-
Recent Posts
Archives
Baseball
Cricket
Author Archives: rightoffthebatbook
Heee’s Baaack!
Kevin Pietersen—the perennial thorn in the flesh in English cricket, the man whom everyone thought we’d moved on from, the busted flush, the bloke from a bygone era, the no-longer-under-consideration-under-any-circumstances chap—refuses, like Freddy Krueger, to go away. He’s just scored … Continue reading
An A-bomb from A-Rod
Alex Rodriguez surpassed Willie Mays last night by batting career home run 661. Not all of them came out of a bottle or from stiletto hypodermic needle. When the New York Yankees signed A-Rod, when the late George Steinbrenner their … Continue reading
Hold the Peanuts and Cracker Jack
Back in the day (1955-83) there was a DC Comics series called the Brave and the Bold, which sometimes featured “Strange Sports Stories.” Pictured left is the invisible-cosmic baseball team. But what if a game were played before invisible fans? … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Stadiums
Tagged Baltimore Orioles, Camden Yards, Chicago White Sox, Major League Baseball
Leave a comment
The Motherland of Baseball
In Right off the Bat, Martin and I trace the contours of international-baseball competition. Such count the Olympics (including Hitler’s infamous 1936 Games), the World Baseball Classic, and the far older European Baseball Championship. Some of the all-time largest crowds, … Continue reading
Richie Benaud: How Less Was Always More
Our colleague Parth has already told us of the loss to cricket that the passing of cricket legend and commentator Richie Benaud means to the game. I (Martin) thought that I’d my thoughts. As Parth notes, and as Evander and … Continue reading
“Americanizing” the Original Americans thro Baseball
This book tells a harsh story of late-19th-century race and baseball in the U.S. Set at a federally funded boarding school, where indoctrination in what was rapidly becoming the National Pastime would “transform” (read civilize) Native Americans into “Americans,” the … Continue reading
Good-bye, Richie!
Cricket is as much a game about the players as it is about the people who “call the plays,” as it is so beautifully said in baseball. Richie Benaud died today. He was without a doubt one of the best … Continue reading
The Book of the Books that Settles All the Arguments
April 8 at Bergino Baseball Clubhouse will be Marty Appel talking about the history of Who’s Who in Baseball. I (Evander) have collected every issue for more than 40 years: 40 percent of the annual publications in settlement of all … Continue reading
A Boring Cricket World Cup in the End—Possible Changes?
I (Parth) write this as I watch the first half of the 2015 World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand. As the sands of time play tricks on our memories in the future, we will remember this world cup … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Cricket, England, Right Off the Bat Website, South Africa
Tagged Champions Trophy, Kumar Sangakkara, Martin Crowe, Wahab Riaz, World Cup
Leave a comment
On Bell-Ringers and Cricket
In the wake of England’s ignominious, deeply embarrassing, nay humiliating exit from cricket’s World Cup—won this last weekend by a resurgent Australia—I (Martin) find myself reading Can We Have Our Balls Back, Please? How the British Invented Sport (And then … Continue reading
Right Off the Bat 