Bits and pieces

• From Baseball-fever.com, this discussion thread about books, television, and other arts-type issues.
• From the Dowagiac (Mich.) Daily News Web site, an somewhat poorly-written item about a new book on the House of David, which includes considerable material about its famous baseball team.
• From the Faithandfear, a blog about the NY Mets, this review of Dana Brand’s new book titled, simply, Mets Fan (McFarland). The author hosts his own site, which includes sample sections from the book.
• From Saddlebums Western Review, an interview with Johnny D. Boggs, author of Camp Ford (which sounds very similar in theme with Thomas Dyja’s  Play for a Kingdom) which he describes as:
  

  a Civil War-Baseball-Western, about a baseball game between Union prisoners of war and their Confederate guards at a P.O.W. camp in Texas. The idea began fermenting while watching a big-league game in Kansas City, and, like most of my projects, it turned into some kind of obsession and I had to write the story.

 

Writer Profile: Sportswriter Maury Allen is Burning to act

As a sportswriter for the New York Post, Maury Allen had a front row seat for the tumultuous 1977 baseball season. The Yankees were in turmoil; the city was mired in social and economic woes that came to national attention when disastrous blackout struck; and a serial killer was on the loose. Jonathan Mahler brought these events together in his 2006 best-seller Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning, which recently completed its run as an ESPN miniseries.

As a movie buff, Allen was thrilled to be involved as a consultant on the project, which focused on the relationships between George Steinbrenner, the team’s principal owner; Billy Martin, the hot-headed manager; and Reggie Jackson , the sensitive superstar.

A producer for the program contacted Allen earlier in January to seek his expertise, along with Phil Pepe and Stan Jacobson, two other New York sportswriters of the period. “They didn’t pay us anything, they just thought we’d do it out of the kindness of our hearts, which we did,” said Allen . “About every two or three weeks I’d get a call from one of the actors or one of the writers and give them information. [They’d ask}’Did Billy do this? Did you do that?’”

In April , Allen , a resident of Cedar Grove, was invited to the set in New Haven, Conn. to meet Louis Mustillo , the veteran character actor who portrayed him in the series.

Shortly thereafter, the producers decided to actually put Allen , Pepe, and Jacobson into the series’ final scene, which takes place in the Yankees locker room after they clinched the World Series. “They have the old sportswriters represented by us today and the younger sportswriters represented by the actors [who played us]. For that we got paid, by the way.”

Allen said he was “absolutely thrilled” with the experience. He assessed John Tutorro ’s portrayal of Martin as “dead on. He is terrific. I though he had [ Martin ’s] speech down, his neuroses.” The only knock: although the real Martin ’s ears were quite prominent, “they made [Tuturro] look like Dumbo. It was a little overdone.”

Allen also gave kudos to Erik Jansen , who portrayed Thurman Munson . “He absolutely looks like Thurman,” said Allen , “he’s got his growl down.”

“That was the most unique team I’ve ever been around, from a standpoint of personalities, and the dynamics of what was going on.” Allen recalled. “There were three of the highest profiles in the history of sports. Nobody was bigger than Reggie , nobody was bigger than Steinbrenner as an owner, and nobody was bigger than Billy Martin as a manager. So when you put those three volatile guys together, it was a very combustible environment. One of them would be popping off every day. You never lacked for big stories.”

As for Mustillo, whose credits include Seinfeld, The Sopranos, and dozens of other television and film roles, Allen said, “He was never a leading actor, but always a working actor. I talked to him quite a lot and he was pretty accurate about the whole thing. He’s a big baseball fan so he knew the whole history about the Yankees in’77 and he knew about Reggie , George , and Billy and that whole conflict.” But Allen also noted, “He doesn’t actually look like me. He’s the same age now as I was that year, 44. He’s a little shorter than I am, a little heavier than I am. But he really captured the idea of a working reporter.”

Allen appreciated Mustillo’s efforts; he didn’t think the actors portraying Pepe and Jacobson were as believable, those actors didn’t spend as much time talking with their counterparts, he said.

Participating in the production set gave him a new appreciation for the profession. “It’s a grueling job,” he said. “I had to be there at six o’clock in the morning and I didn’t get finished until nine o’clock at night.” On the other hand, “the food was good.”

After spending the day among fellow thespians, Allen observed that, like athletes, actors can be a little insecure. “When the guy says, ‘That’s a wrap,’ they’re out of work. They’re always worried about the next job.”

Maury Allen , right, with Louis Mustillo , who played the veteran sportswriter in The Bronx is Burning, on the set of the ESPN miniseries.

Maury Allen: A selected bibliography Allen has written more than 35 books. Among his Yankees titles: Mr. October: The Reggie Jackson Story Damn Yankee: The Billy MartinStory Memories of the Mick: Baseball’s Legend Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio? A Story of America’s Last Hero

A version of this article appeared in New Jersey Jewish News, Sept. 13, 2007

From father to son: Interview with James Bassler

From the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, an extensive interview with the artists James Bassler, son of major leaguer catcher Johnny Bassler who played from 1913-14 with the Cleveland Naps and, after a seven year absence, returned for another seven years with the Detroit Tigers (1921-27). He compiled a lifetime .304 batting average with a single home run in 811 games. He appears in this picture, behind Ty Cobb.

My Dad was a very strong personality and put a very strong work ethic in us. And there was never a sense that we were to become major-league baseball players because Dad believed that you were always sort of born with a talent, that you would not be taught. And yet there was always this sort of guilt that you felt like you were supposed to be a baseball player. And I think that would be true in anybody’s family.

 

On-line exhibit: “America’s National Game”: The Albert G. Spalding Collection of Early baseball Photographs

The New York Public Library is hosting this marvelous collection of old-tyme baseball images. Some are in uniform, others more formal, and others staged “action” shots.

The Albert G. Spalding Collection includes photographs, prints, drawings, caricatures, and printed illustrations related to baseball and other sports gathered by the early baseball player and sporting-goods tycoon A. G. Spalding. This collection includes 19th-century studio portraits of players and teams of the day, rare images, photographs, and original drawings.

 

Announcement: Haunted Baseball

From the Sept. 4, 2007 issue of the Worcester Telegram:

Baseball and ghost stories are part of the fabric of American culture. A new book by Mickey Bradley and Dan Gordon, Haunted Baseball: Ghosts, Curses, Legends, Eerie Events (288 pp., The Lyons Press, $14.95), combines both, according to the publisher. It is a “fun and freaky collection of otherworldly yarns offered up by baseball players, stadium personnel, front office folks and fans.”

Such stars as Derek Jeter, Jason Varitek and Alex Rodriguez share their perspectives and experiences in a wealth of anecdotes that the authors say have never been told before. They write about the historic spring training ball park in St. Petersburg, Fla., where Babe Ruth and his teammates are said to still roam the field; the Ken Griffey home run that gave solace to a grieving 9-11 family; and Roberto Clemente’s premonitions of his death in a plane crash.

The authors have constructed a Web site for their project, which includes an impressive list of players interviewed as well as a preview chapter and list of upcoming appearances (the authors, not the ghosts).

Pocket Books Gets Yankee Stadium retrospective

From Publishers Weekly, Sept. 4, 2007

With 2008 set to be the last year that the New York Yankees will play in the current Yankee Stadium, Pocket Books’ v-p and deputy publisher Anthony Ziccardi has acquired Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective.

The book, acquired from Mark Vancil of Rare Air Media, will feature more than 150 photographs plus first person accounts of the stadium by not only current and past Yankees, but by such politicians and celebrities as George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Muhammad Ali. The hardcover, which will include an introduction by Yankee owner George Steinbrenner and a foreword by former NYC major (and Yankee fan) Rudy Giuliani, will be released next March, to coincide with the beginning of the baseball season. The team will move into a new stadium in 2009.

 

This week (Sept. 10) in Sports Illustrated

With football season starting, baseball will lose its dominance on the pages of SI. This week’s items include:

• Photos of Jay Buchholz’s no-hitter over the Orioles
• “Hitting fastballs with…Chipper Jones
• Back to School memories with several big leaguers including Shawn Green, Adam Dunn, and Russell Martin (no really big stars here)
• A chart of potential 300-game winners over the next dozen or so years
• The feature story profiles the Phillies’ Jimmy Rollins (”This is How They Roll,” by Michael Bamberger)
• Rick Reilly posits on the joys and sorrows of catching knuckleballer Tim Wakefield in “Catch as Catch Can”

I still wonder why SI offers its weekly “Golf Plus” section. Since it seems the publication is trying to skew younger, the inclusion of so much golf material, which has an older demographic, seems counterproductive (or trying to please many masters).

Best baseball books: One critic’s opinion

John Marshall, book critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, recently offered this list of his favorite baseball titles for 2007:

• Crazy ‘08, by Cait Murphy
• The Psychology of Baseball, by Mike Stadler
• Senior Year, by Dan Shaughnessy
• Tales From the Seattle Mariners Dugout, by Kirby Arnold
• Baseball Haiku,edited by Cor van den Heuvel and Nanae Tamura
• Playing America’s Game, by Adrian Burgos Jr.
• Dreaming Baseball, by James T. Farrell
• Watching Baseball Smarter, by Zack Hample

All good choices.The only one I question is Tales. Sports Publishing LLC has printed at least  one version for almost every major league team, mostly composed of anecdotes about the players, sometimes under the imprimatur of a personality associated with the specific team. You really have to be a fan to get behind these titles, so I won’t quibble too much here.

 

 

The first Hispanic player?

From Smithsonian.com, this piece by Ian Herbert which speculates on the identity of the
first Hispanic player.

“…why all the mystery surrounding someone who appears to have had little to no impact on the game of baseball? The answer lies in the most basic of details: Castro’s birthplace.”

Until 2001, Castro was listed in the official records as being bornin Medellin, Colombia—not New York City. That would make Castro thefirst foreign-born Hispanic to play Major League ball. That’s a prestigious historical role, considering that at the start of the2007 season, nearly 25 percent of Major League Baseball’s players
were from Mexico, South America or the Caribbean.”

“Great Moments in Literary Baseball”

From Atlantic Monthly, May 1987, an amusing collection of highlights by Robert Atwan featuring famous writers as players, including “Ernie” Hemingway, Jorge Luis Borges, Tommy Wolfe, “Lucky” Sam Beckett, Henry Miller, and Frank Kafka, among others.

In the second game of a double-header in Detroit in 1919, the Boston first  base coach began pointing his finger at the mound and gesturing wildly as Detroit pitcher Frank Kafka started his delivery. The home-plate umpire went out to the mound to ask Kafka what the hell he thought he was doing. Kafka protested that he had not committed a balk. The umpire said that a balk was not the issue and ejected Kafka from the game. The following day, after a short inquiry conducted by the American League commissioner, Kafka was permanently suspended from organized baseball. The commissioner never disclosed the nature of Kafka’s violation.

Another:

During a 1978 contest for last place being played under protest in a constant drizzle Atlanta second baseman Harry Pinter signals time out and stoops to tie his shoelace. He misses a hard-hit ground ball and is charged with an error. Pinter (moving toward first) says that he called time. A long pause. The second-base umpire claims that he misunderstood Pinter’s signal—he thought he was batting away a bug. Silence. Another hard grounder shoots past Pinter and a big E appears on the scoreboard. Pinter (moving toward second) says he thought play had been stopped to discuss the misunderstood signal. A long pause. The umpire maintains that Pinter did not call time out to do so. As Pinter (moving toward first) turns to ask the first-base umpire what is happening, another ground ball bounces by. A long silence. The few remaining fans begin drifting to the exits.

This week (Sept. 3) in Sports Illustrated

The big theme this week is the NFL preview, but there are a handful of baseball items, including:

• A Q&A with Brewers’ rookie sensation Ryan Braun
• The SI MLB Poll: Who was your favorite player when you were a kid? Low scores here: 10 percent picked Nolan Ryan; 6 percent chose Junior Griffey, Call Ripken, and Will Clark.
• An  item on the three players with the most at bats to have just one grand slam, including Royce Clayton (7,373 AB), Derek Jeter (7,309), and Mark Gurdzielanek (6,513).
• “The Questions” with Mariners DH Jose Vidro
• “Hitting a Knuckleball with…Orioles First Baseman Kevin Millar”
• A photomontage from the Little League World Series
• The Inside Baseball feature profiles Chris and Shelley Duncan, sons of former player and current coach Dave Duncan.
• And the statistical sidebar from Baseball Prospectus

This week (Aug. 27) in Sports Illustrated

• An SI “player update” notes Bobby Cox as he broke John McGraw’s record for most ejections as a manager, getting the boot for the 132nd time in a win over the Giants on Aug. 14.
• Tom Verducci profiles the Red Sox’s David Ortiz resurgence and its implications for his team (”Blasts from the Past”).
• And that’s it.

Review: Just Joe: Baseball’s Natural as told by his wife

By Thomas K. Perry
Pocal Press, 2007.

From his humble Southern roots up to and including his banishment from organized baseball, Joseph Jefferson Jackson was considered one of the brightest stars in the sports firmament. Even the mighty Babe Ruth claimed to have modeled his style after the lithe lefty.

The story of Shoeless Joe has been chronicled in many forms: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, theatre, and film. Those volumes almost exclusively follow his exploits on the diamond, with an emphasis on the 1919 Black Sox scandal, understandably a highlight (and low point) of the slugger’s career.

Thomas K. Perry, a Jackson uberfan and researcher, has dared to step outside the box. He has entered a place where few, if any, male baseball fiction writers have gone: writing from the distaff point of view, in this case the voice of Katie Jackson, Joe’s wife.

“Her” story begins as a smitten adolescent in Pickens County, South Carolina, where she realized as a 12-year-old that she was destined to be Mrs. Joe Jackson. It ends a lifetime later, when, dying of cancer, she is reunited with her love at the Pearly Gates.

While a good portion of Just Joe revolves around the ballplayer’s amateur, minor, and major league careers, it is more concerned with the domestic relationship between husband and wife. Katie is obviously a proud and loyal helpmeet as she goes on about “my man,” a pet name that’s perhaps a bit overused, but undoubtedly in character. She is more impressed with how he is embraced by his fans than his batting average, stolen bases, or spectacular fielding. She is also the illiterate Joe’s “agent,” reading his contracts, as well as the sports pages, and is appalled with the low regard in which he is held by his employers, especially Charles Comiskey, the penurious White Sox owner.

The 1919 Fall Classic is a focal point of Just Joe, as Kate describes how her Joe was duped by players, gamblers, and Comiskey and his minions (in the aftermath) alike, railroaded out of the game that was second in his affections only after his wife.

About a third of the fictional biography is devoted to their lives after Joe’s “retirement.” Never out of the public eye for long, Jackson had his supporters in later years, including Ted Williams, who pays a visit to Katie in the book. Through the good and bad times, she is assertive that no matter how “organized” baseball turned its back on Joe Jackson, he always considered it the greatest game in the world.

Those who know the true-life story will understandably feel a sadness as Just Joe winds down, aware of what is to come: Joe’s death on what might have been the verge of his re-acceptance. It is ultimately a tale with a good dose of disappointment, overshadowed by the healthy measure of love and appreciation for Jackson, both Katie’s and the author’s.