Brooks Robinson — Master of the Triple Play

Brooks Robinson, Baltimore Orioles’ great and Hall of Fame inductee was nicknamed “The Human Vacuum Cleaner” for his fielding prowess, winning 16 consecutive gold glove awards.  Obviously, any statistical analysis of players involved in the most triple plays would have to include Brooksie…right?  For sure.  Brooks’ fielding was involved in 3 Triple Plays during his illustrious [...]

Fair Ball: A Fan’s Case for Baseball by Bob Costas

Bob Costas is one of America’s best-known baseball, and for that matter, sports broadcasters.  He has called numerous World Series, All Star, and League Championship games  His book, Fair Ball: A Fan’s Case for Baseball offers up thought-provoking and holistic solutions to help restore and maintain competitive balance in Major League Baseball.  The 2001 book has some parts which are dated, [...]

33 Summers by Darren L. Pare

What would you get if you took a fictional Josh Hamilton type of character, mix in a dark plot line ala Bad Blake from Crazy Heart, and set the entire story to a multi-decade timeline using both historical events and a musical sound track.  You get a really good story by first-time author Darren L. Pare (and a Books [...]

Happy Father’s Day!

“Hey Dad, Wanna Have a Catch?”  With those simple words from the movie Field of Dreams, tears flowed and baseball’s emotional connection to Fathers was firmly embroidered into the fabric of America’s collective psyche.   Of all the holidays, the one with the closest nexus to baseball is Father’s Day. 
From the first underhand backyard wiffle ball toss to [...]

Baseball Joe by Lester Chadwick

Baseball Joe is the fictional subject of a series of 14 baseball books written between 1912 and 1928 by Lester Chadwick, a pseudonym for author Howard R. Garis which pays tribute to baseball writing pioneer Henry Chadwick.  Garis wrote the Baseball Joe series for the famous Stratemeyer writing syndicate responsible for other series such as Nancy Drew, [...]

Baseball’s Oral History: The Glory of Their Times by Lawrence Ritter

When people speak about baseball’s oral history, one book,  The Glory of Their Times : The Story of Baseball Told By the Men Who Played It by Lawrence Ritter, stands head and shoulders above the rest.  It is at the top or near the top of any “best baseball book” list, including mine.  If this book doesn’t [...]

Strasburg and Twitter: Both were ablaze tonight!

At times, they were rolling in at about 15 to 20 a second.  The Tweets with the #Strasburg hashtag were fast and furious before, during, and after his impressive 14 K debut tonight for the Washington Nationals. As a Nats’ fan, it truly was a wonderful night, made more memorable, and fun, by the legions of loyal Tweeters.
In [...]

Baseball’s Spotlight is on The Washington Nationals

As peculiar as it may sound, all eyes of the baseball world will be focused squarely on the Washington Nationalsover the next two days. Without question, these are the most important days in this franchise’s brief history. Due to their last place finishes in 2008 and 2009, the Nationals “won” the right to the #1 draft pick [...]

It’s Time for Cowboy Joe West’s Last Rodeo

Major League Umpire Joe West, known as Cowboy Joe, has had quite a 2010 season.  He has come under a storm of criticism for his outspoken comments on the pace of play, his handling of recent ejections of White Sox player and manager, and his one-man instant replay during a game this weekend in which he dished [...]

The Green Fields of the Mind by A. Bartlett Giamatti

During a recent long drive, I listened to a selection of baseball essays. The session was hosted by former baseball commissioner, the late Bart Giamatti.  He had the last slot and read aloud his baseball essay The Green Fields of the Mind.  This essay was from his book A Great and Glorious Game: Baseball Writings of [...]

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