Because you can keep them on your bookshelf.
Not that I’m a fashion maven, but I never liked the flat brim look. A pet peeve of mine. Kudos to the writers of Reacher.
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The irascible, cigar-smoking Cuban pitcher passed away yesterday (Oct. 8) at the age of 83. Here’s his obituary from The New York Times by Bruce Weber; the Boston Herald; and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Tiant enjoyed a spirited career, compiling a record of 229-172 over a 19-year career. He made his debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1964, going 10-4. In 1968 — the “Year of the Pitcher” — he won 21 games and led the American League with a 1.60 ERA and nine shutouts. It was his tough luck that Denny McClain pitched for the Tigers that year.
Tiant spent one season with the Minnesota Twins before being signing as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox where he won 20 or more three times in eight seasons. From there he went to the New York Yankees, also as a free agent, for another two years before winding down with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1981 and the California Angels the following year.
Here’s his obituary from The New York Times by Bruce Weber; the Boston Herald; and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
He published two autobiographies. The first — El Tiante: The Luis Tiant Story — written with Joe Fitzgerald, came out in 1976, right after the Red Sox’s World Series appearance against the Cincinnati Reds/ The second — Son of Havana: A Baseball Journey from Cuba to the Big Leagues and Back — with Saul Wisnia, was released in 2019.
Tiant won two games in that ’75 Fall Classic. And since Pete Rose recently died, I had to look up their head-to-head stats. In Game 1, Rose went 0-4 as the Sox won, 6-0, with Tiant going all the way. They went at it again in Game 4 with Rose singling in three official at-bats (plus two walks) and scoring a run in the 5-4 Sox victory.
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Robert Coover, who wrote one of the most famous pieces of baseball fiction, passed away October 5 at the age of 92. Here’s his obituary from The New York Times.
Of course, Coover many well-received novels over his lengthy career but the one that resonates most for readers of this blog would have to be The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. For decades, it has been at the tops of the baseball fiction list, along with The Natural and The Celebrant.
Although TUBAI was originally published in 1968, you can find some surprisingly recent coverage, such as this from a 2017 edition of The Paris Review and even this from a Times Book Review supplement from 2011. Here’s the Times‘ original review by Wilfred Sheed in July of that year. This one is from Kirkus, a publishing industry magazine.
It’s basically the story of a lonely “loser” who becomes obsessed with a fantasy league he’s “created,” to such a degree that it becomes an overwhelming obsession that completely takes over his life. Maybe it was because of when the book came out, but I didn’t find it a great big deal. I compare it to old movies vs. current films. “Back in the day,” there was little actual blood shown. Nowadays, it’s a gore-fest with lots of explosions and other forms of violence. And don’t get me started on the vast difference in how sex is depicted in the cinema. What one generation found amazing and exciting is eye-rolled by another.
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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
- Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien (My review on Bookreporter.com)
- Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω (paperback)
- The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
- Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole and Don Yeager
- The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and Tom Underwood
- The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen
- The Baseball 100, by Joe Posnanski Ω
- The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker
- The National Baseball Hall of Fame Collection: Celebrating the Game’s Greatest Players, by James Buckley Jr.
KINDLE BOOKS
- Baseball, The Movie, by Noah Gittell
- Charlie Hustle
- Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig, by Jonathan Eig
- The Machine, by Joe Posnanski
- Moneyball
- The Wingmen
- Wait Til Next Year, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?: The Improbable Saga of the New York Mets’ First Year, by Jimmy Breslin
- Brooks: The Biography of Brooks Robinson, by Doug Wilson
- Why We Love Baseball
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.
- Charlie Hustle
- The Baseball 100
- Moneyball (unabridged, read by Scott Brick)
- Why We Love Baseball
- Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Individual, by Howard Bryant
- Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (narrated by the author)
- Ninety Percent Mental, by Bob Tewksbury (narrated by the author)
- Wait Til Next Year
- Banana Ball, by Jesse Cole
- The Inside Game: Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves, by Keith Law
As expected, the passing of Pete Rose has generated renewed interest in his story. Look for a Bookshelf Conversation with Keith O’Brien in the not-too-distant future.
Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,243,504 overall in books; last time, 3,218,026. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,044,124; last time, 3,028,955.
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.
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(Been on vacation for a bit to Hyannis. Unfortunately, it was after the Cape Code League had concluded so no games to attend or caps to purchase, although I was able to get a Harbor Hawks t-shirt.)
Naturally the opening page for the Cincinnati Enquirer is all about Rose, and rightly so. (Those stories will probably be gone after a day or so.) I feel badly for the Hit King, but at the same time, he brought all these problems on himself by continually lying about his baseball gambling. Based on his stats, I believe he’s a Hall of Famer, but his denials costs him dearly and he spent ever since lobbying to reinstatement.
I often wonder about the first lines in a player’s obituary. In fact, I’m working on a project about that topic from the pages of The New York Times. Here’s their online intro for Rose, written by Bruce Weber: “Pete Rose, one of baseball’s greatest players and most confounding characters, who earned glory as the game’s hit king and shame as a gambler and dissembler, died on Monday. He was 83. ”
There have been numerous books about Rose, his successes on the field but perhaps more notably,his rise and fall.
Rose himself published several “memoirs” of various veracity, including Pete Rose: My Story (with Roger Kahn, 1989); My Prison Without Bars (with Rick Hill, 2014; here’s my review for Bookreporter.com); Play Hungry: The Making of a Baseball Player (2019; my review); and Charlie Hustle (with Bob Hurtzel, 1975). I interviewed Kostya Kennedy for Pete Rose: An American Dilemma, which won the author a CASEY Award from Spitball Magazine. I also reviewed Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien (link here).
Then there was the recent four-part documentary on HBO, Charlie Hustle & the Matter of Pete Rose.
I find this image representative of Rose’s playing career
I’m willing to bet cash money that this week’s Baseball Best-Sellers entry will feature several titles about Rose. That is, unless the news wears off pretty quickly.
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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
- The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
- Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
- The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen
- The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and Tom Underwood
- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω (paperback)
- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (hardcover)
- The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City, by Kevin Baker (My review on Bookreporter.com)
- Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole and Don Yeager
- Wait Til Next Year, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Dewey: Behind the Gold Glove, by Dwight Evans and Erik Sherman
KINDLE BOOKS
- The Wingmen
- Why We Love Baseball
- Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?: The Improbable Saga of the New York Mets’ First Year, by Jimmy Breslin
- Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien (My review on Bookreporter.com)
- Bushville Wins!: The Wild Saga of the 1957 Milwaukee Braves and the Screwballs, Sluggers, and Beer Swiggers Who Canned the New York Yankees and Changed Baseball, by John Klima
- The Greatest Game: The Day that Bucky, Yaz, Reggie, Pudge, and Company Played the Most Memorable Game in Baseball’s Most Intense Rivalry, by Richard Bradley
- The Umpire Strikes Back, by Ron Luciano and David Fisher
- Wait Til Next Year
- Bottom of the Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball from Itself, by Michael Shapiro
- Baseball’s Greatest Quotations: An Illustrated Treasury of Baseball Quotations and Historical Lore, by Paul Dickson
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.
- Why We Love Baseball
- The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series, by Tyler Kepner (narrated by the author)
- Schoolboy: The Untold Journey of a Yankees Hero, by Waite Hoyt with Tim Manners
- My Mets Bible: Scoring 30 Years of Baseball Fandom, by Evan Roberts (narrated by the author)
- Moneyball (unabridged, read by Scott Brick)
- The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
- Charlie Hustle
- The Inside Game: Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves, by Keith Law
- The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness, by Andy McCullough
- Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (narrated by the author)
Nothing new under the sun.
Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 3,218,026 overall in books; last time, 3,209,783. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,028,955; last time, 3,005,629.
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.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Lost in the tributes to baseball “legend” James Earl Jones was the passing of Ed Kranepool, one of the original New York Mets, who died Sunday at the age of 79 after struggling with heath issues for many years. Here’s his obituary by Richard Sandomir from The New York Times, which noted that “[Kranepool] is the fourth member of the Mets’ 1969 World Series championship team — the “Miracle Mets,” as they were called — to die this year, following Jerry Grote, Bud Harrelson and Jim McAndrew.”
This was a bit tough for me. For reasons I can’t explain, Kranepool was my hero as a kid.
I took a lot of teasing for that. After all, Kranepool — who made his debut at the age of 17 and spent his entire 18-year career with the Mets — hit just .261. For a big guy (6’3″, 205), he hit just 116 home runs. He wasn’t fast nor was he particularly graceful at first base. But I liked him anyway; he was my Joe Shlabotnik.
Later on, he became one of the better pinch-hitters in the game. According to Centerfieldmaz.com, “From 1974- 1979 Kranepool would come off the bench to chants of “Ed-die, Ed-die” and usually answered with a base hit. In his career Eddie went 63 – 181 in pinch hit at bats, good for a .358 average.” He was out of the game at the young age of 34.
Kranepool was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 1990.
Like many of his former mates who played before the age of big money, he spent the last several years making public appearances. He published his memoirs — The Last Miracle: My 18-Year Journey with the Amazin’ New York Mets — with Gary Kaschak in 2023. Sadly, it was kind of a bitter retelling. Here’s my review.
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It was a shocker to see the breaking news on CNN on Monday that James Earl Jones had passed away.
The tributes that followed seemed to highlight two roles: Darth Vader from the Star Wars universe and Terrence Mann from Field of Dreams.
But Jones, who died at the age of 93, was also in a couple of other beloved baseballs flick: The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings and The Sandlot (and The Sandlot 2). He also appeared on stage in August Wilson’ Fences.
Interestingly, his turns as an athlete (or ex-athlete) all had to do with the Negro Leagues. In addition to portraying Leon Carter, a Josh Gibson-like slugging catcher in Bingo, he was Mr. Mertle, a blind veteran of the Leagues in Sandlot, and Troy Maxon (Fences), a bitter ex-player who came just a bit too late to make it to the Majors after Jackie Robinson broke the color line.
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Here is Jones discussing his iconic role on the 25th anniversary of Field of Dreams.
It’s worth noting that despite his seeming non-interest in the game, Jones is one of those actors who have appeared in multiple baseball flicks, including Kevin Costner (FoD, Bull Durham, and For Love of the Game) and Dennis Haysbert (the Major League films plus Mr. Baseball). A generation earlier, you had Jimmy Stewart who had the titular role in The Stratton Story as well as Strategic Air Command in which he played an All-Star infielder for the St. Louis Cardinals who was called back into military service. Coincidentally, June Allyson plays his wife in both films.
Jones acquitted himself well in his movies’ action scenes, just as Costner and Haysbert had in theirs. As the years rolled on, it was no longer acceptable to have unathletic actors trying to get by (talkin’ about you, Anthony Perkins in Fear Strikes Out, and William Bendix in The Babe Ruth Story).
I wanted to get a feeling about Jones’ baseball work so I reached out to Dan Epstein, an award winning journalist, pop culture historian, and avid baseball fan who is the author of Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of ‘76, Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging ’70s, and co-author of Rob Blomberg’s The Captain & Me: On and Off the Field with Thurman Munson.
We discussed Jones’ virtuoso performances despite the fact that the actor wasn’t really that much of a baseball fan. According to Epstein, the scene in FoD in which Costner’s Ray Kinsella takes Terrence Mann to Fenway Park was the first time Jones had been to a major league stadium.
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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
- The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
- Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω
- Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien (My review on Bookreporter.com)
- Heads-Up Baseball, by Ken Ravizza and and Tom Hanson
- The Enchanted Season, by Lance Parrish with Tom Gage *
- The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen
- The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and Tom Underwood
- Fans First: Change The Game, Break the Rules & Create an Unforgettable Experience, by Jesse Cole
- Dewey: Behind the Gold Glove, by Dwight Evans and Erik Sherman
KINDLE BOOKS
- The Wingmen
- Nice Guys Finish Last, by Leo Durocher and Ed Linn
- Baseball Memories & Dreams: Reflections on the National Pastime from the Baseball Hall of Fame
- The Game from Where I Stand: From Batting Practice to the Clubhouse to the Best Breakfast on the Road, an Inside View of a Ballplayer’s Life, by Doug Glanville
- Why We Love Baseball
- Moneyball
- Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?: The Improbable Saga of the New York Mets’ First Year, by Jimmy Breslin
- Wait Til Next Year, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Bushville Wins!: The Wild Saga of the 1957 Milwaukee Braves and the Screwballs, Sluggers, and Beer Swiggers Who Canned the New York Yankees and Changed Baseball, by John Klima
- The Zen of Zim: Baseball, Beanballs, and Bosses, by Don Zimmer with Bill Madden
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.
- Moneyball (unabridged, read by Scott Brick)
- Wait Till Next Year
- Just Show Up: And Other Enduring Values from Baseball’s Iron Man, by Cal Ripken Jr. and James Dale (narrated by Ripken)
- Charlie Hustle
- The Inside Game: Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves, by Keith Law
- The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
- Moneyball (en espagnol!)
- Banana Ball, by Jesse Cole
- Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (narrated by the author)
- Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Individual, by Howard Bryant
Kind of surprised the Parrish book didn’t come out earlier in the year.
Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 3,209,783 overall in books; last time, 3,144,142. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,005,629; last time, 2,849,375.
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.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
I have an ongoing DVR thing set up for MLB Network documentaries. Since I don’t watch that channel regularly (believe it or not), I never know what’s going to appear on the list until it shows up. Sometimes it’s not a “major motion picture,” but recently I got to watch “One of a Kind,” about Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. (This, as opposed to the Clayton Kershaw biography, The Last of His Kind.)
Maddux was a master of his craft, often described in academic terms when it comes to plying his trade. In fact, the bespectacled pitcher looked like a college professor. He was not physically imposing like a Randy Johnson, or especially cantankerous like a Bob Gibson, or a speedballer like a Nolan Ryan. But Maddux was an artist; when you hear “painting the corner,” his is the image that pops up.
“One of a Kind” is quite well done. It has the usual interviews with the main subject, discussing his childhood and early days on the field, his struggles as he adjusted to the demands of his newfound profession. And it includes comments from his teammates and opponents. The comments of his former Braves’ pitching coach, Leo Mazzone, are especially entertaining, as is a lengthy scene in which Maddux and Barry Bonds watch videos from separate locations of some of their face-offs. I am always fascinated by the memories athletes have for every situation as they analyze the at-bats pitch by pitch. It’s endearing to see Maddux sitting with former teammates John Smoltz and Tom Gavine, just a few slightly paunchy, somewhat balding middle-aged dads.
One fascinating tidbit: Maddux claims credit for the current custom of players covering their mouths with their gloves as they converse on the mound. Apparently one batter read Maddux’s lips, knew what was coming, and promptly put the ball over the fence for a home run.
One thing that disappointed me, though:
There are several mentions of his sense of humor. So why didn’t they include this?
Here Tom Glavine talks about the making of a classic.
FYI, Maddux hit five home runs over his 22-year career, Glavine just one in the same length of service.
I wonder if the Maddux-Bonds face-offs will appear in John Nogowski’s forthcoming book, Diamond Duels: Baseball’s Greatest Matchups?
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Appearances to the contrary, Don Wert was not the quintessential “light hitting shortstop.” Over the course of his nine-year career, all but the last spent with the Detroit Tigers, he had four seasons of 10 or more homers to go along with slash line of .244/.314/.343 (notice how we’re getting farther and farther away from just including the batting average?).
Wert passed away August 25 at the age of 86. Here’s his obituary from the Detroit Free Press.
Wert was a main cog of the 1968 World Championship team, the only year in which he was named to an All-Star team, despite a batting average of just .200. He also finished tenth in the 1965 MVP race, having led the AL in games played (162).
Books about that special campaign include:
- The 1968 World Series: The Tigers-Cardinals Classic as Told by the Men Who Played
- The Tigers of ’68: Baseball’s Last Real Champions
- Sock It To ‘Em Tigers: The Incredible Story of the 1968 Detroit Tigers
* * *
Mike Cubbage played for the Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, and New York Mets during his eight years in the bigs (seemed like longer). After his playing days came to an end, he served as a coach and was (very) briefly the Mets manager, winning three of his seven games at the helm in 1991.
Cubbage died August 11 at the age of 74. Here’s his obit from the New York Post.
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My article, “Sandy in Minny: Honoring Him for That,” appears in the latest edition of SABR’s The National Pastime, which was devoted to baseball in the North Star State.
Koufax, the Dodger’s Hall of Famer, famously declined to pitch the opening game of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.
The title of the piece was borrowed from “Come Yom Kippur,” a poem by Edgar Guest about Hank Greenberg, baseball’s first Jewish superstar, who sat out a crucial game during the Detroit Tigers pennant chase in 1934.
We shall miss him on the infield and shall miss him at the bat
But he’s true to his religion — and I honor him for that!
Unlike Greenberg, Koufax was not raised in an observant household. But he felt the need to be a role model for Jewish youth, which he certainly was.
The Dodgers lost that first game, with Don Drysdale giving up seven runs (only three earned) in 2.2 innings. He supposedly said to manager Walt Alston when the skipper came to pull him, “I bet you wish I was Jewish right about now.”
Koufax went on to win three games, including Game Seven on short rest. He was named Series MVP for his efforts.
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is available on Amazon.com,
