,
Howard Megdal,
Jane Leavy,
Marty Appel,
Mayor Jeff Katz,
Sam Fuld,
Sandy Koufax
This sweet piece by my friend Howard Megdal, author of The Baseball Talmud, reminded me of when my daughter Rachel was a little girl and I tried to get her involved in baseball. I didn’t start as early with her, but she was into it for a couple of years. One of my favorite drawings […]
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The Baseball Talmud,
Wait Till Next Year
Kids, ask your parents/grandparents.) Our good friend Howard Megdal posted these suggestions on”How to survive without baseball.” Among them: Simulated baseball games, such as Baseball Mogul, Diamond Mind Baseball, Out of the Park Baseball, and, of course, Strat-O-Matic. I would add What-If Sports to this list. They allow you to construct a roster of any […]
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Fantasy baseball,
Howard Megdal,
simulated baseball games
As part of the continuing process to make 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die a multimedia experience, I have resumed the author interviews that was put on hold while I was on jury duty. First up, Howard Megdal, author of The Baseball Talmud: The Definitive Position-by-Position Ranking of Baseball’s Chosen Players, which […]
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Baseball Talmud,
Howard Megdal
I’ve been informed that Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story will be aired on Long Island’s WLIW tonight at 10 p.m. Particularly appropriate in light of the story about the “Judaism & Baseball Retreat” I just posted, since several of the presenters — including Rabbis Rebecca Alpert and Michael Paley, Martin Abramowitz, and Ira […]
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Howard Megdal,
Ira Berkow,
Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story
Surely you remember these. But for me, going to “Judaism and Baseball” at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, CT, next weekend will be even more fun. The program, which runs from Friday, June 29, to Sunday, July 1, features a number of speakers with whom I have become well familiar since […]
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Aviva Kempner,
Hank Greenberg,
Howard Megdal,
Ira Berkow,
Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center,
Israel Baseball League,
Peter Levine
The Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Connecticut is holding this three-day event from June 29-July 1. Among the authors and media personalities scheduled to appear: Martin Abramowitz—President of Jewish Major Leaguers, Inc, the producers of Jewish baseball cards Rabbi Rebecca Alpert—Associate Professor, Temple University; author of Out of Left Field: Jews and Black Baseball […]
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Howard Megdal,
Ira Berkow,
Peter Levine,
Rebecca Alpert,
Stan Hochman
There are a couple of books out this year that deal with athletes — Roger Maris and Hank Aaron– who were vilified by the press and the public for the audacity in approaching the home run numbers put up by Hall of Famer Babe Ruth, albeit for different reasons. Maris, who broke the single season […]
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Babe Ruth,
Hank Greenberg,
home runs,
Howard Megdal
In honor of All-Star week, NPR carried a few baseball-related items on WNYC this week. July 13 was a good day for Jewish sports authors. Both Howard Megdal (The Baseball Talmud) and Lee Lowenfish (Branch Rickey: Baseball’s Ferocious Gentleman) were interviewed on The Leonard Lopate Show. You can listen to the Megdal segment here: and […]
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disco,
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Jewish Major Leaguers,
Lee Lowenfish
Is an eternal question, and one that Bloomberg.com takes up in this piece, which prominently features Howard Megdal and his book, The Baseball Talmud.
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Jewish baseball
Oceanside– The Friedberg JCC is hosting “The Baseball Talmud” on Thursday, July 23 at 7:30 p.m. Join author and radio personality Howard Megdal as he discusses his new book, “The Baseball Talmud,” a historical narration of Major League Jewish Baseball in America. Cost is $6. For more information, please call (516) 634-4154 or e-mail mlevi […]
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Baseball Talmud,
Howard Megdal,
Jewish Major Leaguers
is available on Amazon.com,
Bits and pieces, March 3, 2016
March 3, 2016
♦ As you know, I normally do not include books written for kids on this blog, but in this case — The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game — I’ve made an exception because of the special “teaching moment” involved and the fact that, unlike a lot of other titles […]
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