Tag Archives: Jackie Robinson

Mariano

Posted on May 4, 2012 by rightoffthebatbook

In 1996, the New York Yankees were the first team, and possibly the only team in major-league history, to have two roster players named Mariano: Duncan and Rivera. The latter, the famous one, injured himself during outfield practice at one … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Right Off the Bat Book, Yankees | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thank you, Jackie Robinson

Posted on April 15, 2012 by rightoffthebatbook

Major League Baseball reached a long-overdue milestone sixty-five years ago today when Jackie Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers. All major-league players wear JR’s number 42 this day to honor the individual who changed everything. I (Evander) can’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Right Off the Bat Website | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Biopic of Hank Aaron

Posted on April 4, 2012 by rightoffthebatbook

The Hollywood Reporter announces a film on Hank Aaron. It will be made by the director of The Natural. As he approached and surpassed Babe Ruth’s sacrosanct lifetime home-run record, Aaron—who was playing in Atlanta at the time—was subject to … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Right Off the Bat Book | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Baseball and Jazz

Posted on March 28, 2012 by rightoffthebatbook

According to the Boston Globe, pitcher Ben Henderson may be the first individual to have used the word jazz. An April 2, 1912, headline says so. Different dictionaries, such as Webster’s Third and The Compact Oxford English Dictionary, furnish alternate … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Right Off the Bat Book | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

New York Mets Will Do Something Great May 27

Posted on March 3, 2012 by rightoffthebatbook

My (Evander’s) heart sings, wild (card) thing. It is not over Major League Baseball announcing the extra Wild Card rounds this season. Rather, it is the return of Banner Day. Originally the staple of a once-a-year, between-games doubleheader at Shea … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Jackie Robinson to Be Played by Chadwick Boseman

Posted on December 10, 2011 by rightoffthebatbook

The film 42 will star up-and-coming Chadwick Boseman in the role of Jackie Robinson. Robinson plays himself opposite Ruby Dee in The Jackie Robinson Story, along with the flamboyant Joel Fluellen. (Dee also stars in the World War II-set The … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Yankees | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Five Things I Learned about Baseball from Ken Burns’s Baseball

Posted on December 10, 2011 by rightoffthebatbook

I (Martin) just spent 18.5 hours watching Ken Burns’s epic 1994 PBS documentary Baseball—and then I watched the 2010 two-episode sequel. I was delighted to see that Evander and I got the basic information correct in Right Off the Bat. … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Cricket, Right Off the Bat Book, Right Off the Bat Website | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

All Across the Telegraph His Name It Did Resound

Posted on September 20, 2011 by rightoffthebatbook

Mariano Rivera mowed down the Minnesota Twins in the ninth inning of a close game, during the heat of a pennant race, thereby becoming the all-time leader in saves in baseball history. He did it at Yankee Stadium and made … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Cricket, Right Off the Bat Website, Yankees | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Frank Worrell: Cricket’s Jackie Robinson

Posted on June 22, 2011 by rightoffthebatbook

Every baseball fan knows the Legend of Jackie Robinson: how he was the first man to integrate baseball; how he was vilified and slandered, and yet maintained his discipline and strength and classiness to the end; and how his story … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Cricket, West Indies | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Politics of Cricket Continue

Posted on June 22, 2011 by rightoffthebatbook

It is one of the contentions of our book Right Off the Bat that cricket and baseball have long had similar histories of political interference—usually around race and ethnicity—and have both been the focal points of conflict and the means … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Cricket, England, Sri Lanka | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment