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Author Archives: rightoffthebatbook
Fathers and Sons (and Baseball of Course)
I (Evander) promised myself a few years ago to read more Russian literature. After all, the culture (technically Ukrainian and also probably Lithuanian) represents three-eighths of my heritage. And I remembered Hemingway saying that he fought Ivan Turgenev to a … Continue reading
Priceless
As the 2015 baseball season winds down, with many of the final-season playoff spots secured or all but, the North American Baseball World gathered yesterday in New Jersey to bid farewell to Yogi Berra. They were all there, the ones … Continue reading
Kumar—Cricket’s Great Hope
Cricket may be losing a player of a generation, but it could be gaining one of its great administrators. Numbers do not lie. He was right up there with all the plaudits, marching proudly with the greats of any era. … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Cricket, England, India, Sri Lanka
Tagged Bishan Bedi, Cricket, Harbhajan Singh, ICC, Kapil Dev, Kumar Sangakkara, MCC, Rahul Dravid
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Peter Siddle: Australian Vegan
The news that the Australian medium-fast bowler Peter Siddle is a vegan was music to the ears of this particular blog. Evander is the editor of the famous feminist bible of veganism, The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J. Adams, a … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Cricket
Tagged Animals Australia, Carol Adams, Edgar's Mission, Lantern Books, Penguin Foundation, Peter Siddle, The Ashes, veganism
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A Singed Phoenix
To England fans of many years (such as Martin), the team’s 3–2 victory over the Australians in the 2015 Ashes bears all the hallmarks of a very English success story—partial, inconsistent, worryingly incomplete: the eggiest of curate’s eggs. All the narratives proclaiming a resurgence … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Cricket, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Test Cricket, West Indies
Tagged Alastair Cook, Brendon McCullum, Ian Bell, Johnny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Kevin Pietersen, The Ashes, World Cup
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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
Great Stadiums (8): Dodger Stadium (Redux)
The Los Angeles Dodgers have been somewhat quietly working on a $100 million upgrade to the 53-year-old stadium, largely considered the Taj Mahal of baseball. Read all about it. For those thinking our sports are about as exciting as watching … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Right Off the Bat Website, Stadiums
Tagged AstroTurf, Chavez Ravine, Los Angeles Dodgers
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A Rise from the Ashes
One of the reasons why sport engrosses large panoply of the society is that it mirrors life. People can pick an image of themselves, a person who they think represents them and what they stand for in life and then … Continue reading
The Inside Scoop
Now that I (Martin) have turned fifty, my doctor has advised me to get a colonoscopy, and dutifully I have scheduled one for later in August. At a pre-operation, getting-to-know-you meeting, my surgeon, a dapper gentleman by the name of … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Cricket, England, Pakistan, Test Cricket
Tagged Kevin Pietersen, Shahid Afridi, The Ashes
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The Problem with Flared Skirts
Auntie Beeb has interviewed veteran major-leaguer Mary Pratt of the Rockford Peaches. Never heard of ’em? Did you see A League of Their Own (1992)? The film is based on this all-women’s club from the 1940s, tho in real life … Continue reading
Right Off the Bat 