1. The Glory of Their Times by Lawrence Ritter: When this book was updated in 1985, a reviewer wrote, “This was the best baseball book published in 1966, it is the best baseball book of its kind now, and, if it is reissued in 10 years, it will be the best baseball book of 1995.” [...]
Archive for February, 2011
My last couple of columns have been feel good about baseball things. It was, as always, getting to be a long offseason and baseball withdrawal was setting in and getting the better of me. With the smell of another spring fast approaching, my thoughts tended to drift towards the nostalgic and naive times of my [...]
An Unusual Alliance: Rogers Hornsby, Stan Lopata and Alex Cora
Posted: 26th February 2011 by Joe Guzzardi in MLBIn 1954 Stan “Stash” Lopata, the hard-hitting Philadelphia Philles’ catcher, was stuck in a prolonged slump. When the Phillies were in Cincinnati, Lopata’s teammate Johnny Wyrostek bumped into Rogers Hornsby, one of baseball’s most respected hitting experts as attested to by his .358 lifetime batting average and his .424 mark in 1924. Wyrostek had played parts [...]
The Great Friday Link Out VIII: When it rains in San Francisco, it Snows
Posted: 25th February 2011 by Graham Womack in The Great Friday Link OutWe’re going to do things a little different this week. Generally, I provide a brief intro and then link to some posts. My first link, however, requires some back story. A few weeks ago, I got an email from Daniel Greenia, a reader, occasional commenter, and voter in my project to find the 50 best [...]
Editor’s note: For anyone who likes this column, be sure to check out my debut piece at The Hardball Times. What he did: Last week, I wrote how Mike Schmidt might have hit 600 home runs on the Pittsburgh Pirates of the 1920s and ’30s, playing in a better era for hitters. A reader suggested [...]
Stan Musial, the Mexican League and $$$ Left on the Table
Posted: 23rd February 2011 by Joe Guzzardi in MLBIn my last post I lamented the ugly negotiations between Albert Pujols and his St. Louis Cardinals employers. The unpleasantness was interrupted for one day only when Cardinals great Stan Musial received his well deserved Presidential Medal of Freedom. I couldn’t help but wonder what Musial thinks of the salary goings-on given that they are [...]
Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Darrell Evans
Posted: 22nd February 2011 by Brendan Bingham in Darrell EvansClaim to fame: Darrell Evans played for the Braves, Giants, and Tigers in his long and productive career. Although a ten year career can be sufficient for Hall of Fame consideration, not many Hall of Famers have had such short careers. A few played 12 years or less; most had careers in the 14 to [...]
Killing Santa Claus: Abner Doubleday Did Not Invent Baseball
Posted: 21st February 2011 by Maria Rainer in Historical topicsEditor’s note: Please welcome Maria Rainier, a freelance writer, baseball fan, and the first-ever female to guest post on this Web site. This is the rude awakening in which you learn that Abner Doubleday, the Santa Claus of baseball, did not invent baseball. Or, maybe not. Maybe you already know about the Doubleday myth. John [...]
Editor’s note: I think every fan has some version of a baseball bucket list. Here is Doug Bird’s. I’ve been a baseball fan (actually fanatic would be more accurate), all of my life but living in Canada has made it any easier, until the advent of the Internet and various television packages. Sure, there are [...]
The Albert Pujols-St. Louis Cardinals haggling is a massive turn off. All I need to do is hear “Pujols” or “St. Louis Cardinals,” and I change the channel. I’m not sure whether Pujols, his agent Dan Lozano, or the Cardinals truly understand what they refer to as “the market.” Since I worked on Wall Street [...]