* There’s still four days before Christmas

So if you haven’t gotten your literary sports fan anything yet, here are some suggestions from Joe Favorito, a specialist in sports branding. You’ll have to winnow out the baseball titles from the rest. Same for Stiletto Sport’s list (sorry if I sound chauvanistic, but only a women’s list could consider Alyssa Milano’s Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic a “must-read.” A much better choice would be Jane Heller’s Confessions of a She-Fan.)

And, for what it’s worth, here are a few recommendations from the Bookshelf:

• Baseball Americana (Coauthor Harry Katz appeared on the Dec. 16 All Things Considered. You can hear the interview here:

• Sports Illustrated’s Baseball Books
• Yankees 365
• Ballparks Then and Now, by Eric Enders
• Ballet in the Dirt, by Neil Leifer

* National Pastime Radio: Norman Rockwell and Baseball

Found this a few weeks ago, but had forgotten about it.

A great new book — Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera — tells the backstories about many of his famous paintings, including his 1948 work, “The Dugout,” which depicts a desolate Cubs team languishing in poor times. NPR picks up the story here, with the audio here.

Of course, Rockwell did several iconic baseball illustrations, including “Rain Delay” and “The Rookie,” among others. The names alone should suffice to draw the images to mind.

* Now hear this: Gibson and Jackson on NPR

again, I wonder how these guys, from one show to another, manage to kep the information fresh. I can just imagine the host of a program that appears later listen to a previous program and muttering at the host, “Bastard! I was going to ask that.”

Anyway, Gibson and Jackson appeared on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday on Oct. 17 to discuss their new book, Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the Game is Played. You can hear the program and/or read the transcript with host Scott Simon here.

* National Pastime Radio: Gibson and Jackson

Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson, collaborators in the new Sixty Feet Six Inches, were the guests on yesterday’s Fresh Air.

The host, an awestruck Dave Davies, asked several questions that one would expect from non-fans, and that’s fine, given the nature of the outlet; I’m sure sports radio hosts would ask more hard-hitting questions designed to stir controversy.

A couple of items caught my attention. One was how old the former ballplayers sounded. These were the guys I grew up watching in the 1970s: the Gibsons, and Jacksons, the Roses and Seavers, and it’s hard for me to reconcile that they are getting old, most of them are in their sixties and seventies by now.

The other thing was — and here we go again — paying close attention to thei game memories. Davies said that Jackson homered in four consecutive at bats. That didn’t sound right so I looked it up on Retrosheet.  Jackson homered in his final at bat in Game 5, but in his first time up in Game 6, he walked, then hit three straight homers. Technically, the statement is correct: he hit four home runs in four at bats, but five plate appearances, which in my opinion, speaks to the spirit of the matter if not the letter of the law.

At one point,

DAVIES: The fascinating thing hearing you two talk is that you never faced each other either in the postseason or in the regular season, right?

Mr. JACKSON: All Star game.

DAVIES: In the All Star game, right? And…

Mr. GIBSON: Yeah. He keeps telling me he hit a double off of me and I don’t remember.

Jackson was right. It came in the first inning of the 1972 contest. It was the only hit Gibson gave up in two innings.

Later, they discussed the broken leg Gibson sustained off the bat of Roberto Clemente in 1967. Those are the kinds of things you don’t forget; Gibby got the details correct.

You can listen listen to the segment via the show’s web site or download the podcast from iTunes.

* National pastime radio

I listened with extra care to this week’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me. The guest for the “Not My Job” segment was ex-major leaguer Doug Glanville. I was waiting for a Moose Skowron/ Rob Neyer moment, but as far as I can tell, it never came. (In fact, part of me fantasized that host Peter Sagal warned Glanville that there’s some nut out there  who goes around slaying myths, so watch it!)

Glanville, a thoughtful and amusing fellow who, among  other interests,  contributes the Heading Home column on The New York Times website, brought up an incident in the minors when he charged the mound after being hit by a pitch, but I’m not about to start digging to see if it’s wholly accurate.

And if you enjoy his HH columns, look for a book next year, according to his website,

Times Books editorial director Paul Golob acquired world rights to an untitled book by Doug Glanville, former centerfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers; David M. Larabell at David Black made the sale. Glanville’s debut, an account of a year in the life of major league baseball players, will open a window on how players prepare for games, spend their free time, deal with trades or injury, and the interactions with managers and coaches. The project grows out of Heading Home, Glanville’s online column for the New York Times. Expected pub date is spring 2010.

In other NPR/baseball items:

• Zev Chafets, author of Cooperstown Confidential,  was interviewed on Only a Game, riding on the coattails of the HoF induction weekend
• Larry Tye (Satchel) was the guest on WAMU’s Diane Rehm Show.

All of these programs are available on iTunes, as well as through their respective websites.

* Happy Birthday, Satchel

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:

* National Pastime Radio update

* Yesterday, Larry Tye, author of the new Satchel Paige biography, was a guest on The Leonard Lopate Show.

Hear it here:

* A recent episode of Radio Lab considered the likelihood of athletics streaks, including Joe DiMaggio’s 56-gamer. Superior ability or just random chance?

You can here it here:

* The June 23 program for Soundcheck looked at music at the ballpark. Which do you prefer? Old-fashioned organ music or blaring rock?

Hear it here:

* Bruce Weber, author of the excellent examination of the lot of aspiring umpires, was interviewed on Talk of the Nation on June 30. The link includes an excerpt of the book.

Hear it here:

* National Pastime Radio

Several baseball items have popped up on NPR shows in recent days:

Larry Tye, author of the new biography Satchel: The Life and Times of An American Legend, was a guest on Fresh Air. You can hear the show here as well as read an excerpt from the book.

***

Brian Lehrer had this segment on the musical group, The Baseball Project, on Soundcheck (“The Baseball project aims for a hit”).

Listen to the segment here:

***

On June 9, Leonard Lopate hosted Keith Hernandez in a lengthy interview on his new book, Shea Goodbye. I found Hernandez’s honesty about the process of creating the book charming. “It’s not War and Peace,” he said in response to Lopate’s questions about the journal-type format.

Hear the Hernandez segment here:

The same day, Lopate also chatted with Michael Shapiro, author of Bottom of the Ninth about the loss of the Dodgers and Giants and the ultimate birth of the Mets.

Hear the Shapiro segment here:

As an aside, Lopate interviewed John Goodman and Bill Irwin for their roles in Waiting for Godot. What unlikely connection do they share? They both starred as baseball players in feature films. Goodman appeared in the title role in the 1992 movie The Babe, while Irwin did a nice turn as Eddie Collins in John Sayles’ production of Eight Men Out.

Bill Irwin, far left, in "Eight Men Out."

* Author update: Jeff Pearlman

One source expected, the other more unusual.

Pearlman, author of the scathing new Clemens biography, The Rocket Who Fell to Earth, was a guest on WBUR’s Only a Game this weekend. Just as players, I wonder if authors get tired of answering the same questions as they make the rounds. All part of doing business, I suppose, except the athletes aren’t dependent on making a good impression on the media to help their livelihood.

The second Pearlman “sighting” is as a contributor to the current issue of Psychology Today with his article, “Winners and Losers,” which considers the qualities a championship athlete needs to excel in their sport. You can read an excerpt here.

* Let’s hear it for the boys in blue

Dodger Blue and umpires, that is.

The Leonard Lopate Show on NPR today featured two baseball segments.

In the first,

Although Walter O’Malley has been dead for nearly 30 years his, the former Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers owner is still one of the most controversial persons ever associated with the sport. Michael D’Antonio’s exhaustive biography of O’Malley is called Forever Blue.

Event: Michael D’Antonio will be in conversation with Walter O’Malley’s son Peter, moderated by Richard Sandomir of the New York Times
Saturday, March 21, at 1:00 pm
Brooklyn Historical Society
128 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn

You can hear it here:

D’Antonio was also the subject of a Q&A for The New York Times‘ Bats’ blog today. And here’s a review of his book from the New York Post.

In the other baseball segment on the Lopate show, and speaking of the Times,

New York Times reporter Bruce Weber gives you an insider’s look at the largely unknown world of professional umpires, the small group of men (and the very occasional woman) who make sure America’s favorite pastime is conducted in a manner that is clean, crisp, and true. Weber not only interviewed dozens of professional umpires, but entered their world and trained to become an umpire for his book As They See ‘Em.

You can listen to that one here.

Thanks to my mother-in-law for bringing this one to my attention so quickly.