Or “Methinks he doth protest too much.” I feel sorry for a lot of today’s celebrities, especially athletes. After years of (self?) denial, Lance Armstrong admitted he used performance enhancing drugs. Ballplayer after ballplayer swears on a stack of bibles that he’s clean, only to have the evidence turn out to prove him “misstating.” The […]
Tagged as:
Alex Rodriguez,
Joe Torre,
Mike Piazza,
New York Mets,
New York Yankees,
steroids
Besides my own book, there are some titles I’m really looking forward to this season. Among them: Keepers of the Game: When the Baseball Beat was the Best Job on the Paper by Dennis D’Agostino The Victory Season: The End of World War II and the Birth of Baseball’s Golden Age by Robert Weintraub Mickey […]
Tagged as:
Allen Barra,
Baseball during World War II,
Doc Gooden,
Filip Bondy,
Ira Berkow,
Mickey Mantle,
Mike Piazza,
New York Mets,
Willard Mullin,
Willie Mays
Last Saturday, I had the honor of attending the book launch/birthday party for Greg Prince, author of the The Happiest Recap: First Base (1962-1973): 50 Years of the New York Mets As Told in 500 Amazin’ Wins (Volume 1). There will eventually be three additional volumes. Several of Prince’s friends were on hand at Foley’s, […]
Tagged as:
Greg Prince,
New York Mets
I haven’t done one of these in awhile. Part of it has been working on my own book (I’m almost done with the indexing), part of it was being without the computer (kind of surprised it’s lasted this long). So as a way to compensate, this episode is something of a Mets doubleheader. We have […]
Tagged as:
Davud Ferry,
Greg Prince,
New York Mets
Tonight 7 p.nm. at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse, Ray Negron will discuss his new book, Yankee Miracles: Life with the Boss and the Bronx Bombers. I’ll have to read that one soon and compare it with Marty Appel’s Now Pitching for the Yankees: Spinning the News for Mickey, Reggie and George. Next at the Clubhouse: […]
Tagged as:
Bergino Baseball Clubhouse,
Foleys,
Gre Prince,
Lefty Gomez,
New York Mets,
Ray Negron
Haven’t been posting much lately for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I’ve been working on the final galleys for the 501 book. Almost done with that and then I have to create the index, which should be interesting. I’ve also been researching a stand-alone web-presence for the book, which is proving a bit […]
Tagged as:
David Ferry,
Foley's Pub,
Greg Prince,
New York Mets
♦ The Atlantic published this piece by Luke Epplin on Tony La Russa’s new book, The Last Strike. The main complaint in the piece seems to be that a) La Russa doesn’t dish the dirt very much; and b) his role as a great strategist may be well-deserved, but too much detail doesn’t make for […]
Tagged as:
Boston Red Sox,
Eric Gagne,
Fenway Park,
Jon Heyman,
New York Mets,
Tony La Russa
A while back I bought a Flip camera. Figured it would come in handy at some point. I took it to the Hofstra University Mets 50th Anniversary conference where I taped MLB historian John Thorn delivering the keynote address. Unfortunately that was all I was able to record because of battery issues. Have to figure […]
Tagged as:
Hofstra University,
John Thorn,
New York Mets
Because he might have kept Buzz Capra’s cap on his bookshelf. You know, like a hunting trophy. Borbon, a reliever for the Big Red Machine in the 1970s, died Monday at the age of 65. During the 1973 playoff brawl between his Reds and the New York Mets, Borbon sprinted in from the bullpen to […]
Tagged as:
Big Red Machine,
Buzz Capra,
New York Mets,
Pedro Borbon
[Note: My spring baseball roundup appears on Bookreporter.com and is reposted here as individual reviews for your convenience.] In Turning Two: My Journey to the Top of the World and Back with the New York Mets, Bud Harrelson, a staple of the pennant-winning Mets of 1969 and 1973, offers a “throw-back” to the days when […]
Tagged as:
Bud Harrelson,
New York Mets
My annual spring baseball book roundup appears on Bookreporter.com. Titles include: Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball, by R.A. Dickey and Wayne Coffey Turning Two: My Journey to the Top of the World and Back with the New York Mets, by Bud Harrelson and Phil Pepe Driving Mr. […]
Tagged as:
Bud Harrelson,
New York Mets,
Phil Pepe,
RA Dickey,
Wayne Coffey
Spent a pleasant three days at Hofstra University’s conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of the New York Mets, much on on which later. Suffice it so say here that I met or re-meta lot of nice folks, many of whom are authors and/or bloggers, including my roomie, Matthew Silverman (several titles about the Mets), Stanley […]
Tagged as:
John Thorn,
Matthew Silverman,
New York Mets
Any middle-aged, self-respecting New York baseball fan knows the name Phil Pepe. He was the Yankees beat writer for the World Telegram & Sun from 1961-64, and for the Daily News from 1971-84. He’s enjoyed a long run on radio, too, serving as the sports voice for WCBS-FM when it was still an oldies station, […]
Tagged as:
Bob Gibson,
Bud Harrelson,
Hofstra University,
New York Mets,
Phil Pepe
The Mets are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. One of the key events marking the occasion is a three-day conference at Hofstra University and it will be my pleasure to moderate a panel of three landsmen at an authors roundtable. The gentlemen include: ♦ John Thorn, the official historian of Major League Baseball and […]
Tagged as:
Hofstra University,
New York Mets
Turning Two: My Journey to the Top of the World and Back with the New York Mets, by Bud Harrelson with Phil Pepe. Thomas Dunne Books, 2012. Harrelson’s new book is a bit a throwback. One could easily imagine reading this in the pre-Ball Four era. Other than a scant mention of disappointment for the […]
Tagged as:
Bud Harrelson,
New York Mets
Over the past few days, a number of interesting items have come my way. Summer of ’68: The Season That Changed Baseball–and America–Forever, by Tim Wendel, makes me feel old. “History” should only apply to events that took place before I was born. This was the first year I really started paying attention to baseball […]
Tagged as:
Bud Harrelson,
Carl Mays,
John Grisham,
New York Mets,
Ray Chapman,
Ron Guidry,
Yogi Berra
Zack Hample, baseball author and collector extraordinaire, discovered this fun find: an expense sheet for the NY Mets in 1962. The per diem for most of the team seemed to have been $17.15. Today that would be, like, a million dollars.
Tagged as:
New York Mets,
Zack Hample
Frankly, I’m surprised more former Mets aren’t hopping on the 50th anniversary bandwagon with books. Buddy Harrelson, one of the team’s early stars, is coming out with Turning Two: My Journey to the Top of the World and Back with the New York Mets (with Phil Pepe). I have to say, that’s an odd name; […]
Tagged as:
Bud Harrelson,
New York Mets
Recently, the Bookshelf spoke with Glenn Stout about the centennial of Fenway Park (an upcoming episode will feature Curt Smith discussing the role of broadcasters in bring the games to the Fenway faithful). This week, in recognition of the New York Mets’ 50th anniversary, we chatted with Mathew Silverman, who specializes in titles about the […]
Tagged as:
Hofstra University,
Matthew Silverman,
New York Mets