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Category Archives: Baseball
Not Cricket: “Bat Form”
Front-office personnel of the venerable St. Louis Cardinals franchise have plenty of explaining to do as the FBI investigates their hacking of the Houston Astros’s databases. Besides the Times, Reuters has now weighed in to let the rest of the … Continue reading
Baseball in Iran
A chance reading of The New Yorker gave pause when I (Evander) noted the growing popularity of baseball in Iran. Baseball has been an organized activity there since 1993. Reporter Jason Rezaian, a dual citizen of Iran working for the … 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
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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
“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
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
The Greatest Hitter Ever May Not Be Who(m) You Think
I (Evander) was in some Hotstove/Grapefruit/Cactus Leagues discussions with friends. One, a mathematician named Paul, said he had seen an ESPN claim that the three greatest St. Louis Cardinals were Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, and Ozzie Smith. We love the … Continue reading
Crickball
The Don. The Babe. South Korea. What do all these have in common? According to the Guardian last year, plenty. Martin and I touch on the two 1930s Cricket-and-Baseball Summits in something of a coda to Right off the Bat—minus … Continue reading
Posted in Bangladesh, Baseball, Cricket, England, Pakistan, Right Off the Bat Book, Sri Lanka, Stadiums, T20 Cricket, West Indies, Yankees
Tagged Arun Panthers, Asiad/Asian Games, Babe Ruth, Bangladesh, Don Bradman, Graeme Swann, Julien Fountain, Lord's Cricket Ground, Major League Baseball, Pakistan, Saeed Ajmal, South Korea, Sri Lanka, T20, United Arab Emirates, West Indies, World Cup, Yankee Stadium
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Little Red Scooter
To Martin’s Broad Agonistes, I note two Major League Baseball parallels: and our Right off the Bat is thus chockablock, many being downright spooky. On the night of May 7, 1957, left-handed ace Herb Score—called by Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Right Off the Bat Book, Right Off the Bat Website, Yankees
Tagged American League, Bob Feller, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Gil McDougald, Herb Score, Jack Hamilton, Major League Baseball, Mickey Mantle, National League, New York Mets, Tony Conigliaro, Yogi Berra
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Right Off the Bat 