The things we keep: The Royals Cap

April 2, 2025 · 0 comments

When it comes to collecting baseball caps, I have specific rules. At the very least, I have to be in the state where the teams plays to be able to purchase one of them (or if someone is traveling and happens to think of picking one up for me); I can’t just go to a Lids in a New Jersey mall and get whatever I want. So since I was in St. Louis  for a couple of book events, that “qualified” me to also get a Royals cap.

(This rule also applied to my acquisition of some hats from the Nippon Baseball League during a recent trip to Japan. More on that later.)

I was wearing it last night when my wife was among those honored by the New Jersey Sharing Network for her fundraising efforts on behalf of the organization which does an unparalleled  job in organ donor awareness.

During the open house, I was approached twice by guys commenting on my choice of head wear. One was an avid Yankees fan, the other a Met rooter. Funny how something as simple as arbitrarily grabbing a cap from the collection lining the wall of my office can lead to conversation.

It brought to mind a moment from my Brooklyn childhood when I started at a new school, always a difficult time for the new kid. On the first day of classes, I spotted a kid wearing a Cincinnati Reds cap. Kindred spirit since anything other than rooting for a New York team set one apart. I wish I could say it led to a lifelong friendship, but alas, it did not.

Tagged as: baseball caps, The Things We Keep

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Bookshelf Review: The Last Manager…

March 29, 2025 · 0 comments

The Last Manager | Book by John W. Miller | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schusterappears on Bookreporter.com.

 

 

Tagged as: Baltimore Orioles, biography, Earl Weaver, managers

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Baseball Best-Sellers, March 28, 2025

March 28, 2025 · 0 comments

A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“).

In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one by including a book in a category in which it should not be listed (in my opinion). For example, The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect has appeared on Amazon’s BBS list. “Why” is a good question. There might be a smattering of the national pastime in it, but not enough to make it a baseball book per se (again, IMO).

Finally, adults only here. That is, no books for younger readers (i.e., 12 and under). Also no “adult” adult books (romance/erotic fiction that features baseball as a theme although goodness knows there are a bunch of those out there).

So, with all that said…

The links under the authors’ names will take you to the Bookshelf Conversations I did with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a Ω (omega) means it’s an award winner.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81U+PUX28nL._SL1500_.jpgPRINT

  1. The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller
  2. Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America, by Will Bardenwerper *
  3. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
  4. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen (Paperback)
  5. Why We Love Baseball (paperback)
  6. Baseball Prospectus 2025
  7. Baseball America Prospect Handbook
  8. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
  9. The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker
  10. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and Tom Underwood

Note: Amazon has changed the way they list their books. They no longer offer best-seller rankings for Kindle or Audible titles so while I wait to hear from them as to how to get this info, I am only doing the print titles again this week.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 1,884,583 overall in books; last time, 676,936.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,460,729; last time, 3,418,058.

Shameless self-promotion: if you’re looking for some good baseball reading during this down time, why not pick up a copy of 501? It’s like the dictionary; it has the other books in it, which reminds me of one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite shows.

A reminder: There’s an Excel “checklist” of the books list in 501. If you’re interested in keeping track of how many you have read or own, drop me a line.

If you have read either of my books, thanks, hope you enjoyed it, and please consider writing an Amazon review; it’s never too late.

Tagged as: amateur baseball, baseball best-sellers, baseball classics, baseball in war time, baseball instrucionals, biographies

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The Bookshelf Conversations #192: Harvey Araton

March 5, 2025

As I say in the video, this is the second time I’ve chatted with Harvey Araton about Driving Mr. Yogi: Yogi Berra, Ron Guidry, and Baseball’s Greatest Gift. (The website is out of date but you’ll get a lot of info about him and his work nonetheless.) The previous Conversation was more than a decade ago, when the book first came out. It was included in my “roundup” review of baseball titles in 2012 on Bookreporter.com. That was in the “infancy” of my podcasts and the technology wasn’t really that good, as you can judge for yourselves here. Very primitive.

I have always been in awe of people who work for The New York Times, such as Tyler Kepner, George Vecsey, Richard Sandomir, Claire Smith, Ira Berkow, and Richard Goldstein, among others who have been kind enough to share their thoughts in these Conversations. I would think that’s a journalist’s dream job although I know in realty it’s just as fraught with problems as any other position. Unfortunately, Araton left the paper a few years back when they severely cut back on staff. He still writes the occasional piece, such as this obituary for photographer George Kalinsky.

The nice thing about books, for me at least, is that they’re timeless. So I had no problem in going back to Driving Mr. Yogi and discussing the challenges of writing about such a legendary figure. It’s even more meaningful since Berra has passed away and kind of reminded me of David Halberstam’s book, The Teammates. Here’s my review of that one on Bookreporter.

And here’s the audio portion:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Tagged as: Bookshelf Conversations, Harvey Araton, New York Yankees, Original video content, Yogi Berra

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Baseball Best-Sellers, February 28, 2025

February 28, 2025

A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“).

In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one by including a book in a category in which it should not be listed (in my opinion). For example, The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect has appeared on Amazon’s BBS list. “Why” is a good question. There might be a smattering of the national pastime in it, but not enough to make it a baseball book per se (again, IMO).

Finally, adults only here. That is, no books for younger readers (i.e., 12 and under). Also no “adult” adult books (romance/erotic fiction that features baseball as a theme although goodness knows there are a bunch of those out there).

So, with all that said…

The links under the authors’ names will take you to the Bookshelf Conversations I did with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a Ω (omega) means it’s an award winner.

PRINT

  1. The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller
  2. Baseball Prospectus 2025
  3. Ron Shandler’s 2025 Baseball Forecaster
  4. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
  5. The 2025 Fantasy Baseball Blackbook, by Joe Pisapia
  6. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen (Paperback)
  7. Baseball Obscura 2025, by David J. Fleming
  8. I Felt the Cheers: The Remarkable Silent Life of Curtis Pride, by Pride with Doug Ward *
  9. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
  10. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and Tom Underwood

Note: Amazon has changed the way they list their books. They no longer offer best-seller rankings for Kindle titles so as I wait to hear from them as to how to get this info, I am only doing the print titles this week.

Also, I will be on vacation for the next three weeks and am unsure if I will have the opportunity to post during that time. Just a heads-up.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 676,936  overall in books (39 in Literary Bibliographies & Indexes; last time, 1,963,853.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,418,058; last time, 3,409,473.

Shameless self-promotion: if you’re looking for some good baseball reading during this down time, why not pick up a copy of 501? It’s like the dictionary; it has the other books in it, which reminds me of one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite shows.

A reminder: There’s an Excel “checklist” of the books list in 501. If you’re interested in keeping track of how many you have read or own, drop me a line.

If you have read either of my books, thanks, hope you enjoyed it, and please consider writing an Amazon review; it’s never too late.

Tagged as: baseball best-sellers, baseball in war time, biographies, instructionals, Lists, memoirs, Rankings, statistical analysis

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Bits and Pieces, February 26, 2025

February 26, 2025

♦  Keith O’Brien (Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and The Last Glory Days of Baseball ) wrote about the history-making “Robo-Ump” strike-zone technology for Rolling Stone.

♦  The New York Times published this book review on John Miller’s new biography, The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, giving it high marks.

♦  SABR announced its winners of the Henry Chadwick Award, “established to honor the game’s great researchers — historians, statisticians, annalists, and archivists — for their invaluable contributions to making baseball the game that links America’s present with its past.” Congrats to this year’s recipients, Robert Fitts, Gary Gillette, and Richard Malatzky.

♦  In his latest “Reading Baseball” and annual Black History Month commentary on NPR station WSIU (Southern Illinois University), Pete Peterson talks about Vic Harris, “a legendary negro league manager who Pete believes was wrongly left out of the Baseball Hall of Fame again.”

♦  From Townepost.com, author “Wendell Lloyd Jones Uncovers the Louisville Grays’ Story” in his first book, The Louisville Grays and the Myth of Baseball’s First Great Scandal (which actually came out last year).

 

Tagged as: baseball managers, book awards, Negro Leagues, SABR

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The Bookshelf Conversation #191: Scott Bolohan

February 25, 2025

And here I thought I was so smart, that I was up on just about everything when it came to baseball off the field.

Wrong.

At this point, I don’t even know how I discovered The Twin Bill, which launched more than four years ago. Rather than me trying to explain, let’s get it straight from the source:

The Twin Bill is a quarterly literary baseball journal founded in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. We celebrate the rich history of the game while also recognizing its vibrant present through fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, interviews, and art. We welcome writers of all levels and experiences.

So I had to track down Scott Bolohan, founder of TTB, to discuss the agonies and ecstasies of bringing a new project into this world.

Bolohan is quite the baseball renaissance man. Not only does he write and edit, but he also contributes some of the very stylistic art work. And his brother, Mark, did the music for the Twin Bill’s podcasts. (Wait, do I have to worry?)

In addition to the quarterlies, Bolohan recently published Early Innings, a collection of pieces from past issues.

And the audio-only version:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Tagged as: baseball ficiton, baseball journal, baseball poetry, Bookshelf Conversation, Non-fiction, Original video content

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Baseball Best-Sellers, February 21, 2025

February 21, 2025

A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“).

In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one by including a book in a category in which it should not be listed (in my opinion). For example, The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect has appeared on Amazon’s BBS list. “Why” is a good question. There might be a smattering of the national pastime in it, but not enough to make it a baseball book per se (again, IMO).

Finally, adults only here. That is, no books for younger readers (i.e., 12 and under). Also no “adult” adult books (romance/erotic fiction that features baseball as a theme although goodness knows there are a bunch of those out there).

So, with all that said…

The links under the authors’ names will take you to the Bookshelf Conversations I did with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a Ω (omega) means it’s an award winner.

PRINT

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71EeyX4Y5VL._SL1500_.jpg

  1. Baseball Prospectus 2025
  2. Ron Shandler’s 2025 Baseball Forecaster
  3. The 2025 Fantasy Baseball Blackbook, by Joe Pisapia
  4. Baseball Obscura 2025, by David J. Fleming
  5. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen (Paperback)
  6. The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller *
  7. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
  8. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
  9. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and Tom Underwood
  10. Baseball America 2025 Prospect Handbook *

KINDLE

  1. Summer of ’68: The Season That Changed Baseball — and America — Forever, by Tim Wendel *
  2. Why We Love Baseball
  3. The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
  4. Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original, by Howard Bryant
  5. The Summer Game, by Roger Angell
  6. The Yankee Way: The Untold Inside Story of the Brian Cashman Era, by Andy Martino
  7. The Enchanted Season, by Larry Parrish with Tom Gage *
  8. The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness, by Andy McCullough
  9. A Fan’s Guide to Baseball Analytics: Why WAR, WHIP, wOBA, and Other Advanced Sabermetrics Are Essential to Understanding Modern Baseball, by Anthony Castrovince
  10. The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America, by Posnanski

AUDIBLE

Note: Amazon has changed the way they list audiobooks. No longer under the general category of “biography and memoir,” they are now treated in their own baseball/softball category. Here’s the general link to the section where you will find further links to the individual titles, their reader/narrators, and samples. Note further that these are updated regularly and the top ten list below might no longer be the same.

  1. Hurdle-isms: Wit and Wisdom from a Lifetime in Baseball, by Clint Hurdle (April 1) *
  2. The Baseball 100
  3. K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, by Tyler Kepner (narrated buy the author)
  4. Why We Love Baseball
  5. The Last Manager *
  6. Moneyball (unabridged, narrated by Scott Brick)
  7. Big Cat: The Life of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize, by Jerry Grillo*
  8. Joe DiMaggio: The Hero’s Life, by Richard Ben Cramer (narrated by the author) *
  9. The Team That Changed Baseball: Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates, by Bruce Markusen *
  10. War on the Basepaths: The Definitive Biography of Ty Cobb, by Tim Hornbaker *

So many new titles on this week’s lists. To be fair, they may have been on the lists last week but due to Valentine’s Day (and my anniversary), I was unable to post.

Looking forward to the two new “managerial” titles.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks1,963,853  overall in books; last time,  515,026.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,409,473; last time, 3,398,495.

Shameless self-promotion: if you’re looking for some good baseball reading during this down time, why not pick up a copy of 501? It’s like the dictionary; it has the other books in it, which reminds me of one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite shows.

A reminder: There’s an Excel “checklist” of the books list in 501. If you’re interested in keeping track of how many you have read or own, drop me a line.

If you have read either of my books, thanks, hope you enjoyed it, and please consider writing an Amazon review; it’s never too late.

Tagged as: biography, Fantasy baseball, instructionals, managers, Memoir, Non-fiction, Rankings, Reading Lists

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Pass the Popcorn: The Cornerstone: Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor

February 19, 2025

There are very few who love the Mets more than I do, but even I found the hyperbole about the upcoming documentary this a bit much:

In an unprecedented move that is sure to captivate baseball fans worldwide, Netflix has announced the release of a groundbreaking documentary series centered around two of the most beloved stars in Major League Baseball: Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor. Titled “The Cornerstone: Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor,” the series promises an in-depth look into the lives, careers, and off-field journeys of the dynamic New York Mets duo, offering fans a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse into the world of two of baseball’s brightest talents.

 

First of all, shouldn’t the title be Cornerstones? After all, there are two of them.

Second, and again, as much as I appreciate these guys, are they really “two of the most beloved stars in Major League Baseball?” I’m sure Dodger  and Yankee fans might have something to say about that, as would followers of any other team.

Third, isn’t it funny that the only announcement about the doc I could find comes from the United Kingdom? Maybe that’s why they feel they have to provide so much exposition.

Makes no never mind to me; I’m still gonna watch it.

Tagged as: baseball documentary, Francisco Lindor, New York Mets, Pete Alonso

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The Bookshelf Conversations #190: Danny Gallagher

February 19, 2025

Next to the Mets, my favorite team is (was) the Montreal Expos.

My maternal side comes from Montreal and I consider the time spent there on vacations and the five summers working at a sleep-away camp in the Laurentians among the happiest of my life.

My Aunt Lily lived in Outremont, a neighborhood a long walk away from Jarry Park (or Parc Jarry, if you prefer). I attended several games and always sat on the first base side, which could be hazardous to the player at that position when the sun was setting over the left field fence. Then, in 2003, when the team — having long since moved into the cavernous Olympic Stadium — was in danger of contraction by Major League Baseball, I spent the last home stand of the season in the Expos’ press box gathering material for a manuscript that never panned out because they hung around for one more year before relocating to Washington, DC, in 2005.

Montreal Expos - Parc Jarry - Mai 1970 : r/expos

The main reason for the move was lack of fan interest. But that’s only true when you are counting fannies in the seats. Expos fans were (are) among the most loyal anywhere. ExposFest is still held every year and many are hoping that an expansion franchise might one day play in the city again.

c. 1969 MONTREAL EXPOS BUMPER STICKER | eBay

Danny Gallagher is among that group. He has to be the foremost authority on the Expos, having published several books about the team, including:

As you can see, he’s been a busy boy, especially over the last five years.

I figured it was high time to connect with Gallagher to discuss our mutual love.

Tagged as: Bookshelf Conversations, Lists, Montreal Expos, Original video content

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Soapbox time: Banned books

February 19, 2025

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/591a0d4a29687facef04dd51/1500668498743-3709FSZN54YZUHZKYLZJ/soapbox.jpg?format=750wNormally I do not write about books for kids, but after reading the story mentioned below, I’m POed enough to change my tune.

How small the minds of many Americans seem to have become.

Pen.org is a 100+-year-old organization which, according to the site, “stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.”

They recently posted an article about “The 23 Most Banned Picture Books of the 2023-2024 School Year.”

Picture books featuring gay or transgender characters or naked butts — human or otherwise — were among the most frequently banned in U.S. public schools in the 2023-2024 school year.

PEN America counted more than 10,000 book bans in the 2023-2024 school year affecting more than 4,000 unique titles, with about 45% of the bans occurring in Florida and 36% in Iowa. Most bans targeted young adult or adult titles, but about 2% of bans were of picture books for the youngest readers. The heartwarming penguin adoption story And Tango Makes Three was the most frequently banned picture book of the 2023-2024 school year, followed by The Family Book, a colorful board book about different types of families, and Julián is a Mermaid, about a boy who uses a curtain as a mermaid tail.

Baseball Saved Us bookcoverMore than 10,000! What is wrong with these people? What are they afraid of?

Among the top most-banned picture books is Baseball Saved Us, by Ken Mochizuki and Dom Lee. And while it may have only be banned by three organizations, the idea that it should be banned at all is abhorrent. Those three organizations include the Mid-Prairie Community School District in Iowa; the Spencer Community School District, also in Iowa; and the Elkhorn Area School District in Wisconsin. Pen.org’s previous year’s report shows that it was similarly banned by the Clay County School District in Florida. Also banned in late 2022 was Tim Green’s Home Run (Frisco Independent School District, Texas).

God forbid young readers should be “infected” by such nonsense that saw their government imprisoning a portion of its citizens because they were deemed a national threat. I know it’s easy to look back and make these comments, decades safe from the fear of war, but facts are facts. It was a shameful part of our history and the ways things are going, who’s to say it won’t be repeated?

 

Tagged as: banned books

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The Bookshelf Conversations #189: Jean Fruth

February 12, 2025

It’s always a pleasure to speak with Jean Fruth. Whatever project she takes on is full of passion, whether it’s photographing baseball across small town America (Grassroots Baseball: Route 66) or talking with some of the greats of the game about how they got their start (Grassroots Baseball: Where Legends Begin), or, in her latest project, how women are overcoming stereotypes and other adversities to become a larger part of the game as players.

Her new documentary and book, See Her Be Her, follows several women on teams competing in the most recent Women’s Baseball World Cup. They came from all over the world: Japan, Canada, Australia, the U.S., and Cuba, to name just a few. There is even a baseball presence in Uganda, which might be the most interesting story.

For all the questions in our latest Conversation, I forgot to ask about the meaning of the title.

“Every girl should have the chance to dream.  Dream to be at the highest level, whatever that may be,” Fruth wrote in a follow-up e-mail.

“When boys go to a baseball game, some of them have the dream to be a major league baseball player.  When they see their older brother playing high school baseball, they dream of doing that.

“When girls go to an Oakland Ballers game and they see Kelsie Whitmore pitch, they say, ‘Wow, maybe I can do that.’  When they see Alyssa Nakken coaching first base for the San Francisco Giants, they say, ‘Wow, maybe I can do that. When they go to a game in Baltimore and see Nicole Sherry as head groundskeeper taking care of the field, they say, ‘Wow a girl can do that, maybe I can do that.'”

See Her Be Her will be making the rounds this year after making its debut on the MLB Network. According to a press release on the Grass Roots website,

The 2025 12-city SEE HER BE HER Tour will coincide with the Major League Baseball season, kicking off in February when pitchers and catchers report, and concluding in the fall, when a World Series champion is crowned.

Each tour stop will include a screening followed by a Q&A with a panel of women baseball experts and book signing of Grassroots Baseball’s companion book, “See Her Be Her.” Proceeds from ticket and book sales will benefit Little League International’s “Girls with Game” program to increase opportunities for girls in baseball. All students, eight years of age and older, will be admitted free of charge.

You can see the trailer for See Her Be Her here.

And here’s the audio version:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Tagged as: baseball documentaries, Jean Fruth, Photography, women in baseball

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There will be lists!

Uncategorized

As we approach spring training and the start of a new season, there will be lists of suggested reading. I find a lot of them fascinating. I was speaking with an author recently about working with editors. Undoubtedly, it helps to have one who’s knowledgeable on the topic. The same can be said about the […]

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Baseball Best-Sellers, February 7, 2025

2024 title

A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]

Read the full article →

The Bookshelf Conversations #188: Ben Yagoda

"Bookshelf Conversations"

A bit of a departure here. Ben Yagoda has not written a book about baseball (yet). Nor has he written a song or made a film about the game. But he is a super fan and has written reviews of others’ books about the game. Close enough for jazz. I wanted to speak with him […]

Tagged as: Ben Yagoda

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Lest We Forget: Fay Vincent

Autobiography/memoirs

From The New York Times by George Vecsey: “Fay Vincent, a lawyer who presided over Major League Baseball as its eighth commissioner during a time when it was shaken by labor strife, the first shadows of steroid use and, quite literally, a powerful earthquake that interrupted the 1989 World Series, died on Saturday in Vero […]

Tagged as: Fay Vincent

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Bits and Pieces, February 1, 2025

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

♦   Congratulations to Larry Gerlach, winner of this year’s Seymour Medal for Lion of the League: Bob Emslie and the Evolution of the Baseball Umpire. The Seymour medal is awarded by the Society for American Baseball Research for the best book of baseball history or biography published during the preceding calendar year. Gerlach is also […]

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Baseball Best-Sellers, January 31, 2025

"Annuals"

A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]

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The Bookshelf Conversations #187: Bill Littlefield

"Bookshelf Conversations"

There was something about Bill Littlefield’s voice when he read his poetry (or as he refers to it, doggerel) on NPR’s Only a Game that was so soothing, as opposed to those loud-mouthed shouters on various sports talk programs. I miss him. But to prove that the Bookshelf is timeless, I had him on recently […]

Tagged as: Bill Littlefield

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Baseball Best-Sellers, January 24, 2025

"Bookshelf Conversations"

A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]

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