Bits and Pieces

September 9, 2026 · 0 comments

From the Spokesman-Review, “[I]n his recent book titled “Before They Wore Dodger Blue,” Port Townsend, Washington, baseball historian Eric Vickrey concludes that the [1970 Spokane Indians] was the sport’s best one-team draft class that brought this city another championship.

Here’s another Dodgers-centric piece: From Ballparkdigest.com, “We’re proud to announce Steve Dittmore’s Jim Gilliam: The Forgotten Dodger won SABR’s Ron Gabriel Award for best research, published or unpublished, about the Brooklyn Dodgers.”

From LaughingPlace.com, this review of David Eckstein’s new memoir, Just Enough. And another from BookTrib.com.And to keep it all in the family, from Stlmag.com, “David and Ashley Eckstein to celebrate the release of their new books at the St. Louis County Library.”

And when is enough, enough? From The Emporia Gazette, “Former Emporian adds to legacy of baseball in Emporia as his book, ‘Brown Enough‘, garners interest as a movie.”

From the San Diego Union-Tribune, “No apology coming to families of San Diego’s Black baseball pioneers.”

I stay away from betting and fantasy sports sites, but this article on Rotowire.com caught my eye: “Most Superstitious MLB Fanbases: 2026 Superstition Index Ranks All 30 Teams.” Care to guess who leads the pack?

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Random bio of the day: Zoilo Versalles

September 8, 2026 · 0 comments

I find it amusing that I can rattle off the starting lineups for teams of 50 years ago, but can’t tell you who’s on the current rosters.

I’m in the midst of building a TV-center/bookcase in my office and during the cleanup process I came across this:

If ever there was a head-scratcher about a player who was the subject of a biography, it has to be Zoilo Versalles.

Versalles made his debut as a 19-year-old in 1959 with the Washington Senators, which two years later relocated to Minnesota to become the Twins.

He was a serviceable player, lasting for 13 seasons, mostly with the Twins but winding up his career with Dodgers, Indians, Senators (a new version joined the American League as an expansion team in 1961), and Braves. He was a two-time All Star and won a Gold Glove. But overall, Versalles had a WAR of -1.7. That’s right — negative 1.7. I haven’t done the research but I’m willing to wager that this is the lowest WAR for any player with a book written by or about him.

But in 1965, the year the Twins won the AL pennant before losing in seven games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series — where he went 8-28 with a double, triple, home run, and four RBI —  Versalles was voted as the league’s MVP. He led the junior circuit in plate appearances, at-bats, runs scored, doubles, triples, total bases, and, surprisingly, WAR; he also struck out more than anyone else. But the writers nevertheless rewarded him the the MVP, giving him 19 of 20 first-place votes. He finished more than 100 points higher than his teammate, Tony Oliva. Looking at the list of all players receiving votes, it looked like relatively slim pickings. Other notable names who finished in the top ten included Brooks Robinson (the 1964 selection), Rocky Colavito, and Mudcat Grant.

As was the norm for many sports biographies before Ball Four, The Kid from Cuba, written by James Terzian and published in 1967, was devoted to Versalles’ challenging travel to pro baseball.

Terzian, who was born in Turkey in 1915 but moved to the U.S. as a child, wrote a few other sports titles but spent most of his career a journalist.

If you can’t find the book, you can read more about Versalles on the SABR Bio Project site.

What other players have received the “book treatment,” despite their relative mediocrity (said with all dues respect)?

 

Tagged as: Zoilo Versalles

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Baseball Best-Sellers, September 4, 2026

September 4, 2026 · 0 comments

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not.

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 had with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a “Ω” means it’s an award winner, almost always in the print version.

PRINT

  1. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω
  2. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
  3. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski (my review on Bookreporter)
  4. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
  5. Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole
  6. No Crying in Baseball: The Inside Story of A League of Their Own: Big Stars, Dugout Drama, and a Home Run for Hollywood, by Erin Carlson
  7. The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller. (My review on Bookreporter) Ω
  8. Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original, by Tim Brown (my review on Bookreporter)
  9. Crossroads: A Memoir in Baseball and Life, by Dusty Baker
  10. Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir, by Doris Kearns Goodwin

KINDLE

  1. The Longest Walk: “Could a Babe Ruth Home Run Really Save a Life?”, by Kirk Marty
  2. The Book of Joe: Trying Not to Suck at Baseball and Life, by Joe Maddon and Tom Verducci
  3. Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series, by David Pietrusza
  4. Lessons in Life I Learned from My Baseball Cards, by Patrick Caraher *
  5. The 1998 Yankees: The Inside Story of the Greatest Baseball Team Ever, by Jack Curry
  6. The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America, by Posnanski
  7. The Roger Angell Baseball Collection
  8. The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, by Lawrence Ritter (narrated by the author)
  9. Down to the Last Pitch: How the 1991 Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves Gave Us the Best World Series of All Time, by Tim Wendel *
  10. The Physics of Baseball: Third Edition, Revised, Updated, and Expanded, by Robert Adair

AUDIO BOOKS

  1. The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
  2. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (read by the author)The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
  3. The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform – and Maybe the Best, by Pearlman (read by the author)
  4. The Methany Manifesto, by Mike Methany with Jerry B. Jenkins
  5. Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien
  6. Francona: The Red Sox Years, by Terry Francona and Dan Shaugnessy
  7. Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats that are Ruining the Game, the New Ones that are Running it, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball, by Keith Law
  8. Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series, by Eliot Asinof

No new titles, but a few oldies, relatively speaking, on the Kindle side.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,763,100 in books overall; last time, 2,550,473.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,390,469; last time, 3,443,248.

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.

BUT…

Some exciting news (now we’ll see who’s paying attention and reading down this far).

Necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks to emergency surgery in which I said goodbye to a recalcitrant gallbladder, I have a couple off months for recuperation during which time I will be working on a revision of 501.

The new version will include all the original stuff but as you know if you’re a baseball reading fool, there have been a lot of great books published since 501 came out a dozen years ago. So since this isn’t a ranking where one title might be pushed off the list, the new material will appear as an added chapter.

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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Throwback Thursday: Good Will Hunting

September 3, 2026 · 0 comments

I was flipping through the dial yesterday and came across Good Will Hunting, one of my favorite Matt Damon movies.

There’s a famous scene (famous to me, anyway), in which Will, an unassuming genius, is in a session with his therapist Sean, played by Robin Williams, and the subject of regrets comes up. What Sean didn’t regret? See below. (Warning: explicit language.)

You’re welcome.

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Bits and Pieces, August 28, 2026

September 2, 2026 · 0 comments

David Eckstein, who enjoyed a ten-year career that included a World Series MVP award, has a new book out (made its debut on the BBS list last week) which he discusses here. Meanwhile, Hall of Famer Dave Winfield also has a new book out (official release date Sept. 15), which he discusses here.

I miss titles like The Bill James Handbook and Hardball Times, collections of stats and analysis. I would say I’m sure there will be one soon regarding ABS challenges, but given the cost of hard-copy publishing, that might not be the case. In the meantime, check out this article — “All the ABS lessons we’ve learned after 2,000 games of challenges” — by the New York Post’s Mike Vacarro. (Baseball Savant offers this interesting page.)

From the Houston Defender, “In 2027, the 100-year connection between Negro League baseball and Japan will be celebrated through the Centennial Tokyo Tour, commemorating the historic 1927 Philadelphia Royal Giants (PRG) tour of Japan.”

Another book about baseball and life lessons? Why not?

And another list of top ten baseball books, which, according to the writer, is “a provisional list, which, like the game itself, is ever subject to debate and interpretation.”

Finally, lest we forget, Dolly Parton and a connection to baseball. There’s even a sandlot team that bears her name and likeness. From their website, “The Nashville Dollys are a sandlot baseball club based in Nashville, TN. When they are not working their 9 to 5’s, you can find them on the diamond or helping out in their community. Inspired by the humanitarian legacy of Dolly Parton, the Dollys have raised money for various charitable causes and aim to leave a positive impact on the youth of Middle Tennessee.”

Scoreboard pays tribute to music legend

Tagged as: Dave Eckstein, Dave Winfield, Dolly Parton

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Baseball Best-Sellers, August 28, 2026

August 28, 2026 · 0 comments

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not.

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 had with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a “Ω” means it’s an award winner, almost always in the print version.

PRINT

  1. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω
  2. Metropolitans: New York Baseball, Class Struggle, and the People’s Team, by A.M. Gittlitz
  3. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski (my review on Bookreporter)
  4. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
  5. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
  6. Crossroads: A Memoir in Baseball and Life, by Dusty Baker
  7. No Crying in Baseball: The Inside Story of A League of Their Own: Big Stars, Dugout Drama, and a Home Run for Hollywood, by Erin Carlson
  8. Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America, by Howard Bryant
  9. The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller. (My review on Bookreporter) Ω
  10. The Boys of Summer, by Roger Kahn

KINDLE

  1. Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong with Baseball and How to Fix It, by Jane Leavy
  2. The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America, by Posnanski
  3. The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players, by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchick
  4. The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter, by Ian O’Connor
  5. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
  6. Just Enough, David Eckstein with Jake Gronsky *
  7. The 1998 Yankees: The Inside Story of the Greatest Baseball Team Ever, by Jacky Curry
  8. Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matter and Always Will, by Scott Miller

AUDIO BOOKS

  1. The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
  2. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (read by the author)The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
  3. Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original, by Tim Brown (my review on Bookreporter)
  4. The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform – and Maybe the Best, by Pearlman (read by the author)
  5. Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah
  6. Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats that are Ruining the Game, the New Ones that are Running it, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball, by Keith Law
  7. Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy, by Jane Leavy
  8. Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original, by Howard Bryant
  9. The Methany Manifesto, by Mike Methany with Jerry B. Jenkins

A few oldies, relatively speaking, return to the lists, including Metropolitans and one of my favorite baseball/movie themed books, No Crying in Baseball.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,550,473 in books overall; last time, 2,249,022.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,443,248; last time, 3,408,202.

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.

BUT…

Some exciting news (now we’ll see who’s paying attention and reading down this far).

Necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks to emergency surgery in which I said goodbye to a recalcitrant gallbladder, I have a couple off months for recuperation during which time I will be working on a revision of 501.

The new version will include all the original stuff but as you know if you’re a baseball reading fool, there have been a lot of great books published since 501 came out a dozen years ago. So since this isn’t a ranking where one title might be pushed off the list, the new material will appear as an added chapter.

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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Throwback Thursday: Yoo-hoo, Youtube

August 27, 2026 · 0 comments

I was looking for a goofy British TV segment called “NumberWang” and of course fell down that ol’ Youtube rabbit hole.

BTW, “Julie from Summerset” if the renown actor, Olivia Coleman! Not sure if her opponent is similarly famous.

So I went through my Youtube history — which is considerable — and one of the fun things I rediscovered was this classic comedy piece, which is especially appropriate as we head into football season.

I wonder if George Carlin would change it up, given all the brain injury news associated with the gridiron.

 

Tagged as: George Carlin

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Cleaning Up: Neal McDonough Rabbit Hole Update

August 25, 2026 · 0 comments

Received a notice from my hosting company that I was over the limit on space, so now I have the odious chore of going back and deleting.

I had forgotten how far back this iteration of the Bookshelf went — more than 20 years (before that I used different services such as Blogspot and others).

So while I was doing that, I started going through a bunch of drafts I had never posted. Here’s one of them.

Back in 2024, I wrote about the actor Neal McDonough’s bona fides as an onscreen ballplayer.

One was as Lt. Buck Compton in Band of Brothers. Today I found this about the man he portrayed:

He also appeared as a pitcher in the remake of Angels in the Outfield  and an episode of Quantum Leap.

Tagged as: Neal McDonough

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Baseball Best-Sellers, August 21, 2026

August 21, 2026 · 0 comments

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not.

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 had with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a “Ω” means it’s an award winner, almost always in the print version.

PRINT

  1. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
  2. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω
  3. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski (my review on Bookreporter)
  4. The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
  5. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
  6. Heads-Up Baseball : Playing the Game One Pitch at a Time, by Tom Hanson and Ken Ravizza 
  7. Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original, by Tim Brown (my review on Bookreporter)
  8. Crossroads: A Memoir in Baseball and Life, by Dusty Baker
  9. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton
  10. Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole

KINDLE

  1. The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players, by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchick
  2. Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong with Baseball and How to Fix It, by Jane Leavy
  3. Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between, by Eric Nussbaum (my review on Bookreporter.com)
  4. Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball, by George F. Will
  5. The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America, by Posnanski
  6. Nice Guys Finish Last, by Leo Durocher and Ed Linn
  7. Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matter and Always Will, by Scott Miller
  8. Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy, by Jane Leavy
  9. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City, by Jonathan Mahler
  10. The Phenomenon: Pressure, the Yips, and the Pitch that Changed My Life, by Rick Ankiel and Tim Brown

AUDIO BOOKS

  1. The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform – and Maybe the Best, by Pearlman (read by the author)
  2. 72 Stories: From the Baseball Collection of Geddy Lee, by Lee (read by the author)
  3. Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats that are Ruining the Game, the New Ones that are Running it, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball, by Keith Law
  4. Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah
  5. Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien
  6. The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, by Lawrence Ritter (narrated by the author)
  7. The Methany Manifesto, by Mike Methany with Jerry B. Jenkins
  8. Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty, by Charles Leerhsen
  9. The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy

I always get a vicarious thrill when an “old” books grabs the Number One spot. In this case, it’s The Science of Hitting. It reminded me of an episode of M*A*S*H — “Mad Dogs and Servicemen” — in which Trapper John tries to counsel an injured soldier who is suffering from hysterical paralysis. The young man is a fan of the Red Sox so Trapper chats about Ted Williams, one of several references to baseball made by the long-running show. IMO, the writing is a bit forced with the gist being that the kid thinks it wasn’t fair to have the Splendid Splinter back in military service.

Otherwise, nothing new to say.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,249,022 in books overall; last time, 1,864,003.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,408,202; last time, 3,463,656.

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.

BUT…

Some exciting news (now we’ll see who’s paying attention and reading down this far).

Necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks to emergency surgery in which I said goodbye to a recalcitrant gallbladder, I have a couple off months for recuperation during which time I will be working on a revision of 501.

The new version will include all the original stuff but as you know if you’re a baseball reading fool, there have been a lot of great books published since 501 came out a dozen years ago. So since this isn’t a ranking where one title might be pushed off the list, the new material will appear as an added chapter.

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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Throwback Thursday: The Stratton Story

August 20, 2026 · 0 comments

A while back I did a review of Death by Data, which include a “requiem” for the old-fashioned baseball scout. I went looking for a very specific scene from The Stratton Story in which a bird-dog scout player by Frank “The Wizard” Morgan discovers the titular pitcher.

I failed in that search, but I did come across this little gem: a 1950 radio play based on the movie. This was pretty common in a time before television was a standard household appliance. Enjoy.

Before there was Kevin Costner, there was Jimmy Stewart

By the way, Jimmy Stewart, who played the title role in the award-winning 1949 flick, was the Kevin Costner (or Dennis Haysbert) of his day, appearing in multiple baseball movies: in addition to Stratton, he also played a former All-Star infielder for the St. Louis Cardinals in Strategic Air Command (1955). Another fun fact: Sam Wood, director of The Stratton Story, also had that job for The Pride of the Yankees.

And that Jimmy Stewart is not to confused with the Jimmy Stewart who played for the Cubs, White Sox, Reds, and Astros from 1963-73.

Jim "Jimmy" Stewart - Autographed / Signed Baseball Cards | Flickr

 

 

Tagged as: Jimmy Stewart, The Stratton Story

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Lest We Forget: Tommy John

August 17, 2026 · 0 comments

Years ago, I asked Richard Sandomir how The New York Times decides on who gets the “honor” of an obituary in the “paper of record.” His exact answer escapes me but the gist of it was that they had some kind of impact on society.

Tommy John had such an impact, albeit as an unwitting participant. His decision to try the experimental surgical procedure that would bear his name, made him a baseball legend and merited him the front-page treatment (written by Bruce Weber) with a continuation that took up the entire last page of the “A” section. Few people in any field ever get such a write-up.

John died Saturday at the age of 83, a victim of bladder cancer.

I won’t go into detail here; any baseball fan knows John, a lefty hurler who pitched longer than anybody except Nolan Ryan, underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his elbow, missing the entire 1975 season. The line on his Baseball-Reference page reads “Did not play — injured (eponymous surgical procedure).”

The results were spectacular, allowing him to continue to ply his craft for 14 of his 26 years in the majors. He made his debut as a 20-year-old for the Cleveland Indians in 1960. He also played for the White Sox, FDodgers, Yankees, Angels, and Athletics, before returning to the Bronx to close out his career. By the time he was done, John had won 288 games, yet he was never elected to the Hall of Fame.

1964 Topps #146 Tommy John / Bob Chance Indians RCs RC 6 - EX/MT - Picture 1 of 4

In an odd coincidence, Tejay Antone just published The Tommy John Protocol: How to Rebuild Your Arm, Your Mind, and Your Faith last month. John himself released three books, including

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Baseball Best-Sellers, August 14, 2026

August 14, 2026 · 0 comments

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not.

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 had with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a “Ω” means it’s an award winner, almost always in the print version.

PRINT

  1. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω
  2. The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson, by Jeff Pearlman
  3. Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original, by Tim Brown (my review on Bookreporter)
  4. Unhittable: How Technology, Mavericks, and Innovators Engineered Baseball’s New Era of Pitching Dominance, by Rob Friedman
  5. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski (my review on Bookreporter)
  6. The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
  7. The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports, by Jeff Passan
  8. Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole
  9. Crossroads: A Memoir in Baseball and Life, by Dusty Baker
  10. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood

KINDLE

  1. Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong with Baseball and How to Fix It, by Jane Leavy
  2. Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matter and Always Will, by Scott Miller
  3. Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between, by Eric Nussbaum (my review on Bookreporter.com)
  4. The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America, by Posnanski
  5. The Cincinnati Reds of the 1970s: A Dynasty for the Ages, by Bill Brown
  6. The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, by Lawrence Ritter (narrated by the author)
  7. The House That Ruth Built: A New Stadium, the First Yankees Championship, and the Redemption of 1923, by Robert Weintraub
  8. Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball, by George F. Will
  9. It’s a Beautiful Day for Baseball: The National Pastime in the 1960s, by Doug Kurkul

AUDIO BOOKS

  1. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton
  2. The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform – and Maybe the Best, by Pearlman (read by the author)
  3. Baseball, by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns (narrated by Burns)
  4. Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats that are Ruining the Game, the New Ones that are Running it, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball, by Keith Law
  5. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City, by Jonathan Mahler
  6. Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original, by Howard Bryant
  7. Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah
  8. Ninety Percent Mental: An All-Star Player Turned Mental Skills Coach Reveals the Hidden Game of Baseball, by Bob Tewksbury and Scott Miller (narrated by the author)
  9. Summer of ’49, by David Halberstam

Nothing new enough to comment.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 1,864,003 in books overall; last time, 987,429.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,463,656; last time, 3,373,435.

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.

BUT…

Some exciting news (now we’ll see who’s paying attention and reading down this far).

Necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks to emergency surgery in which I said goodbye to a recalcitrant gallbladder, I have a couple off months for recuperation during which time I will be working on a revision of 501.

The new version will include all the original stuff but as you know if you’re a baseball reading fool, there have been a lot of great books published since 501 came out a dozen years ago. So since this isn’t a ranking where one title might be pushed off the list, the new material will appear as an added chapter.

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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Throwback Thursday: Movie time

Baseball in movies

If you wanted to describe my main interests with a Venn diagram, there would be one circle for movies and one for baseball, so the intersection would be baseball movies. Add a sliver of one of my favorite authors, Joe Posnanski, and you come up with this series of his blog posts counting down his […]

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Bookshelf Review: Death by Data

2025 title

ESPN used to have a simulcast for its Sunday Night Baseball that was full of data, and not your grandad’s batting average, ERA, or even OBP. These were the new generation of stats: launch angle, bat speed, pitch revolution, et al ad nauseam. All the numbers you could possibly want, but was it too much of […]

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Baseball Best-Sellers, August 7, 2026

2025 title

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not. 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 […]

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Throwback Thursday, August 6, 2026: “Brown-Eyed Handsome Man”

Music

I wrote about this back in 2018 but when I heard “Brown-Eyed Handsome Man” on the radio yesterday, it reminded how much I was bothered by one particular verse. The classic Chuck Berry song has been recorded by numerous artists over the years including Buddy Holly, Wanda Jackson, and Sir Paul McCartney. Now I wouldn’t […]

Tagged as: Chuck Berry

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Bits and Pieces, August 5, 2026

"Ripped from today's headlines..."

History is Now Magazine posted this piece about “George Rawlings and the Glove That Helped Change Baseball.” Thankfully, the author didn’t use my bugaboo word, “forever,” in the title. If you’re a subscriber to The Wall Street Journal, you will be able to read their review of Integration at Second Base: Jackie Robinson and the Quest […]

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Baseball Best-Sellers, July 31, 2026

2026 title

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not. 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 […]

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Throwback Thursday, July 30, 2026

2016 title

I usually don’t get political here (I used to have another blog for that outlet; I really should get back to that one), but yesterday, during the Fauci hearings “Senator Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, demanded to know, using an expletive, who Dr. Fauci thought he was for doing what he did.” That expletive was […]

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Baseball Best-Sellers, July 24, 2026

2025 title

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not. 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 […]

Read the full article →

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