Spent the week of Nov. 16 at Yankee Fantasy Camp (much more on that later). Ran into Bryan Hoch, who covers the Yankees for MLB.com. I first met Hoch in the press box at Shea Stadium more than a decade ago when he was an enterprising 19-year-old and I was part-timing for STATS Inc.
Hoch was a tough player, pitching and playing second (as a lefty) and adding some pop to a lineup that finished 1-7.
He blogged about his experience at YFC, which you can read here.
Born this date (or not) in 1906.
Paige has returned to the public eye thanks to Larry Tye’s excellent new biography.
Here’s a brief review from Booklist, the magazine of the American Library Association (thanks to Greg Spira for the tip).
And one more go around — for the time being, at least — on NPR, in this case The Leonard Lopate Show:
That is, according to this entry onthe Yankee-centric RiverAvenueBlues blog regarding Peter Golenbock’s latest release,George: The Poor Little Rich Boy Who Built the Yankees Empire.
Why isn’t George higher up on my reading list? Other than having more interesting books ahead of it, there’s another reason: factual accuracy. Murray Chass (h/t BBTF) points to Goldenbock’s history of inaccuracies, and warns of much the same from George. This isn’t just Chass’s criticism; these errors have been acknowledged by the book’s publisher…John Wiley & Sons, which said in part, “Regarding Peter Golenbock’s book, we are currently taking steps internally to correct the errors which will be reflected in the next reprint.”
So how many errors are we talking about here?
Sixty-eight factual errors. Don’t they pay people to go through books and find these? It might seem like Chass nitpicks with some of these errors, but I don’t take issue at all. If Golenbock is making simple errors on things like hotel names and the handedness of a batter (uh, Duke Snider was a righty?), what other lazy errors is he making? (emphasis in the original)
This has always been a bugaboo for me. I’ve spoken with publishers’ representatives about this and they said they just don’t have the personnel to check every fact. It’s up to the author to make sure he’s got his stuff together; you won’t always get an editor who’s an expert on the subject.
It’s a safe bet that the majority of the readers — even those well versed on the topic— might not catch these mistakes. But whenever I do, I wonder how many more I’ve haven’t found and that detracts from the reading experience.
The new Eight Men Out, according to the NY Daily News (out of Hall of Fame consideratio, that is):
Can you think of any better way for our elected officials in Washington to spend their time and our money these days on more hearings about baseball and PEDs?
According to several articles, including this one from Newsday (Feb. 10):
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) plans to recommend to the head of the congressional committee that has previously hosted baseball players that A-Rod receive an invite to testify about his steroid use, Cummings told Newsday last night.
No wonder they can’t agree on the stimulus package; they’re too distraught over the impact of drugs on our national pastime.
I have only one more thing to say about the situation: Read the rest of this entry »
John Updike, one of the great writers of the 20th century, passed away yesterday at the age of 76.
Although he was known primarily for his novels, particularly his series of “Rabbit” books, Updike found the time to write one of the most famous (baseball) essays of all time. “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu,” about Ted Williams’ final game, has long been a staple in sportswriting anthologies and includes a paragraph stands out and is often excerpted as an example of premium writing:
Like a feather caught in a vortex, Williams ran around the square of bases at the center of our beseeching screaming. He ran as he always ran out home runs—hurriedly, unsmiling, head down, as if our praise were a storm of rain to get out of. He didn’t tip his cap. Though we thumped, wept, and chanted “We want Ted” for minutes after he hid in the dugout, he did not come back. Our noise for some seconds passed beyond excitement into a kind of immense open anguish, a wailing, a cry to be saved. But immortality is nontransferable. The papers said that the other players, and even the umpires on the field, begged him to come out and acknowledge us in some way, but he never had and did not now. Gods do not answer letters.
The story originally appeared in the Oct. 22, 1960 issue of The New Yorker, and can be read here.
One of the great headlines marking the author’s passing comes from the Quincy (MA) Patriot Ledger: “Readers bid Updike adieu.” King Kaufman, who handles sports for Salon.com, wrote this tribute, “John Updike, baseball writer.”
From Triumph books, again:
The New York Mets may have lost out on reaching the playoffs for the second time in as many seasons, but the team is still important enough to have two upcoming books published revolving around the 2008 historic season: and So Long, Shea and Shea Good-Bye.
So Long, Shea: Five Decades of Stadium Memories will offer Mets fans everywhere a special commemorative keepsake book that allows them to relive the greatest moments in Shea Stadium’s history.
When Walter J. Shea Memorial Stadium opened April 17, 1964, no one, not even big-thinking New Yorkers, could have predicted the extraordinary series of events that would unfold there over the next 44 years. From a memorable first decade that culminated in the most amazin’ Mets team of all time led by the indomitable Tom Seaver [this is arguable, since many consider the 86 mets to be the best], to the birth of the Jets and the emergence of Broadway Joe, to concerts which included the Beatles among a Who’s Who list of rock-and-rollers that have played there through the years, to pugilists, a Pope, and the star-crossed 1986 World Series champion Mets, Shea proved a most worthy venue for a city steeped in center stages.
So Long, Shea will be available this month.
Meanwhile, What really happened to the 2008 New York Mets? How could they have lost their bid to make the playoffs on the last day of the season -– for the second heartbreaking year in a row?
Who better to ask then Keith Hernandez, the Mets’ former All-Star first baseman?
Shea Good-Bye: The Untold Inside Story of the Historic 2008 Season by Hernandez with Matt Silverman allows fans to read the thoughts and observations of one of the team’s icons throughout the entire 2008 season so that the fans can see exactly what went wrong and why along the way. Read what Hernandez has to say about David Wright, Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran.
Hernandez doesn’t just examine the Mets’ disjointed season, he also speaks frankly on the taint of steroids in the Mitchell Report, how the game has been compromised, the firing of Willie Randolph and, of course, his recollections and best stories from Shea Stadium in its final year.
Maybe it’s just me, but as much as I enjoyed Keith as a player, his announcing leaves me a bit cold. He’s one of those guys who always seems to find fault with modern athletes, who never seem to be as smart or dedicated as his contemporaries. Ron Darling, on the other hand, strikes me as more analytic and educational. I’m just sayin’….
The Times published two obituaries this week, both a bit odd for a New York paper.
Sure, there have been write-ups about athletes, but theytend to be either those who have had some local connection or a giant of their sport. That’s why I found it curious that they chose to include Eddie Brinkman, a steady defensive, lousy offensive shortstop for the Tigers, Senators/Rangers, Cardinals, and yankees in the 1960s-70s; Bruce Dal Canton, a pitcher for the Pirates, Royals, Braves, and White Sox during the same period;
St. Petersburg Times
and George Kissell, one of those baseball lifers who spent his career with the Cardinals. Brinkman and Dal Canton were each 66; Kissell was 88. As I get older, I guess it’s only natural that the ballplayers of my youth should shuck off this mortal coil. Still, it’s depressing.
Kissell was at least a New York (state) product. He received the full-on treatment by Richard Goldstein. The other two were AP obits. A co-worker of mine who handles such notices for my newspaper told me it might have been done simply to fill space, Even so, why these guys?
One of these days, I’m going to collect and post all the “second-tier” players who’ve had their obituaries in the Times.
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:
Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates: Using Philosophy (and Jokes!) to Explore Life, Death, the Afterlife, and Everything in Between
What I just read:
Paul McCarthey: A Life:, by Peter Ames Carlin
Grade: B. Pleasant enough; no sensational material. McCartney could be a right bastard at times, but aren't we all?
What's next:
L'Époque Glorieuse des Expos, by Alain Usereau
My article on the later biographies of Babe Ruth appears in
My article on the Mets' 1969 post-season appears in
*TWIBB — October 9
9 10 2009This week in baseball books, featuring the best-sellers according to Amazon.com on Friday, October 9.
Analysis: The top three “general” books are all World Series related. The Machine returns to the NY Times best-seller list, clocking in at #33, while Sixty Feet Six Inches, the Gibson-Jackson collaboration, debuts at #35. Moneyball is tangentially connected, since Kevin Youkilis is generally hailed as a prototypical Billy Beane-type player, with a high on-base percentage to go along with his other attributes.
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