This item from NBCBayArea.com opines that the “charming” actress might have adverse affects on some of the maor legaue pitchers she’s dated.
Haven’t read the book yet, but do we really need another celebrity telling us why we should love the game? As if their endorsement is powerful enough to sway those who heretofore had been uninterested? “Well, if Alyssa loves baseball, I’ll give it a whirl.” (Not that there aren’t people like that. Just ask Oprah watchers.)
Actually, Andy and John Buchanan are both “wise guides,” as in their series of guide books to baseball stadiums and other venues.
In 2007, the brothers — John is a banker and Andy a freelance writer and also part-time Journalism professor at Columbia College of Chicago — published small books on the ballparks of the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, and Giants. Each contains valuable information to make the game experience as enjoyable as possible. And the post-game, too: there are suggestions about establishments where one can enjoy a good meal or drink while discussing the context.
Thumbing through the Wise Guide Yankee Stadium is already nostalgic, although much of the ancillary information still applies: the history of the team and its great players, reading suggestions, the neighborhood, travel, etc.
The Buchanans are looking to expand the series. For the time being, the information about all 30 ballparks is on their new website. It’s an interactive site where fans can chime in with their own reviews and thoughts. The Guidebooks have a separate site.
I had a chance to chat with Andy Buchanan about the Wise Guide project.
Bookshelf: So what’s your favorite ballpark?
Buchanan: Well, being a Cubs fan and longtime resident of the North Side, Wrigley is my home park and still favorite. If I was advising someone to take in a game anywhere in MLB, it’d be Wrigley for the entire experience of it: the park and atmosphere but also the surrounding neighborhood and city as a whole. If I had to set aside by bias, I’d say AT&T Park in San Francisco… beautiful park, wonderful setting, great food and drink, incredible city right outside the gates.
Bookshelf: Which would you say is the easiest to get to by public transportation?
Buchanan: At both Yankee Stadium and Wrigley the train drops you off steps from the park, and both are relatively quick trips from downtown (or Manhattan in NYC), so it’s hard to get better than that. I would give the nod to Yankee Stadium because more than one train line stops there, whereas in Chicago it’s the (often packed) Red Line or nothing.
Bookshelf: What about the best food?
Buchanan: Very close between AT&T Park and Safeco Field in Seattle, and I’d go with Safeco if pressed. Great variety, unique take on the hot dog (Ivar Dog, it’s actually fried cod) and excellent selection of micro-brews.
Bookshelf: Who are the friendliest fans?
Buchanan: Cardinals fans … and I say them because they actually have some great history they could boast about and be sorta condescending, but they aren’t. I have a feeling if the Cards were located in New York the fans would be insufferable.
Bookshelf: And the nicest overall experience?
Buchanan: AT&T Park for ‘nicest’ … but I’d still send someone to Wrigley if they had one afternoon all summer to take in a game.
Or Green. As in the American and National Leagues’ ’s Red and Green Book, respectively.
The annual publications were conceived as tools for executives and the media, full of all kinds of unusual information, such as the origin of team logos and color schemes, name pronunciations, and of course, all manner of stats. They supplemented each team’s media guide and broadcasters constantly referred to them to fill the dead space during games. A truly invaluable resource.
All the more surprising that it will no longer be printed.
Murray Chass writes about the decision in his column today.
“Major League Baseball, which can’t kill steroids, has killed the Red Book and the Green Book,” he rails.
Baseball officials would say the books died of atrophy. No one was using them any more. But I used them, often on a daily basis. They sit on a shelf an arm’s length away from my desk. I can get them that quickly when I need information from them.
But that’s the climate these days. Why go through all the trouble — and cost — of printing when it’s so much easier — and cheaper — to go paperless? According to a press release from MLB,
The 2009 National League Green Book and the 2009 American League Red Book will be posted exclusively online (emphasis added) at… the official media web site of Major League Baseball….
The 2009 editions of the Red and Green Books will mark the first time that these annual publications will be available online only. While printed copies of the Red and Green Books will no longer be distributed by Major League Baseball, the publications will be available in an easily downloadable format on MLBPressBox.com. (emphasis added)
Say it a few more times, why don’t you? If that’s the way you’re going to play, the least you can do is remove the registration lines before creating the PDF files.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the New York Mets’ first World Championship and since everyone loves a celebration, there are several new books marking that occasion in particular and the team in general, including:
There are also a couple of books by players from the 1986 title team, including Straw: Finding My Way (Ecco), by Daryl Strawberry, and The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball, Pitching, and Life on the Mound, by Ron Darling (Knopf).
Other new books analyze the exodus of the Dodgers and Giants to the West Coast. These titles include After Many a Summer: The Passing of the Giants and Dodgers and a Golden Age in New York Baseball, by Robert E. Murphy (Union Square Press) and A Tale of Three Cities: The 1962 Baseball Season in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, by Steven Travers, as well as his Dodgers Past & Present, both published by Potomac.
And what season would be complete with some Yankees titles. In addition to the much-discussed Joe Torre bio, there’s yet another book on Yogi Berra (Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee, by Allen Barra, from W.W. Norton & Co.); New York Yankees and the Meaning of Life, by Derek Gentile (MVP Books); Then Roy Said to Mickey…: The Best Yankees Stories Ever Told, by Roy White and Darrell Berger (Triumph); and The Truth About Ruth and More: Behind Yankees Myths, Legends, and Lore, by Peter Handrinos (careful — treading on Rob Neyer territory here).
Not quite a review, not quite an author profile, this piece from the Boston Herald is sort of a news story about the upcoming title. The focus starts with the altercation between Ramirez and Red Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick, “the final nail in No. 24’s coffin in Boston.”
Megdal, author of The Baseball Talmud, is taking his book and going on the road. Here’s a list of his whistle stops as of today:
Sunday April 5, 2 p.m. Borders, Ramsey, NJ
Tuesday April 7, 7 p.m. Suffern Free Library, Suffern, NY
Thursday April 16, 7 p.m., Book Revue, Huntington, NY
Sunday April 26, 9 a.m. Temple Beth Torah, Nyack, NY
Saturday May 2, 3 p.m. Merritt Books, Red Hook, NY
Saturday May 16, 2 p.m. Borders, Marlton, NJ
Sunday May 17, 9 a.m. Temple Emanuel, Cherry Hill, NJ
Saturday June 13 2 p.m. Borders, Ramsey, NJ
Tuesday June 23 8 p.m. Columbus Jewish Historical Society, Columbus, OH
Wednesday June 24, 7 p.m. Barnes and Noble, Columbus, OH
What is it with all these confessions? First Jane Heller’s Confessions of a She-Fan, now this?
Forgive my cynicism, but was this book really penned by the actor herself? So it would seem, since there’s no collaborative reference on the cover.
Milano supposedly writes a blog on MLB.com (she also sells a line of baseball-themed clothing on the website); the book news appears in this entry. But just like many of the big league players on Facebook pages, I have my doubts. Sorry, Manny, but I have to call you out on this one.
The author of romance novels is also an avowed Yankees fan and writes about the objects of her affection in Confessions of a She-Fan: The Course of True Love with the New York Yankees.
Heller is profiled in this piece from MLB.com.
In my "day job," I'm the features and sports editor for a weekly New Jersey newspaper. I'm also the editor of the Bibliography Committee Newsletter for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).
I did a piece on the award-winning cartoonist and he was nice enough to "immortalize" me.
What I'm reading now:
Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain
Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates: Using Philosophy (and Jokes!) to Explore Life, Death, the Afterlife, and Everything in Between
So far, so: funny and depressing
What I just read:
Baseball Americana: Treasures from the Library of Congress
Grade: A
Playing with the Enemy: A Baseball Prodigy, World War II, and the Long Journey Home
I hate to say anything bad abut the story of a member of the Greatest Generation whose war-related injury prevented was what supposedly would have been a brilliant career, and I applaud the author -- the subject's son -- for the affectionate effort, but this was way too sentimental and cliche-ridden; this would have been an appropriate release 60 years ago.
Grade: A for the motivation, D for the presentation.
What's next:
Open, by Andre Agassi
* 2009 baseball annual analysis
27 02 2009Most of the annual previews are available as of this writing. I previously analyzed Beckett’s; here a more comprehensive look at the four I’ve purchased to date.
Back in the day, the publisher printed only one cover. Now it’s easy to make one for every team or region. The examples here are for the New York area. They also cost about the same, so how do you pick? Depends on the kind of information your looking for. I’ve compared them on this Excel sheet, with a more narrative description below.
208 pages/$7.99
Nice feature articles on catchers, a look ahead to the new season, a collection of anecdotes on 2008, and the publication that addresses the steroid issue.
Team profiles include a roster, schedule, minor league report. Interesting little factoids.
Overall grade: B
To order, look here.
144 pages/$6.99
No real features to speak of. The only thing going for this one is the baseball card report (see previous entry on Beckett). Newsprint paper gives it a pulp feel.
To order, look here.
Lindy’s
192 pages/$7.99
Very well done, but light on features (Josh Hamilton profile, free agency, and 2008 anecdotes). Best of the magazine’s in individual player profiles, with grades and three years of stats.
To order, look here.
The Sporting News
200 pages/$7.99
Disappointing when you consider how long TSN has been doing this. Good features, including articles on maple bats, the mania over pitch counts, the new MLB network, a profile of White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, and — my favorite — player targets and milestones (which used to be in Street and Smith).
To order, look here.
Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: Baseball magazines
Categories : 2009 title, Commentary by Ron Kaplan, Industry/Literary Analysis, Magazines, Stats, Team profile