If it seems there have been a lot of Conversations with Jon Leonoudakis, it’s because he’s constantly putting out new product. In this case, it’s Ball Four Turns 40, a documentary about that watershed memoir by the irrepressible Jim Bouton. In our latest chat, we talk about the gathering of the Baseball Reliquary in 2011 […]
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Ball Four,
Baseball Reliquary,
Jim Bouton,
Jon Leonoudakis
The long-time sportswriter and the first author to focus on a single-game analysis passed away Sunday at the ripe old age of 99. I had interviewed Arnold Hano back in 2012 to discuss A Day in the Bleachers, a classic about the 1954 World Series between the New York Giants and Cleveland Indians. It would […]
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Arnold Hano,
Jon Leonoudakis,
New York Giants,
Willie Mays,
World Series
Jon Leonoudakis and I go way back, relatively speaking. I’ve been a fan of his entertaining and varied film projects, beginning with Not Exactly Cooperstown, about the Baseball Reliquary, described on its home page as “a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history […]
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Jon Leonoudakis
If I had the wherewithal, I think I’d be doing something like Jon Leonouakis‘ streaming TV show, The Sweet Spot: A Treasury of Baseball Stories. I mean, he interviews people, I interview people. But as the saying goes, “Show me, don’t tell me,” and as a veteran filmmaker, he’s the man behind several well-crafted baseball […]
Tagged as:
baseball documentary,
Jon Leonoudakis
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 […]
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Arnold Hano,
Baseball Cards,
Bill James,
David Simon,
Dock Ellis,
ESPN,
John Grisham,
Jon Leonoudakis,
Mark Ulriksen,
NPR,
Ray Negron,
Sports Illustrated,
Trouble With the Curve,
Zack Hample
The last time I spoke with Jon Leonoudakis for a Bookshelf Conversation, it was to discuss his 2012 project Not Exactly Cooperstown, a documentary about The Baseball Reliquary, a “nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history and to exploring the national pastime’s unparalleled […]
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Arnold Hano,
Jon Leonoudakis
(Note: I posted this originally on my blog about Jews and sports, but since it’s based on a fantastic baseball book, I thought it would be appropriate here as well.) And when I say “The Catch,” of course I’m talking about Willie Mays’ iconic grab in Game One of the 1954 World Series against the […]
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Al Rosen,
Arnold Hano,
Bergino Baseball Clubhouse,
Jon Leonoudakis,
Willie Mays
I never got that. Without going into the popular history of friggatriskaidekaphobia (fear of Friday the 13th as opposed to triskaidekaphobia, fear of the number itself), isn’t 13 kind of a good number for the Jews? Bar mitzva and all? According to Baseball-Reference.com, there have been 299 players who wore the number 13 for part […]
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Alex Rodriguez,
Arnold Hano,
Jon Leonoudakis,
Omar Vizquel,
Ray Fosse,
Robert Clemente
Rob Neyer occasionally posts “book club” entries as part of his Just a Bit Outside site. This one was put up shortly after the passing of Alison Gordon, a sportswriter who covered the Toronto Blue Jays and chronicled the experience in her book Foul Ball!: Five Years in the American League. This piece from BaseballEssential […]
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Alison Gordon,
Arnold Hano,
baseball dictionary,
Bobby Brown,
Filip Bondy,
J.P. Hoornstra,
Jon Leonoudakis,
Kansas City Royals,
Los Angeles Dodgers,
Molly Knight,
New York Yankees,
Ron Neyer
Grantland recently aired Spyball, one of those 30 for 30 short documentaries produced by the folks at ESPN. Spyball is the story of Moe Berg, one of the most interesting characters to play in the Majors. A very quick recap of Berg’s career: He was a brilliant scholar, linguist, lawyer, etc., as well as mediocre […]
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Arnold Hano,
ESPB,
Jon Leonoudakis,
Moe Berg
With apologies to Chicago (the band, not the city). Feast or famine. Either I never get to Manhattan, or I’m there too much. After commuting from the New jersey suburbs to NYC for more than 15 years, I have to say it’s a culture shock whenever I go back and I’m not thrilled with it. […]
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A Day in the Bleachers,
Arnold Hano,
baseball business,
Charles Leehrsen,
Jon Leonoudakis,
Jon Pessah,
New York Giants,
Steve Steinberg,
Ty Cobb,
Willie Mays,
World Series
One of my understated heroes turns 93 today. I had the pleasure of doing a Bookshelf Conversation with Hano a couple of years ago. But Jon Leonoudakis — whose previous works include Not Exactly Cooperstown and 5:05 P.M. (about the “Earthquake World Series”) — goes even farther with a documentary about the author of the […]
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A Day in the Bleachers,
Arnold Hano,
Jon Leonoudakis
Last Friday marked the 25th anniversary of the World Series earthquake in San Fransisco which occurred just minutes before Game One of the face-off between the host Giants and cross-bay Rival Oakland As. And we have not one, but two documentaries to commemorate the occasion. One, The Day The Series Stopped, was produced under ESPN’s […]
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1989 World Series,
Jon Leonoudakis,
Oakland As,
San Francisco Giants,
World Series earthquake
One of the things I’ve come across during my research is that so many readers and writers take this stuff so seriously. As Crash Davis said in Bull Durham, “This game is fun, okay?” But who says you can both have fun and pay proper respect to those who have made the national pastime so enjoyable? […]
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Baseball Reliquary,
Jon Leonoudakis
♦ The Louisville Courier-Journal posted this Q&A with Katya Cengel, author of Bluegrass Baseball: A Year in the Minor League Life. ♦ Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News, blogged about Not Exactly Cooperstown, a documentary about The Baseball Reliquary by Jon Leonoudakis (look for a review of the film as well as a […]
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Baseball Reliquary,
Jon Leonoudakis,
Rob Neyer,
Tim Wendell
is available on Amazon.com,
