Author Archives: rightoffthebatbook

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About rightoffthebatbook

Co-author of the book, "Right Off the Bat: Baseball, Cricket, Literature, and Life"

The Quiet Men, Part 1

I (Martin) am not someone predisposed to the flashy player—the one who hits the big shots, grunts the loudest, or likes to rile up the fans with big pronouncements and faux outrage. I prefer the quiet professional, the guy who … Continue reading

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The Unhappy Recap, Part 2

The Players Tom Seaver’s June 15, 1977, exile to Cincinnati represented the apex (or nadir) of the dismantling of the great and beloved Mets teams of 1969 and 1973. Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee, Ron Swoboda, Nolan Ryan, Rusty Staub, and … Continue reading

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Music to Your Ears

Right Off the Bat: Baseball, Cricket, Literature, and Life is now available as an audiobook from Audible.com, Amazon.com, or from i-Tunes. Evander read the baseball bits and Martin read the cricket bits, and Raymond Cho did the mastering.

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The Unhappy Recap, Part 1

Former Baseball Hall of Fame librarian and researcher Russell Wolinsky is our guest blogger for a special three-part series on “The Dark Years: The Demise of the New York Mets—June 15, 1977, to June 15, 1983.” Please welcome Russell, and … Continue reading

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Sometimes It’s Not Easy Being a Fan

This story comes via my (Evander’s) good friend Mike in Toronto. I believe it appeared in the Toronto Star,* the newspaper Ernest Hemingway worked for (briefly) around the period of World War I. (For several months, I lived near the … Continue reading

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South Africa Ascend to Number One

It was only a matter of time before a team of such quality would take the top position among Test-playing nations, and when South Africa defeated England in a gripping final Test match at Lord’s in London, to take the … Continue reading

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The Melkman’s Matinee

In a bizarre but hardly surprising twist to his 50-game-suspension tale, the Daily News discloses that erstwhile National League superstar Melky Cabrera had helpers concocting the Internet posting that was meant to keep him out of Dante’s (or Bud Selig’s) … Continue reading

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Pesky, Stanky, the Scooter

The passing of Johnny Pesky (see yesterday’s blog) reminded me (Evander) of a third player of similar size and high skill from the same generation. Eddie Stanky played for Brooklyn and New York in the National League. He and The … Continue reading

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The John Michael Paveskovich Pole

Christened by one-time teammate and broadcaster Mel Parnell “The Pesky Pole,” at 302 feet from home plate in right field at Fenway Park a ball landing there was just the right distance for Johnny Pesky. Phil Rizzuto’s rival died yesterday. … Continue reading

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England v. South Africa, Second Test (or, The Kevin Pieterson Show)

I (Martin), having been otherwise occupied with another little sporting event (or, more accurately, massive Olympic-sized occasion) occurring in England over the last couple of weeks, have not been faithful to my plan to blog on every day of every … Continue reading

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