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Category Archives: Right Off the Bat Book
The Baseball Scene
Henry James, for whom no abstraction, no characteristic or gesture, was too subtle to be examined (and examined), qualified and qualified again, is generally credited with a fictional form that was actually pioneered by women, mostly Continental-women writers on to … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Cricket, Right Off the Bat Book, Right Off the Bat Website, Yankees
Tagged Babe Ruth, Bernard Malamud, Boston Red Sox, Charles Dickens, Chicago Cubs, Cricket, designated hitter, Don Bradman, Izaak Walton, Jane Austen, John Updike, Literature, London Stadium, Major League Baseball, Mark Twain, National League, New York Yankees, Ring Lardner, St. Louis Cardinals, Summer Olympics
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Great Stadiums (10): Big Beautiful Shea Stadium
I (Evander) went wild first visiting the then-new home of the New York Mets (short for Metropolitans), something like 55 years ago. Ground was broken for “Flushing Meadow Park Municipal Stadium” on October 28, 1961. Shea was McLuhan-cool. It had … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Right Off the Bat Book, Stadiums
Tagged Astrodome, Bill Shea, Houston Astros, Jane Jarvis, Joe Namath, Literature, Major League Baseball, Mike Piazza, National League Championship Series, New York Mets, Nolan Ryan, Pat Jarvis, Shea Stadium, Stadiums, Tom Seaver, World Series
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Streaking
Like the proverbial first-small-step of the longest journey, record-MLB streaks begin innocently enough. Each captures the imagination of the public in different ways. The most enthralling streaks occur over the course of a season. A few, equally impressive, are accomplished … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Cricket, Right Off the Bat Book, Right Off the Bat Website, Yankees
Tagged 56 game hitting streak, All-Star Game, Babe Ruth, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Brooklyn Atlantics, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, closers, Cricket, Cricket Rules, Dale Long, Don Drysdale, Don Mattingly, Elias Sports Bureau, Eric Gagne, exit velocity, Ford C. Frick, home run, intentional walk, Joe Krakauskas, Joe Wilhoit, Kansas City Athletics, Ken Keltner, launch angle, Literature, Los Angeles Dodgers, Major League Baseball, Mickey Mantle, Moneyball, Montreal Expos, National Association, National Baseball Hall of Fame, National League, New York Giants, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, OBP, Orel Hershiser, Pacific Coast League, Pete Rose, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsgurgh Pirates, relief pitchers/firemen, Roger Maris, Sabermetrics, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, San Francisco Seals, Ted Williams, Terry Francona, Wee Willie Keeler, Western League, Whitey Ford, Wichita Jobbers
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Home-run Boom in June
What gives? Has it something to do with $$$? Yuh think? Elias Sports Bureau registers 1,101 home runs slugged in the two major leagues during June 2017. That tops the one-month record (May 2000) by thirty-two. We at Right off … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Right Off the Bat Book, Right Off the Bat Website, Yankees
Tagged Aaron Judge, Alex Gordon, All-Star Game, Babe Ruth, exit velocity, Home Run Derby, Kansas City Royals, launch angle, Major League Baseball, Mark McGwire, Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees, Roger Maris, Rookie of the Year Award, Steroids, Yankee Stadium
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Annus Mirabilis 1869: Year of the Rain Out
On July 23, 1866, the Cincinnati Red Stockings were organized, and from 1867 to 1870 their record was 175 wins, 15 losses, 1 draw. Base-ball, to that time, had been “a Gentleman’s game”: even if the Reds beat everyone’s brains … Continue reading
Getting All Political, but Not What You May Think
For several dozen reasons, President Obama’s historic visit to Cuba on the first day of spring 2016 is historic. We at Right off the Bat have covered everything from baseball in Iran to (probably somewhere in this blog, certainly in … Continue reading
Cricket Comes to Citi Field Revisited
The crepuscule of early November settles in Citi Field. The World Series is over, tho there are still faded signs stenciled outside the first-and-third-base lines proclaiming it. The mound has been flattened and covered, and there is a mostly dirt … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Cricket, England, India, Pakistan, Right Off the Bat Book, Right Off the Bat Website, South Africa, Sri Lanka, T20 Cricket, West Indies
Tagged Babe Ruth, Citi Field, Gil Hodges, Literature, Lou Gehrig, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ricky Ponting, rounders, Sachin Tendulkar, Shaun Pollock, sir curtly ambrose, Tom Seaver, World Series
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Pure Products of America
Babe Ruth and Elvis Presley died the same day: August 16. Think about this. Their deaths occurred fewer than thirty years apart. Each revolutionized and exported American culture while barely stepping foot outside North America. Elvis never performed away from … Continue reading
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