On the eve of the 2011 baseball season, it is a great privilege to have as a guest on the Cover the Bases podcast Josh Wilker, the author of Cardboard Gods; An All American Tale Told Through Baseball Cards.  Josh is of similar “baseball age” and is also a Red Sox fan, so his coming of age memoir about life rooted in the mid-1970′s is one that triggered many emotional responses.

The book was released by Seven Footer Press in 2010 and is now available in paperback.

We start out by talking about his favorite player Carl Yastrzemski, YAZ! While my brother and I fancied ourselves as Fred Lynn, throwing tennis balls against the side of the house and making great diving catches, Yaz had already achieved immortal status around New England as the central figure of the team during the 60′s, including the Impossible Dream season of 1967.

I recount that the first person ever mentioned on Baseballisms was my college roommate Jim McNulty, who was also a Yaz fan, and speculate that it was his older siblings and his mother who influenced his rooting interest.

Josh makes the great point that the creaky old veteran instilled something in him that called to mind the great lineage of baseball past, and is of course a direct line connection back to Ted Williams.

The book is set up in chapters that are prefaced by a particular baseball card from his collection.  The story of the card is intertwined with Josh’s own personal story, somehow relating back to the details found in that card. Setting the stage that this was not a typical baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet story was when we are introduced to Tom in the Mike Kekich chapter.  It was a time in the 70′s when experimentation was taking place, and Josh’s mom invited her boyfriend Tom to move into the house, along with Josh, his brother Ian and Josh’s dad.  As Josh discusses in the podcast, and you can get from the book, it was unique arrangement but done with good intentions and love.

A brief but impactful section of the book details the year after Josh is expelled from boarding school, and spends the summer with his grandfather. We love generational stories here at Baseballisms, and for Josh to have the chance to witness a magical season like the 1986 Red Sox season in the company of a caring elder, is something that I would wish for everyone to experience.

The baseball cards as characters themselves, provide a direct link to Josh’s childhood and gives him a chance to recall some of the simplicity of those times.  Although his own personal story is nowhere near simple.

Even with the knowledge that the cards have survived through time, with the numerous moves and relocations, there were moments when it felt as if this could be the end of the road, as so many other collections have. Fortunately for the reader, these were kept to inspire his work.  The baseball gods and the literary gods were keeping them safe.

For fans of the writings of Josh Wilker, we still have the deep archives of his website at CardboardGods.net, a treasure trove of posts about his baseball cards, family, life, music and many other observations.  He just completed his Love versus Hate game re-creation from the Play Ball section on the back of the 1978 cards, and has been doing a team by team preview of the 2011 season.

He will also have a new book published some time this year about the movie The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training for the Deep Focus Series from Soft Skull Press.

We’d like to thank Josh for taking the time to appear on the Cover the Bases podcast, and for taking the time to share his journey and his card collection in the book Cardboard Gods .  Please let us know in the comment section what you think about this conversation with an original storyteller, as well as any other suggestions you might have for future editions of the podcast.

You can subscribe to the Cover the Bases podcast for automatic updates whenever a new interview is released, by following this link to iTunes.

We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page for more ways to connect. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Do you know how hard it is for a pitcher to win 300 Major League Baseball games?  Just the math alone can explain how amazing the feat actually is.  In order to win 300 games, a pitcher must win at least 20 games over 15 seasons or conversely have 15 wins in 20 seasons.  This analysis brings into context the accomplishments of the 24 pitchers who have reached that incredible milestone since 1876.

Have we seen the last of the 300 game winner?  Author Dan Schlossberg thinks so, but before we get to the reasons why, he gives us a profile of every pitcher in the exclusive club in his book The 300 Club: Have We Seen the Last of Baseball’s 300-Game Winners?

Dan sat down to put his book together as Randy Johnson achieved his 300th victory for the San Fransisco Giants in 2009.  It was the realization that there are more players in the 3000 hit club (27) and the 500 homer club (25), with those clubs continuing to grow in number, while the pitchers mark would become untouchable.  Dan set out to speak with as many living members of this fraternity as he could.

It is also impressive to consider the Hall of Fame pitchers who did not approach the 300 win mark in their careers including Bob Gibson, Jim Palmer, Bob Feller, and Juan Marichal.

The book is segmented into chapters on each pitcher, including career statistics, plus the box score of the game in which the pitcher achieved the 300th win.  It is interesting to note the players who were on the field, as well as re-living some of the accounts of those games.

Roger Clemens reached 300 wins as a member of the New York Yankees in 2003.  Not only did he reach a magic number in the win column, but also got his 4000th career strikeout during that game.  As a footnote, it was also the only inter-league game as he beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5 – 2.

Phil Neikro tossed a complete game shutout on the last day of the season for the New York Yankees, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 8 – 0.  This is emblematic of the determination many of these pitchers had for reaching the milestone, as many had to hang on at the end of their careers for that last W.  No one knew if Phil would be picked up by another team following the 1985 season.

Two other pitchers identified with the Atlanta Braves, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux reached the milestone for the Mets and Cubs respectively.  Tom Seaver for the Chicago White Sox, Don Sutton for the California Angels and Randy Johnson for the San Fransisco Giants also fit into this category.  There was only one pitcher in the 300 Win Club who stayed with the team throughout his entire career, and that was Walter Johnson.

One pitcher who has a prominent spotlight shone on him in Dan’s book is Warren Spahn, the winningest lefthander in history with 363 wins.  How many wins would that number be had he not served in the military, many have speculated, but Dan believes he would have challenged Walter Johnson for second all-time with over 400 wins.

Some of his accomplishments are remarkable;

• He lead the league in complete games 9 times
• Lead the league in victories 8 times
• Lead the league in ERA 3 times (once in each of three decades)
• Lead the league in innings, strikeouts, and shutouts 4 times
• 17 time All-Star
• Career total of 35 Home Runs, most by any NL pitcher

At the age of 39, Spahn pitched the first no-hitter of his career, only to follow up the feat by repeating it at the age of 40. He even made a fine barehanded defensive play in the ninth inning to preserve the no-hitter.

Someone who jumped out at Dan in compiling the book was Don Sutton, who only had a single 20 win season on his resume.  Determination, perseverance, and good health combined to give Sutton the longevity needed to reach 324 Wins. His 300th win was a calculated rotation manipulation by manager Gene Mauch to give Sutton another start in front of the California crowds before embarking on a long road trip.

It is telling how much this milestone meant to these pitchers, throughout history.  Quotes such as Lefty Grove saying “when I got to 275, I said, by gosh I’m going to win 300 of bust!”  Or Roger Clemens saying “I started thinking about 300 when I got past 250 wins.  The media kept suggesting I might be the last one to reach 300, and it inspired me.”  This was an achievement that meant something to these pitchers.

Is there anyone out there who has a chance at being immortalized by reaching this plateau?  The active leaders with over 200 wins include Jamie Moyer, Andy Pettitte, and Pedro Martinez and the status of “active” for all three of them is somewhat dubious.

You have to turn to the pitchers who are still in their prime, to have any potential such as Roy Halladay at 169 wins, C.C. Sabathia at 157, even Tim Hudson at 165 wins would still have a hard time dealing with pitch counts, bullpen specialists and five man rotations to add a significant number of wins to their records.

Dan’s original premise of the book is that we have seen the last of the 300 Game Winner in Major League Baseball. Under the current system of handling pitchers and using the entire pitching staff over the course of 162 games, that looks to be a very accurate assessment.  The game does change, and we hope that some day we see a major talent emerge, but one should relish the era in which we recently saw Maddux, Glavine, Clemens, and Johnson cap their outstanding careers with over 300 wins.

We heartily thank Dan for appearing on Cover the Bases to talk about his book The 300 Club: Have We Seen the Last of Baseball’s 300-Game Winners?, and look forward to seeing him again at future SABR events.  You can also find him on Facebook!  Please let us know in the comment section what you think about this analysis of the 300 Game Winners, as well as any other suggestions you might have for future editions of the podcast.

We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page for more ways to connect. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

With great pleasure, we welcome Kathleen Lockwood to the Cover the Bases podcast.  She is the author of Major League Bride: An Inside Look at Life Outside the Ballpark.  The book was published by McFarland & Company in 2010.

Kathleen has been married to former major leaguer Skip Lockwood for over 40 years, the first 12 years of the journey while he pursued a career as a professional baseball player.  The Lockwoods endured six teams, thirty five residences, trade rumors and a career threatening injury in pursuit of this career.  This book  is an inside look at what it means to fall in love, maintain a marriage, and start a family while attending to big league dreams.

There is a positive side to this story that Kathleen felt needed to be told during this era in baseball of steroid related turmoil.  It is a way to shine a light on the positive relationships that she had built up with other families in the same circumstances.  She also had the time available to spend writing after the youngest of five children had finally gone off to high school.

Her method for re-creating many of the stories was to revisit the numerous scrapbooks that she had kept throughout those times, and then used internet resources to locate old friends and capture past memories.

An interesting overlap occurs with the seminal baseball book Ball Four by Jim Bouton, as Skip had been a teammate of Bouton’s on the Seattle Pilot.  The Pilots franchise immediately folded and became the Milwaukee Brewers, where Kathleen’s story picks up, so many of the players and families that appear in the early chapters of Major League Bride are familiar to readers of Ball Four.

The Lockwoods also had to endure three separate work stoppages during their career and this book gives us a unique perspective regarding the impact it has on families.  With low salaries at the time and sparse living arrangements, many families ended up sharing rooms and apartments just to get by, until the strikes ended.  For example, Kathleen makes the point that going into the spring training strike of 1976, most ballplayers had not drawn salaries since the previous October.  In those days of one year contracts, the remaining money in their bank accounts was pretty slim.  As she eloquently says “the solidarity of those players made things change for today.”

The monetary rewards that came about because of those negotiations has changed the nature of the obligations and challenges faced by major league families today. There were no agents in those days, and certainly no guidance as to where to look for apartments or domestic help, it was strictly networking within the contacts that had been forged with other baseball families.

Trades were a constant during the era in which this book is set and the Lockwoods experienced them in a variety of ways.  In some cases, the best thing that can happen for a player is to be moved from one team to another and at the end of four years in Milwaukee, Skip asked to be moved during the offseason.  His destination was the California Angels and throughout that year, the constant speculation about a trade resulted in Kathleen buying groceries at a maximum of three day increments. That constant uncertainty took it’s toll, but finally, after surviving the entire season Skip was traded to the Yankees in what would come to be called “the crazy year”.

Released by the Yankees in the spring of ’75, then signed by the Oakland A’s and the team owner who originally drafted Skip, Charlie Finley. Stops in AAA Tuscon and Tidewater ultimately led back to New York, but this time it was with the Mets.  It would be as a reliever for the New York Mets that Skip would achieve his greatest success on the field.

Although trades are a part of the game, Kathleen believed the best approach was to be fully committed to the community they happened to be in, and to take full advantage of the time they might have in that area.

A final challenging aspect for any young family concerns the children.  Kathleen was pregnant with their third child when Skip’s comeback with the Red Sox ended, so they endured the hardships of a rainy spring training in Winter Haven with two kids in a hotel room.  Fortunately, the children were at a young enough age that they didn’t have to face the decisions regarding school attendance during the long season schedule.

To keep up with all of the happenings with the Lockwoods, visit Kathleen’s web site at MajorLeagueBride.com and she can also be found on Twitter @MajLgeBride.  Skip’s site can be found at SkipLockwood.com.

We heartily thank Kathleen for appearing on Cover the Bases to talk about her book Major League Bride: An Inside Look at Life Outside the Ballpark, and look forward to the other books that are in the works as well!  Please let us know in the comment section what you think about this inside look at the family life of a major leaguer, as well as any other suggestions you might have for future editions of the podcast.

We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page for more ways to connect. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Avid #Cubs fan Floyd Sullivan introduces us to his entire multi-generational family of “Cubbed-Up” baseball fans, in his book Waiting for the Cubs: The 2008 Season, the Hundred-Year Slump and One Fan’s Lifelong Vigil.  The book was released in 2010 by McFarland & Company.

This chronicle of the 2008 season coincides with the 100th Anniversary of the last Cub’s World Series win, and Floyd intersperses key elements of the 1908 season among his personal accounts.  He also puts to use an entire lifetime of Cubs fandom, to instill the proper sentiment in the book, which allows the reader to truly feel the ebb and flow of the baseball season.

Written in a relaxed, first person narrative, we feel as if we are along in the backseat of his Honda Accord, logging the miles to Cubs games from Miami to Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, and to legendary Wrigley Field.  As Floyd states, this is a personal account of a true fan who has no special privileges or insider access.  It is the story of a fan (and his family) who purely love the game of baseball.

For those who may not remember, the Cubs 2008 campaign was rather successful, leading the National League in Wins, major offensive statistics such as Runs, OPS, Total Bases, as well as pitching statistics Strikeouts and Opponents Batting Average.  Lou Piniella’s team would notch 97 wins, the most since 1945.

There were many other story lines to follow during the 2008 season that contribute to the excitement of the book.  It was the season in which the Cubs would achieve a significant milestone in baseball history, notching the franchises’ 10,000th victory!  Only the Giants have achieved more wins.  Also, late in the season, pitcher Carlos Zambrano threw the first no-hitter for the Cubs since 1972.

Through Floyd’s eyes, we are able to put the current season in perspective with other moments in Cubs history, but it is through his diligent research and passion that we get a glimpse at the Championship Season of 1908.

Players such as the Hall of Fame trio Tinker to Evers to Chance, and pitcher Mordecai Brown starred for the 1908 team, and Floyd recommends some great books that examine one of the most exciting seasons in baseball history, including Crazy ’08 by Cait Murphy and David Anderson’s More Than Merkle.

Ahh Merkle .. proof that there is always more to the story than what is just on the surface, especially when it comes to baseball.  Not only is the infamous game between the Cubs and the Giants in late September 1908 examined in detail, but we are provided with the prequel of September 4, 1908 when many of the participants were involved in the exact same situation!  This time the team involved was the Pirates, but it was still the tough, heady Johnny Evers who understood the mistake on the basepaths made by the rookie Warren Gill.  Evers would be unsuccessful in lobbying for overturning the winning run in Pittsburgh, but it would come back to have a huge impact when it occurred in New York just weeks later.

The 1908 Cubs were victorious in the makeup game against the New York Giants, and the win sent them on to the World Series against the American League Champion Detroit Tigers.  They prevailed in five games, but as everyone is aware, they have not hoisted a World Series banner since.

The 2008 Cubs were swept from the playoffs by the Los Angeles Dodgers despite having a strong regular season.  Although they went down in rather humiliating fashion, we get to have a happy ending to Waiting for the Cubs.   It is a final chapter that lets the reader finish on a happy note.

We have to extend our sincerest thanks to Floyd Sullivan for appearing on Cover the Bases to talk about his book.  When that day does come, and the Cubs are celebrating on the field as World Series Champions, we will immediately tip our cap to Floyd and his family.  We will know that they are out there somewhere wrapped in a joyous embrace .. and possibly uttering the phrase as inscribed on their Wrigley Field memorial brick – Thanks Dad.

You can keep up with all of Floyd’s current happenings at his blog Waiting4Cubs.com.  He has also collaborated on a chapter called “The Strange Death of Harry C. Pulliam” in the recently released Mysteries From Baseball’s Past: Investigations into Nine Unsettled Questions.  He has also promised to keep us up to date on a book in the works about Old Comiskey Park!

Please let us know in the comment section what you think about this wonderful story of a true baseball fan, as well as any other suggestions you might have for future editions of the Cover the Bases podcast.

We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to@baseballisms with a quick message, or send us an email.  We look forward to growing a community of fans passionate about the poetry of the game of baseball!

I cannot understate how fortunate I feel to have had a chance to speak with Dirk Hayhurst on the Cover the Bases podcast. His book The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran is receiving critical comparisons to classics such as The Catcher in the Rye and to the baseball standard Ball Four. I am convinced that many years from now I will pridefully point to this episode and exclaim, “I spoke for 40 minutes to Dirk Hayhurst about The Bullpen Gospels!”. 

This page turner will make you alternately laugh or cry, as Dirk presents both the camaraderie of being one of the guys trying to make it to the bigs and the hardships of reaching for the dream while surviving a dysfunctional family.

As readers, we are fortunate that this book is not just another pulp expose of what we have come to expect from “behind the scenes” baseball books, rather it is a thought provoking glimpse from someone who wants to deliver a critique of what it means to be a man inside the uniform of a major leaguer.  We get to read about, and celebrate,  the healing that he has experienced … only because he has shown us the pain and suffering he has endured through challenges on and off the field.

The title for this book comes from the column that Dirk had written for his hometown newspaper called the Canton Repository. The Bullpen Gospels does hint at the higher wisdom that Dirk uncovers during the most important episodes in the book.  After having a difficult outing in front of the top management of the organization, he is confronted with his alcoholic brother’s desire to reach out to those he has hurt in the past.  While Dirk is in no mood to forgive so easily, he comes to the realization that all he has been striving for is right in front of him.  That the true measure of the person underneath the uniform, is how he deals with adversity.

Meanwhile, Dirk’s roommate Frenchy is distraught over his own perceived failings until Dirk can set him straight on the realities of baseball. It was at this moment that Dirk became aware of the wisdom that he had acquired within the game, as well as the vision to see what he would become if he bought into the sport as the single driving force in his life.

Dirk does admit that upon finally making it to the big leagues, he could sense times when he would fall back into believing the game is bigger than it really is, and by putting that pressure on himself, struggled with his pitching.

His major league career at this stage is in recovery from shoulder surgery as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, after having been acquired from the San Diego Padres.  Some of his former teammates on the Double-A and A Ball teams described in the book, have now reached the Padres ballclub and are gearing for a run to the playoffs.  Rehab is going well and he hopes to be in Blue Jays spring training in 2011.

In this literal “inside baseball” locker room, there were times when teammates would challenge and question the purpose of the book and don the macho stereotypes, demanding to be shown in a positive light, or else.   Then his articles in Baseball America started to appear and some were more willing to engage with him in hopes of positive press.

But it was explaining The Bullpen Gospels to his boyhood idol Trevor Hoffman that Dirk claims was the scariest moment of his career.  He felt that if Trevor Hoffman had dismissed the book, and looked upon it negatively, that it could have all been over.

Fortunately, the two hit it off intellectually and had numerous conversations throughout the season about everything from the education system to overcoming adversity.  They had a real genuine connection beyond the usual banter of athletes.

The two of them come to the conclusion that the game of baseball, professional baseball specifically, is a “tool” that men can use to achieve greater things beyond the game.  Since society projects certain privileges and authority on ballplayers, they have the power and responsibility, to do many things. The job that they have provides limitless possibility for having a positive impact on the lives of those who need it.

For those who know a bit about Dirk, they will know about the children’s character he has developed called The Garfoose.  For those interested in knowing the full story can find it a Dirk’s website DirkHayhurst.com. The Garfoose has an entire backstory as the species protecting the world’s most perfect baseballs, harvested only by monks.  Look for further development and literary appearances for The Garfoose in the near future.

We have to extend our sincerest thanks to Dirk Hayhurst for appearing on Cover the Bases to talk about his book The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran. We can’t wait for the sequel to come out, so that we can have another chance to spend some time talking baseball and life with this very talented, articulate, and unique individual.

Please let us know in the comment section what you think about this authentic account of one man’s experience, as well as any other suggestions you might have for future editions of the podcast.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to@baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to continuing to grow a community of fans interested in Wisdom from the Diamond!

Hall of Fame careers like that of Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Pie Traynor can often be overlooked.  The lack of video imagery, demonstrating the skill and style by which the player performed tends to relegate the career to historical archives.  It is the diligence and hard work of biographers such as James Forr and his co-author David Proctor that allow us to fully appreciate a player’s place in history, and to provide some context by which to compare to more familiar names.

We were delighted to have a chance to speak with James on this episode of the Cover the Bases podcast, to discuss his recent book Pie Traynor: A Baseball Biography.  The book was published in January of 2010 by McFarland.

It took a moment of serendipity and great timing that connected us for this discussion. While perusing the baseball card files for the daily Cards from the Diamond, this particular card jumped out.  Appearing in its allocated sleeve, on a page with the rest of the All Time Greats, it was begging for a more in depth understanding of why he was chosen as the All Time third baseman.  As luck or fate would have it, an email from James awaited, introducing himself and the latest edition to the baseball book library.

What better way to get an in depth account of one of the greatest players the game has ever known, than to dig into a well written biography?

There was one person in particular who did a great job of preserving and correcting the accounts of Pie’s career, and that was his wife Eve.  As a way to understand the type of player Pie was, we point to an anecdote in the book about her following up a newspaper article that appeared in the Boston Globe.  Globe columnist Harold Kaese made the statement that “Pie Traynor was the Brooks Robinson of another day”. Eve corrected him by phoning the paper and insisting that “Pie wasn’t the Brooks Robinson of his day.  Brooks Robinson is the Pie Traynor of his day”.

Pie played his entire career for the Pittsburgh Pirates, starting with a cup of coffee in 1920 & 1921 and finally finding a permanent position starting in 1923.  He proceeded to put up a very consistent career at the plate (using a 42 ounce piece of begged, borrowed or shared lumber btw), and superior defensive seasons, until perpetual shoulder injuries robbed him of the ability to make accurate throws to first.  To this day, he appears in the top ten of many all time statistical categories for the Pirates.

The young Pirates of 1925 took on the Washington Senators in the World Series.  The star of the Senators team was another All Time Great Walter Johnson, who limited the Pirates to only one run in Games One and Four combined.

The Pirates offense was lead by future Hall of Famers Kiki Cuyler and Max Carey, as well as Traynor who hit .346 for the Series, with 2 hits off Johnson in each of his first two starts.

Game Seven was played in a driving downpour upon the decision of Judge Kennesaw Landis, who feared more days of rain in Pittsburgh, and this time Johnson was mortal.  After staking the Senators to an early four run lead, the Pirates had to keep coming back with multi run innings to keep them in it, including a run scoring triple from Traynor in the 7th to tie the score at six.

In the bottom of the 8th inning the Pirates got to a dripping Johnson for three more runs and a 9 – 7 World Series clinching victory.

By 1934, following another World Series appearance in 1927 versus the mightiest of Yankee teams, Traynor was tapped as the player manager.  By piecing together a lifetime of anecdotes and accounts, the authors determined that Traynor’s personality was simply not well suited to the challenges of managing a club.  Although they had some success during the 1938 season, faltering late in the season to the Cubs, Traynor’s worrying and anxiousness contributed to teams not reaching their potential.

Traynor was let go after the 1939 season, and struggled for a while until finding the position that allowed him to ultimately become a fixture in the city of Pittsburgh for the rest of his life.  He became the Sports Director of local radio station KQV, allowing him to conduct interviews and tell stories in very short reports, but kept him close to the citizens who were attracted to his easy personality.

Pittsburgh was graced by his presence as he walked the streets, poking his head into his favorite shops on his way to work, and joyously sharing in the camaraderie of the call and response tag line of a sponsor, that would become sort of a signature.  ”Who Can?” .. “Ameri – Can!”

This sponsor relationship with the American Heating Company also led to a role after his retirement, that saw Pie Traynor as a ringside spokesperson on the weekly wrestling program called Studio Wrestling. His live spots were an integral part of the popular program.

Pie’s inability to turn down a request and willingness to share his stories made him a frequent guest on the banquet circuit, up until his death in 1972, just a few months after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Pittsburgh Pirates World Series appearance versus the Baltimore Orioles.

We have to extend our sincerest thanks to James Forr for appearing on Cover the Bases to talk about his book Pie Traynor: A Baseball Biography. Please let us know in the comment section what you think about this wonderful biography about one of the greatest players in baseball history, as well as any other suggestions you might have for future editions of the podcast.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to@baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Note: We must apologize in advance for the sound quality on this audio recording.  We attempted some different phone options but had to settle on this.  This conversation about the book The Imperfect Diamond is so good that we decided to release the podcast as is ….

We are happy to have a return visit by Lee Lowenfish on Cover the Bases.  During our previous conversation we discussed his great biography called Branch Rickey: Baseball’s Ferocious Gentleman.  On this episode, the award winning author sheds some light on the updated and revised look at baseball’s labor struggles in his book called The Imperfect Diamond: A History of Baseball’s Labor Wars.

The book was originally released in 1980, updated in 1991 prior to the player’s strike of ’94 which canceled the World Series, and finally now with a long view look at the history of labor relations.  The book is published by Bison Books.

As a way to understand the issues that were addressed in each of the editions, we break down each release of the book.

In the first edition, Lee explains that one of his great pleasures was the exposure of John Montgomery Ward and his attempts at developing the Players League.  He was a great player on the Giants at the turn of the Century and was able to get many star players of the day including Connie Mack and Clark Griffith, to force a confrontation with the baseball owners (moguls as they are referred to – a great term for them).  The players jumped to a league that allowed better contractual arrangements but played only one season in 1890.

The first edition carries on the challenges and injustices for the players including returning war veterans who lost their jobs on ballclubs even in the face of the Veterans Act protecting their jobs. Players such as Tony Lupien, Al Niemiec and Bob Murphy had limited recourse when they reported to their old clubs after serving their country, only to find another player had taken their place.

Finally, the book finishes up with the two pivotal decisions that paved the way for a leveling of the playing field between the owners and the players.  Lee addresses the Curt Flood appeal to the Supreme Court, lost in a 5-3 decision which upheld his trade from the St Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies. Curt never reported, believing that he was being treated as “a piece of property” which ended his playing career, but effectively dismantle the prevailing Reserve Clause that had appeared in 100 years of baseball contracts. This paved the way to the final chapter of the first edition, Free Agency for Dave McNally and Andy Messersmith in 1975.

A key turning point in the story comes along with the introduction of Marvin Miller into the narrative.  Coming from a background of labor negotiations, he was able to persuade the players to galvanize their efforts in an attempt to get better working conditions. It is easy to focus entirely on winning the rights to free agency, however there was a need to also address issues such as pensions, compensation for spring training travel and lodging, merchandise rights, etc.. There is a much deeper story than just the headline grabbing aspects.

A troubling circumstance that Lee brings to our attention is now that the Players Association has been fully recognized by the Owners, and player’s salaries are so large, it could mean that the importance of winning a World Series is tamped down.  He believes that signing amateur players to large bonuses can also have an adverse effect as well.

The second edition of the book takes us from the 51 day strike of 1981, which was a result of negotiations over a collective bargaining agreement that would compensate teams losing free agents with another player of equal value.  Owners were trying to limit the ability of the teams with the most payroll of stockpiling the best players.  Players felt that this compensation would keep teams from signing free agents therefore limiting their earning potential. Early results of free agency indicated that this was not going to be the case as many players chose not to choose that option.

The final chapter in this section addresses the response to free agency by the owners, and the term “collusion” became part of baseball fan’s vocabulary.  With no bidders for prime free agents hitting the open market such as Kirk Gibson, Carlton Fisk, and Ron Guidry to name just a few, there was legitimate concern on the part of the players and their agents that something underhanded was underway.  We are also introduced to the successor to Marvin Miller and soon a name in the headlines Donald Fehr.

A salary cap or revenue sharing as a form of salary cap was the key topic on the table when the Epilogue to The Imperfect Diamond begins leading up to the disastrous strike of 1994. The game was resurrected by the huge home run race of McGwire and Sosa, but of course this edition would not be complete without a look at player testimony as the Mitchell Report investigations took place.

The final edition also includes a wrap of the Umpire’s union strike in 1999 when a miscalculated resignation cost four veteran umpires their jobs.

Looking for bellwethers at this stage, Lee is seeing many empty seats via the MLB Direct TV package, and we will see the bankruptcy proceedings of the Texas Rangers play out where issues such as player salaries to be paid versus creditors hits the courts. Finally, there might be some additional drug policy discussions as a new collective bargaining agreement opens, and addressing of an international draft and compensation for amateur players.

To some degree, Lee hopes there doesn’t need to be a fourth edition of the book addressing another major development in the labor wars that have dotted the long and storied history of the game of baseball.  However, should the need arise there is no one better to put the entire situation in perspective than Lee Lowenfish.

To follow Lee you can find him on Twitter or at his web site LeeLowenfish.com ..  We express our sincere gratitude to Lee for sharing his work with us and for taking the time to appear on the Cover the Bases podcast.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

A Voice for the Braves for 33 years, Pete Van Wieren has seen the highs and lows of a franchise that transformed baseball in Atlanta.  Since retiring after the 2008 season, Pete has written a book called Of Mikes and Men: A Lifetime of Braves Baseball in which he chronicles his long career and some of the key people and events he encountered along the way.  The book is published by Triumph Books.

We have been listening to Pete since the early days of the TBS SuperStation and he has greatly influenced us with his insights, wisdom and ability to educate through his undaunted research and preparation.  We are appreciative that Pete was willing to spend some time on Cover the Bases.

Right off the bat in the book, we find out that Pete was destined to be a baseball announcer.  He played the game as a young man growing up near Rochester New York, and attended numerous Rochester Red Wings games, at the time an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.   He would watch the broadcasters climb the tiny staircase to the top of the stadium and knew that it was for him.

No one can deny that he had the skill and talent to ascend to the level of one of the most cherished announcers in the game.

As a way to present some of the important aspects of the book, we discuss a few key individuals who had major roles in the 33 years that Pete was in Atlanta.

After some minor league stints, he was snapped up by Ted Turner as part of the broadcast team with Ernie Johnson and Skip Caray back in 1975.  He was also tapped to do some additional duties in those days, including Hawks basketball and even Traveling Secretary for the Braves.  Pete considers Ted Turner to be one of the easiest people to work for, as his style was to give you a job (or two) and then get out of the way.

Turner had the foresight to start presenting baseball across the country on cable television, which helped to grow the popularity of the Braves beyond the local market, no matter the play on the field.  One crucial marketing decision that Pete points out was the 1:00 am replay, which coincides with late evening on the west coast and even prime time in places like Hawaii.  This ensured Braves fans would be in the stands at ballparks wherever they played!

Turner went against conventional wisdom, against many of his fellow owners, and even against the commissioner.  Bowie Kuhn thought broadcasting baseball into other markets would be “the ruination of baseball”.  In the end, the Braves attracted larger crowds at the gate and eventually saw the current Commissioner Bud Selig say that it changed the way baseball was viewed forever.

The second person that we address is Manager Bobby Cox.  Pete has had the great fortune of seeing all of the Cox era with the Braves, and got numerous opportunities to speak with him directly about baseball, particularly on the road over a cup of coffee.  It is an intriguing question to ponder whether Cox appreciates and reflects upon his own place in baseball history, and Pete points out that he does but “is embarrassed by it” mostly.  He would prefer to talk about the specifics of a recent game itself, not what he has accomplished in his career.

Future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux was a big part of the success that the Braves had during Pete’s time behind the mic.  Maddux is such an interesting study in how outstanding pitching can be achieved, we wanted to get some insights from Pete to help us understand the mental approach from the star pitcher.  Pete declares that Greg is such a competitor that he would never share that type of information with anyone!  Maybe one day we might get a book from Maddux, or we have to study the works of Greg’s pitching coach brother Mike.

Pete also points out that it was one of the greatest benefits of his job, to have been the broadcaster for a starting rotation with Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz plus a cast of other formidable pitchers.  There will never be another rotation like it again.

We ask Pete for some advice to young fans who might be interested in having a greater understanding and appreciation of the game of baseball.  Pete’s advice goes beyond a particular player and instead points to getting some knowledge of baseball during certain eras.  For example, how the game developed and changed from one with no home runs to one with Babe Ruth in it.  Seek out information about war time baseball, expansion, the golden age of the 40′s and 50′s etc.  Pete believes that having a solid understanding of the development of the game would help a young fan appreciate what is on the field today!

We have to extend our sincerest thanks to Pete Van Wieren for appearing on Cover the Bases to talk about his book Of Mikes and Men: A Lifetime of Braves Baseball. Please let us know in the comment section what you think about this great voice of the game, as well as any other suggestions you might have for future editions of the podcast.

We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Baseball Codes and unwritten rules have been a part of the game since pitchers and batters started dueling.  On this episode of Cover the Bases, we welcome author Jason Turbow to discuss his immensely popular new book The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime.  The book is published by Pantheon Books and has been receiving critical acclaim from a wide array of media outlets.

We joke with Jason about his impeccable timing, releasing a book about unwritten rules, just prior to an on the field incident occurring with New York Yankees star Alex Rodriquez taking a detour across the mound of Oakland A’s pitcher Dallas Braden. Braden’s reaction and the subsequent controversy called attention to the Baseball Codes that Jason and his co-author Michael Duca detail in the book.  One of the common responses about ARod’s act is that it is an unknown code.  Jason counters that argument by stating that during his book research, many had discussed the responsibility of a player to stay off the mound.

The genesis of the book came from a laminated sheet of unwritten rules that Jason and Micheal posted during their own brainstorming session.  They next set out to get some confirmation of the codes by talking to players, managers and coaches while collecting anecdotal stories to demonstrate when they have appeared in practice.  Jason discovered at first that the more open responses came from those who are now out of the game, since they would not have to face any possible retaliation if they spoke out of turn.  Later in the research they were able to get some current players to help fill out the pages.

Respect teammates, respect opponents, and respect the game are the three tenets that form the basis of all of these unwritten rules.  Simultaneously, Jason points out that these codes work as “release valves” for any bad blood that has built up over a period of time. When the situation occurs where one of these tenets has believed to have been disregarded, players will make sure to enforce the code in their own way.  When the ability for retribution gets taken away, whether from equipment or umpire warnings, that build up can accumulate to even greater levels.

An interesting passage in the book discusses the relationship between Rickey Henderson and a common part of the baseball code, which insists you do not steal bases on an opponent when you have a large lead.  Simply doing the math, Jason explains that in order to achieve 130 stolen bases in a season, Rickey had to be running at inappropriate times.  Teams and players often overlooked this breach because it was “Rickey being Rickey” and understanding that he was a player with a singular focus on himself.  He was never accused of being disrespectful to anyone.  Rickey even gets a bit of a sympathetic treatment in the book, detailing how his throwing skills were diminished by the number of times he was hit on the left arm, especially early in his career.

A surprising aspect of doing the research for the book, was how late in the development of a player they will be exposed to the baseball codes.  It is quite possible that teaching scenarios in the minors will require a player to be running up the score or being aggressive at the plate, when under Major League situations these actions would be considered disrespectful.  It takes experience and mentoring at the big league level for many of these players to gain the wisdom of the codes.

The book also address the act of sign stealing.  There are many forms of sign stealing and some are considered a part of the game while other forms are not allowed and will be dealt with directly.  Jason details each type and how they are addressed in the unwritten rules.

Although these codes are understood throughout baseball, when and how they are going to be enforced is not as clear.  Game situations and even the player taking the retaliatory act will have a bearing upon the measure.  A current day case in point of a player NOT taking appropriate action is Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Zack Duke.  The question, now that he has publicly made an apology to his teammates, is whether the pitcher didn’t understand a response was required, had a brain freeze, or was waiting for managerial direction.  When the opportunity presented itself to pay back the exact pitcher who had hit his teammate, why didn’t he do it?  And will it wait until the next time these teams face each other, which is not until 2011?  Only Zach Duke knows that answer.

Jason has a web site with updated, day to day reporting of The Codes at BaseballCodes.com. You can keep up with his take on any current activities taking place, and start a dialogue yourself by giving your opinion of events.

We have to extend our sincerest thanks to Jason for appearing on Cover the Bases to talk about his book The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime. Please let us know in the comment section what you think about this unique analysis of the game, as well as any other suggestions you might have for future editions of the podcast.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

On this edition of the Cover the Bases podcast, we dive into a book that goes back further than any other topic we have discussed to date.  We are so happy to present a conversation with author Ed Achorn, the Deputy Editorial Page Editor for the Providence Journal.   His first baseball book, Fifty-Nine in ’84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had is about a Hall of Fame player, and life in general in the mid to late 19th Century.

It appears that Ed Achorn was destined to write a book about Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn since his days as a young boy, sneaking off with his dad’s copy of The Baseball Encyclopedia, studying the statistics within the covers, and wondering what it must have been like for a player to make 73 starts in a single season.  Upon moving to Providence, where Radbourn had his Greatest Season in 1884, and after receiving a gift of a painting of Old Hoss, Ed knew he would have to pursue documenting this character’s achievements.

Ed faced many challenges while researching this book, most notably the lack of modern reference materials to extract the story from.  He had to turn to original source, historical documents to provide the details he meticulously compiled.  He was fortunate to have the archives of The Providence Journal and the Rhode Island Historical Society, among others to pour over.  Ed makes the point that the sportswriting of the era was very entertaining to read, once he learned the language.  He needed to be able to translate some of the colloquialisms for his readers in order to tell the story.  He enjoyed the barbs passed back and forth among the National League city newspapers.

The grand discovery for Ed was that baseball, although not using modern equipment, was still at its essence the same in 1884 as it is today.  Pitchers used a repertoire to come after a hitter’s weakness, batters studied pitching tendencies and made adjustments according to situations….. And the glory of a great pennant race always stirred the enthusiasm of the fans.

The most obvious difference in the game of the 1880′s is the lack of gloves for the fielders.  All baseball fans should take pause and reflect upon the difficulty of making the plays that the game of baseball requires, without the benefit (and protection)of a glove!   Long term injuries and mutilation was common among these guys, who were struggling to succeed in a profession that took them away from other occupations with their own types of hardships.

The protagonist of the book is considered to be a difficult person, with character straits of stubbornness and orneriness that contributed in some way to his on field performance.  He was also driven by his desire for more compensation, and became the first “free agent” player after negotiating with the Providence Grays while agreeing to assume greater pitching responsibilities in 1884.

His accomplishment and records are even more astounding when it is revealed how much pain he had to endure during each start, particularly as his workload increased midway through the season.  He was unable to dress himself or to comb his hair as his arm hung limply by his side. His unique warmup regimen loosened his shoulder on a daily basis so that he could pitch in the day’s contest.

It is interesting to contemplate the motivations of a player achieving statistical accomplishments in the game that are unattainable in the modern era.  Could he have known at the time that these feats were extraordinary?  Ed believes that since the sportwriters of the time acknowledged what he was doing on the diamond was amazing, that Radbourn himself knew it as well.  His teammates certainly knew his importance to the team’s drive to the pennant, as the nickname “Old Hoss” is derived from the saying that he was “carrying the team on his back” in the sense an old work horse would.

It should be noted that baseball records did not have the pitching statistic of “Wins” at this point, only a team’s won / loss record was important.  Historians have recreated the statistics of the era and have had some dispute over whether Radbourn won 60 or 59 games in 1884.  Originally credited with 60 wins, it is now accepted fact that his record is 59 wins in a single season.

The City of Providence contributes to this book as the setting for this Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had.  It was the smallest market in the National League but had a great rivalry with its neighbor only 50 miles to the north in Boston.  Providence was considered the most technologically advanced city in the country at that time, and contributed the Corliss steam engine to the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia as a centerpiece.

Providence Grays

Ed provides a view to the past in his book Fifty-Nine in ’84 with the same qualities that the book The Glory of Their Times provides, which is a glimpse into what it was like to live as well as play baseball during that era.  He believes that baseball is consistently reflective of the culture in our country and set out to provide that detail.

It is easy to find out more about Ed and his writings by visiting his web site at Old Hoss.com

We have to extend our sincerest thanks to Ed for appearing on Cover the Bases to talk about his book Fifty-Nine in ’84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had. Please let us know in the comment section what you think about this great biography of a significant man in baseball history, as well as any other suggestions you might have for future editions of the podcast.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

We are thrilled to present this exclusive conversation with our first repeat guest on Cover the Bases!  It is a privilege and an honor that Tim Wiles, Director of Research at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, provides what we’ll call an extra base hit.  Tim has joined us in the past to discuss his beautiful treatment of Baseball’s Greatest Hit: The Story of Take Me Out to the Ball Game.

In this episode we are honoring the fact that the month of April is designated as National Poetry Month.  Tim is co-editor of a fine collection of baseball poems called Line Drives: 100 Contemporary Baseball Poems along with Brooke Horvath.

The book is also graced with a forward by Elinor Nauen who perfectly sets the emotion of what can be found inside the covers. We begin our discussion quoting Elinor’s fondness for the short poem.

However, our exclusive topic on this episode is Baseball’s Sad Lexicon, the second most famous baseball poem this side of Casey At the Bat. Many will know it as, Tinker to Evers to Chance and it is celebrating it’s 100th anniversary, written in June or July in 191o.

The poem was written by Franklin Piece Adams (F.P.A.), who at the time was a columnist for the New York Evening Mail. He went on to pen a long running column called The Conning Tower and was a regular panelist on radio shows in the day.

As the story goes, F.P.A. was attempting to get out of the newsroom to catch a ballgame at the Polo Grounds one summer day, when his editor requested an additional 8 lines to fill space in the paper.  His editor understood the lasting legacy of those 8 lines as soon as they were published.

Baseball’s Sad Lexicon revolves around the great rivalry of the day, which was the New York Giants and the Chicago Cubs. It is the Cubs’ splendid infield of Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance which is immortalized as a forlorn Giants fan rues the double play that spoils his team’s chances.

Tim was asked by the editor of Memories and Dreams, the Hall of Fame’s official magazine, to put together an article about the 100th anniversary of Baseball’s Sad Lexicon.   Tim points out that there have been some subtle changes to the poem over time, and he wanted to view the original as it appeared, in order to maintain accuracy.  It was during this process of tracking down the original that some astonishing developments arose!

There are only two locations in the country that contain the archives of the New York Evening Mail, one is the New York Public Library, and the other appropriately enough is in Chicago, a library consortium called The Center for Research Libraries.  Due to restriction of access to prevent further degradation of the microfilm in one case, and a membership scenario in the other, Tim was challenged to get his eyes on the original.

Enter Cubs fan Jack Bales from the University of Mary Washington, who has a friend named Martin Gallas, a member of the consortium.  Martin was able to go through the microfilm from July 18, 1910 and discovered the poem … along with three other poems written in the same exact meter!!

The other writer’s signatures were from Chicago, and it was clear to Tim that these were responses to Baseball’s Sad Lexicon.  The poem must have been published prior to this July 18th date. He directed Gallas to search for the poem’s publication on an earlier date.  It turns out that it had not only appeared in the Evening Mail on July 18th, but that it had been published in the Chicago Tribune on July 15th, as well as published on July 12th prior in the New York Evening Mail.

Since he was now viewing four related poems, Tim decided to search the entire season to see if there were more poems occurring around the times of each of the six Giants and Cubs series that season.

Lo and behold, there had been an exchange of poems between the two city newspapers, featuring at least four writers including Grantland Rice along with Franklin Pierce Adams.   They have now uncovered 29 poems, 15 of which detail a specific play or game that had occurred in the season, with Baseball’s Sad Lexicon having been the first poem published.

This astonishing discovery has to raise the question as to why these other poems have not seen the light of day for a century. Part of it, Tim believes, is that F.P.A. was not a sports writer so these poems were just a part of his overall portfolio, but Tim also questions why there are only two libraries in the entire country that archive the New York Evening Mail .. and simply overcoming the significant challenge of collecting and archiving any cultural reference throughout history.

The intention is to continue reading the New York Evening Mail and the Chicago Tribune from 1910 to discover just how many poems were published!  We should be able to get an eloquent perspective on the season and rivalry as it unfolds towards the Cubs winning the National League pennant to face the Philadelphia A’s in the World Series.

With the precision execution of a Tinker to Evers to Chance double play, Tim and his team will uncover each episode in this linguistic battle and finally capture the complete cultural artifact that almost eluded us.  He should be extremely proud of this accomplishment and we can only aspire to contribute a small fraction of what he has done for the game of baseball, and our cultural heritage in general.

You can look for articles about this discovery in Memories and Dreams magazine from the Hall of Fame, MLB Insiders Club magazine, a Cubs magazine and then hopefully a more scholarly examination in a publication such as via SABRh or in Nine: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture.

Tim takes us home with readings of two of his favorite discoveries from this collection.

We extend our sincerest thanks to Tim for appearing on Cover the Bases to talk about Baseball’s Sad Lexicon.  If you have any questions or comments for Tim, you can reach him via email at TWiles@BaseballHallofFame<dot>org.

Please let us know in the comment section what you think about this extraordinary discovery, as well as any other suggestions you might have for future editions of the podcast.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to continuing to grow a community of fans interested in Wisdom from the Diamond!

We are excited to present a conversation with Dan Fost on this edition of Cover the Bases.  It turns out that Dan is a freelance writer with a common interest in the technology scene.  He covers topics such as content delivery devices that corresponds with the direction that we see Baseballisms.com headed, so the pre-podcast recording conversation was very stimulating as well!

We have been communicating with Dan for many months in anticipation of the release of his first baseball book Giants Past & Present which is part of a series published by MVP Books. The book finally arrived on his doorstep earlier this month and we are grateful that he could spend some time to discuss it.

Upon moving to San Francisco in 1989, Dan was struck by the storied aspects of the franchise and was immediately immersed in a World Series, and then four years later in one of the all-time great pennant races, when the Giants lost to the Dodgers on the last day of the season.  The 1993 team won 103 games on the year but lost the NL West to the Braves by one game.

This beautiful coffee table book is set up in a Giants Past & Present format with each chapter examining and comparing the owners, the managers, key players for each position, even the details of the ballparks.  All of this is surrounded by over 200 stunning photographs.

With a franchise as storied as the Giants, but with two very distinct eras as an east coast and west coast team, we were curious as to whether fans actually make any sort of distinction.  Dan is encouraged that ownership under Peter Magowan really embraces the team’s heritage and includes all of the New York Giants players in all-time stats, and displays the team pennants at the ballpark.  The fans in the area were slow to embrace all of the players who arrived in 1957 epitomized by the great quote Dan sent in an email:

“This is the damnedest town,” wrote Frank Conniff, covering a visit to San Francisco by Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. “They cheer Khrushchev and boo Willie Mays.”

We have done Cover the Bases podcasts discussing various players from the Giants past, including this great episode with Judith Testa about her biography of Sal Maglie, so we felt we should turn the tables and let Dan tell us about some players that he feels deserves some attention.

John Montgomery Ward

Buck Ewing is a player who Dan believes does not get discussed enough when the conversation turns to “best of all time”, but Buck’s legacy should be that he is one of the best catchers to ever play the game.

John Montgomery Ward was a versatile player who helped the Giants to Championships in 1888 and 1889.  He also put his skills as a lawyer to use by organizing the players and negotiating for better rights and conditions, to the point he started his own league with players who defected from the ’89 Champions.

Dan points to a book by Frank DeFord called The Old Ball Game, about John McGraw and Christy Mathewson as an intriguing character study, particularly the dichotomies of McGraw. Dan also uses McGraw’s records as another example that the Giants have been a franchise that can rival the storied Cubs and for many years the Red Sox as never reaching the ultimate goal and always succumbing to heartbreak.

Part of the way that we like to look at a team’s history is to mentally visit the ballparks in which they played.  The Polo Grounds in New York, built below Coogan’s Bluff seemed to be a wonderful place to watch a game.  Similar to the viewing perches outside of Wrigley Field, Coogan’s Bluff allowed for an easy line of site to the action.  Dan recounts how on the day when the Giants had to replay the Cubs to resolve the “Merkle’s Boner” transgressions .. over 200,000 fans showed up and had to be turned away.  Forty thousand approximately ended up on Coogan’s Bluff trying to get a view.

In a nod the baseball tradition of a “Knothole Gang“, the new home of the Giants AT&T Park contains a fenced area for fans to watch the game.

Dan has season’s tickets in an upper deck section of AT&T behind home plate, and gets to take in the glory of the views of the Bay, McCovey’s Cove and the entire ballpark.  From an engineering standpoint they figured out how to situate the park so that he is comfortable in his seat while winds are swirling around the concourse.

Set between the homes in New York and the beautiful retro style ballpark they are in today, the Giants played their games in Candlestick Park.  It did not take long for the conditions of Candlestick to have an impact on players who complained about the weather, and historically it made it hard for the team to entice key free agents to play for the Giants.  By attempting to develop a new park via ballot measure, ownership had to attempt to attract fans to the games each season while simultaneously having to complain about the stadium to get financing support.

The Croix de Candlestick became a badge of honor dreamed up by Patrick Gallagher for those who have made it completely through an extra inning night game at the park.

It should not be overlooked that the Giants teams of the Sixties had some great ballplayers who called Candlestick home, so at least there was some good baseball to be seen.  Willie McCovey stated to Dan during the preparation for this book, that after lining out to Bobby Richardson to end the 1962 World Series he was not that upset, because the entire team felt that they were so loaded with talent that they would continue to return to the World Series throughout the decade.

We also have to look at the 1989 World Series as another defining moment in the history of Candlestick Park, and we get Dan’s eyewitness account of being in the city during that time.  The conversation of baseball’s ability to heal a community during challenging times such as the World Wars and more recently after the 9/11 attacks, must also include San Francisco and Oakland after the Loma Prieta earthquake prior to Game 3.

Dan Fost’s web site is at GiantsPastandPresent.com or if you are a member of Facebook you can visit his page at Facebook.com/GiantsBook.

We have to extend our sincerest thanks to Dan for appearing on Cover the Bases to talk about his book Giants Past & Present. Please let us know in the comment section what you think about this beautifully done history of the Giants franchise, as well as any other suggestions you might have for future editions of the podcast.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to continuing to grow a community of fans interested in Wisdom from the Diamond!

Joe Cronin ascended from the sandlots of San Francisco through the ranks of star player, field manager, general manager and American League President to become one of the most influential people the game of baseball has ever seen.  Historian and author Mark Armour has written the definitive biography of Cronin’s life in Joe Cronin: A Life in Baseball.

Mark Armour has authored numerous books and articles on baseball, and is also the director of SABR’s Baseball Biography Project.  We are extremely grateful for the opportunity to chat with him on the Cover the Bases podcast.

It was his efforts on the Baseball Biography Project that started Mark on the path to writing this book.  Since Joe Cronin had been involved in the game at the highest levels since 1926 through his final days as AL President in 1973, his story was intermingled with most of the players that Mark was compiling in the project.  After questioning a trusted colleague about why there had not been a complete biography of the man, Mark’s colleague said it was up to him to write it.  His inspiration was set.

One of the first individuals in the game to recognize the skills that young Cronin possessed as a player, and also as a leader, was Clark Griffith owner of the Washington Senators.  Griffith put complete faith in a 26 year old shortstop to lead his team as player-manager, which he did well, leading them to the World Series in 1933.  This relationship to the Griffith family lasted a lifetime, including Cronin’s marriage to Griffith’s niece Mildred.

Expectations were high when Cronin arrived in Boston prior to the 1935 season to be the player-manager of owner Tom Yawkey‘s Red Sox, and the challenges of managing some of his new teammates who had already demonstrated Hall of Fame caliber success was difficult for the young man.  He did however continue to demonstrate high caliber skills, earning him seven All-Star selections as a shortstop and was widely considered one of the game’s most popular players.

Cronin’s transition to the Red Sox General Manager position came about gradually as he obtained more influence with the team as his playing time waned (during the war years he played somewhat out of necessity) and health impediments interfered with of job duties of the current GM Eddie Collins.  Cronin knew the players and the needs of the team better than anyone else.

It seemed his greatest challenges as he took over the General Manager’s role during the years 1948 through 1950 were the constant contract struggles with stars Ted Williams and Dom DiMaggio and the harnessing of Manager Joe McCarthy who was battling serious alcohol problems.

One of the key negatives that historians will point to in a Cronin biography is the fact that the Red Sox were the last team to integrate in the Major Leagues.  It was not until Pumpsie Green joined the team in 1959, eleven and one-half years after Jackie Robinson had broken the color barrier, that every team had fielded an African American player.  Whether is was a directive, poor planning and scouting, or poor timing, this is a responsibility that must be accounted for when discussing Joe Cronin’s legacy.

Some of the most important decisions the game had ever known greeted Joe Cronin when he became the President of the American League.  Issues ranging from antitrust to unionization of the umpires to League expansion are just some of the items needing attention during his Presidency.

Mark makes the intriguing case in the book that although it was natural for Cronin to ascend to these ever increasing responsibilities, he did not come from any formal pedigree that would be a requirement for the position today.  However, it must be said that no matter what rank he served, he performed it well.

During the writing of this book, Mark had the chance to speak to a central figure in the history of the labor movement, both inside and outside of baseball, Marvin Miller.  Miller related the scenario that although he liked Cronin personally, everyone liked Cronin personally, they were not speaking the same language as it pertained to the rights of the players as employees in a collective bargaining agreement.  The game was changing in ways that were unimaginable.

Cronin always had the perspective that the game had treated him right, and through hard work and perseverance he had risen from a sandlot ballplayer to the highest position in his League. He felt that the game would continue to go on to reward ballplayers who followed the same work ethic.

Mark Armour’s web site is at Mark-Armour.net or you can visit the SABR web site to keep up with the latest happenings there.  If you are on Facebook you can find him here.

We have to extend our sincerest thanks to Mark for appearing on Cover the Bases to talk about his book Joe Cronin: A Life in Baseball. Please let us know in the comment section what you think about this great biography of a significant man in baseball history, as well as any other suggestions you might have for future editions of the podcast.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

We have a unique topic on this episode of Cover the Bases.  Rather than the biographies, histories and memoirs that we usually speak about, instead we cover myths, legends and ghost tales with Dan Gordon.  Dan is a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and has covered the game of baseball internationally, but discovered the folklore and story telling near his home on Cape Cod MA., leading him to seek out those same types of stories in baseball.

His first book is Haunted Baseball: Ghosts, Curses, Legends, and Eerie Events published by Lyons Press.  He has a followup book coming out in the summer of 2010 called Field of Screams.  There is a web site to find information about his books at HauntedBaseball.com.

With his co-author and classmate from Union College, Mickey Bradley, Dan headed off to his first Spring Training with a few ideas and some access to players.  With a bit of apprehension his first interview was Turk Wendell, one of the most superstitious and colorful characters in the game.  Turk’s initial advice was to “go talk to the Yankees” which seemed to be a common response.

The book opens with the Yankees in their Spring Training facility called Huggins Stengel Field. The team trained there from the 1920′s up through the Sixties, and carries many stories from local residents and grounds crew.  Dan always makes it a point to visit some of the old facilities around baseball since they have a great chance of catching a glimpse of nostalgia.  It is said at Huggins Stengel that you can see Babe Ruth’s apparition and Casey Stengel sitting in the dugout, as well as noises of card games in the clubhouse.

It is fun to envision players such as Ellis Burks relating a story to Dan about frightening C.C. Sabathia and Coco Crisp while on the Indians. Or the time when Jay Gibbons was embarassed about telling the story of a ghost taking the telephone off the table and turning on the radio in a haunted hotel room.

Johnny Damon is a real believer in the paranormal and gave the authors many stories of his encounters in the stadiums and hotels he frequented.

Another surprise contributor to the book was Bobby Cox. Rather than the “nothing but business” on the field persona, Bobby was willing to offer up the fact that these stories are quite common around baseball.  He described not only some of the superstitions around the game, but also details of his days coaching in Latin America. He reveals coaching in Venezuela where the team bus had to stop at a mountain side shrine for a common ritual, and some of his players spotting UFO’s.

From the reaches of baseball history, Dan touches on the story of Hall of Famer Sam Rice who settled a baseball controversy with a message from the grave!  As the story goes, during Game 3 of the 1925 World Series, playing right field for the Washington Senators, Rice went back on a ball hit by Pittsburgh Pirate catcher Earl Smith.  As Rice made the catch he tumbled over the wall and out of sight.  Upon standing, he had the ball in his glove and it was ruled an out by the umpire .. causing a controversy.

Rice vowed to take the true answer “to his grave” as to whether he made the catch or not.  Magazine’s offered money for the story but he refused to divulge his answer.  He left a letter with the Baseball Hall of Fame to be opened upon his death, and in 1974 the letter revealed “At no time did I lose possession of the ball.”.

Dan is a diehard Red Sox fan, so we ask to hear about his favorites.  One classic tale is the fact that southpaw pitcher (and a Baseballisms favorite) Bill Lee thought that departed owner Tom Yawkey was stalking him in the form of a bird! Lee and Yawkey shared a common interest in wildlife and nature, so when Mr. Yawkey mentioned that he used to shoot pigeons in Fenway with Ted Williams, Lee warned him that based upon Hindu beliefs he would be reincarnated as a bird as a form of justice.

On the day that Yawkey died, a pigeon landed at Bill Lee’s feet as he was heading in to Fenway. Lee felt that he saw Mr. Yawkey on many other occasions.

We have to extend our sincerest thanks to Dan Gordon for appearing on Cover the Bases to talk about his book Haunted Baseball: Ghosts, Curses, Legends, and Eerie Events. And make sure to look for his new book, Field of Screams due out in August of 2010, when he gets to explore more of his international interest in the game and interviews Japanese ballplayers about their stories.  Please let us know in the comment section what you think about this unique approach to baseball history, as well as any other suggestions you might have for future editions of the podcast.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Seamheads.com Founder and Managing Editor, Mike Lynch is our guest on this episode of the Cover the Bases podcast.  He is the author of two baseball books and writes regularly as his web site.  We really appreciate the time that he took out of his night to talk some baseball with us.

His most recent book is It Ain’t So: A Might Have Been History of the White Sox in 1919 and Beyond. It is published by McFarland, and was released in November of 2009.

Mike took a completely unique approach to writing about the Chicago White Sox team of 1919.  After first pitching the concept to his publisher and getting some push back, he pitched another book which turned out to be Harry Frazee, Ban Johnson and the Feud That Nearly Destroyed the American League.  Once McFarland saw what Mike could accomplish, they let him revisit his concept for examining what might have happened if the Black Sox scandal had never taken place.

Out of the Park Baseball provided the computational muscle, while Mike allowed the players who were banned from baseball in 1920, to continue on in their careers.  Mike chronicled the impact that this would have had on the American League races, as well as some World Series Championships. He played the 1919 World Series, completed the 1920 season, and then reset all of the American League teams each season to play a “might have been” version of the White Sox.  This simulation and writing process took Mike about 10 years to complete.

In Mike’s version of the 1919 World Series, the Reds still end up winning the series however the final game went to extra innings in a zero – zero tie, and after scoring in the tenth they snuffed a White Sox rally with a 1 – 2 – 3 double play.

In our record books, the White Sox players are indicted on fixing charges and are not allowed to finish the 1920 season, even though they are in a close pennant race with the Cleveland Indians.  It is the Indians who eventually go on to win the World Series.  In Mike’s version of 1920, the White Sox ascend to the AL Crown rather than fade from the race.

In the chapter on 1921 was the following AL Leaders, showing where the most famous of the players caught up in the scandal, Shoeless Joe Jackson, would have ranked amongst his peers of the day.  It is a powerful representation to see his name listed among all-time historically significant players … raising the question of course of “what might have been?”

American League Batting Averages

According to Mike’s simulations, the career that baseball missed out on from Joe Jackson might have included 3457 hits, 630 doubles, 278 triples, over 1500 RBI, 1700 runs scored, and a batting average of .351.  We will never know how close to realistic these numbers are, but it sure is interesting to contemplate.

A significant challenge for Mike in the statistical analysis was what to do with the players who actually got their shot in place of the Eight Men Out.  These are players who went on to have careers and accumulate stats that needed to be dealt with when running simulations.  Should they stay on the bench for the White Sox?  Should they find jobs with other teams and impact those statistics? …. There is a great ripple effect that would have been nearly impossible to fully explore.  Some of these players ended up eventually moving the banished players out of the lineup in the simulations.

This was a very strong team heading into the decade of the 20′s, but this was also the time when the Yankees started to build a great legacy that would have derailed the White Sox no matter.  The simulations do not elevate the team to any additional Championships and only two World Series appearances early in the decade.

Mike’s other endeavor Seamheads.com has been growing substantially in the recent months, with the addition of many new contributors who will be posting stories on a regular basis. The stories include not just history but minor leagues, fantasy, college and he is even getting inquiries about trivia and baseball movies. If you don’t already subscribe to Seamheads.com I would recommend you check it out.

We have to extend our sincerest thanks to Mike Lynch for appearing on Cover the Bases to talk about his book It Ain’t So: A Might Have Been History of the White Sox in 1919 and Beyond.  Please let us know in the comment section what you think about this unique approach to baseball history, as well as any other suggestions you might have for future editions of the podcast.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

We talk about women in baseball during Episode 2 of our conversation with Perry Barber. We had such a great time talking about baseball, umpiring, and even music, that I decided it would be best to split our time together into two programs for your listening pleasure.  Enjoy!

We find out from Perry that her expected path to adulthood was by way of the usual assortment of life’s milestones, from debutante through married life and parenthood.  It was a suggestion of a different path by her mother, who observed Perry’s reading habits and musical output, that umpiring came into the picture.  Through this connection of baseball it allowed for a unique bond to develop between Perry and her mom.

The first umpire Perry ever met, and was deeply influenced by, was Ed Montague.  Her song The Umpire Stands Alone was written for him.  The book The Men in Blue: Conversations with Umpires by Larry Gerlach was the touchstone of her mother’s suggestion to pursue umpiring.

At her mother’s urging she went to umpire a Little League game in a town nearby, and after the odd looks from the players, she donned her balloon protector and proceeded to use any handy resource available (including Mom in the stands with a rule book) to call the game.  Following the game she had to withstand the letters to the newspaper requesting that she not return.

But prevail she did, through determination and an amazing rush of adrenaline as the target of direct hostility, Perry continued to develop her skills as a highly qualified arbiter of the game.

Perry is not just a participant in the game on the field, she also has a great passion for the historical aspects of the game.  She has discovered through reading about John McGraw’s New York Giants, a player to be admired above all others in Christy Mathewson.

A college graduate among men mostly renowned for drunken rowdiness, Mathewson was one of the game’s first superstars who appealed to a vast majority of the fans.

The books that capture Perry’s attention included Ring Lardner’s You Know Me Al; A Busher’s Letters and Roger Angell’s The Summer Game (Bison Book).  She also likes Pat Jordan’s A False Spring, and he has also written an article about Perry for the AARP that you can read here.  Finally, a personal friend of Perry, Dan Schlossberg has written a book that will be released shortly called The 300 Club: Have We Seen the Last of Baseball’s 300-Game Winners?.

The book that Perry currently has on the Kindle is about a subject near and dear to her heart .. the story of women and baseball .. authored by Jean Ardell Breaking Into Baseball: Women and the National Pastime.

The book discusses the contributions and influence of women in the game, beyond just the players who were on the field for the AAGPBL, but also in the front offices, stadiums, and of course umpiring crews.

Perry points out that baseball has not been open to accepting of social change, and has always been a bastion of the old boys club,  which continues to hold back women attempting to ascend to the upper levels. Perry will be working some games over the course of Spring Training 2010, and hopes to have a an all women crew as she has in the past (as seen in this photo).

Some may not be aware that tournaments are held in the Far East that Perry gets to umpire.  She recently returned from Hong Kong where a women’s tournament was held. This type of event also gives Perry the chance to interact with other female umpires, including Yanet Moreno who calls games at the Cuban version of major leagues.  However it also points out that it has been 30 years since the height and weight restrictions for becoming an umpire were overturned, in a case where Bernie Gera won the right to umpire through a court ruling.

After 30 years of pushing on the glass ceiling, Perry is a little bit frustrated with the lack of progress so has joined with some other female umpires to speak on the virtues and recruit to the country’s umpire schools. They believe that it all has to start with getting larger numbers of women interested in learning the skills required.

This has to be a grassroots effort because there has been no concerted effort by the MLB to recruit. Perry points out the Rod Thorn of the NBA sent his assistant Darrell Garretson out to find the women who could eventually become NBA caliber refs.

In July of 2010, in Hinsdale MA. there will be a camp called the Girls International Baseball Academy, conducted by women in various positions throughout baseball, where they will gather to educate young girls on a variety of aspects of baseball.   As more information becomes available about the event, you can look for Perry to share it through this and other web sites.

We have to extend our sincerest thanks to Perry for granting us so much of her time to speak with us.  In case you missed Episode One, we talk about her music career and what it takes to be a skilled umpire.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

The following is Episode 1 of a conversation with Perry Barber. We had such a great time talking about baseball, umpiring, and even music that I decided it would be best to split our time together into two programs for your listening pleasure.  Enjoy!

Our special guest on this episode of Cover the Bases came to us as a friend of a friend, and we are so glad that she did!  She once left a comment on a post here, and with a couple of clicks I found her web site at PerryBarber.com and I knew immediately that I wanted to experience her passion for baseball first hand.

The motivation to have her as a guest was initially sparked by her career as a professional umpire, but as I discovered, her interests, occupations, and experiences run wider and deeper than just that interesting topic.  I also realized that it was more than any single episode of a podcast could contain!  So, I will deliver our conversation in segments and have invited Perry to revisit in the future, maybe we can even get her to give some reviews of the baseball books that she has on her Kindle!

We begin our discussion by diving into her musical background and her relationship with a gentleman who baseball fans should know, Steve Goodman.  Steve was a Grammy winning folk singer who composed the ballad A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request. Perry shares the story of her first encounter with him and witnessing his immense talent first hand.

It also gives us a chance to discuss her CD, Belle of the Ballfield, which includes her songs Baseball, The Umpire Stands Alone, Down on the Farm, and Stuck on the Wrong Side of Love among many others.  The song Baseball was inspired by George Brett’s assault on .400 in 1983, and was included in a documentary called End of an Era about the New York Giants’ last game at the Polo Grounds in 1957.

We discuss the aspect of “fandom” as it pertains to an umpire.  Protocol and training require that an umpire remains unemotional, but as anyone can attest, there are moments when you can’t help but get caught up in the overall storyline of a great game. She does attempt to draw something educational from the excitement of a particular moment, rather than just getting caught up in it.  Sitting in the stands, it may also provide the opportunity to demonstrate to someone nearby the intricacies of detail that can be easily overlooked.  It is the beauty of the game that provides so much enjoyment on so many levels.

Perry points out the hardest aspect of learning to be a great umpire is the management of the game.  The balls & strikes, positioning, and rules can all be studied and learned, but the challenge of removing the emotion and maintaining control only can come through experience.  Knowing where to set the limits where the players can play the game, but still maintain control of the game is what all umpires must learn.

Join us for Episode Two of our conversation with Perry Barber, when we discuss the moment that she recognized her calling and the influence of her mother, as well as the challenges for women umpires and the glass ceilings that still must be shattered.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

The book Ball Four is a seminal book on the bookshelves of many baseball fans, particularly fans who are of a certain generation.  During the early to mid-seventies I became a fan of the game.  Key influences included the thousands of pickup games played with my brothers and other kids in the neighborhood, my father and mother who clocked many miles delivering us to and from organized baseball, television and  radio which delivered the sights and sounds of the games taking place in the Major Leagues, and last but not least the many baseball books I gathered that would create images in my imagination.

The Baseball Life of Sandy Koufax, Strange But True Baseball Stories, and books with titles like How To Play Baseball were devoured at every opportunity.  A time came when I needed to graduate to a more grownup level of baseball literature, and the book Ball Four took me there.  The book is published by Wiley.

It is a well known, behind the scenes memoir from author Jim Bouton, who was reinventing himself as a knuckleball pitcher catching on with the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969.  His pull no punches personality, plus considerable arm trouble, had worn out his welcome as a New York Yankee, after having pitched in The Bronx starting as a rookie in 1962.

The book caught fire with many baseball fans as it provided a first person account inside the camaraderie, challenges, exploits, strategies, and business of a major league baseball team. It did not go over so well with some of the main characters or so-called protectors of the game.  Jim was ostracized for many years because of the perceived slights contained within the covers.

Especially with forty years worth of hindsight, the book is not a scandalous tell-all rag intent upon hurting player reputations or the game itself.  It is what it was intended to be ..  a real-life personal diary of one player’s experiences, playing the game at its highest level.

If you were following baseball during that era, and names like Gary Bell, Marty Pattin, Mike Marshall, Diego Segui, Tommy Davis, Tommy Harper and Mike Hegan mean anything to you, then this book will be a fun filled excursion through a challenging season.  If you would be interested in the last update to the book, Ball Four: The Final Pitch you can find it only at Jim’s web site Jim Bouton.com. You can even have Jim personalize a copy for you.  Tell him Baseballisms sent you!

For this Cover the Bases podcast, I felt it unnecessary to rehash all of the old questions that he has answered for the past forty years.  No need to get into the “controversy” or how other players responded to him after publication.  I wanted to find out more about what he thinks now looking back on it, as well as what the book might have been with today’s technology.

We extend our sincere thanks to Jim for spending time with us and sharing his personal insights into baseball and life.  Also, a special thank you goes out to Shawn Collins of Affiliate Summit who has a special interest in the Seattle Pilots, and was able to connect me with Jim to arrange this podcast.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball

Our guest on this episode of Cover the Bases is David Cataneo, author of I Remember Joe Di Maggio: Personal Memories of the Yankee Clipper by the People Who Knew Him Best . The book is published by Turner Publishing.  We discuss the contradictions in DiMaggio’s public persona as we hear stories of his hardened persona cringing from the public spotlight, while at the same time marrying one of the most public women of all time in Marilyn Monroe.

David describes the format of the book as an oral history which he has collected by interviewing players, manager & coaches, sports writers and many others who were direct witnesses to the life of Joe DiMaggio.

The books starts out with a direct anecdote from David and his encounter with DiMaggio as a 13 year old autograph hound, on a mission to get a response from The Yankee Clipper.  One has to wonder what might have happened if the encounter had concluded differently!

Since DiMaggio was such a complex person, this oral history will provide numerous insights into his life from the ones who knew him personally.  David felt that some of the participants in the book came to DiMaggio’s defense in response to the biography Joe DiMaggio : The Hero’s Life written by Richard Ben Cramer, since there were aspects of the book that did not portray him in a good light.

Image, especially a “regal image”, was something that DiMaggio understood and protected mightily throughout the years.  He felt that it was important as a player and a Yankee.  David equates it today to Derek Jeter’s reputation.

Some of the more interesting conversations in the book came from those that had not really shared their stories before.  As David describes them, his subjects are the 25th man on the roster who might not have received much attention from DiMaggio, or the woman in a story he relates who was an assistant at a card show who saw another side of the man.

We move off into a great conversation about the motivation behind Baseballisms.com, and the fact that we now have the digital storage space to capture essential and valuable stories from people who one day will no longer be with us. David believes this is an essential mission because once the person is gone, that story is gone forever. David lost his chance to speak to Johnny Sylvester, the legendary sick boy in 1926 who received the gift of a promised Babe Ruth home run.  Sylvester passed away before they could meet.  To this day, David thinks about the fact he could not chronicle Johnny’s perspective on the story as an adult.

DiMaggio was an important person in the Cataneo household as the first great Italian-American hero, and was the player David’s father idolized.  Years later as a newspaper reporter, David was assigned to interview DiMaggio.  David was terrified that something might happen in a negative way and he would have to go back to his father with a sad tale. Fortunately it went great and a photo of the interview was a present for the senior Cataneo to cherish.

The best DiMaggio quote of all time is … “There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time, I owe him my best”.  He had an innate understanding about what it meant to be a ballplayer, the responsibilities that went along with that, and specifically a Yankee ballplayer.

I Remember Joe DiMaggio covers ground in his life after leaving the ball field, and his job of being Joe DiMaggio.  Taking it at face value, he lived the dream life of every mid twentieth century American male .. he played centerfield for the Yankees and married Marilyn Monroe. However, he was a loner and really enjoyed being in his own company.  So he was a man of serious contradictions.

This book is one of a series of “I Remember” books, and it includes among others the great rival and perhaps the antithesis of Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams. The book is called I Remember Ted Williams: Anecdotes and Memories of Baseball’s Splendid Splinter by the Players and People Who Knew Him

We extend our sincere thanks to David Cataneo for spending time with us and sharing his personal insights into Joe DiMaggio and the stories that he captured from those who knew him.   We’ll hope to have David back on in the future to talk about his book about Red Sox legend Tony Conigliaro.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

We continue to focus on the Negro Leagues on the Cover the Bases podcast, in recognition of February’s designation as Black History Month. During the first half of last century, the Negro Leagues provided an opportunityfor players who were unable to participate in the major leagues simply because of racial inequality.  It is a critically important baseball story to tell, and we are pleased to have as our guest, Neil Lanctot professor of History at The University of Delaware.

Neil’s book is Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution, published by University of Pennsylvania Press . The book was awarded the prestigious Seymore Medal from SABR honoring the best book on baseball history or biography.   

This book provides a different perspective of the Leagues than the typical analysis of the players, teams and events on the field.  Neil determined that a complete analysis of the business aspects had not been told before, and launched on an effort to uncover any information about the finances and business activities that produced Negro League baseball games.

We take a look at the use of the name “Negro Leagues” as a catchall term for the various loosely affiliated organizations, including the Negro American League (NAL), the Negro National League (NNL), and earlier entities such as the Eastern Colored League.  This does not even take into account the numerous barnstorming Negro teams who traveled the country playing exhibitions against mostly semi-pro industrial teams.

One of the great contributors to the development of the League was a player and owner by the name of Rube Foster.  Not only was he a great pitcher, he also had the vision and the ambition in around 1910 – 1911 to team up with a white tavern owner named John M. Schorling, who was the son in law of Charles Comiskey, owner of the Chicago White Sox.  There was a need to fill the ballpark that was under Schorling’s control, so he teamed with Foster to put players onto teams to use the park.

The business structure lead to many white businessmen getting involved with the League as owners , booking agents and organizers.

Following the depression Gus Greenlee, a black entrepreneur from Pittsburgh who was involved in the numbers business, was determined to rebuild the League following the financial devastation brought on every team of that era.  He owned the Pittsburgh Crawfords as well as the stadium in which they played.  Ballpark ownership would turn out to be one of the key downfalls of the Negro Leagues in the long run.

I share with Neil how we have been using the Strat-o-Matic Negro League All-Stars game as a way to learn more about the players whose histories we have been deprived of, because of the era in which they played.  Looking for some insights into a player who we should be aware of, who might not be recognizable, Neil points out the achievements of “Wild” Bill Wright , who among other accomplishments edged out Roy Campanella by one homerun to lead the league and complete the Triple Crown in 1943.

Wright was a five tool player who has not elected to the Hall of Fame, but who has the backing and support of Monte Irvin and Neil Lanctot at least for earning that honor.

The business of the Negro Leagues hit its peak during World War II as gas rationing combined with higher earnings for African Americans working manufacturing jobs, contributes to the highest attendance at rented facilities such as Yankee Stadium, Comiskey Park, and Griffith Stadium among others.

Numerous business factors contributed to the demise of the League including the necessity of renting the ballparks, which removes any other revenue streams such as concessions. Lanctot also points out that as radio and television become more prominent during the 1950′s, the only form of revenue – gate receipts – begins to drop off.  This of course is compounded by Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby and others ultimately breaking the color barrier and drawing fan attention directly to those major league teams.

These teams and these players are a significant component of the heritage of the game of baseball, and as factors have contributed to less interest in the game by young African Americans, we are bound to present and protect the stories that were born in the Negro Leagues.

We extend our sincere thanks for Neil Lanctot for spending time with us, and we look forward to the Simon & Schuster release in the spring of 2011 of Neil’s biography about Roy Campanella!  We will have to bring Neil back on the Cover the Bases podcast.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

In recognition of February’s designation as Black History Month, we are focusing our Cover the Bases podcast on books that have been written about the Negro Leagues, and some of the legendary players who had an impact on the game of baseball on and off the diamond.   There can be no better place to start than talking about Satchel Paige.

Our guest this episode is Larry Tye, author of the book Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend.  The book is published by Random House and is currently available in hardcover or Kindle versions.

One of the immediate challenges Larry faced when writing this book was quantifying the accomplishments of Satchel Paige, especially since record keeping and historical information was not as diligently kept in that era.

He did some painstaking analysis attempting to determine the total number of games that Satchel pitched, so he chose the major league record holder Jesse Orosco as a comparison.  Orosco appeared in 1252 games, and as Larry explains, that accomplishment generally occurred between April and October.  Satchel pitched “from April to April” and based upon his legendary status was expected to appear in any game that his team was scheduled to play.  Based upon his research, Larry has determined Satchel appeared in approximately 2500 games.

Larry also came to the conclusion that the claims that Satchel made regarding wins, shoutouts, no-hitters .. all of the big pitching categories .. would have set or broken major league records, had he not been excluding from playing there until the end of his career.

Satchel understood that the great white players such as Joe DiMaggio for example, received treatment from others that would help propel their star status and legendary accomplishments.  He knew if he was going to ensure his own legacy, he would need to do that self promotion himself.  In a way, it’s as if Satchel Paige understood in this early era the importance of having a personal brand.  He even contributed to discrepancies about his age in order to make his accomplishments more extraordinary.  We hear that one of the greatest mysteries of the 30′s and 40′s was the true age of Satchel Paige!

One of the most interesting parts of our conversation revolves around a comparison of Babe Ruth and Satchel Paige, regarding interactions with baseball fans.  Larry comes to the brilliant conclusion that although Babe Ruth was a great ambassador for the game and was adored by every fan of the day, Satchel had the daunting task of achieving that same status, while overcoming the incredible prejudices that white America had for black players, and black human beings in general.  So without diminishing the following of Ruth, Satchel did something even more extraordinary.

During the time leading up to Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier for Branch Rickey, it was Satchel Paige who attracted the attention of the media and fans to the Negro Leagues. He was the one who made the effort to demonstrate the skill of the ballplayers in the league, and he would take credit for getting a backup second baseman for the Kansas City Monarchs in front of Branch Rickey in the first place.  Rickey made the choice of Robinson for a number of reasons including personality, age, willingness to play in the minor leagues, and an understanding that he would have to turn the other cheek to the challenges that would be heaped  upon him.

We finish the podcast with Larry telling us the great tale about Satchel’s last appearance pitching for the Kansas City A’s, owned by the great Charlie O. Finley.  Satchel was 59 years, 2 months and 8 days old at the time.  Finley set up a rocking chair near the bullpen and hired a nurse to rub up Satchel’s arm.  He came into the game to pitch three innings, and included in this moment is the fact that Carl Yastrzemski was the last to get a hit off of him.  It completed the great family accomplishment in which Yaz and his Dad both got a hit off of Paige, as Carl Sr. had played against him in a semi-pro league on Long Island.

Although there might have been some sense of exploitation with this event, Satchel did what he wanted to do, which was get a paycheck from Charlie Finley and play the game that he loved!

We express our sincere gratitude to Larry Tye for sharing his story with us and for taking the time to appear on the Cover the Bases podcast.  You can find out more about Larry’s writings and his other endeavors by visiting his web site at LarryTye.com

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

#StLCards fans have the great fortune of a long and storied legacy from their home town ball team.  Cardinals fans can revisit teams spanning the entire century for a glimpse at defining moments and legendary players in the history of the game of baseball.

On this episode of Cover the Bases we speak with Alan Ross, the author of Cardinals Glory: For the Love of Dizzy, Ozzie, and the Man, published by Turner Publishing.  His book spans the history of the St. Louis Cardinals up to the 2004 season, using quotes and anecdotes collected from the players, media, fans and management to bring to life this glorious history.

Our conversation immediately starts by trying to define where Albert Pujols fits into the grand scheme of Cardinal greats, and we are both convinced that St. Louis is witnessing a pantheon type player in real time.

Alan brings up the challenges that historians will have defining the players who were playing during the steroids era, and the focus that Mark McGwire brings to the Cardinals franchise because of the controversy.

The Cardinals benefited for decades from the flagship radio station KMOX, a clear 50,000 watt station that could be heard all over the country.  Many fans spent days and nights following the team through these broadcasts without ever getting a chance to see the team in person.  This contributed to the mystique of the ballplayers and help propel the legacy to a much wider audience.

Alan is obviously a lover of the history of the game of baseball and we even reminisce about the old wooden ballparks, built right into the neighborhoods of the cities. They brought the teams closer to the fans, as the facilities became great shrines to the teams that they housed.

The Gashouse Gang of the 1930′s is Alan’s favorite of Cardinals history, and he wished he could get into a time capsule to see the play of Dizzy Dean, Pepper Martin, Ducky Medwich, managed by Frankie Frisch.  This scrappy, “dirty” bunch played a style of baseball that won them the World Series title in 1934 over the Detroit Tigers.

We turn towards the most influential Cardinal of all, Stan “The Man” Musial.  Sometimes, we lose a bit of perspective regarding the players of years past, but the beauty of baseball is that we can look at some key information that will remind us of how great a player had been.  In preparation for this podcast I collected the following incredible facts -  22 seasons, 3 MVP’s, 7 Batting Championships, 3,630 hits .. and three World Series Championships!

The challenge that we have with a podcast of this nature is trying to keep it to a reasonable length, so we have to gloss over some great Cardinals eras such as the 1960′s teams that included Bob Gibson, Tim McCarver and Lou Brock. We touch quickly on the 80′s teams which included John Tudor, Keith Hernandez and we focus briefly on Ozzie Smith and his “joie de vive” as Alan puts it.

Reflecting on the great history of a team like the Cardinals, Alan makes the statement that by understanding the history of a team, it makes one a better fan.  This hits the nail on the head for part of our mission here at Baseballisms.com.  We hope to be able to capture small fragments of fan’s history, to help make a fuller picture of baseball.  We hope to make us all better fans.

This book is part of a series that Alan has put together for many teams including the Red Sox, Yankees, White Sox, Cubs, and many many more.  Click Here to view the entire list of 20 book in the series.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to Alan Ross for coming on the Cover the Bases podcast.  For more information about what Alan is up to these days, his web site is RossMusic.net.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Tim Sommer was drafted out of high school by the Baltimore Orioles and spent 8 years in the organization. He experienced great joys and elation as he progressed through the system, learning the ropes from experienced veterans and wise coaches. He also experienced the ruthless and heartless treatment that can come upon individuals attempting to achieve the ultimate dream.

Tim joins us on this episode of the Cover the Bases podcast to discuss his experiences documented in the book Beating About the Bushes.  The book is published by Infinity Publishing.

The motivation for getting this personal story in writing came from Tim’s family.  As he would regale them with his endeavors in professional baseball, it became apparent that in order to record and share these life experiences, he needed to document them in a book.  That is what we are attempting to do here at Baseballisms.com, collect and curate personal baseball stories for posterity sake.

Growing up in rural Ohio, Tim was fortunate to have been discovered by a bird dog scout traveling the area looking for prospects. The scout, with a day job in a steel mill, had come across a slim kid with glasses who could fire a blazing fastball.  Upon signing his first professional contract, Tim had one thing on his mind and that was making a visit to the home of Lefty Grove.  Upon greeting one of the newest members of the brethren of professional ballplayers, Lefty took Tim into the house and spent the afternoon chatting about baseball.

Throughout the book, Tim provides a look at events and human interest stories that were transpiring during these revolutionary times in the country.  He has an exquisite tale about a hitchhiker he encountered on a roadtrip down to spring training and how they would cross paths later in life.  It is an example of the influence that baseball can have on us, no matter what life’s circumstances may bring.

Tim had numerous influences in his baseball career, including three significant managers.  His manager at Ohio University was Bob Wren.  Coach Wren had the decisive conversation with him prior to accepting the contract from the Orioles.

Within the Orioles organization there were two managers who stand out in the telling of this story.  One was a stalwart of the organization who epitomized every aspect of the Oriole legacy, Cal Ripken.  The other was with the organization for only a short period of time, had major league success with another ballclub, but unquestionably derailed Tim’s progression to the majors, Darrell Johnson.

The unfortunate incident in Tim’s professional career occurred after hearing he had made the Elmira AA ballclub.  Tim and a teammate were spending some time after hours in the local “players” bar when their skipper Darrell Johnson appeared.  Johnson was in no condition to render judgment however, as Tim points out, a players fate can be in the hands of a single individual at the minor league level.  Before anyone knew what was happening, Tim was punished, demoted and his career essentially was over.

Part of the business of professional baseball during this time period, before the amateur draft and a decade before free agency, was the Reserve Clause. Tim experienced the hardships of the reserve clause on many levels.  As a part of the Orioles organization he was in competition with some top quality ballplayers. The Orioles were renowned for their farm system and scouting.  This made it difficult for a player to advance to the major league level, however there was no real way out since the Orioles owned his rights.  Contracts also required constant renegotiation since the ballclub was under no real threat of losing a player.  During one annual negotiation with Lou Gorman, Tim asked for a raise or to be granted the rights to his contract so that he could seek employment with some other team.  It turns out that the organization was truly threatened by his stance and gave him his raise.  It wasn’t until years later that Curt Flood first took the challenge of the reserve clause all the way to the Supreme Court.

On his way out of the game forever, Lou Gorman attempted to recruit Tim into front office or field managing positions that he eventually turned down.  After all of the years on the road, away from his wife, and without the certainty of a payday every Friday, Tim decided that he was going to seek out another profession.

The final episode of Beating About the Bushes chronicles Tim’s experiences with teammate Steve Dalkwoski. The legend of Dalkowski has had an influence on fictional characters in baseball lore such as Nuke LaLoosh in Bull Durham.  Tim felt that he should include his first hand accounts in his book, as a way to correct some of the myth around the man and the player.

A documentary about Steve Dalkowski is in the works that will explore the crossroads of talent and alcohol, and will look at the “what could have been” aspect of his career.

Tim was a confidante, and trusted resource in Steve’s life based upon a simple honest relationship.

We can only express our sincere thanks to Tim Sommer for appearing on Cover the Bases.  His book is a first person account of life in the minors, and will take you on a side by side journey as he attempts to make his dream of pitching in the major leagues come true.

You can find Tim’s work at BuyBooksontheWeb.com or if you would like to get Tim to sign a copy of the book, send an email to us at Wisdom@baseballisms.com and we will get you the address for correspondence.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Over the long history of baseball, there are stories that have been swept under the rug in an attempt to protect the game.  Potentially damaging concerns have included current day situations like steroids, amphetamines & alcohol in decades past, ball doctoring, and of course gambling.  Our guest on this episode of Cover the Bases is Sean Deveney, who shines the light on one such story, which many fans will initially find hard to believe.  After reading his book called The Original Curse: Did the Cubs Throw the 1918 World Series to Babe Ruth’s Red Sox and Incite the Black Sox Scandal?, I do indeed believe it happened.  Hope you enjoy listening to the episode.  Here is a summary of what we discussed:

Sean was inspired to dig into this story in 2008 when he was exposed to documents that the Chicago History Museum had obtained relating to the Chicago Black Sox scandal of 1919.  In these documents was a deposition of a player named Eddie Cicotte, who indicated that it was the 1918 Cubs team who demonstrated money was to be made fixing the World Series.

Underlying this entire tale is the context of the times, which included rampant gambling in the ballparks and players who easily mingled with gamblers and the fans who frequented ballgames.  As Sean points out, the players in that era were not superstars and many came from less than middle class backgrounds who were not be out of place spending time in pool halls and neighborhood bars where action could be taken.

World War I put a different pressure on the ballplayers during 1918.  Playing a game, while the rest of the country was contributing to the war effort in more direct fashion gave rise to the notion that the players were “slackers”.  The teams had no indication as to whether they would be forced to shut down, and many around the game believed this season might be the last for them.

Players were concerned about the nationwide efforts to draft every able body person directly into the war effort, either by working in jobs that directly benefited the military or actively fighting.  Many players went off to fight, some went to “work” in the military complex with an understanding they would play for the company’s baseball team. Some players simply continued to carry on with the season.

A tragic figure who paid a price for fighting in the war was Grover Cleveland Alexander. A dominant pitcher years before 1918, he went off to the front and came back with shell shock and a severe alcohol problem.  His contributions to the war effort derailed his career.

With all of these factors weighing on the players as we get to the World Series, Sean looks at the monetary impacts as well.  The players had agreed to a new revenue sharing arrangement that added more than just the World Series teams into the pool.  The owners had decided to lower the ticket prices to combat the early lackluster attendance as a result of weather and war pressures.

Factors were conspiring against the integrity of the game.

It was during the train ride from Chicago to Boston that the players took the time to analyze the situation and realized their winning share was seriously in jeopardy. Players from both teams, lead by Harry Hooper of the Red Sox and Bill Killefer of the Cubs went to the National Commission, the oversight committee of the league, and attempted to renegotiate the players share.  The Owners and Commission took a stall strategy hoping that the Series would conclude before any resolution and they would not have to make any decision.

After the train ride and before any ruling from the commission, some unusual plays started to appear in Game 4.  A player by the name of Max Flack has to be pointed out as a leading culprit.  Picked off twice in the game, still the only player picked off twice in one World Series game and a misplayed ball in the outfield that went over his head after he had continually ignored his pitcher’s advice to move deeper are certainly suspect actions from one player.

Prior to Game 5 the players threatened to strike, and were late to appear on the field while they waited to speak with the National Commission.  Once again, they were rebuffed. This time it was in the players best interest to extend the Series to play as many games as possible and bring in more gate receipts.  We cannot point to just the Cubs in the 1918 World Series as not having played up to potential, it was in every players best interest for the Red Sox to lose Game 5.

Game 6 included another sleeping Cubs runner Charley Pick who was picked off, but what became the turning point in the game was a muffed line drive by Max Flack with two on and two out in the third inning.  Pitcher Lefty Tyler believed he had gotten out of a jam caused by shoddy fielding, had turned towards the dugout while the ball was in flight towards Flack, but had to return after the ball was dropped by his rightfielder.

1918 World Champion Boston Red Sox

Fans should pick up The Original Curse to read for themselves the detail of the games, and to personally analyze the theory that Sean has laid out.  He also ties it together with the issues that baseball faces today in that the issues are resolved by a swift verdict, pinned on a few individuals, and locked away never to be spoken again.  This is how the steroid issue and gambling issue are linked.

The win was a joyless one for the Red Sox, and the atmosphere included much skepticism that they would have been the best team had all clubs played at full strength, including the  White Sox who had many players in military service.

We can only express our sincere thanks to Sean Deveney for appearing on Cover the Bases.  He has laid out a specific case that identifies the Chicago Cubs as a team that succumbed to gambling pressures, and fixed the 1918 World Series. They were a single year before the other team from Chicago attempted the same feat, and were caught.

You can find Sean at SportingNews.com to keep up with his current writings, and learn more about The Original Curse at the companion web site.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

As a baseball fan growing up near Rochester NY in the 1960′s, author Curt Smith could tune in radio and television stations from around the country, delivering the play by play from some of the legends of the game. In his imagination he could see Yankee Stadium, Forbes Field, or Tiger Stadium among others, through the voices of Mel Allen, Bob Prince, and Ernie Harwell. The national game of the week on CBS television delivered pictures to accompany the fractured English of Dizzy Dean.  The influence of those word pictures launched Curt on a career that includes numerous books on baseball from the broadcast booth.

In his 2005 book Voices of Summer: Ranking Baseball’s 101 All-Time Best Announcers, Curt takes a quantitative look at the top broadcasters who have worked at the Major League level and analyzes them to determine a ranking.  Using criteria such as longevity, network honors, World Series assignments and continuity, he determined a mathematical formula to get to a ranking order.

He shares his top five:

5) Red Barber

4) Jack Buck

3) Ernie Harwell

2) Mel Allen

1) Vin Scully

In an attempt to find out who might be the up and coming play by play announcers who could ascend to this level, we get into a discussion about the obstacles in front of the practitioners.  Whether it is dividing loyalties and working multiple sports under a network contract, or going were the dollars are and starting out in television where the pictures tell the story, Curt has a hard time identifying someone today who he clearly could vote for in the Broadcasters Wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Back in the days before email, I used to type up a letter to some baseball friends of mine with baseball tidbits, group predictions on the season, and a section about the calls that we loved from our favorite broadcasters. Most baseball fans can still hear that replay of a moment fresh in their minds and be transported to that time once again. I share with Curt my recollections of Al Michaels serving as the play by play voice of ABC during the 1986 ALCS and can still hear his excitement over the events that had unfolded before him during Game 5 in Anaheim.

Curt has some strong opinions about the fact that Major League Baseball, at the highest levels, does not have an overall sense of how to televise the game to make it more attractive in this current environment. He shares that an inquiry to the Commissioner’s office regarding any issue with a broadcast could not be directed to the proper individual simply because they do not have such a person.

The one shining light that we do have in terms of broadcast of baseball is the MLB Network.  Curt has high praise for the quality of the in-house production, archival footage, and studio programming, and we look towards the network as a the standard bearers for baseball in all mediums.

We finally get to Curt’s current book .. Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story.  Vin Scully of course is the voice of the Dodgers dating back to his days with the Brooklyn Dodgers starting in 1950 through today.  According to Curt’s sources at MLB and Sirius/XM satellite radio, they believe that they get more subscribers from fans across the country wanting to hear Vin Scully on a regular basis.

We have to jump for joy around here because we had been operating under the assumption that the 2010 season was going to be his last behind the microphone.  Curt assures us that the announcement was premature and that any decision will be made when Vin confers with his wife Sandra and they decide to walk away.

As a tutorial for new fans who might discover Scully during these last seasons we offer this advice.  As he poetically segues from descriptions of groundballs to player comparisons to literature, remember that he has been doing this for almost 60 years.  The man has a remarkable memory with the ability to instantly access any possible appropriate reference.

Second, Curt points out a fantastic point with regards to the format of the broadcast.  Vin Scully is there to have a conversation with you the fan, and you alone.  There are no other inane sidetracked conversations taking place with a partner, attempting to find a groove.  Enjoy the time that you have alone with Vin Scully sitting beside you at the ballgame!

The book is the first biography of Vin Scully.  We thank Curt Smith profusely for his great insights and for taking the time to join us on Cover the Bases.

You can find information about Curt at his web site, and we look forward to any other books that he delivers in the future.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

In another “I can’t believe this is real” moment here at Baseballisms.com, we get the chance to speak with Maury Allen, who previews his upcoming book titled Dixie Walker of the Dodgers: The People’s Choice on this edition of Cover the Bases.

Maury wrote the biography of a major league ballplayer with deep roots back to his southern heritage.  Dixie Walker became a fan favorite through his play on the field, but carries the legacy of having been an opponent to the breaking of the color barrier in baseball.  When the Brooklyn Dodgers, and specifically Branch Rickey, decided to have Jackie Robinson on the roster for the 1947 season, it was said to have been Walker who generated a petition to team management in opposition of the move.

Seasons prior to the fateful events of spring training in 1947, Walker had been dubbed as the successor to Babe Ruth in the Yankees lineup but injuries and the arrival of a kid named Joe DiMaggio made him expendable.  After accumulating decent career numbers with the White Sox and Tigers, he was picked up by the Brooklyn Dodgers for the 1940 season.  With the Dodgers he not only continued to hit the baseball, but most importantly to fans, he always came through when it counted against the rival New York Giants!

As things can happen in baseball and in life, things are not always what the might seem at first.  According to this article written by Jack Cuddy and carried here by the Modesto Bee, things were looking up for Dixie Walker with a change at the top of the Dodgers from Larry McPhail to Branch Rickey.  According to Maury, McPhail was the “George Steinbrenner of his day” and had a lot of conflicts with Dixie because of the adulation the fans and the media heaped upon him.  After the put downs and struggles with McPhail, things had to look better with new management.  It was of course the efforts that Rickey made towards integration that would ultimately connect Walker and Robinson in the conflict that defined Walker’s legacy.

It takes some effort to put these historical situations in context from our current cultural point of view, but during Walker’s playing career it was The Negro Leagues where African Americans played the game, with a “separate but equal” type of mindset.  Rickey was motivated for a number of reasons to integrate the game, including experiences with a former teammate, stocking the farm system with high caliber players, and financial reward at the gate.

Walker’s perspective was of course very different, with pressures from business associates in his Alabama hometown of Birmingham, as well as a general sense throughout baseball that jobs were at stake.  Players on the margins had to be looking over their shoulders at this potential influx of quality ballplayers and wanted to make every effort to save their own positions.

Maury recalls a failed strategy that Rickey used in his integration attempts, using Robinson as an opposing player during spring training in 1947, expecting the big league club to see his skill level and demand that he join the roster.  This did not work of course, a petition was generated, and Walker sent a letter to Branch Rickey indicating that he wanted to be traded.  Maury points out that the letter never specifically stated that the request was because he did not want to play with Robinson, but that he felt he had become a focal point in the controversy and a “scapegoat” for all of the southern players in opposition.

Walker went on to play during the 1947 season and apparently the on the field results were enough to help overcome any of the tension that had existed during spring training.  Winning (and money) helped soothe many of the challenges that stood in the way of Jackie Robinson’s teammates.

Maury had a chance to get to know Dixie Walker years later while Walker was coaching.  The common response to any inquiries into the situation was that in those times it was a natural response to an attempt at integration, but after getting to know Jackie he learned to respect him, though they never became close friends.  Walker also indicated that Robinson was not an easy person to get to like no matter his race, competitiveness and personality had an impact on a real friendship.

Dixie Walker had a good season in 1947, but the Dodgers still decided to trade him to Pittsburgh prior to 1948.  Speculation was always that he was traded because of the opposition to Robinson, however as Maury discovered by speaking with Ralph Branca years later, it was purely a baseball business decision.  Walker was getting up there in years and was traded as a 37 year old ballplayer in the twilight of a career.  In fact, he was finished in the majors just two years later. As Rickey always said “it’s better to trade a player a year too soon than a year too late”.

Maury worked with Susan Walker, Dixie’s daughter, when writing this book.  She had no knowledge of her father’s career directly, but could only infer from the comments from the numerous inquirers who knew of Walker’s reputation as the guy who tried to block Jackie Robinson.    Readers will get a great background on the family aspects of Walker’s story, including his wife Estelle who worked for Sonny Werblin seeking out talent for the MCA radio show Your Hit Parade.

We can only express our sincere thanks to Maury Allen for bringing this story to Cover the Bases.  He is able to identify the changing culture that was taking place in the country, and how it was impacting the game of baseball.  It is a significant story that we don’t usually get to hear.

You can find Maury at The Columnists.com to keep up with his current writings, and we look forward to any other books that he delivers in the future.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

I have wanted @EmmaSpan to appear on the Cover the Bases podcast since the moment I discovered her blog is called Eephus Pitch.  We sort of have a fondness for Bill Lee around these parts.  Emma is the author of 90% of the Game Is Half Mental: And Other Tales From the Edge of Baseball Fandom and it is a privilege to speak with her on the eve of her first title hitting the bookshelves.  The book is available for pre-order but will be out before the 2010 season opens.

As is the case with many baseball fans, Emma fell into her passion through exposure to the game from her Dad, in particular the Yankees.  Her writing career came about after she had started the Eephus Pitch blog as a simple outlet for her baseball ramblings, and it was discovered by one of the editors for The Village Voice!  The editor contacted her to inquire about covering the playoffs which in turn led to contact from a literary agent about writing a book … all of this serendipitous contact as a result of expressing herself on a blog.  Congrats!

Emma was influenced by the Bernie Williams, Andy Pettite and Paul O’Neill Yankees teams, and specifically had that moment of sensory overload attending a game at The Stadium. As she states, “without sounding cliche” the sight of the green grass and bright white uniforms are transforming.

Fans will discover that Emma has put together a collection of articles and entries in the book 90% of the Game is Half Mental, which address baseball from a fan’s perspective, from a sports reporter’s perspective, as well as irreverent looks at anything baseball related, such as movies.

Emma went to Milwaukee to cover baseball in a small market, as well as an extensive trip to Taiwan to experience the coverage of Chien-Ming Wang in that country.  She writes about uncovering some of the seedy side of the game there, and discovered that passion for the local game has been diminished somewhat as fans become more interested in the outcome of the Yankees.

The chapter on movies is a particular favorite for Emma since she was a movie major in college.  She has a fondness for enjoying bad movies such as Rhubarb the Millionaire Tomcat, a 1951 tale of a cat with an inheritance.  Or the dastardly drama of Night Game starring Roy Scheider as a detective on the lookout for a former pitcher with a mean hook (and we don’t mean curveball).   She also takes apart The Natural since it does not hold true to the darker elements of the original story in the book.

Fans will find the chapters about covering the teams quite interesting, including some behind the scenes tales of the locker rooms.  She also details the stressful times during Spring Training as a young female hustling across Florida only to get stood up by Curt Schilling.  Her perspective and experience did not diminish her idyllic sense of what spring training is all about, and of course no sports writer should complain because after all … It’s Baseball!

To keep up with everything that Emma is doing, you can follow her on Twitter @EmmaSpan, at her blog Eephus Pitch, she writes for Bronx Banter, as well as Bugs and Cranks a general baseball blog.

You can follow this link to Amazon to get your copy of 90% of the Game Is Half Mental: And Other Tales From the Edge of Baseball Fandom.

We would like to sincerely thank Emma Span for taking the time to appear on Cover the Bases, and look forward to seeing her book shoot up the bestsellers lists.  Hopefully, she will  come back to visit as she begins promoting her future titles!

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you, no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

For over 22 years, Andy Strasberg worked for the San Diego Padres overseeing their marketing efforts.  He was on the scene for Ozzie Smith’s first backflip, when Kurt Bevacqua caught a ball dropped from the tallest building in San Diego, and was present when the San Diego Chicken hatched.

In 2008 Strasberg co-authored “Baseball’s Greatest Hit The Story of Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and was responsible for the United States Postal Service issuing a stamp commemorating “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

We are so pleased to welcome Andy Strassberg to our Cover the Bases podcast to talk about the development of his passion for the game of baseball, and his current endeavor called Fantography.

Andy’s Note: That’s Prince Fielder with his dad Cecil at Dodger Stadium. Newest Hall of Famer Doug Harvey is in the background and was the home plate ump for the HR Derby between Canseco & Fielder. The taping in January 1993 would be shown on FOX.

As with many passionate baseball fans, Andy’s Dad took him to his first baseball game.  As a nine year old walking through Harlem, the Polo Grounds presented a bursting scene with a wide patch of green grass, bright white uniforms of the New York Giants, and the oversized uniform numbers of the Philadelphia Phillies.  Also, beer, hot dogs and cigar smoke was the aroma that sparked the visit.

New York City in those days was the home of three major league teams.  Starting in 1949 and running through 1964, a team from New York would appear in the World Series all but one of those years. It must have been an amazing time to be a baseball fan in close proximity to these rivalries, and Andy was immersed directly in these dramas.

The story of Andy Strasberg and baseball cannot be told without discussing his relationship with Roger Maris.  Bucking the trend of many Yankee fans in 1959 – 1960, choosing Roger Maris as his favorite player over Mickey Mantle was a fairly radical decision.  When Maris came through with an MVP season during the 1960 campaign, that decision seemed to be a good one!  Then along came the 1961 season when a thirteen year old watched as either Mickey or Roger seemed to hit a home run every day in pursuit of Babe Ruth’s single season home run record.

Things changed for Andy for the 1962 season as he was now able to attend Yankee games without a chaperon.  This was when direct communication with Maris started to take place as Andy would get to the ballpark at 8:30 am to view players arriving and all of the pre-game activities.  His efforts did not go unnoticed, as Roger commented many years later that it was a “quiet consistency” in being a Maris fan that made Andy stand out.

Andy tells of getting a promised broken bat from Maris after hearing about the cracked lumber via a late night radio broadcast, and you must listen to the re-telling of a visit to the ballpark in Pittsburgh as a college student , where some real baseball magic takes place….

The relationship would really blossom into something more than a typical player & fan connection, and actually turned into a life long friendship.  After Roger passed away, Andy became fast friends with Maris’ son Randy, and was paid the ultimate tribute when he named his son Andrew.  Having the grandson of your baseball idol as a namesake must be one of the most unbelievable consummations of fandom one can imagine!

The culmination of the experience was working as a technical advisor and an appearance in the HBO Movie 61*.

Andy is now working on a project called Fantography.  He recalls that the first photograph ever taken of him in regards to baseball was on the steps of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He also realized when looking back at all of the personal photographs he had taken over the years that there must be many many more lost treasures that needed to be saved and shared, so the web site and project Fantography was born.

Andy’s Note: Fred Stiely took this photo of Bert Shotton in 1922 at spring training. Shotton managed the Brooklyn Dodgers while wearing street clothes in the late 1940s.

Some of these photographs we are losing as older generations are dying off and their mementos are simply being discarded, while on the opposite end of the spectrum, current day digital photography is getting stored (and sometimes lost) on computer hard drives.  It is the mission of Fantography to provide a easy to use web site that will collect, curate, and importantly share this never before seen documentation of the game of baseball.

Andy has a holy grail of a photograph that he would like to uncover … Have you ever seen a color photograph of Babe Ruth!?!  We want to find that photo out there somewhere.

Andy’s Note: New Giants’ manager Al Dark made an appearance at a local SF school to talk baseball before the 1962 season. Bill Klink shot this and couldn‘t believe that he was that close to Dark.

He is not looking for game action shots that would be covered by sports photographers, but its the fan experience represented in player poses, ball parks or “civilian” images of baseball players in every day life that are of interest.

Do you have these types of photos?  You can either visit Andy’s web site or if you need assistance in digitizing a print that you have, drop us an email and we will do what we can to help out.

To hear about Andy’s contributions to the development of the book Baseball’s Greatest Hit The Story of Take Me Out to the Ball Game he suggests that you listen to this episode of Cover the Bases with our guest from the Baseball Hall of Fame, Tim Wiles.

We can’t express our gratitude enough to Andy Strasberg for appearing on Cover the Bases.  We hope to contribute in as many ways possible to accomplishing the goals of Fantography.net and we will continue to stay in touch with this passionate baseball fan.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you, no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Do you have a favorite player from your youth who captured your attention simply because he had that one magical year? The season that corresponds with your developing a passion for the game of baseball?  Author Rich Letarte has collected the stories of twenty-one of those types of players from 1950 – 1961 in his book That One Glorious Season: Baseball Players with One Spectactular Year.

We are delighted to have Rich appear on the Cover the Bases podcast to share his stories about writing this book.  He tells us about getting to know some of the players and even the wives who helped direct his work.  First though, we get to hear how Rich became a baseball fan as a youth in the early Fifties.

For Rich, there was something special about the 1954 New York Giants, and in particular an attraction to a player by the name of Dusty Rhodes.  This was the World Series Championship year for the Giants, immortalized by the Willie Mays catch, but for a young boy truly forming his baseball roots, the four for six pinch hit performance of Rhodes, driving in the go-ahead or tying run in all three games he appeared was a seed that eventually became this book.

Dusty Rhodes had an entire 1954 campaign that was marked by crucial clutch hits coming off the bench, combined with Johnny Antonelli’s 21 win season, and Rich had the basis for the types of characters he was going to portray in his book.

Many of the players profiled were top of mind for Rich to include, but as he was compiling the book he decided that it would be appropriate to represent every team with at least one player.  He dug around the rosters for representatives from the Tigers, Cardinals, Senators, and Yankees to round out his collection.

Rich also details for us a personal story of his which is represented by a photograph in the front of the book.  As a young boy in 1954 he was fortunate enough to have collected the most money for the Jimmy Fund, and got to present the check to Ted Williams in the Red Sox dugout.  Waiting in the dugout to make the presentation, Rich(ie) spoke to many players, but in particular Jackie Jensen.  Rich gets to recount the story to Jackie Jensen’s widow many years later as he is putting this book together.

During the podcast we get into some detail about a few of the players, including Jim Konstanty of The Whiz Kid Philadelphia Phillies of 1950. In order to get the complete history of Konstanty’s year, Rich sent the manuscripts off to Jim’s wife Mary and she contributed greatly to getting the documentation correct.

We talk about one of the all-time tough luck players in Harvey Haddix.  A number of players during this era had to deal with obligations for service of World War II.  At first Haddix was requested to stay at home and work the farm, but later was drafted into the military.  It wasn’t until after his service that he entered professional ball as an older 24 year old.

During the 1952 season he had a cup of coffee and pitched in 7 games.  After winning 20 games in 1953 it was determined he was ineligible to win the Rookie of the Year award because of his appearances the previous year.  Bad luck would strike him again, literally, off the bat of Joe Adcock in 1954 with a shot to the leg that derailed a very successful season.

It was the 1959 season when Haddix pitched into the collective lore of baseball as a Pittsburgh Pirate, by taking a perfect game into the 12th inning only to lose it in the 13th, again off the bat of Joe Adcock.  Major League Baseball rule changes have subsequently taken place, including removing the credit for a no-hitter because it  now has to be achieved in a complete game.  Of course we all know that Harvey Haddix achieved 12 innings of perfection!

We don’t try to put Rich on the spot, but we know that there are many other players in decades past not chronicled in his book. We decide to give a lineup of potential players worthy of recognition in a volume and put it to the listeners to take up the keyboard and craft a companion to That One Glorious Season.

We express our sincere gratitude to Rich for sharing his stories with us and for taking the time to appear on the Cover the Bases podcast. Follow this link to purchase a copy of That One Glorious Season: Baseball Players with One Spectactular Year, 1950-1961 or visit Rich’s web site at GloriousSeason.com.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you, no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

The opening paragraph of Willie’s Boys: The 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, The Last Negro League World Series, and the Making of a Baseball Legend is of Carl Hubbell acting as a scout for the New York Giants, watching a young Willie Mays.  Hubbell watches as a ball in the gap is quickly cut off by Mays, who then turns and fires to second to keep the runner from stretching a single.  On this episode of Cover the Bases, author John Klima tells of his own experiences in scouting big league prospects, and of the player acquisition process in the waning days of the Negro Leagues.

John is the owner of Baseball Beginnings.com which provides advanced coverage of major league caliber players, utilizing technologies such as video, advanced scouting techniques and analysis.  John was able to draw upon some critical assistance from some legendary names in the scouting profession such as George Gennovese, Bob Zuck, and Spider Jorgensen to get his career in scouting under way.

Baseball Beginnings.com focuses on what he calls projection scouting, looking at players for what they may be able to produce at higher levels of ball, and not just reporting what they have accomplished in their short careers to this point.

At Baseballisms, we hope that the book about the world of scouting that Lee Lowenfish hinted at in a recent Cover the Bases episode, comes to fruition.  This cross between art and science is a fascinating aspect of the game that can often be overlooked.

John states that the signing of Willie Mays was the “greatest scouting story ever told”.  It was a challenge in those days for teams to find and sign players, made even more challenging with the discriminatory practices of the times.  Many teams had seen and heard of Mays, but it was the New York Giants who were able to pull the correct strings and talk to the correct people around Willie to make the signing happen.

The Birmingham Black Barons were rumored to have had up to twelve players on that team who could have been playing in the major leagues.  Four of the sixteen teammates actually did make it to the bigs, as well as the ballboy for that team.  It took more than just talent for the Negro League players to actually get through the rigors of getting signed and playing in the Majors.

Piper Davis is a large figure in this story as a mentor to an 18 year old Willie Mays coming out of Birmingham.  Piper was a predecessor of the famous line of athletes from that city, having played baseball with Willie Mays’ dad in the industrial league, and even played basketball for the Globetrotters.  Davis put the teenager into the lineup and let him grow into the role on the field, plus he helped school Willie in what it was like to be on the road playing baseball for a living. Davis knew his talent would be enough to get him a shot at playing, but it was teaching him about what would be expected that is at the heart of this story.

Willie’s Boys had to get through the Kansas City Monarchs in a knock down drag out brawl of a series before playing the Homestead Grays in the final Negro League World Series. Willie had a great series in a losing effort, as the Negro American League and Negro National Leagues could no longer stay in business.

John brings up some interesting points regarding the signing and compensation of players that lead to the downfall of the Leagues.  Teams as well as players were compensated, and many times the major league teams could “flip” a player without adequate compensation to the originating Negro League team.

Follow this link to pick up a copy of Willie’s Boys: The 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, The Last Negro League World Series, and the Making of a Baseball Legend today. Hopefully you will connect with your own baseball passions through the words of John Klima.

To follow John you can find him on Twitter or at his web site BaseballBeginnings.com ..  We express our sincere gratitude to John for sharing his story with us and for taking the time to appear on the Cover the Bases podcast.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Branch Rickey is one of the immortals of baseball, one of the most influential people the game has ever known.  On this episode of Cover the Bases, we are pleased to present historian and biographer, Lee Lowenfish, author of Branch Rickey: Baseball’s Ferocious Gentleman.  The book is the winner of a coveted Seymour Medal award from SABR.

Lee Lowenfish is a native of New York City who has a masters and doctoral degrees in American History from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He grew up a Giants fans and only rooted for the Dodgers when they played the Yankees in the World Series.  However, he was compelled to write a definitive biography of the man most identified with the Brooklyn Dodgers, with an eye towards his historical pursuits in the area of race relations in the U.S.

Lee wrote a book about labor relations in Major League Baseball called The Imperfect Diamond: A History of Baseball’s Labor Wars (third edition due in April 2010) in which Branch Rickey was a foil, a staunch supporter of the reserve clause that tied players to ballclubs indefinitely.  Throughout all of Lee’s efforts, he felt a calling  to write a book that includes a view of Rickey’s upbringing as a poor farm boy, forming his moral and charitable character that ultimately integrates baseball.

Rickey was not only instrumental in advancing race relations by integrating the Major Leagues with racial minorities, but also helped to support the war effort and women’s rights by working along side P.K. Wrigley in the formation of The Girl’s All American Professional Baseball League, previously covered in a previous episode of Cover the Bases with baseball book author Sue Macy.

Lee recounts that Rickey even made attempts to recruit and evaluate Japanese citizens who were detained in internment camps during the Second World War as well.  It should be pointed out that Rickey did not advance these principals as just for the sake of the cause, but rather he was focused entirely on finding the “best man for the job”.

Another fine observation is the fact that Rickey would love the current World Baseball Classic and the exposure it brings to the game on a global level. He felt that baseball was a great way of life for youths around the world and that they would benefit from playing the game.

If a player was going to get a chance with a Branch Rickey team, whether it was his early days with the St. Louis Cardinals, the Brooklyn Dodgers or his later years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, that player must have speed, a strong arm and a certain quality of aggressiveness and adventure, especially on the basepaths.

Lee believes that Rickey would have had differences of opinions with  current day executives such as Billy Beane or Bill James, who believe on base percentage is a tool.  Rickey would not be happy with a player who has a knack for getting on base but could not run well.

Note .. Lee mentions that his next book is going to be about the services that scouts provide and the value they bring.  We can’t wait for that insight into an under appreciated element of the game.

We want to call attention to the Brooklyn Cyclones, who Lee mentions in recounting a tale that includes Pee Wee Reese’s and Jackie Robinson’s widows attending a dedication ceremony unveiling their statue at the stadium. There is something very right about having baseball in Brooklyn.

The sub title of the book; Baseballs Ferocious Gentleman is derived from a term that Branch Rickey used to describe the players that he had.  On the field they could be ferocious in the way that they played, with a strong desire for winning. Off the field they were gentleman.  Jackie Robinson is famously told that he cannot fight back no matter how terrible the slights might be, and he maintained his gentlemanly stature throughout the course of his entire career.

To finish off the podcast, Lee heads off to a luncheon that he has been doing for 20 years.  Originally started by the late Larry Ritter, who wrote The Glory of Their Times.  Also in attendance will be Ray Robinson who wrote Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time and Matty: An American Hero: Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants among many others.  The luncheon will feature Stan Isaacs who will bring in his Hall of Fame ballot for the group to discuss and debate the qualifications of those who are on the ballot.

Two players who may get some interest from the group are Barry Larkin and Robbie Alomar.

To follow Lee you can find him on Twitter or at his web site LeeLowenfish.com ..  We express our sincere gratitude to Lee for sharing his story with us and for taking the time to appear on the Cover the Bases podcast.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Sal Maglie was the other pitcher in some of the most memorable games in baseball history.  On this episode of Cover the Bases we speak with biographer Judith Testa, who provides us with insights into the story of  Sal Maglie: Baseball’s Demon Barber and how his persona (and nickname) transcends his baseball legacy. We also discuss those baseball moments that every fan will recognize and highlight Sal’s role in the game.

As we do with all guests on Cover the Bases, we start off by asking Judy what compelled her to write a book about a New York Giants pitcher who was usually the opponent for a young Brooklyn Dodgers fan growing up in the suburbs of New York.  As she eloquently states, she learned baseball along with the English language.  There was something fascinating about the pitcher on the Giants that conveyed menace through an old black and white television, and as an adult she remembered her feelings for the game and the player.

Maglie presented himself as the perfect subject for Judy to write about in a biography.

There is something romantic about a city with three major league baseball teams. This was an era when baseball coverage was in depth via newspaper and radio, and to a later extent television, so that the conversation and buzz around town was all about the team’s fortunes and the favorite players who performed on a nightly basis.

Judy touches on how player loyalty to the teams, and even the neighborhoods they played in, is missing in today’s game.  The players are no longer part of the fabric of the cities whereas in the 50′s, the conversation about their exploits permeated the air.

In a household of split allegiances, Judy remembers hearing her Grandfather, a staunch Giants fan say “Sal the Barber, he’ll give the Dodgers another close shave today!” …

There can be no discussion about Sal Maglie without starting out with the nickname – Sal the Barber.  What was once an ethnic slight, disparaging him by comparison to the Italian immigrants, he ultimately cultivated it as something that he realized added to his reputation as a pitcher.  The inside pitch that buzzed batters under the chin, combined with his demeanor and appearance on the mound, ensured that batters were not digging in too deep in the batters box.

Maglie helped tutor future stars such as Jim Lonborg and Dick Radatz as pitching coach of the Red Sox.  Players can have an entirely different persona off the field versus on the field, and Maglie was the epitome of that.   He was great to the fans, writers, and support staff while not being anyone’s friend on the field.  The same can be said certainly of Jim Longborg.

His career was not without some interruptions.  A chronic sinus condition kept him out of military service, but he also did not compete in the majors while working in a defense plant.  He took a nice contract in the Mexican League funded by a couple of brothers trying to compete against the bigs, and since Maglie had not reached his full potential with the Giants, he decided the opportunity might be better elsewhere.  His decision cost him a couple of more years out of the majors due to a ban by the commissioner.  Judy believes that the time in the Mexican League actually helped him develop his intimidating presence by working with Cuban pitcher Dolf Luque.

We had to address some of the famous appearances in baseball history in which Sal Maglie was involved.  Historically some of these moments rank as some of the greatest of all time.  He was the losing pitcher in Don Larsen’s perfect game.  He was naked in the locker room after getting relieved from the mound when Bobby Thompson hit the Shot Heard Round the World.  And finally in this category, he was relieved prior to facing Vic Wertz in the 1954 World Series. It was a deep drive to center off the bat of Wertz when Willie Mays made what some believe one of the greatest catches in history.  Sal was a close encounter with all of these events.

Sal Maglie had to overcome tragedy later in life with the death of his wife and adopted son, however he pushed on in stoic fashion serving as pitching coach for the Red Sox and Seattle Pilots as well as some minor league instruction.  He returned to his hometown of Niagra Falls, where the local community re-named the baseball stadium in his honor.  First built in 1939, and dedicated in Sal’s name somewhere around 1983, it will be the home of the Niagra Power baseball team in 2010.

We express our sincere gratitude to Judith Testa for sharing this story with us and for taking the time to appear on the Cover the Bases podcast.  If you would like to find out more information about Judy’s writings, her Amazon page has a great summary of her other books.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame is the third most frequently heard tune in the U.S. behind Happy Birthday and the Star Spangled Banner.  It evokes instant images of green grass, sunshine, the crack of a bat, and as Warner Fusselle is quoted as saying “it’s the happiest minute in sports”.  Our guest on this episode of Cover the Bases is Tim Wiles, the author of Baseball’s Greatest Hit: The Story of Take Me Out to the Ballgame.  We are fortunate to have such a renowned expert on the subject of baseball and popular culture join us on the program.  Tim is the Director of Research at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown.

Although he was hesitant at first to take on the project of writing this book, we are glad that he was persuaded by one of his co-authors, Bob Thompson, to pursue this historical song.  As Tim tells in the podcast, his one condition for getting involved with the book was to include his friend and collector of all things related to Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Andy Strasberg.

The trio did what all good baseball fans would do and ventured to a ballpark,  Citizen’s Bank Park in this case, to discuss the project and set off on a course to present the song in a beautiful literary package.

They also had the good fortune of working with a talented graphics designer named Damien Castaneda. He was able to take the comprehensive elements of the research that the authors conducted, and put them in a visually appealing format that will speak to any baseball fan.

We get some great insight from Tim about the co-authors of the song Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer.  These two very different personalities crossed paths on Tin Pan Alley back in the early 1900′s, partnered on a few hits prior to 1908 but then hit a homerun on this collaboration.  Interestingly it is the last song that they did together.  Tim has since discovered after publishing the book that this had much to do with Jack Norworth’s equally famous wife, Nora Bayes.

A challenge for any researcher is to determine what information is fact and what information is embellished (this will continue to get more difficult as everyone can now easily publish content, it is no longer required to have printing presses or broadcast facilities).  After Von Tilzer’s death, the great marketer Jack Norworth went on to use various anecdotes to help promote the song’s popularity.  Tim and his co-authors examine many of the claims to get to the true story of Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

The book contains a prologue about the death of Albert Von Tilzer as written by Nancy Kriplen.  It represents some of the magical qualities surrounding the game of baseball, and just reinforces our belief that everyone is touched by the game, and has their own unique story to tell about baseball in their lives.

After examining the background of Take Me Out to the Ballgame, we get to enjoy some versions that are represented on the CD that accompanies the book:

Musicians we hear are:

Dr. John and his unmistakable New Orleans swamp boogie version.  Tim loves Dr. John’s swing style, and in fact as he tells it on the podcast, when asked to sign a copy of the book will use “Swing Away!”  in the salutation.  We also discuss the fact that Cracker Jack is mentioned famously in the song.  It might be the best product placement of all time, but we suspect that it was just happenstance to the benefit of the product.

Fred Lambert, from 1908, is the earliest recording presented in the collection, accompanied by what we suspect is a calliope.  We hear the entire version of the song which includes two verses to accompany the chorus that we all know.  Tim is lobbying to have all Baseballisms.com fans tell WGN that he will perform the song at Wrigley only if he gets to perform ALL of the lyrics to the song! Let’s do it!

Tim, who performs the classic baseball poem Casey at the Bat each year at the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, has deduced that our Katie Casey, who’s point of view the song is written, must be the daughter of mighty Casey of Mudville.

Tim Wiles performs Casey At the Bat

Bruce Springstone is the parody character created by a journalist from Baltimore. He recorded a Springsteen tribute record that needed a b-side. So prior to release, a cut of Take Me Out to the Ballgame ws recorded and it became a regional hit. Subsequently, there is an actual Springsteen version on a live album to track down as well.

We cannot complete a conversation about Take Me Out to the Ballgame without discussing Harry Caray and the great tradition at Wrigley Field when the seventh inning stretch comes around.  The book does get into the actual beginnings of this tradition for Harry and informs Cubs fans that it was actually while with the White Sox that owner Bill Veeck persuades Harry to lead the crowd.

After Harry’s rendition, Tim points out appropriately that it is Gary Pressy on the organ with the accompaniment.

To get to know more about Tim’s work or to get in touch with him about a baseball related question, he can be reached at twiles@baseballhalloffame<dot>org and his direct number is 607.547.0332.  He has graciously offered to autograph copies for anyone who contacts him directly!

As promised, here is a little video that I recorded so that you can get a sense of what the book looks like. It’s a beautiful collection that any baseball fan would be proud to own.

We express our gratitude to Tim Wiles for taking the time to appear on Cover the Bases with us, and look forward to keeping up with more of his works, and visiting him some day at the Hall of Fame.

Follow this link to pick up a copy of Baseball’s Greatest Hit: The Story of Take Me Out to the Ballgame today. Hopefully you will connect with your own baseball passions through the words of Tim, Andy Strasberg and Bob Thompson.

If you like the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Yankee fans, and truthfully, any baseball fan will know the book titles that author Peter Golenbock has penned over the course of his career. To name just a few, you have The Bronx Zoo: The Astonishing Inside Story of the 1978 World Champion New York Yankees, then you could turn to Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964, or finally pick up a copy of Number 1 Billy Martin.  In reality, you have to check out his Amazon page because he covers a wide range of topics from baseball to NASCAR to Gator football to Tony Curtis and more.  You will find something of interest.

On this episode of Cover the Bases, we are here to talk with Peter about George: The Poor Little Rich Boy Who Built the Yankee Empire.  As we talk in the wake of the New York Yankees 27th World Championship, there was a major presence who was missing at the trophy presentation – George Steinbrenner.  It has come to the point where he physically and mentally cannot attend too many games, and power of ownership has been ceded to his sons Hank and Hal Steinbrenner.  This is now the seventh World Championship of the Steinbrenner regime, and this book chronicles George’s life as a little boy, through his formative years in college and the military, up through early attempts at owning sports franchises, to his days as owner of the New York Yankees.

This book is a comprehensive and complete account of George’s life story as Peter describes it, because he began to collect his information and interview individuals who were central figures way back in 1980.  This has allowed Peter to include elements from those who are no longer with us.

Peter states that he was “born with the baseball gene”, which has compelled him to return again and again to writing about baseball.  He was fortunate enough to have met Jackie Robinson through his Uncle.  Peter has had a rare opportunity, all the way back to 1972, when he received his first contract to write a book about baseball, right at the time of George’s takeover of the Yankees.

George’s story is intriguing because it is just as much about style as it is results.  No one can complain about the fact that he took over a team that was not winning at all, and has now delivered seven championships.  Meanwhile, he was such a meddlesome micro-manager he famously had issues with every employee on and off the field.  He hated to have rookies play on his team, and made trades that were detrimental in the long run.  Finally, he was involved in situations that resulted in getting suspensions from baseball for his actions.  It was during theses suspensions when George could not interfere that the Yankees, that they would build the foundations to achieve their most success!

From a very early age, George learned that money and power could take care of things, and he spent his entire life striving to have that power. His father would drive into the military academy when George was in trouble and just smooth things over.  It did not go unnoticed.

During his days in Cleveland, George came close to owning an NBA franchise until it was discovered that some of the documents portraying investors and cash liquidity were forged.  One of his best friends who’s signature he had forged was Jim Stouffer.  Jim’s dad Vernon Stouffer was the owner of the Cleveland Indians and when he put the team up for sale, he remembered this episode with George and refused to sell him the team!

Although George will forever be linked to one of the greatest baseball franchises in history, his first love was really football.  Peter tells a great tale about George giving some career lessons to Len Dawson.

We wrap the episode with Peter telling the tale of how he was banned from Yankee Stadium by team PR Director Rick Cerrone.  We got a great tip from our friend Jane Heller to ask Peter about this particular Old Timers Game. “You have defied me, You have defied me!” … too funny.

We express our gratitude to Peter Golenbock for taking the time to appear on Cover the Bases with us, and look forward to keeping up with more of his works.  You can visit his Tampa Bay Rays blog at The Players Point and find out more about the books he has published at Golenbockbooks.com.

Follow this link to pick up a copy of George: The Poor Little Rich Boy Who Built the Yankee Empire today. Hopefully you will connect with your own baseball passions through the words of Peter Golenbock.

If you the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Hank Aaron’s first summer in the minor leagues was spent as far away as you could possibly get from his home in Mobile Alabama, literally and figuratively. During that summer in 1952, an 18 year old Henry Aaron was assigned by the Boston Braves to play in Eau Claire Wisconsin.  The color barrier may have been broken by Jackie Robinson in Brooklyn in 1947, but many other players had to break that same barrier in towns across the country.  On this Cover the Bases podcast, we talk with the author Jerry Poling whose book is titled A Summer Up North: Henry Aaron and the Legend of Eau Claire Baseball.

The process started for Jerry back in 1994 when a statue dedicated to Hank Aaron was unveiled at the town ballpark called Carson Park. After the ceremony, as Jerry went about his life,  he thought more and more about what really happened during those days Hank spent among the predominantly white townspeople of Eau Claire.  The only other African-Americans in Eau Claire at the time would have been a couple of Aaron’s teammates on the Eau Claire Bears.  It was also the first time that Hank had white teammates and a white manager.

Among his extensive research, Jerry explored the stories and anecdotes from those in the town who were around during that time period, getting first hand accounts of playing and rooting for the Bears.  The player and the town were essentially growing up together, experiencing life in a new America.

Aaron made an immediate impact on the field, scorching line drives in his first two at bats, hitting .336 on the season, was a Northern League All-Star selection, and won Rookie of the Year honors.  He was such a hot prospect that Boston Braves management would check in on a regular basis.

Carson Park is the ball field where Hank Aaron played for the Bears, and it is still a very prominent part of the City of Eau Claire.  The park is still “The Home of Eau Claire Baseball”, and many other teams have used it for games including semi-pro, high school and college teams.   Jerry tells of those great summer nights around town when the unmistakable sounds of a baseball game can be heard coming across the lake where the park sits.

It was not only Hank Aaron who embarked on their professional careers in Eau Claire.  There is a long legacy of Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta Braves who put on the Bears uniform. Names such as Tony Cloninger, Bob Uecker, Rico Carty and Joe Torre will be familiar to Braves fans, and appear in the pages of A Summer up North.

There is a final part of this story that Jerry was directly involved in.  There was a young girl in Eau Claire who befriended Hank and the two were considered boyfriend and girlfriend.  Hank left town for good in the fall of 1952, never to have seen her again.  While Jerry was researching the book he was able to reconnect the two long lost friends!

Hank Aaron came back to the Eau Claire in the Summer of 1994 for the dedication of the statue at Carson Park.

We express our sincere gratitude to Jerry Poling for sharing his story with us and for taking the time to appear on the Cover the Bases podcast.  If you would like to contact Jerry about getting an autographed copy of his book, you can reach him at this email address.  To shop at Amazon.com, follow this link to pick up a copy of A Summer Up North: Henry Aaron and the Legend of Eau Claire Baseball today. Hopefully you will connect with this story of a town, a team and a player transcending the game.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Not just for Yankees Fans and not just for She Fans! Confessions of a She-Fan: The Course of True Love with the New York Yankees by Jane Heller, is the story of a baseball fan’s rediscovery of the passion that makes the game of baseball so great.

We are honored to present Jane Heller on the Cover the Bases podcast.  Jane is the author of many romantic comedy novels, and you can find out about her titles and what’s on her mind at this Amazon Blog where she posts.  She also has a great Yankees blog that you should all subscribe to, but it’s her thoughts on the recently released book Confessions of a She-Fan that we are most interested in on the podcast.

The story begins when she writes an article and submits it to the New York Times Sports Page in 2007, indicating her displeasure with the Yankees and requesting a divorce! The fan backlash was loud and clear and caused her to look inward. It sparked the idea for going on the road with the team to write this book.

By hitting the road, Jane was able to see how fans in other cities interact with their local ballclub, whether they have a history of winning or not.  She was able to admit that she had been spoiled by the riches of the Yankee Dynasty, and witnessed baseball fans at the purest level.

During a visit to Kansas City, waiting for the Royals Express bus to head to Kauffman Stadium, Jane has an “Ah-Ha” moment where she interacts with some hard core She Fans.  The connections made during the trip were beyond just the passionate baseball fans, and female fans attending ballgames, it also included Jane’s husband who accompanied her on this journey.

Jane relates how the She Fan title came about as a distinguishing term for the way in which women and men interact with the game, and a subtle difference in the important factors of fandom for each gender.  The title does have a funny origin, back to the She-Demons sci-fi cult classic!

By the Way — big props from Baseballisms to Jane for scoring all the ball games, not just during her trip but even now as she watches the games! (We once thought it would be a great idea during a roadtrip as well)…

Finally, we talk with Jane about her early years as a fan of the Yankees, how her Grandfathers both influenced her love of the Mickey Mantle era teams, and we compare them to the current Derek Jeter teams.  All baseball fans should take note of the accomplishment when Jeter reaches the 3000 hit mark, the first Yankee in history.

We express our gratitude to Jane Heller for taking the time to appear on Cover the Bases with us, and look forward to keeping up with more of her writings by visiting her blog at JaneHeller.com, and visiting with her at all of her social media profiles.

Follow this link to pick up a copy of Confessions of a She-Fan: The Course of True Love with the New York Yankees today. Hopefully you will connect with your own baseball passions through the words of Jane Heller!

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!