I missed work on Friday. I had to stay home sick. A real rarity for me. First time at my current workplace (been here 15 years) and probably the second time in my work life. Stayed put on Saturday too.
The good news is I discovered something incredibly fantastic. MLB TV. It is a channel that we added a while back. I have watched it some, but not being a big TV watcher I have not really investigated the channel.
This cold / flu thing had me so miserable that all I could really do was lie on the couch and move my channel surfing finger.
The MLB channel is so cool. I watched games from my youth. Games from 1968. World Series game. Curt Gowdy's voice and Tony Kubek reporting. Amazing. I watch World Series Newsreels from 1947 and beyond. It was incredible.
Plus they have other shows, here it is from their website, my words in italics:
All-Time Games
Feel the excitement all over again as we relive your favorite exciting regular and post season games with All Time Games on MLB Network. (real games shown as if they were happening right now!)
Baseball's Seasons
A look at some of baseball's most compelling seasons. (A documentary on ONE season)
Diamond Demo
Where MLB analysts, visiting players and coaches demonstrate hitting, pitching, fielding and coaching techniques from MLB Network's Studio 42. (Tips from THE GUYS!)
Studio 42 with Bob Costas
Meet legends and gain a new sense of history from those who created it. (Okay, even I admit he can be a bit sappy, AND I hate it when he tries to act like he likes Mickey Mantle more than I DO, ' cause he can't, no matter how may time he refers to him as the "Mick")
This channel is must watch TV, should you watch TV. And do not be afraid to check out a baseball history book based on something you see here.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Have You EVER Thought About Reading a Book Just Because You Wanted To?
Just so you know - I LOVE TO READ. I have been an avid reader all my life. Since I was younger than you guys. And stupid as I was, I hid this fact from my peers when I was your age. I got into enough fights without people thinking I was a reader. I met my future wife while hiding in a library reading. She was stunned that I was in a library and her first words to me (this is a woman who I thought would never want anything to do with me, EVER) were "what are you reading?" Who knew, she was a reader, too.
I am way over being ashamed of being a reader. I am now an advocate of reading. If you are ANY kind of reader, and can read between the lines, I am advocating that YOU start reading.
Yogi Berra might have said (but I don't think he did) "You can learn an awful lot just by reading". BUT Mark Twain DID SAY "If you do not read for pleasure, you are no better off than an illiterate person".
So start reading. It is easy, it is interesting and the funny thing is one book will lead to another. Talk to people about reading, they will give you all sorts of ideas as to what to read next. And once you start; reading get easier. It will be easier to learn new things. You will be drawn to learn new things, and you may not even know you are working hard at learning new things, you will just be getting smarter.
Start with things that interest you. Here are some baseball related books, some I have read some I am going to read. I got more if you want more:
The Boys of Summer, 1972, by Roger Kahn. A tribute to his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers, this combination of memoir and oral history eloquently expresses the enduring impact of the sport: "Losing after great striving is the story of man, who was born to sorrow, whose sweetest songs tell of saddest thought, and who, if he is a hero, does nothing in life as becomingly as leaving it."
(My favorite baseball book of ALL TIME)
Babe: The Legend Comes to Life, 1974, by Robert W. Creamer. No other biography of Ruth matches Creamer's riveting, honest and detailed account of the game's supernova: "Babe hit his 700th home run in 1934. When he hit it, only two others had hit more than 300. When he retired with 714, he had more than twice as many as the second man on the list. The home run was his."
(Best biography I ever read. After reading this book you will come to realize that Babe Ruth was NOT the overweight guy you see in the pictures, but was a lean muscular terror in his prime, and you will find out HOW he got to be the big heavy guy you see in pictures)
If I Never Get Back by Darryl Brock - With respect to W.P. Kinsella (author of Shoeless Joe, the book the movie “Field of Dreams” was based on), this a “favorite,” if not the “best” in this category. Kinsella’s tone and touch are deft–like a nicely laid-down bunt–and imagery vivid and unrestricted. If I Never Get Back, however, is fantasy on a different level–kind of like “Bull Durham” really being a chick-flick disguised as a baseball comedy–that takes the hero, a disconnected journalist named Sam Fowler, back in time to 1869, where he becomes the catcher for the original Cincinnati Red Stockings, watching the birth of baseball as part of a nearly unbeatable team. It is rich in period detail, though it sometimes bogs down in play-by-play, but also has fun with the time-travel fantasy and even includes a cameo by Mark Twain. Along the way, the fable delivers lessons on relationships and life–kind of like a post-Civil War visit with Crash Davis and Annie Savoy.
(This was a fun read about the very early days of baseball, and as a time travel fan I loved it and still wish that I could travel back in time – this is where I would go or maybe baseball in the 20’s I am still not sure)
Eight Men Out: The Black Sox And The 1919 World Series
By Eliot Asinof
The story of the 1919 World Series has inspired contemporary films like Field of Dreams and Eight Men Out. Eliot Asinof painstakingly reconstructed the sordid tale of bargains between Shoeless Joe Jackson, the other seven players of the Chicago Black Sox who were banned from baseball and the bookies. Even though it seems like something that could no longer happen, it does make you wonder.
( Made me love Shoeless Joe EVEN MORE)
The Catcher Was A Spy: The Mysterious Life Of Moe Berg
By Nicholas Dawidoff
A well-written biography about baseball’s most diverse character, this baseball book to read this summer entertains as it reels off an impressive array of baseball trivia. The only reason it’s not higher on the list is because it’s not as timely as the others. While Moe Berg played 15 seasons in the majors through the ‘20s and ‘30s, he rarely impressed fans with his playing abilities. However, many players knew him as both “the brainiest guy in baseball” and “the strangest man ever to play baseball.” After his baseball career, he served as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. The book reads as part sports tale and part spy thriller.
(true story AND if I couldn’t be a big league catcher #2 on my list WAS an international spy!)
"You Gotta Have Wa" by Robert Whiting
Robert Whiting, author of “Tokyo Underground”, as well as co-writer for “Slugging it Out in Japan”, has put together this very interesting text on the history, the culture, and the experiences of expatriate professional baseball players in Japanese baseball. Taking us back to the origins of the game as it developed in Japan and as it has evolved into the modern phenomenon and monster it has become, Whiting has articulated a masterful, and exhaustively researched text on the topic. For anyone interested in baseball, sports, or how anyone can really cope and live in Japan, this is a fascinating read.
(Read it last summer, fascinating – and the current Phillie coach is IN IT!)
"The Kid from Tomkinsville"; "World Series" and "The Kid Comes Back" by John Tunis
Eighteen year-old Roy Tucker sat slouched on the train, his suitcase with a bat strapped on perched above him on the rack. The train wouldn’t move, nor would his friends on the platform who stood gawking at him from below. It was the spring of 1939 and he was leaving home and the small town of Tomkinsville, Connecticut for the first time in his life, headed for the spring training camps in Florida to try out with the Brooklyn Dodgers as a pitcher. The excitement, the uncertainty, the fear--all of it weighed upon him as he sat for seemingly endless minutes on that hot, dusty train. So begins the unforgettable story of Roy Tucker, the Kid from Tomkinsville, and his journey into the world of professional baseball. Bewildered, homesick, yet brimming with talent, Roy rides a roller coaster of rookie emotions, the fear and loneliness that eats at his confidence, the crushing disappointment of every failure, and the giddy high of each success. A farm boy who is used to a quieter, simpler life, he is thrown into the fast-paced world of celebrity, big money, swollen egos and hot tempers. The cast of characters he encounters dazzles him: Razzle Nugent, the star pitcher known for his beer-drinking, green suits and practical jokes. Jack MacManus, the Dodgers’ club owner whose explosive temper, staunch loyalty and constant feuds with the Giants’ club owner were famous around the league. Gabby Spencer, the fiery manager who is the team’s best asset when they are winning and their worst when they are losing. But it is his friendship with Dave Leonard, the quiet, steady veteran catcher, that would be most crucial to his success, and to his ability to pick up the pieces when all seems lost. More important than the wins and losses of the hapless Brooklyn Dodgers and Roy’s ride to stardom is the story of his own determination to make good in spite of the odds, and his ability to find the courage to come back when he is beaten down and nearly written off. Gutsy, selfless and aggressive on the field, quiet and unassuming off the field, the Kid from Tomkinsville is one of the most likeable and memorable heroes of baseball fiction. The cliff-hanger ending of this book will only leave you thirsting for more, and fortunately the story of Roy Tucker continues on in World Series and The Kid Comes Back . If you love baseball, especially the nostalgic kind played in the 1940’s, I highly recommend that you read all three
( I haven’t read these – BUT the book I am currently reading refers to them and they are now next on my list)
I am way over being ashamed of being a reader. I am now an advocate of reading. If you are ANY kind of reader, and can read between the lines, I am advocating that YOU start reading.
Yogi Berra might have said (but I don't think he did) "You can learn an awful lot just by reading". BUT Mark Twain DID SAY "If you do not read for pleasure, you are no better off than an illiterate person".
So start reading. It is easy, it is interesting and the funny thing is one book will lead to another. Talk to people about reading, they will give you all sorts of ideas as to what to read next. And once you start; reading get easier. It will be easier to learn new things. You will be drawn to learn new things, and you may not even know you are working hard at learning new things, you will just be getting smarter.
Start with things that interest you. Here are some baseball related books, some I have read some I am going to read. I got more if you want more:
The Boys of Summer, 1972, by Roger Kahn. A tribute to his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers, this combination of memoir and oral history eloquently expresses the enduring impact of the sport: "Losing after great striving is the story of man, who was born to sorrow, whose sweetest songs tell of saddest thought, and who, if he is a hero, does nothing in life as becomingly as leaving it."
(My favorite baseball book of ALL TIME)
Babe: The Legend Comes to Life, 1974, by Robert W. Creamer. No other biography of Ruth matches Creamer's riveting, honest and detailed account of the game's supernova: "Babe hit his 700th home run in 1934. When he hit it, only two others had hit more than 300. When he retired with 714, he had more than twice as many as the second man on the list. The home run was his."
(Best biography I ever read. After reading this book you will come to realize that Babe Ruth was NOT the overweight guy you see in the pictures, but was a lean muscular terror in his prime, and you will find out HOW he got to be the big heavy guy you see in pictures)
If I Never Get Back by Darryl Brock - With respect to W.P. Kinsella (author of Shoeless Joe, the book the movie “Field of Dreams” was based on), this a “favorite,” if not the “best” in this category. Kinsella’s tone and touch are deft–like a nicely laid-down bunt–and imagery vivid and unrestricted. If I Never Get Back, however, is fantasy on a different level–kind of like “Bull Durham” really being a chick-flick disguised as a baseball comedy–that takes the hero, a disconnected journalist named Sam Fowler, back in time to 1869, where he becomes the catcher for the original Cincinnati Red Stockings, watching the birth of baseball as part of a nearly unbeatable team. It is rich in period detail, though it sometimes bogs down in play-by-play, but also has fun with the time-travel fantasy and even includes a cameo by Mark Twain. Along the way, the fable delivers lessons on relationships and life–kind of like a post-Civil War visit with Crash Davis and Annie Savoy.
(This was a fun read about the very early days of baseball, and as a time travel fan I loved it and still wish that I could travel back in time – this is where I would go or maybe baseball in the 20’s I am still not sure)
Eight Men Out: The Black Sox And The 1919 World Series
By Eliot Asinof
The story of the 1919 World Series has inspired contemporary films like Field of Dreams and Eight Men Out. Eliot Asinof painstakingly reconstructed the sordid tale of bargains between Shoeless Joe Jackson, the other seven players of the Chicago Black Sox who were banned from baseball and the bookies. Even though it seems like something that could no longer happen, it does make you wonder.
( Made me love Shoeless Joe EVEN MORE)
The Catcher Was A Spy: The Mysterious Life Of Moe Berg
By Nicholas Dawidoff
A well-written biography about baseball’s most diverse character, this baseball book to read this summer entertains as it reels off an impressive array of baseball trivia. The only reason it’s not higher on the list is because it’s not as timely as the others. While Moe Berg played 15 seasons in the majors through the ‘20s and ‘30s, he rarely impressed fans with his playing abilities. However, many players knew him as both “the brainiest guy in baseball” and “the strangest man ever to play baseball.” After his baseball career, he served as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. The book reads as part sports tale and part spy thriller.
(true story AND if I couldn’t be a big league catcher #2 on my list WAS an international spy!)
"You Gotta Have Wa" by Robert Whiting
Robert Whiting, author of “Tokyo Underground”, as well as co-writer for “Slugging it Out in Japan”, has put together this very interesting text on the history, the culture, and the experiences of expatriate professional baseball players in Japanese baseball. Taking us back to the origins of the game as it developed in Japan and as it has evolved into the modern phenomenon and monster it has become, Whiting has articulated a masterful, and exhaustively researched text on the topic. For anyone interested in baseball, sports, or how anyone can really cope and live in Japan, this is a fascinating read.
(Read it last summer, fascinating – and the current Phillie coach is IN IT!)
"The Kid from Tomkinsville"; "World Series" and "The Kid Comes Back" by John Tunis
Eighteen year-old Roy Tucker sat slouched on the train, his suitcase with a bat strapped on perched above him on the rack. The train wouldn’t move, nor would his friends on the platform who stood gawking at him from below. It was the spring of 1939 and he was leaving home and the small town of Tomkinsville, Connecticut for the first time in his life, headed for the spring training camps in Florida to try out with the Brooklyn Dodgers as a pitcher. The excitement, the uncertainty, the fear--all of it weighed upon him as he sat for seemingly endless minutes on that hot, dusty train. So begins the unforgettable story of Roy Tucker, the Kid from Tomkinsville, and his journey into the world of professional baseball. Bewildered, homesick, yet brimming with talent, Roy rides a roller coaster of rookie emotions, the fear and loneliness that eats at his confidence, the crushing disappointment of every failure, and the giddy high of each success. A farm boy who is used to a quieter, simpler life, he is thrown into the fast-paced world of celebrity, big money, swollen egos and hot tempers. The cast of characters he encounters dazzles him: Razzle Nugent, the star pitcher known for his beer-drinking, green suits and practical jokes. Jack MacManus, the Dodgers’ club owner whose explosive temper, staunch loyalty and constant feuds with the Giants’ club owner were famous around the league. Gabby Spencer, the fiery manager who is the team’s best asset when they are winning and their worst when they are losing. But it is his friendship with Dave Leonard, the quiet, steady veteran catcher, that would be most crucial to his success, and to his ability to pick up the pieces when all seems lost. More important than the wins and losses of the hapless Brooklyn Dodgers and Roy’s ride to stardom is the story of his own determination to make good in spite of the odds, and his ability to find the courage to come back when he is beaten down and nearly written off. Gutsy, selfless and aggressive on the field, quiet and unassuming off the field, the Kid from Tomkinsville is one of the most likeable and memorable heroes of baseball fiction. The cliff-hanger ending of this book will only leave you thirsting for more, and fortunately the story of Roy Tucker continues on in World Series and The Kid Comes Back . If you love baseball, especially the nostalgic kind played in the 1940’s, I highly recommend that you read all three
( I haven’t read these – BUT the book I am currently reading refers to them and they are now next on my list)
Monday, November 9, 2009
How 'Bout that Joe Ross
To all my young sponges - Congratulations. I am so pleased with how well you guys are soaking up the wisdom and teachings of Joe Ross. It is amazing to see the difference in your hitting. Tempo, Balance and Strength, Hands disappearing and flashing through the hitting zone with purpose.
I see lots when I throw to you, somewhat to my peril. As I throw to you guys I watch you load, I watch your tempo and see your balance. Sometimes I hang out a little longer that I should and fail to get behind the L screen and you guys nail me (thanks Spencer, I have a rather large, nasty bruise on my back).
I am seeing tons of improvement in balance, confidence and balls flying back at me. We are getting bigger, stronger, better balanced and who knew that you guys had rhythm and tempo!
Keep up the good work.
We are going to CRUSH the ball this year - not that we were slouches last year.
I see lots when I throw to you, somewhat to my peril. As I throw to you guys I watch you load, I watch your tempo and see your balance. Sometimes I hang out a little longer that I should and fail to get behind the L screen and you guys nail me (thanks Spencer, I have a rather large, nasty bruise on my back).
I am seeing tons of improvement in balance, confidence and balls flying back at me. We are getting bigger, stronger, better balanced and who knew that you guys had rhythm and tempo!
Keep up the good work.
We are going to CRUSH the ball this year - not that we were slouches last year.
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