Whither Golenbock’s Mickey Mantle novel?

<p>Peter Golenbock’s controversial <em>7: The Mickey Mantle Novel</em> has already had a <a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=240,height=240,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/7_1.jpg”><img title=”7_1″ height=”250″ alt=”7_1″ src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/7_1.jpg” width=”250″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px” /></a> <a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=240,height=240,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/7.jpg”></a>checkered life. The book, which depicts Manlte as a flawed man, was originally supposed to be published by Regan Books, an imprint of Harper Collins. But when Judith Regan — she of the O.J. Simpson debacle — lost her job, the project was similarly jetisoned. Now, according to <a href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/28/sports/baseball/28mantle.html”>an item in the Feb. 28 <em>New York Times</em></a>, it’s back in business, to be published by Lyons Press. </p>

<p>The project was highlighted by <em>Publisher’s Weekly</em> in an <a href=”http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6399499.html”>on-line article</a> dated December 13, 2006 and included a questionable <a href=”http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6399510.html?nid=2286″>selection of extremely brief excerpts</a>. </p>

<p>Today the magazine issued <a href=”http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6420112.html?nid=2286″>this item</a>, which includes their pre-publication review. Having written for <em>PW </em>(I was dismissed for contacting an author directly to clear up some ambiguity), I find it amusing how the industry seeks to generate &quot;pre-interest&quot; for books so far in advance, unprepared for an event such as this one. Granted, the Mantle project is a particularly hot topic, but I wonder how many other &quot;unbooks&quot; are out there.</p>

<p>Coincidentally, <em>PW</em> recently ran the following review of another Mantle-related book, this one about the Manhattan restaurant that bears his name. It’s also being released by Lyons.</p><blockquote dir=”ltr” style=”MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px”><p><span style=”font-size: 0.8em;”><strong>Mickey Mantle’s: Behind the Scenes in America’s Most Famous Sports Bar, </strong>William Liederman. Lyons, $19.95 (248p) ISBN 978-1-59228-843-4</span></p>

<p><span style=”font-size: 0.8em;”>Anyone looking for insight into the late Mickey Mantle will be disappointed in this memoir by a founder and former owner of the sports bar that bears the ballplayer’s name. Telling few stories about Mantle himself, Liederman instead focuses on his own life story, the Central Park South restaurant’s opening and its day-to-day anecdotes. He shares details on no less than four sexual encounters inside the restaurant, including a public fornication between a waitress and a prep cook at the employee Christmas party and a ménage à trois among wait staff in the locker room. Near the end of the book, Liederman writes that after a failed attempt at opening a second Mantle’s location in upstate New York, he was forced to file for personal bankruptcy and lost his ownership share. He ultimately was arrested on charges of breaking and entering and grand larceny after he returned for his personal items, spending a night in jail before the charges were dropped. Unfortunately, the chapters often lapse structurally into a bullet-style format more commonly found in business reports, and he regurgitates one exhausted cliché after another. <em>(Apr.)</em> </span></p></blockquote><p>Naturally, there are those who think a fictionalized version of Mantle’s off-the-field activites (read, sex life) is an insult to the legend. Rupert Murdoch, the chair of News. Corp (which oversees HC), told reporters that the Mantle <a href=”http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/495950p-417913c.html”>project was a factor in the decision to fire her</a>. </p>

<p>Richard Sandomir, who covers sports and the media for the <em>Times</em>, <a href=”http://www.columbusdispatch.com/features-story.php?story=240632″>wrote about the book’s cancellation </a>in January. Mark Hare, columnist for the <em>Rochester Democrat &amp; Chronicle</em>, devoted a <a href=”http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070218/NEWS0201/702180331/-1/COLUMNS”>column to news of the book</a> earlier this month. And <a href=”http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070210.BKLEVI10/TPStory/SpecialEvents/columnists”>Martin Levin</a>, who writes for the <em>Toronto Globe and Mail</em>, described it as &quot;more or less portray[ing] the New York Yankee icon as a sex maniac.&quot; No doubt there will be more analysis as Lyons gets ready to release the book and Opening Day approaches.</p>

<p>Lyons Press announces their newest title with this <a href=”http://www.globepequot.com/globepequot/index.cfm?fuseaction=customer.product&amp;product_code=1%2D59921%2D270%2D6&amp;category_code=”>press release</a>.</p>

<p>Amusingly, the book is still listed (as of today) as an HC title available <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/Mickey-Mantle-Novel-Peter-Golenbock/dp/0061238597″>Amazon.com</a>.</p>

<p></p>

<p></p>

Battling Registers

<p>In this corner, wearing a red cover, <em>Who’s Who in Baseball. </em>In the other corner, changing many times over the years, <em>The Baseball Register</em> published by <em>The Sporting News.</em></p>

<p><em><strong><span style=”font-size: 1.2em;”>Who’s Who in Baseball</span></strong></em></p>

<p><em><a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=800,height=979,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/kentwwib_2.JPG”></a><a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=800,height=979,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/kentwwib_3.JPG”><img title=”Kentwwib_3″ height=”306″ alt=”Kentwwib_3″ src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/kentwwib_3.JPG” width=”250″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px” /></a>WWIB</em> has been around for more than 90 years. The format has basically remained <a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=800,height=979,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/kentwwib_1.JPG”></a>unchanged: a list of &quot;traditional&quot; stats for a player’s enitre career (minor, major, and foreign leagues) along with a thumbnail photo. It also makes not of his league-leading accomplishments, as well as major awards won (MVP, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, but no Gold Gloves). If the player has been fortunate enough, his post-season stats are also listed. </p>

<p>One of the unique features is inclusion of time spent on the disabled list, which accounts for large chunks of games missed and.or unexpected trips to the minors (for rehab assignments).<a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=800,height=979,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/kentwwib.JPG”></a> </p>

<p><strong>***</strong></p>

<p><strong><em><span style=”font-size: 1.2em;”>The Baseball Register</span></em></strong></p>

<p>The <em>Baseball Register</em>, like many TSN products, has <a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=360,height=531,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/1950register.JPG”><img title=”1950register” height=”221″ alt=”1950register” src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/1950register.JPG” width=”150″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px” /></a>undergone transformations over the years. One of the more expensive of the publisher’s titles, it was a rich man’s version of WWIB and contained pretty much the same format. But it had a more concise layout, iisting awards and statsitical highlights of the players’ careers, hobbies, colleges and degrees, where applicable and whether they were related to others athletes. Managers anc coaches also received props in their own section.</p>

<p>Over time, of course, TSN made some changes, often based on the bottom line:</p>

<ul><li>They ceased printing the players’ &quot;mugshots&quot; in 1971</li>

<li>Dropped the hobbies in 1981<a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=199,height=254,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007register.jpg”><img title=”2007register” height=”159″ alt=”2007register” src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/2007register.jpg” width=”125″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px” /></a></li>

<li>Changed the typeface from classic serif to more modern san serif in 1992</li>

<li>Took up with STATS Inc. for a few years, giving the company cover credit</li>

<li>The 2006 edition promoted itself as a register <em>and</em> fantasy guide.</li></ul>

<p>An acquaintance with intimate knowledge of TSN’s editorial policy acknowledges that it has become almost a given that the industry caters more and more to younger readers and fantasy fanciers. &quot;As for catering to young people, well, that’s where the money is, apparently. [The] books have fallen by the wayside because sales have been decreasing for years.&quot;<a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=170,height=219,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007_register.jpg”><img title=”2007_register” height=”161″ alt=”2007_register” src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/2007_register.jpg” width=”125″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px” /></a></p>

<p>By the way, the claim of &quot;every stat&quot; on this year’s edition is obviously erroneous, since they omit several of the newer numbers that have become commonplace for roto-heads and sabremetricians in recent years.</p>

<p></p>

Magazines are books, too…sort of

<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt”><span face=”Times New Roman” style=”font-size: 0.8em;”><strong>The following post comes courtesy of Greg Spira from a recent SABR list-serve distribution.</strong></span></p>

<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt”><p><span face=”Times New Roman”> <a href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/ssbeltran_3.jpg” onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=325,height=443,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false”><img alt=”Ssbeltran_3″ title=”Ssbeltran_3″ src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/ssbeltran_3.jpg” width=”85″ height=”115″ border=”0″ style=”float: right; margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;” /></a>
</span></p></p>

<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt”><span face=”Times New Roman”>Following up on a previous post where I listed all the 2007 annuals being published in book form, I thought I’d publish a list of the 2007 baseball annual magazines available on the newsstands. For those who don’t have a decent newsstand nearby, I’ve also placed links to web sites where (some of) the magazines can be purchased. (Many, but not all the sites offer the magazines for the same price you’d pay for them on the newsstand with no shipping charge. Booksamillion.com, the only site to sell several of the publications, offers free shipping only on orders over $25).&nbsp; <br />Several of the magazines let you choose from many different regional covers. I am currently trying to write reviews of these for my website, but some I just never see or get. If I had to recommend particular magazines from each of the two genres, I’d probably go with <em>Lindy’s Baseball Preview and Fantasy Baseball Index</em> as my first choices, and <em>Sporting News Baseball</em> and the <em>Fantasy Baseball Guide Professional Edition</em> as my second choices. <br /> <br />Also, note that the titles on the covers of the magazines are often somewhat different than the title by which the publishers call the magazines (I have no idea why) <br /> </span><br /><em><span face=”Times New Roman”><a href=”http://www.athlonsports.com/store/index.php?cPath=33_133 “>Athlon Sports 2007 Baseball Magazine</a> </span></em><br /><span face=”Times New Roman”> </span><br /><em><span face=”Times New Roman”><a href=”https://www.streetandsmiths.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=store.covers&amp;catid=1 “>Street &amp; Smith Baseball 2007 Yearbook</a> </span></em><br /><span face=”Times New Roman”> </span><br /><em><span face=”Times New Roman”><a href=”https://www.lindyssports.com/catalog/ “>Lindy’s Baseball Preview 2007</a> <a href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/lindysfantasy_1.jpg” onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=241,height=311,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false”><img alt=”Lindysfantasy_1″ title=”Lindysfantasy_1″ src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/lindysfantasy_1.jpg” width=”85″ height=”109″ border=”0″ style=”float: right; margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;” /></a>
</span></em><br /><span face=”Times New Roman”> </span><br /><em><span face=”Times New Roman”><a href=”https://www.lindyssports.com/catalog/ “>Lindy’s Fantasy Baseball 2007</a> </span></em><br /><span face=”Times New Roman”> </span><br /><em><span face=”Times New Roman”><a href=”http://www.sportingnews.com/books/baseball/index.html “>Sporting News Baseball 2007</a> </span></em><br /><span face=”Times New Roman”> </span><br /><em><span face=”Times New Roman”><a href=”http://www.sportingnews.com/books/baseball/index.html “>Sporting News Fantasy Baseball 2007</a> </span></em><br /><span face=”Times New Roman”> <br /><em><a href=”http://www.cbssportsstore.com/sm-2007-cbs-sportsline-fantasy-baseball-owners-manual-and-draft-guide–pi-2602888.html “>CBS Sportsline Fantasy Baseball Magazine</a> <p></p></em></span></p>

<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt”><em><span face=”Times New Roman”><a href=”https://store.fantasyindex.com/ “>Fantasy Baseball Index</a> </span></em><br /><span face=”Times New Roman”> </span><br /><em><span face=”Times New Roman”><a href=”http://www.beckett.com/item/54162887/ “>Beckett Baseball Preview Magazine</a> </span></em><br /><span face=”Times New Roman”> <br /><em><a href=”http://www.beckett.com/Navigation/Controller.osi?N=4294967018&amp;x=0&amp;y=0 “>Beckett Fantasy Baseball Rotoworld.com Baseball Draft Guide</a> </em>(Also available as part of subscription to <em>Fantasy Sports Monthly</em&gt </span><br /><span face=”Times New Roman”> </span><br /><span face=”Times New Roman”><em>2007 Fantasy Baseball Guide — Professional Edition </em>(no link supplied)<br /> </span><br /><em><span face=”Times New Roman”><a href=”http://www.booksamillion.com/ncom/mag?id=3717749615786&amp;mid=0000005861 “>Major League Baseball Yearbook &amp; Fantasy Guide 2007</a> </span></em><br /><span face=”Times New Roman”> </span><br /><em><span face=”Times New Roman”><a href=”http://www.booksamillion.com/ncom/mag?id=3711986945554&amp;mid=0000004492 “>Tuff Stuff Presents Rotowire Fantasy Baseball Guide 2007</a> </span></em><br /><span face=”Times New Roman”> </span><br /><em><span face=”Times New Roman”><a href=”http://www.rototimes.com/estore/ “>Rototimes.com Guide to Winning Fantasy Baseball 2007</a> </span></em><br /><span face=”Times New Roman”> <br /><a href=”http://www.booksamillion.com/ncom/mag?<a href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/bsballrototimesmag_lg.jpg” onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=239,height=301,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false”><img alt=”Bsballrototimesmag_lg” title=”Bsballrototimesmag_lg” src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/bsballrototimesmag_lg.jpg” width=”85″ height=”107″ border=”0″ style=”float: left; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px;” /></a>
id=3717749615786&amp;mid=0002022956 “><em>Fantasy Sports</em> magazine April 2007</a> issue (Also available by subscription) </span><br /><span face=”Times New Roman”> <br /><em>ESPN, The Magazine</em> also usually publishes an issue focused on fantasy baseball in March. <em>Major League Baseball</em> did not publish its own annual last year; I do not know if they plan to publish one this year. <br /> </span><br style=”mso-special-character: line-break” /></p>

<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt”><p><span face=”Times New Roman”> </span></p></p>

The New Ballgame

The New Ballgame: Understanding Baseball Statistics for the Casual Fan, by Glenn Guzzo (ACTA Sports).

A brief review of a brief book.

Guzzo does a nice job explaining the key stats to newcomers to the game who want to enhance their experience by adding that numerical component, rather than “just watching.”

He also offers an explanation of fantasy baseball, for those who just don’t get what all the fuss is about (present company included). But by adding an histroical perspective — that simulation games have been around for decades, including the popular Strat-O-Matic — Guzzo makes the phenomenon a bit more reasonable. So, were newer statistics such as Runs Created, WIn Shares, and VORP (Value Over Replacement Level) created for fantasy baseball, or vice versa? Either way, it’s another way of looking at the game, so what could be bad?

The author has a nice sense of humor, expecially when he chides broadcasters for using ridiculous factoids ad nauseum during the course of the game. To wit, and quoted at length:

The New York Yankes joined the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays and 2003 Seattle Mariners as the only team since 1976 to win heir first eight day games. Seatle started 17-10 in the daylight that year….

Wow. Drop everything to make it to the stadium today or risk missing the extension — or tragic end — to that streak of daytime wins. Talk about drama…. I mean, if the Yankees can win just nine more consecutive games (emphasis original) …they’ll be just the second team since way back in 2003 to win at last 17 day games in a row. [Writer's Note: Guzzo mentions that there are many more night games than day games, which somewhat reduces the impressiveness of the feat.]

That sort of statistical noise isn’t even worthy of the term trivia.

The publisher, ACTA Sports, also produces The Hard Times Baseball Annual, The Fielding Bible, and Strat-O-Matic Fanatics: The Unlikely SUccess ofa Game That Became and American Passion, also written by Guzzo.

ESPN as book publisher?

<p><a href=”http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117132033196106402-JXXh8HzCZLUbEFeJJbnZSN3_lN0_20070219.html?mod=blogs”>An article</a> in today’s <em>Wall Street Journal</em> (Feb. 13) takes a look at ESPN’s attempt to &quot;smarten up&quot; its core audience (i.e., men 18-34) by getting them to read more than a few sports pages or their own magazine.</p>

<p>ESPN is the publisher of a new book by former basketball player John Amaechi, <a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=500,height=500,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/amechi.jpg”><img title=”Amechi” height=”125″ alt=”Amechi” src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/amechi.jpg” width=”125″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px” /></a> who recently disclosed that he is gay. &quot;While it isn’t exactly a shocker that some pro athletes happen to be gay, the story quickly became national news. A big part of the reason is that Mr. Amaechi’s memoir &quot;Man in the Middle,&quot; published by ESPN Books, is now hitting the shelves. The imprint is small, but it is using its ties to the rest of ESPN to help build buzz around its titles.&quot;</p>

<p>No doubt this will have a wider audience than, say, a book about Mickey Mantle or Tiki Barber. You will have sport fans in general, basketball fans in particular, and those interested in the sociological aspects of the subject who have little or no interest in sports. </p>

<p class=”times”>According to the article &quot;Chris Raymond, who edits ESPN books, says he specifically looks for books that will work &quot;for the magazine and for television.&quot; Mr. Raymond has heard criticism that the graphic-intensive magazine’s subscribers prefer pictures to words, but he says the publication has consistently run 2,000-word stories since the first issue. And he notes that Bill Simmons, a columnist for ESPN.com’s Page 2 and the magazine, drew hundreds of young readers while touring for his book, &quot;Now I Can Die in Peace: How ESPN’s Sports Guy Found Salvation, with a Little Help from Nomar, Pedro, Shawshank and the 2004 Red Sox.&quot; ESPN Books said it sold 80,000 copies.&quot;</p>

<p class=”times”>So what’s wrong with &quot;graphic-intensive&quot;? This is sports, not politics. Most sports are visual, artistic, beautiful to watch. Sports photography (not the ubiquitous highlight reel which has had its own impact on the sociology of the games) is very evocative both for joyful moments and those filled with heartache.</p>

2B or Not 2B: Poets of the Diamond

<p><em>A program on the Feb. 10 broadcast of NPR’s </em>Only a Game <em>had an interesting topic, </em><a href=”http://www.onlyagame.org/shows/2007/02/20070210_14.asp”>Shakepeare as Sport</a>. <em>It reminded me of a review I did on the Bard of Avon, as well as another poet of the diamond.&quot; <p><em><strong>Shakespeare on Baseball</strong></em>, compiled by David Goodnough, Barricade Books. </p>

<p><em><strong>O Holy Cow: The Selected Verse Of Phi Rizzuto</strong>,</em> by Tom Peyer and Hart Seely (eds.), The Ecco Press.</p>

<p>Finally, a little bit of culture smites the national pastime. </p>

<p>Often have I wondered during those interminably long meetings on the mound how William Shakespeare might have covered the game.</p>

<p><a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=92,height=142,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/shakespeare.jpg”><img title=”Shakespeare” height=”231″ alt=”Shakespeare” src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/shakespeare.jpg” width=”150″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px” /></a> While the current poet laureates of the broadcast booth have been entertaining listeners and viewers since radio and television have been presenting the action, they pale in comparison. Sorry Vin Scully, Al Michaels, Jon Miller and Bob Costas, but you know in your heart of hearts it’s true. </p>

<p>David Goodnough has compiled some relevant passages from the Bard to describe everyday occurrences on the diamond as well as some of the personalities of the game. Shakespeare describes Babe Ruth thus: “Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow earth, like a Colossus <em>(Julius Caesar</em&gt </p>

<p>“What a piece of work,” says Hamlet, regarding the enigmatic Rickey Henderson. And <em>The Winter’s Tale</em> has Cal Ripken Jr. pegged: “He has his health, and ampler strength indeed than most men have of his age.” </p>

<p>Shakespeare apparently even considered what Hector Lopez, a shaky outfielder with the powerhouse Yankees of the 1960s, would say when calling for a fly ball: “Hector shall have a great catch, and knock out either of your brains” <em>(Troilus and Cressida)</em>. </p>

<p>Wouldn’t it be refreshing if managers, umpires and players spoke so eloquently in the heat of battle? A manager, outraged at a close call against his team at the plate: “That’s monstrous: O, that that were out!” <em>(The Two Gentlemen of Verona</em>). Or how about an umpire to an irksome manager: “I beseech your, sir, harm not yourself with your vexation. I am senseless of your wrath” <em>(Cymbeline)</em>. I wonder what Earl Weaver would make of that one. </p>

<p>Some of the quotes seem a bit forced, but overall “Shakespeare on Baseball” delivers, in the words of <em>Hamlet</em>’s Osric, “A hit, a very palpable hit.”</p>

<p>—–</p>

<p><a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=104,height=160,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/holy_cow.jpg”><img title=”Holy_cow” height=”230″ alt=”Holy_cow” src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/holy_cow.jpg” width=”150″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px” /></a> Every ballclub has a team of announcers who fit loosely into the following categories: the play-by-by-play man, who informs the viewer of the situations on the field as they unfold, and the color man, the analyst who describes the subtleties of the game, the meaning behind the strategies. They offer the instant criticism (“I don’t know what he was thinking on that play.”) </p>

<p>Sometimes there’s a third man in the booth, the former ballplayer, who informs the fan how very different the game when he wore the flannels, as well as providing other anecdotal nostalgia (“That reminds me of situation back in 1947 when Sibby Sisti….”). Sometimes there are additional people, and usually the crew switches off “to carry you along for the next three innings.” Every team has its colorful character who can’t seem to get the words of out his mouth quickly or make them express exactly what he means, such as Jerry Coleman, renown for such calls as: “Winfield goes back to the wall. He hits his head on the wall, and it rolls off! It’s rolling all the way back to second base! This is a terrible thing for the Padres.” </p>

<p>But is there anyone who compares with Phil “The Scooter” Rizzuto, the ex-Yankee shortstop, perennial Hall of Fame candidate and 30-year veteran of Yankees broadcasts? Well, Tom Peyer and Hart Seely, who have compiled some of these gems for the Village Voice, have put together some of these finer moments in “O Holy Cow: The Selected Verse of Phil Rizzuto.” </p>

<p>Known for his admonishment of dumb ballplayers, fans and broadcasting partners as “huckleberries,” Rizzuto is legendary for his rambling reminiscences, birthday wishes and other tangential musings. His “poems” are excerpted from games, which are listed along with the strategic scenarios at the moment of his inspirations. Some of them might make the reader wonder if Mr. Rizzuto might not be ready for the padded cell rather than the broadcast booth. Here’s one, chosen totally at random, called “Colorado”: </p>

<p>They’re having more snow<br />Out in Colorado<br />Which is not in Montana.<br />But it is not far from Montana.</p>

<p>Some of the contributions are rather poignant, such as “Poem No. 61” which recounts Maris’ historic moment, and “Prayer for the Captain,” which followed the death of Thurman Munson in 1979. The titles the editors give to these verses are good setups, coaxing the reader towards the punch line. </p>

<p>The ninety-four poems reflect Rizzuto’s ability to change trains of thought with frightening speed and then try to scramble to regain his equilibrium. It’s easy for one who has seem him in action on TV to say, “Yup, yup, that’s exactly it.” But those out of the loop can still get a sense of “The Scooter” and enjoy this little collection. </p>

<p>After <em>O Holy Cow</em>, how long will it be before other broadcast poets produce their own collections, one day to take their place alongside Shakespeare, Wordsworth and Shelley? Are they any less relevant? In the words and spirit of the Bronx Bard: </p>

<p>A little disconcerting<br />Smelling that pizza,<br />And trying<br />To do a ball game.</p>

<p><span style=”font-size: 0.8em;”><em>These reviews previously appeared on Purebaseball.com.</em></span> </p></em></p>
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It was fifty years ago today…

<p><strong><span style=”font-size: 0.8em;”>(<em>This article appeared on Purebaseball.com Oct. 3, 2001)</em></span></strong></p>

<p><em><a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=145,height=216,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/1951.jpg”><img title=”1951″ height=”223″ alt=”1951″ src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/1951.jpg” width=”150″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px” /></a> 1951: When Giants Played the Game</em>, by Kerry Keene. Sports Publishing Inc., $16.95.</p>

<p>…to paraphrase from the Beatles. </p>

<p>One of the classic confrontations in sports history took place on October 3, 1951. Thomson and Branca. Two names as inimitably linked as Bonnie and Clyde, Stanley and Livingston, Hekyll and Jekyll. Their face-off in the final playoff game is considered one of the most dramatic moments in all of sports history. </p>

<p>Looking back over the course of the national pastime since the beginning of the 20th century, its remarkable to see how often years ending in “01” included truly special events. For example, the American League began operations in 1901. CyYoung earned the last of his 511 victories in 1901, which also saw the christening of the famous Polo Grounds. Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis became the first Commissioner of Baseball in 1921 and wasted no time in casting “eight men out.” In 1931, Babe Ruth socked his 600th homer. </p>

<p></p>

<p>DiMaggio constructed his 56-game hitting streak and Williams hit .406 in 1941. Roger Maris broke the Bambino’s record in 1961, thanks in part to the first expansion, which took place that season in the American League.</p>

<p>The first World Series night game, much to baseball’s chagrin, took place in 1971, as well as one of baseball’s worst trades: the Mets’ Nolan Ryan for four California Angels. The player’s strike of 1981, which mandated a split-season format to determine playoff participants. Twenty years after “the trade,” Ryan, by then pitching for the Texas Rangers, tossed his seventh no hitter and Rickey Henderson became the all-time stolen base leader — on the same day! </p>

<p>This year holds the possibility for a few historic events as Barry Bonds tries to break Mark McGwire’s single season home run record and the Mariners go for the all-time win mark. Kerry Keene recollects the magic of the 1951 season in the appropriately-titled <em>1951: When Giants Played the Game</em>. While the largest part of the book rightly concerns itself with “the shot heard round the world”; it also marks the comings (Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays) and goings (DiMaggio) of future Hall of Famers (as well as the ultimate departure by Eddie Collins, Harry Heilmann and Shoeless Joe Jackson, all of whom passed away during the year). </p>

<p>Baseball also celebrated the 50th and 75th anniversaries, respectively, of the American and National Leagues. Other notable events included a Yankees “three-peat”; World Series victory; the ouster of “Happy” Chandler as Commissioner; and, of course, the debut (and finale) of the diminutive Eddie Gaedel as a major league player. </p>

<p>Most of the events included in <em>1951</em> have been told before. We have often read of the eerily similar difficulties of Mantle and Mays as rookies, but Keene manages to put on interesting spins. Some of the events are relatively less earth-shattering than others, but for every Thomsonesque home run there are dozens of the routine games that make up a season. His chapter on the machinations behind the firing of Chandler is particularly detailed, but his take on the increasing role of black players is somewhat skimpy. </p>

<p><a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=143,height=216,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/1960.jpg”></a> Keene took the same overview approach in <em>1960: The Last Pure Season</em> (SPI), which examined the big leagues in the final year before that slippery slope of expansion began to dilute the talent pool. He also co-authored <a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=167,height=254,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/babeinred.jpg”></a> <em>The Babe in Red Stockings: An In-Depth Chronicle of Babe Ruth With the Boston Red Sox, 1914-1919</em> (Sagamore), a fascinating look at the legend as a pitching star in his pre-pinstripe years, full of newspaper accounts, pictures, and cartoons of the era. </p>

<p>Many articles and books will laud Thomson’s accomplishments as writers and publishers jump on the bandwagon (see Joshua Prager’s article in the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> earlier this year for the expose on possible sign-stealing which forewarned the Giants of Dodgers’ pitches). Keene’s <em>1951</em> is a reminder that a lot of ingredients go into the mix of a full season. </p>

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A conversation with Joshua Prager

Joshua Prager is author of The Echoing Green, the authoritative book on what might be the best-kept secret in sports cheating: Bobby Thomson’s homer in the 1951 playoffs against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Prager, who broke the story in a 2001 article in the Wall Street Journal, spent five years researching, interviewing, and writing the book, which Publisher’s Weekly described as “a brilliant narrative not only about the most famous home run in baseball history but also about the mystery that haunts it.” Prager also recorded an abridged audio version of the book.

RK: What’s the significance of your title?
JP: It comes from a poem by William Blake. The poem is amazing. It was written in the late 1700s and it’s all about loss and hope and innocence and experience and it really paralleled a tremendous amount what I was writing about. What was so exciting about the title is that the whole book really is about the reverberations of one moment. It just so happens that it’s called “the shot heard ‘round the world,” so it really is about the echoes of a single moment, both in the lives of two men and the country at large.

RK: So, chicken-and-egg questions: What came first, the title or the book? Did you write the book and then find an appropriate title?
JP: Yes. But I knew I was playing with the word “echo” quite a bit, so when I found [the poem], it made me very happy.

RK: The audiobook contains less than one-third of the written product.
JP: The tape was very baseball-centric. The 70 percent of the book that’s not there is basically about the lives of the people, the backgrounds, why they reacted the way they did to this moment, and why it the moment that it became.

RK: How did you come to do the narration?
JP: Once I knew that they wanted to turn it into an audio book, I asked if I would be able to read it. I felt I would be able to do it with the right inflection and [read it] enthusiastically. So when they heard my voice, they said fine.

RK: Did you enjoy doing it or was it a chore?
JP: I loved it. It was lot of work because they edited it down tremendously. The problem was their editing, while generally done well, was filled with discontinuities and inconsistencies. [For example,] someone would be taken out [of the story] at one point and reintroduced without realizing that they’d taken him out earlier. I actually worked tremendously hard on fixing their edits but I really enjoyed reading it. It was only a shame that it was such a drastic cut. It was standard; these books are about eight hours but it was still sort of sad to me. But I was delighted that it would introduce it to a different audience.

RK: So speaking of success, how is the book doing?
JP: I’m very lucky in that the reviews have, for the most part, been wonderful. I think the greatest honor was what The New York Times said, that it was the best baseball book since The Boys of Summer. The sales have been not as good as the reviews, but that’s okay. The truth is, if I were to choose between the two, between great sales and great reviews, I would, every time, choose the great reviews. But my publisher probably wouldn’t agree with that.

RK: Chicken-and-egg again: Did the Wall Street Journal article come out of the book, or did the book come out of the article?
JP: The book came out of the article. One of the things you don’t have in the audio book: In chapter 26 I talk about how the article came to be, through a guy named Barry Halper. A lovely guy. He was the first person to mention to me the rumors that the Giants had stolen signs. I worked on the article for five months. It had been rumored for many years. I proved it, obviously, beyond a shadow of a doubt. I found the telescope they used, I found the exact day they started. I found who was the electrician [Abe Chadwick. who rigged up the electrical system to transmit the signals], I found who was the spy, who relayed the signs, etc., etc. What I cared about in the book, as I write there, was much less the debatable effects of the telescope on play than the undeniable effects of the secret on [Thomson and Branca]. That was really my focus.
They were very open with me, they opened up their lives to me. They’re incredible men, the two of them.
There’s one chapter in the book that’s about 100 pages, all about the lives of Thomson and Branca. Just wanting to know where they were born. I went to Scotland, and with the help of researcher found Bobby Thomson’s birth certificate; he didn’t have that.
I undertook it seriously to get everything right. There are 4,000 endnotes in the book. I wanted people to know where every little detail came from. That was very important for me. Very simply put; I saw this as a great honor in one sense. There are very very few moments that literally millions of people remember where they were when they happened. JFK’s assassination, Pearl Harbor, etc. For various reasons that I go into a great deal in the book, Thomson’s homer was one of them. And to be able to write the definitive account of one of those moments was … really a thrill.

RK: Those who were around at the time, who remember the event, are now in their late fifties and beyond. Do you get any kind of response from these readers?
JP: Oh yes, I get a lot of wonderful e-mails and letters and that’s really exciting. People want to share their experiences of that day and it’s been thrilling for me.

RK: As I was leafing through the book I found a section about Julius Rosenberg’s reaction from his jail cell. How did you find out about that?
JP: When you write a book that takes place in another time, I think it’s lazy when people say “The cost of the subway was a nickel, The Caine Mutiny was the number one book. I feel if you’re going to talk about those things, they have to be introduced into the book seamlessly. By that I mean, it has to be organic to the story. So if I want to say the subway cost a nickel, there has to be someone going on the subway and paying a nickel. Similarly, I felt that if the people and the issues of that time, from the Korean War to the burgeoning Cold War…if these things were going to find their way into the book, they had to be a part of the story.
What I did was I read every book I could — scores of books — that centered on that time, and I read all I could about the people who were involved in that time. And I contacted all their families — this is why it took me five years — and I went through their diaries and their letters and I figured, maybe Ethel and Julius Rosenbergs’ sons, Michael and Robert Meeropol, remember that day and could tell me something about the home run. So I contacted Michaeland he said, “I don’t have a strong memory of it.” He remembered where he was, but nothing too dramatic. But he said, “But my parents wrote about it.” I got the letters from him and read this entire book, all the letters they wrote, and I was able to sort of construct what his cell was like. And it was very powerful. “Gloom of glooms, the dear Dodgers lost the pennant.”

RK: Let’s talk about Chadwick for a minute.
JP: Sure. It was thrilling for me to have sort of a central Jewish character. He was sort of my excuse, in a sense, to be able to talk about everything from Tisha b’Av in the book to the prayer Anenu, which is said on Tsom Gedaliah [a day of fasting observed during the High Holy Days], which was the day that Thomson hit his home run, so there’s sort of a Jewish streak throughout the book.

RK: Did you speak to his family at all?
JP: Oh, endlessly, endlessly.

RK: Aside from the fact that he was a Dodger fan who ironically helped the Giants win …
JP: I even mention that. When I walk about that I talk about Haman because [Chadwick] was born on Purim and he was “hanged” on a gallows that he himself built.

RK: Did you get a sense at all of any remorse on his part?
JP: He confided not to his family about his sign-stealing, but …to some of his colleagues in the electricians union. And none of them said to me, “I remember him saying how horrible this is, that he had done this.” But by the same token…he watched literally every single game. He died of cancer one month to the day after the home run. And he was diagnosed and had to stop working, just one home-stand after he set up this system for [the Giants], and he watched every game on a little television his brother bought him. The Giants were so far behind the Dodgers at that time, and to watch those two teams converge over the course of those two months must have been unbelievably painful for him. He knew what was going on. So while I don’t have him saying “I can’t believe I did this,” it is not at all a leap [or] anything contrived to know with certainty that this was a tremendous lament for him.

RK: It’s been fifty years since this took place. There have been stories about the game itself, about Thomson and Branca …
JP: It’s the most written-about moment in American sports history.

RK: So why has there not been anything on this level before? There had been rumors going on forever and no one ever though to investigate it?
JP: You know what? I think there are very few books…

RK: Never mind the books, what about Major League Baseball to look into it?
JP: I think Mike Vaccaro from the New York Post said it was most researched book on any subject, period. I feel very strongly in research. It’s not true that people didn’t look into it, they did. But they did it the way most people do these things. Not with any incredible amount of thoroughness because that requires a lot of work. It was rumored about publicly ever since 1962 a nd I go through those rumors in the book. But to really something down requires a lot of work and I guess people were content to leave it be. Part of it is that. Part of it is something else that go into in the book, which is very important. Look at it this way: time has to pass before the public is ready for a real reexamination of something so exalted. It was the eve of the 50th anniversary of this moment when I started to look back. And when the players, who had held this secret inside for so many years, I think some of them were very relieved to finally unburden themselves of this secret and that’s something at the heart of the book: what is it like to carry a secret around with you for so long?

RK:Thomson and Branca are both getting on in years. If you had to write their obituaries, what would you lead with?
JP: It’s sort of funny, Roger Angell once wrote about the home run and wrote about Bobby Thomson and he said the home run would comprise the meaty portion of the first sentence of his obituary. And clearly both of these men were defined by this one swing, this one pitch. So I would, in fact, lead with that: “This person was on one side of it, this person was on the other.”
But what I would very quickly get to and dwell upon is that if a person feels good about himself, no matter what happens to him later in life, he will be able to hold onto that. The converse of that is that if a person doesn’t feel good about himself, no matter what happens to him in life, he still won’t feel good about himself. Thomson was a hero publicly, but privately was haunted by some of what went on. He was raised in a strict Scottish home, always told to do what’s right; he wasn’t made to feel particularly good about himself when he was a young man. Branca, on the other hand, was always made to feel good about himself. So although publicly he was a goat, he held on to that inner feeling.
At the beginning of every chapter, I have an epigraph, and there’s one that really sums up that whole thing that is at the heart of the book. Thoreau said “public opinion is a weak tyrant to compare to one’s own private opinion.” How a person sees himself is more important than how others see him, and that’s what I would focus on in their obituaries.” —

——-

Joshua Prager is currently on “book leave” from the Wall Street Journal to work on his next project. The paperback edition of The Echoing Green comes out this spring.

© 2007 Ron Kaplan