Joe Cronin: A Life in Baseball

Barbara Gregorich, a Books on Baseball friend and author, has been kind enough to allow us to use a book review she recently completed – Joe Cronin: A Life in Baseball.  Your Turn is a regular feature of Books on Baseball that spotlights our BoB friends as guest book reviewers.  Thanks Barb!
Barb’s Review — I grew up a baseball [...]

Negro League Strat-O-Matic Cards: MVP Willie Wells

I recently ordered the new Strat-O-Matic Baseball Negro League All-Stars set.  This set assembled 108 of the great Negro Leagues players of all time and, thanks to backbreaking research, collected their statistics for league games over each player’s “peak” period (i.e. their top five to seven years). 
 
These stats are adjusted for length of schedule; most Negro League [...]

Win World Series Tickets and Help a Worthwhile Charity…

…what could be better?  State Farm is sponsoring a contest, Go to Bat, that is teaming up with MLB to support worthwhile charities.  During last week’s Home Run Derby, Pitch In For Baseball was selected to participate in State Farm’s Go To Bat campaign.  
[if you are in a hurry to win your tickets, you can fast [...]

“Bupkis” for Baseball Retirees? Where’s the Moral Outrage?

The number of multi-millionaires within the sport of baseball is well chronicled.   I naively imagined that all this wealth would trickle down to take care of the retired players who paved the way for today’s current players–a rising tide lifts all boats.   I was mistaken.   Fortunately, there is a book, A Bitter Cup of Coffee: How MLB [...]

Book Review: The Curse: Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Or Do They?

Andy Van Slyke was a terrific ballplayer in his day; known as much for his irreverent and spontaneous sense of humor as his remarkable “Gold Glove” defensive skills in centerfield; he was a fan and sportswriter’s favorite throughout his 13 year major league career. His partner in crime for this particular book – Rob Rains [...]

Book Review: The Midsummer Classic

Retrosheet  and other web-based resources are priceless reference tools. These tools allow you to access the boxscore and play-by-play of every major league game you ever attended or strip-mine decades’ worth of historical data for previously unknown statistics and trends. However, in certain circumstances, they fail to convey the magnitude of certain high-impact events such as playoff tilts [...]

Curt Flood and Baseball’s Reserve Clause

The inspiration for a story can come from the most unlikeliest of places. On my recent trip to Maine, I happened to pick up the Bangor Daily News and read a very compelling editorial (see entire text and link below) that described how Curt Flood’s landmark struggle to overturn baseball’s time-worn reserve clause has opened up [...]

DiMaggio Streak Ended Today–July 17, 1941

On this day, 69 years ago, Joe DiMaggio’s legendary hitting streak ended.   Joe DiMaggio holds the Major League Baseball record with a streak of 56 consecutive games.  The “Streak” which began on May 15 and ended July 17. DiMaggio hit .408 during his streak (91 for 223), with 15 home runs and [...]

Negro Leagues: New Postage Stamp Series Unveiled

The US Postal Service has unveiled a new stamp series honoring baseball’s Negro League players.
Almost all of them are gone now, fading memories kept alive through grainy photos and dog-eared newspaper clippings their children and grandchildren keep near.
But now the black baseball players and their contributions to the culture and history of [...]

Wild and Wacky Injuries — new Darwin Award Candidates

Remember the earlier BoB article on baseball’s Darwin Awards? Since then, Kendry Morales broke his leg during his walk-off home run celebration in May ? Courtesy of Jayson Stark, ESPN, here are some of 2010’s wierdest injuries.  Do any of them deserve to be included in BooksonBaseball’s Darwin list?

Injuries of the Half-Year
First prize: A lot [...]

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