* This week (Nov. 16) in Sports Illustrated

Surprise, surprise: The Yankees. NOT.

Although Tom Verducci did write the story about the Yankees’ latest championship, as well as this sidebar on the upcoming hot stove league.

And in a case of raining on the Yankees’ parade, this week’s “Sign of the Apocalypse”:

New York City office workers who ran out of confetti during the Yankees’ World Series parade instead threw confidential financial documents, including pay stubs and bank statements.

* New baseball fiction: The Man Who Threw Too Much?

I should copyright that.

Actually it’s The Man With Two Arms, which sounds like a science fiction title but is really about an ambidextrous pitcher. Judging by the review from Publishers Weekly below, it seems better suited for young adults than adult adults.

The book is published by Overlook and due out in February.

You know how you decide, based on the trailer, whether to see a movie or not? Based on this review, not. My snarky comments appear in parenthetical italics. Please note they are based solely on the hyperbolic review and not are in no way an indication of the quality of the author, since I have not, in fact, read the novel.

The Man with Two Arms Billy Lombardo.

This debut novel from Lombardo … (technically correct, although he has published previous books of fiction, mostly as short stories) follows ably in the cleat-prints of W.P. Kinsella and Bernard Malamud (Really? to use a recent catch-phrase from Saturday Night Live. Two of the greatest baseball fiction writers? Really?), chronicling the life of a talented Chicago pitcher. In their middle-class Chicago suburb of the mid-1980s, baseball nut Henry Granville and his wife, Lori, face marital discord regarding Henry’s immediate, insistent campaign to commit their baby son Danny to a life in baseball. When Henry discovers his son’s natural ambidexterity, visions of raising a superstar “switch pitcher” (an almost unheard-of athletic skill) (actually there have been a couple such pitchers who have made it to the Majors) kick his obsession into overdrive. One rocky boyhood later, Danny signs with the Cubs and finds instant fame (“Danny can throw like Tom Seaver with one arm and Sandy Koufax with the other”) as well as a bit of infamy; he’s a “freak” in the eyes of opponents (they’re just sooooo jealous, but is he pitching in the major leaguers or the minors at this point?). Meanwhile, Danny falls in love with an art instructor (oh, puh-leeze, the dumb jock and the sensitive, artistic female? Isn’t that a bit of a cliche?) and nurtures another rare talent: clairvoyance (thud). Fans of sports fiction should find this an enjoyable trip to the mound, with just enough old-fashioned Americana magic to keep them guessing.

* Ruh-roh

* The other post-season awards

As chosen by the members of the The Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (of which I am one).

IBWAA ANNOUNCES 2009 CY YOUNG AND MVP AWARDS

Los Angeles – The Internet Baseball Writers Association (IBWAA) announces its third set of postseason votes, naming the 2009 Cy Young (CY) and Most Valuable Player (MVP) award winners.

The AL CY was won by Zack Greinke, of the Kansas City Royals, with the NL CY going to Chris Carpenter, of the St. Louis Cardinals. AL MVP and NL MVP winners were Joe Mauer, of the Minnesota Twins, and Albert Pujols, of the St. Louis Cardinals, respectively.

Results are as follows:

IBWAA American League (AL) CY:

Winner:                         Zack Greinke (Kansas City Royals)

2^nd Place:                     Felix Hernandez (Seattle Mariners)

3^rd Place:                      CC Sabathia (New York Yankees)

4^th Place:                      Justin Verlander (Detroit Tigers)

5^th Place:                      Roy Halladay (Toronto Blue Jays)

IBWAA National League (NL) CY:

Winner:                         Chris Carpenter (St. Louis Cardinals)

2^nd Place:                     Adam Wainwright (St. Louis Cardinals)

3^rd Place:                      Tim Lincecum (San Francisco Giants)

4^th Place:                      Josh Johnson (Florida Marlins)

5^th Place:                      Javier Vazquez (Atlanta Braves)

IBWAA AL MVP:

Winner:                         Joe Mauer (Minnesota Twins)

2^nd Place:                     Mark Teixeira (New York Yankees)

3^rd Place:                      Derek Jeter (New York Yankees)

4^th Place:                      Kendry Morales (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)

5^th Place:                      Miguel Cabrera (Detroit Tigers)

6^th Place:                      Zack Greinke (Kansas City Royals)

7^th Place:                      Evan Longoria (Tampa Bay Rays)

8^th Place:                      Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle Mariners)

9^th Tie                          Carl Crawford (Tampa Bay Rays)

9^th Tie:                          Kevin Youkilis (Boston Red Sox)

IBWAA NL MVP:

Winner:                         Albert Pujols (St. Louis Cardinals)

2^nd Place:                     Ryan Howard (Philadelphia Phillies)

3^rd Place:                      Hanley Ramirez (Florida Marlins)

4^th Tie:                          Prince Fielder (Milwaukee Brewers)

4^th Tie:                          Troy Tulowitzki (Colorado Rockies)

6^th Place:                      Tim Lincecum (San Francisco Giants)

7^th Place:                      Chase Utley (Philadelphia Phillies)

8^th Place:                      Andre Ethier (Los Angeles Dodgers)

9^th Place:                      Chris Carpenter (St. Louis Cardinals)

10^th Pl:                         Ryan Braun (Milwaukee Brewers)

Voting took place between Sept. 15 and Oct. 4, the final day of the regular season.

The association’s Rookie of the Year (ROY), Manager of the Year (MOY), Comeback of the Year (COY) and Executive of the Year (EOY) awards were announced Nov. 9 and 10. Winners are as follows:

IBWAA AL ROY: Elvis Andrus (Texas Rangers)

IBWAA NL ROY: Tommy Hanson (Atlanta Braves)

IBWAA AL MOY: Ron Gardenhire (Minnesota Twins)

IBWAA NL MOY: Jim Tracy (Colorado Rockies)

IBWAA AL COY: Aaron Hill (Toronto Blue Jays)

IBWAA NL COY: Chris Carpenter (St. Louis Cardinals)

IBWAA AL EOY: Brian Cashman (New York Yankees)

IBWAA NL EOY: Dan O’Dowd (Colorado Rockies)

The IBWAA was created in July 4, 2009 by Howard Cole, editor of BaseballSavvy.com, to organize and promote the growing online baseball media, and to serve as an alternative voice to the Base Ball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).

Among others, IBWAA members include Kevin Braun, freelance writer and former copy editor at Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Tim Brown, YahooSports, Peter Golenbock, baseball author; Tom Hoffarth, media/general columnist, Los Angeles Daily News; Tony Jackson, former Dodgers reporter, Los Angeles Daily News; Ron Kaplan, New Jersey Jewish News; Kyle Lobner, managing editor, BrewCrewBall.com; David Pinto, owner/author, BaseballMusings.com; Gabriel Schechter, of Never Too Much Baseball; Dan Schlossberg, baseball author; and Gary Warner, travel editor, Orange County Register.

Association memberships are open to any and all Internet baseball writers, with a yearly fee of $20. Discounts for groups and scholarships are available.

IBWAA selections for Hall of Fame, class of 2009, will be announced January 5, 2010.

For more information on the IBWAA, visit the temporary webpage here. In the coming months, the IBWAA can be found here.

* For the boys: Remembering the players who served

Today is Veteran’s Day and I always like to give a shout-out to the men and women who served. So I thought it appropriate to take a look at a few of the recent books that consider the players — both famous and unheralded — who gave up so much during WW II.

In a telephone message, Ira Berkow, author of the 2009 release The Corporal Was a Pitcher: The Courage of Lou Brissie, was kind enough to answer a list of questions sent via email while travelling cross-country to give a talk about his book.

He said he got the idea from reading about Brissie in a column from the late Red Smith (who would later become Berkow’s mentor at The New York Times) while still a student at Miami University in 1960.

Brissie, a standout prospect who was planning on a career with the Philadelphia Athletics, was severely wounded in December 1944. For awhile it looked like he might lose his left foot, but he implored doctors to save it.

After 23 operations, Brissie was able to live his dream, signing with the As in 1946. He had a few good years, going 14-10 in 1948 and 16-11 the following year, when he also made the All-Star team. He was traded to the Indians in the middle of the ‘51 season and used mostly as a reliever, to his disappointment. Brissie wound up his career at the age of 29 with a record of 44-48 and a 4.07 ERA. He was also no slouch at the plate, finishing with a .227 batting average. And while opponents did try to take advantage of his condition by bunting their way on base, (See The Monty Stratton Story with Jimmy Stewart), Brissie was able to field his position well enough so the tactic stopped.

After Brissie retired, he became director of American Legion Baseball, and also served as a scout. These days, he makes regular visits to Veteran’s hospitals where he spends time with wounded veterans from the latest wars. The closing chapter is very touching with its intimate dialogue between Brissie and his new friends.

Like many veterans, Brissie was reluctant to talk about his war experiences, but Berkow, who received a Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for his article, “The Minority Quarterback,” in the Times, was obviously a good sounding board and was able to relay the story in his usual muted but effective style. Brissie comes across as representative of his generation: men and women who served their country when called and returned home to pick up their lives as best they could.

What surprised Berkow the most in the research and preparation of his newest book? “That all wars are alike,” he said. “And the post-traumatic syndrome that [Brissie] had — that wasn’t identified at that time, exists to a tremendous agree.

“The war never leaves anybody.”

Brissie’s story fairly cries out for a movie treatment.

“So far we’ve had mild interest,” Berkow said. “Nothing special. Not yet anyway,” Berkow said. “Sometimes things take awhile.”

Here’s an interview with Brissie:

* * *

In addition to Berkow’s book, several titles released since 2006 note the sacrifices made by baseball players, including:

When Baseball Went to War, edited by Todd Anton and Bill Nowlin (Triumph). Features a bonus DVD with player interviews.

Playing with the Enemy: A Baseball Prodigy, World War II, and the Long Journey Home, by Garry W. Moore (Savas Beatie)

An American Journey: My Life on the Field, in the Air, and on the Air, by Jerry Coleman and Richard Goldstein. Like Ted Williams, Coleman, an all-star second baseman with the New York Yankees, served in both Wold War II and Korea. After his playing career ended in 1957, he went on to a colorful career as a broadcaster, most notably for the San Diego Padres.

And a couple of good websites cover the baseball/war theme:

• Garry Bedingfield’s Baseball in Wartime
• The military publication Stars and Stripes hosts Baseball and the Military.

* For the boys, part 2: An overview of service in World War II

Gary Bedingfield, a 46-year-old British citizen, hosts the excellent baseballinwartime.com, a site devoted to ballplayers who served during WW II. His new book, Baseball’s Dead of World War II: A Roster of Professional Players Who Died in Service, has recently been published by McFarland.

In an e-mail interview, Bedingfield describes how he came to his project and why it’s so important to him.

* * *

Bookshelf:  Why did you create the Baseball in Wartime site?

Bedingfield: I launched website in 2000, around the same time my first book, Baseball in World War II Europe was being published. Its original purpose was as a platform to promote the book and also to share much of the information I had gathered on WWII baseball that didn’t make it into the book.

At that time it was a 20-page site. We are now looking in the region of 1,000 pages, a monthly e-newsletter and daily updated blog. Its purpose is to remember and honor every ballplayer who served with the military during World War II. The sacrifices they made should never be forgotten and it is my aim to share their stories with as wide an audience as possible.

Bookshelf: How do you go about doing your research?

Bedingfield: It’s not an easy process and one that has certainly changed over the years but one that I love . . . it really brings out the detective in me.

Back in the 1990s, when I conducted a bulk of my research, I used snail mail to send letters out to old ballplayers. If the players had passed away and they’d lived in small towns, I would send letters to the mayor or the local newspaper looking for information. I had a great deal of success that way.

In more recent years the Internet has provided far greater access to the information I’m looking for. I can delve into military records, newspaper articles and minor league baseball stats all from the comfort of my home in Scotland. I’m pretty good at tracking down surviving family members these days and will communicate by email or interview over the phone to gather the information I need.

Bookshelf: How many ballplayers served in WW II? Do you have a major league/minor league breakdown?

Figures vary on this according to which source you read. A good guideline, however, is that around 500 major league players and 4,000 minor leaguers swapped their flannels for military fatigues to serve their country. Those figures, of course, do not include players who served in the military during World War II and started their professional baseball careers after the war. For major league baseball I can add at least another 800 players. I couldn’t even take a guess at how many more minor leaguers you’d need to add.

Bookshelf: How many were killed and how many wounded?

Bedingfield: Two players with major league experience were killed during the war. Elmer Gedeon, who played five games with the Washington Senators in 1939, was killed when the twin-engine bomber he was piloting was shot down over France on April 20, 1944. Harry O’Neill, a catcher with the Philadelphia Athletics who made one appearance for Connie Mack’s club in 1939, was killed at Iwo Jima in the Pacific on March 6, 1945.

A staggering 127 minor league players made the ultimate sacrifice during the war. Some players, like pitcher Joe Pinder and shortstop Ed Schohl, had enjoyed long careers in the minor leagues; others like second baseman Chuck Bowers and pitcher Elmer Wachtler, were starting their steady climb through the lower leagues; while some like catcher Harlan Larsen and pitcher Jim Trimble, had signed contracts but had not yet thrown a ball in a professional game.

As for the number of wounded I’m afraid that figure is unknown.

Bookshelf: Aside from Bert Shepard and Lou Brissie, what other “big names” overcame serious injury to play in organized ball?

Bedingfield: To be honest, most “big names” did not see action on the front lines. The bulk of the war’s well-known players were in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands playing morale boosting ball games to entertain their fellow servicemen. Cecil Travis (right) of the Washington Senators was one of the exceptions to that rule. He was in Europe with the infantry and suffered severe frost bite. Although he returned to the game after the war he was much slower on his feet and was out of the game by 1947. Travis probably would be in the Hall of Fame had the war not interrupted his career.

Johnny Grodzicki of the Cardinals (left) overcame serious injuries to briefly pitch after the war. He was hit by shrapnel fragments while with the paratroopers in Europe. The sciatic nerve of his right leg was damaged and it was feared he would never walk again but with the aid of a steel brace he made it back to the Cardinals.

Morrie Martin, who enjoyed 10 post war seasons in the major leagues, suffered a bullet wound to the thigh while serving in Europe with the infantry. He nearly lost a leg after gangrene set in. It took more than 150 shots of penicillin to spare him from an amputation.

Dick Whitman, who spent six seasons in the majors after the war with the Dodgers and Phillies, had a piece of shrapnel pierce his back, come out through his shoulder and graze his head.

It should also be remembered that Phil Marchildon, the Canadian pitcher who was with the Athletics, was shot down over Europe and survived the freezing waters of Kiel Bay and near starvation in a prisoner-of-war camp to pitch five post-war seasons in the majors and win 19 games in 1947.

Bookshelf: As a subject of Her Royal Majesty, how did you come to your love of America’s national pastime?

Bedingfield: I began playing baseball as a youngster and played more than 20 years in competitive leagues. I got to represent my country on numerous occasions and travel the world as a ballplayer. The game has been good to me and no other sport comes close.

Gary and Lainy Bedingfield with Hall of Famer and decorated WWII veteran Bob Feller.

* Bits and pieces: World Championship edition

• Dropped by the local Barnes and Noble at lunch today. Almost shocked to see only one “quicky” publication about the Yankees’ latest championship. The New York Post published The Best, a paperback volume. I never liked this type of publication. It seems like a money grab since the stuff for the most part is just culled from the newspaper archives. [Update: USA Today and Sports Illustrated are among a few others that have published similar publications.]
• There have been numerous references to the Yankees in places where you might not expect to see them. The Wall Street Journal posted this article about “Japanese Baseball’s Best Day Ever.” I always get a kick when the sports pages refer to an athlete as “Mr.” So bloody polite. Meanwhile, former George W. Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer contributed this “horns of a dilemma” piece for Sunday’s Week in Review section. (Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I faintly recall an economic indicator that predicts the stock market goes one way if an American League team wins the World Series and the other if its a National League team, but I forget which is which. A little help?)
• In the heat of the celebration on Friday, The Brian Lehrer Show featured this segment on the Yankees and the Series MVP, Hideki Matsui. “The ticker tape parade for the Bronx Bombers is today, and the star of the show is World Series MVP Hideki Matsui, who exemplifies a particular brand of baseball that’s different from the rest of his team. WNYC’s own baseball fanatic (and softball team co-captain) Rex Doane with Andrew Jenks, director and producer of the documentary “The Zen of Bobby V,” talk about the differences between the American and Japanese baseball.”

* Book award season begins

Spitball Magazine release its list of nominees for its Casey Book Award, given annual for the publication’s take on the best baseball book of the year.

The 2009 roster includes:

• As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires, by Bruce Weber
• Catcher: How the Man Behind the Plate Became an American Folk Hero, by Peter Morris
• Chasing Moonlight: The True Story of Field of Dreams’ Doc Graham, by Brett Friedlander and Robert Reising
• The First Fall Classic: The Red Sox, the Giants and the Cast of Players, Pugs and Politicos Who Re-Invented the World Series in 1912, by Mike Vaccaro
• Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O’Malley, Baseball’s Most Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles, by Michael D’Antonio
• Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America’s Pastime, by Mark Frost
• Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit, by Matt McCarthy
• Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, by Larry Tye
• The Wizard of Waxahachie: Paul Richards and the End of Baseball as We Knew It, by Warren Corbett
• The Yankee Years, by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci

The winner will be honored at the 27th Annual Casey Awards Banquet to be held in Cincinnati in the spring of 2010.

For the most part, IMHO, these are all excellent choices. My only quibble is the inclusion of the controversial Odd Man Out, since the author was accused of basically making stuff up. One ommissi0on: S.L. Price’s Heart of the Game, the sentimental tale of Mike Collbaugh’s tragic death.

 

* TWIBB — November 6, 2009

This week in baseball books, featuring the best-sellers according to Amazon.com on Friday, November 6.

Title	Rank
General
Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America’s Pastime, by Mark Frost	1
The Bill James Handbook 2010	2
The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, by Joe Posnanski	3
Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the Game is Played, by Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson, and Lonnie Wheeler	4
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis	5
Essays and Writing
Sixty Feet Six Inches	1
Moneyball	2
Now I Can Die in Peace: How The Sports Guy Found Salvation Thanks to the World Champion (Twice!) Red Sox, by Bill Simmons	3
The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2010	4
Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh Hamilton	5
History
Game Six	1
The Machine	2
Sixty Feet, Six Inches	3
Now I Can Die in Peace	4
Perfect: Don Larsen’s Miraculous World Series Game and the Men Who Made It Happen, by Lew Paper	5
Statistics
The Bill James Handbook 2010	1
Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan’s Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks, by Zack Hample	2
The Hardball Times Annual 2010	3
Baseball America 2010 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects	4
The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball, by Tango et al	5

Analysis: Now that the World Series is over (watching the parade as I type), things are stabilizing, with a mixture of topics populating the top five spots in each category.

Again, there are no baseball titles in Amazon’s top 100 bestseller list, nor among the NY Times top 35 non-fictional titles.

href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061625450?ie=UTF8&tag=ronkapsbasb04-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061625450″>Baseball Americana: Treasures from the Library of Congress</a><img src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ronkapsbasb04-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061625450″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”" style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />

* This week (Nov. 9) in Sports Illustrated

Baseball takes center stage for perhaps the last time in 2009.

Derek Jeter makes an appropriate cover boy for Tom Verducci’s World Series story.

This makes the 11th time Jeter has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Four of those have come for the post-season, including three World Series covers. Here’s a link to the complete gallery on SI Vault.