* Review: Everything They Had

The National Sports Review gave this posthumous collection of Halberstam’s sports pieces top marks.

Upshot:

The book is littered with really interesting stories, including a neat section on Michael Jordan. I love reading about Michael Jordan so I was glad to see he was included. The story about his interview with Ted Williams was really neat too. Basically Halberstam is second to none in his biographies of professional athletes.

The reviewer’s sole complaint: Halbertam’s “tendency his tendency to be ‘old-manish’ and complain that things were better back in his day.”

* Review: The End of Baseball

City Pages, a Minneapolis/St. Paul based organization, ran this review of Peter Schilling Jr’s. new novel concerning the integration of baseball and Bill Veeck.

Upshot:

Skillfully drawn with all his flair (and all his faults), Schilling does a near-masterful job of constructing Veeck….And for what Schilling lacks at moments in his spare descriptions of zeitgeist and his caricatures of violence, he makes up for with adroit depictions of game stories. Baseball, when on the field, is one of those books where pages can flip in wonderful three or four pages chunks. Schilling has a great talent for description of in-game storytelling, and also for getting inside both the respective heads of his players and the mood of the dugout. Countless of these passages are skillfully written with grinding tension, tangible sweat, and audible jubilation (or rage, depending on the city).

A caveat, however: Schilling used to write for City Beat, in fact in the same capacity as the reviewer of his book.

* This week in Sports Illustrated

The cover story (by Albert Chen) is the improbable tale of Josh Hamilton, now with the Texas Rangers. It wasn’t enough that he came back from the brink of oblivion; now he’s excelling in a way that wasn’t even predicted when he was originally drafted.

So many low points to choose from. No, it wasn’t the time the check he made out to a crack dealer bounced and he had to ask his father-in-law to go and give the dealer $2,000 cash. No, it wasn’t the time after a party when he ripped the rearview mirror off a friend’s truck, punched out the windshield and was thrown in jail. No, rock bottom, he says, was the night in the late summer of 2005 when he awoke from a crack binge in a trailer with a half-dozen strangers around him; with nowhere else to go, he appeared like a ghost at his grandmother’s door — his sunken face as white as snow, his 6′ 4″ frame shrunk from 230 pounds to 180. “He’d be at the lowest of lows,” says [father-in law Michael Dean] Chadwick, “and he’d sink lower.”

* Happy birthday, Eric Davis

The superstar for the Reds and several other teams turns 46 today.

Davis, who played for published his autobiography after battling back from colon cancer (like his friend Darryl Strawberry), seemed destined for greatness, having some terrific years with Cincinnati. His injury during the World Series against the Oakland A’s in 1990 made headlines not because of what he did on the field, but because of the shabby treatment he received from that bastion of racial harmony, Marge Schott, who didn’t see why she had to pay for his flight home since he wasn’t actually playing.

The Amazon Report on Eric Davis:

Born to Play

* Announcemnt: New book celebrates Rockies’ “almost” season

Sports Publishing announces the release of Tony DeMarco’s new book, Tales From the Colorado Rockies.

If this is anything like the other “Tales from” books from the publisher, it’s basically a collection of anecdotes. Seems to be almost one per team by now, some have earned two volumes. (Like “best” and “great/greatest” permutations, one of those adjectives that regular fails to live up to its promise is “complete.” How often have you seen something like “The complete Baseball Reader, Volume 2.” It’s not that it was deliberately printed as a multi-volume set, it’s just that as time goes on, there are naturally more things to add.)

* More on The Wall Street Journal’s sports section

From RotoNation.com, this piece on the plans for the financial stalwort’s newest “toy,” which was the brand old newspapers put on the sports department. Because it was fun. You play it, see? Sheesh.

* Announcement: New book chronicles Mantle’s rookie year

From a press release:

One of the most famous and beloved baseball legends of all times is Mickey Mantle. Many books and articles have been written about the sports hero. In his new book, Mickey Mantle, Rookie in Pinstripes, author Fred Glueckstein, delivers an in-depth account of Mickey Mantle’s life covering his early life to his 1951 rookie year.

Glueckstein presents a comprehensive story of how events in Mickey’s young life, particularly his relationship with his father, early teammates and coaches, as well as significant incidents that influenced and shaped him to become a baseball legend. Glueckstein chronicles his childhood as a “shy youngster with blond hair and freckles from rural Oklahoma.” Raised in a family with a strong work ethic, readers will gain insight into the deep connection Mickey had with his father and the trials and tribulations he faced and conquered. Not only do we gain insight into his personal struggles, Glueckstein also shares the influences of such baseball greats as Yogi Berra, Hank Bauer and Phil Rizzuto. Memorable events such as meeting Joe DiMaggio were both emotional and inspiring: “With Joe DiMaggio, I couldn’t even mumble hello. It was as if you needed an appointment just to approach him.” As well, readers will discover how other baseball legends felt about Mickey.

Along with a very detailed account of Mickey’s childhood and rookie year, Glueckstein is able to capture the excitement of the era making one feel as though they are reliving legendary moments in baseball history. What makes the story such a fascinating and compelling read, is how much research went into writing the book which includes documented conversations, letters, pictures of Mickey during childhood, and baseball stats. The book is skillfully crafted to allow readers to see a personal side of Mickey that was burdened with such struggles as personal loss, overcoming weaknesses in terms of playing performance, and the pain endured from physical injuries. Readers will gain a candid look into how the baseball legend was made with the strong influence of his father shaping his determination, resolve, dedication, and the love of the game. It is an inspiring story of never giving up on a dream.

* Well of course Boston doesn’t think it was a great game

Surprise, surprise. The Boston Phoenix finds fault with Richard Bradley’s new book on the 1978 playoff game between the Yankees and Red Sox. Perhaps had it turned out differently…

“I don’t know about your reading habits,” writes George Kimball, “but when I come across an obvious factual error in a book, my initial inclination is to wince in sympathy for the soon-to-be-embarrassed author.

“Unless, that is, the mistake is infuriatingly egregious, in which case I’m more apt to throw the book up against the wall in disgust.”

Now I must admit, I haven’t thoroughly read the book yet, but by now readers of the Bookshelf know my feelings about any book labeled “great,” “best”, etc. The subject matter usually isn’t.

Bob Neyer recently sent an e-mail in answer to an issue I had with the indifference, if not inaccuracy, of another author’s project. Most publishers don’t care, as long as there isn’t anything for which they can get sued. Maybe Kimball and his brethren should start looking for representation. The former sports editor of the weekly alternative paper lists several errors of fact, the usual stuff like getting the “handedness” of the ballplayers wrong, or the date:

The dust jacket of Richard Bradley’s new book describes a game played on the “afternoon of October 4, 1978” as “the culmination of one of the most intense, emotionally wrought seasons ever, between baseball’s two most bitter rivals.”

The one-game playoff in which the Yankees defeated the Red Sox to advance to the ’78 ALCS had taken place two days earlier at Fenway Park — on October 2.

There was a baseball game played on October 4 of that year, all right, but it took place at Royals Stadium — in Kansas City. The Royals’ Larry Gura beat the Yankees’ Ed Figueroa to even the American League Championship Series at a game apiece.

(Heavy sigh).

Unlike newspaper columns, I’m guessing readers don’t often bother writing to authors or publishers to vent their frustration. If they’re luck the corrections are made for subsequent editions.

Not to be puny, but these books are less great than “grating.”

* Announcement: Game of Shadows hits the small screen

According to Richard Deitsch’s “Media Circus” column on SI.com, Ron Shelton (Bull Durham, Tin Cup), is working on a script of the Fainaru-Wada/Williams book for HBO. “The film will air on HBO (likely in 2009) and will be directed by Shelton if his schedule permits,” writes Deitsch.

* Suggested reading for Mets players

This piece from Bloomberg.com suggests that Willie Randolph follow the example of Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson and give some of his players reading assignments in the hopes that it might open their minds to philosophies that will help the team win.

As for the connection to athletes and reading, I recall an anecdote about Yogi Berra and Bobby Brown when they were teammates on the Yankees. brown was reading a medical book, on his way to studying to be a doctor; Berra was reading a comic book. When both were finished for the day, Berra asked Brown, in effect, “How did yours turn out?”