Bergino Baseball Clubhouse

A special presentation from the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse.  Our first podcast during these pandemic times…

In the Fall of 2017, the now shuttered brick-and-mortar location of the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse hosted “Baseball in Black and White: The Watercolor Paintings of James Fiorentino.”

In the Fall of 2021, the Studio 7 Fine Art Gallery in Bernardsville NJ hosted James Fiorentino and “Baseball in Black and White: Extra Innings.”

I sat down at the beautiful Studio 7 gallery with my long-time friend and we had a wide ranging “inside baseball” discussion that touched on memories through the years, the life — and gifts — of an artist, mentors, watercolor painting, ballplayers, the cake boss, passion, process, the feeling when a painting is finished, and more.

On Friday, December 10, we’ll be back at the Studio 7 Fine Art Gallery in Bernardsville NJ.  If you’re anywhere close to the area, stop by between 6:00 - 9:00 PM.  Meet James and see his spectacular original black and white watercolor paintings, while enjoying treats and a glass of wine.  I’ll be conducting in-person video interviews for my multimedia project — “The Memory of America: Remember Your First Baseball Game.”  The interviews take only 15 minutes or so.  Would love to capture your story that evening.

Hope to see you then.  In the meantime, pull up a chair, relax, and enjoy our conversation…

With love from New York,

Jay

San Francisco Year Zero: Political Upheaval, Punk Rock, and a Third-Place Baseball Team with Lincoln Mitchell

Special Roundtable Guests: Jennifer Blowdryer and Kenneth Sherrill

A wide-ranging conversation touching on San Francisco in the 1970s, George Moscone, Harvey Milk, Dan White, urban America, political campaigns, city government, the San Francisco Giants leaving the city, segregation, diversity, bubbles, Dianne Feinstein, Jello Biafra, the Dead Kennedys, the punk rock scene, Joe Dirt, East Bay Ray, David Peel, the 1978 Giants, being a gay elected official in the 1970s, and Reggie Jackson’s role in reforming the judiciary.

Lincoln Mitchell is an adjunct associate professor of Political Science at Columbia University, where he also serves as an associate scholar in the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies.  He has authored many books on the former Soviet states, democracy, and baseball, including Baseball Goes West: How the Giants and Dodgers Shaped the Major Leagues and Will Big League Baseball Survive.  He has also written extensively about San Francisco’s history in Instant City, Roads and Kingdoms, Parts Unknown and the New York Observer.

Jennifer Blowdryer got her name from singing in The Blowdryer in 1978.  They played in San Francisco at the Mabuhay Gardens and The Deaf Club.  She published her first book, Modern English, a photo-illustrated trendy slang dictionary with Last Gasp in 1984, and moved to New York City the same year on a fellowship to the Columbia Writing Division.  She just finished a new album called She’s Got The Weirdness, and her next book is slated for Spring 2020, with Pedestrian Press, working title of The 86ed Project.

Kenneth Sherrill is Professor Emeritus at Hunter College and the City University of New York graduate school.  In 1977, he became the first openly gay elected official in New York.  He is the author of Power, Policy and Participation, as well as Gays and the Military.  His current book in progress, Identity and Consciousness in LGBT Political Behavior, is expected to be completed next year.  Ken is also the author of articles, papers and reviews in various scholarly journals.

Thanks to our delectable sponsors: Sauce Pizzeria and St. Marks Wine & Liquor

San Francisco Year Zero.  Listen in...

War in the Ring with John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro -- and special Roundtable Guest: Mitch Nathanson.

A wide-ranging conversation touching on a behind-the-scenes look at the writing process and the challenges of a Young Adult book, Joe Louis and the IRS, Max Schmeling’s actions during the Nazi regime, Jim Bouton, Dick Allen, Willie Horton and the Detroit riots, the “First Game” project and memory, Janis Ian, Mudcat Grant and JFK, boxing in the 20th century, Major League Baseball in 1938 and its state in 2019.

John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro are the authors of One Nation Under Baseball and One Punch from the Promised Land.  Together, they’ve written about sports for the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Atlantic, VICE Sports, and Sports Illustrated.  Ouisie is a six-time Emmy award-winning writer/producer of sports documentaries.  John is the author of historical crime novels.  They are married and live in the beautiful borough of Brooklyn.

Mitch Nathanson is a Professor of Law at Villanova University and the author of numerous books and articles on baseball, including God Almighty Hisself.  Mitch is a two-time winner of the McFarland-SABR Award.  In the spring of 2020, his next book, Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original, will be released.

Thanks to our delectable sponsors: Sauce Pizzeria and St. Marks Wine & Liquor

War in the Ring.  Listen in...

Doc, Donnie, The Kid, and Billy Brawl with author Chris Donnelly and special Roundtable Guest: Tony Denera.

We discussed Major League baseball in 1980s New York, Gary Carter, Don Baylor, Nelson Doubleday, George Steinbrenner, Frank Cashen, Seinfeld, Bat Day, Billy Martin, Ed Whitson, the National and American Leagues, the All-Star Game, Duane Reade and ticket scalping, and Sinatra the French Bulldog.

Chris Donnelly is the author of How the Yankees Explain New York and Baseball’s Greatest Series: Yankees, Mariners, and the 1995 Matchup That Changed History.

Tony Denera was born Anthony D’Ambrosio on Easter Sunday in 1962.  After reading Joining Arnold: Rise of the Girlie Man, you will understand why he changed his name to spare his family further embarrassment.

Thanks to our delectable sponsors: Sauce Pizzeria and St. Marks Wine & Liquor

Doc, Donnie, The Kid, and Billy Brawl. Listen in…

Inside the tailgating, ticket-scalping, mascot-racing, dubiously funded, and possibly haunted monuments of American sport

"For one year, I traveled the United States visiting sports stadiums -- all manner of arenas, domes, ballparks -- for the purpose of writing a book.  The idea was to go beyond the ball games and architectural blueprints to explore the inner workings of these steel and concrete structures that hover over our towns, imposing their will on landscapes and skylines, to better understand our relationship to them -- psychologically, economically, politically, culturally, historically -- as individuals, as cities, and as a society."  -Rafi Kohan

Rafi Kohan is a freelance writer and editor.  Formerly, he served as deputy editor at the "New York Observer" and has written for "GQ," "Men's Journal," "Wall Street Journal," "Town & Country," ESPN.com, and more.  He lives in New York City and deeply misses the old Yankee Stadium.

On a November evening in the Clubhouse, Rafi Kohan took us into The Arena.  Have a seat and listen in...

Inside the tailgating, ticket-scalping, mascot-racing, dubiously funded, and possibly haunted monuments of American sport

"For one year, I traveled the United States visiting sports stadiums -- all manner of arenas, domes, ballparks -- for the purpose of writing a book.  The idea was to go beyond the ball games and architectural blueprints to explore the inner workings of these steel and concrete structures that hover over our towns, imposing their will on landscapes and skylines, to better understand our relationship to them -- psychologically, economically, politically, culturally, historically -- as individuals, as cities, and as a society."  -Rafi Kohan

Rafi Kohan is a freelance writer and editor.  Formerly, he served as deputy editor at the "New York Observer" and has written for "GQ," "Men's Journal," "Wall Street Journal," "Town & Country," ESPN.com, and more.  He lives in New York City and deeply misses the old Yankee Stadium.

On a November evening in the Clubhouse, Rafi Kohan took us into The Arena.  Have a seat and listen in...

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, tucked away in upstate New York in a small town called Cooperstown, is far from any major media market or big league stadium.  Yet no sports hall of fame's membership is so hallowed, nor its qualifications so debated, nor its voting process so dissected.

Since its founding in 1936, the Hall of Fame's standards for election have been nebulous, and its selection processes arcane, resulting in confusion among voters, not to mention mistakes in who has been recognized and who has been bypassed.  Numerous so-called "greats" have been inducted despite having not been so great, while popular but controversial players such as all-time home run leader Barry Bonds and all-time hits leader Pete Rose are on the outside looking in.

Now, in The Cooperstown Casebook, Jay Jaffe takes us through his revolutionary ranking system.  The foundation of Jaffe's approach is JAWS, an acronym for the Jaffe WAR Score, which he developed over a decade ago.  Through JAWS, each candidate can be objectively compared on the basis of career and peak value to the players at his position who are already in the Hall of Fame.  Because of its utility, JAWS has gained an increasing amount of exposure in recent years.  Through his analysis, Jaffe shows why the Hall of Fame still matters and how it can remain relevant in the 21st century.

Jay Jaffe is a contributing baseball writer for SI.com.  He is the founder of the Futility Infielder website, one of the oldest baseball blogs, and from 2005 - 2012 was a columnist for "Baseball Prospectus."  He has been a recurring guest on MLB Network's "MLB Now" and "Clubhouse Confidential" shows and a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America since 2011.

On a Wednesday evening in July, Jay Jaffe led our final author event of the summer.  Listen in to our intimate and lively Clubhouse conversation...

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, tucked away in upstate New York in a small town called Cooperstown, is far from any major media market or big league stadium.  Yet no sports hall of fame's membership is so hallowed, nor its qualifications so debated, nor its voting process so dissected.

Since its founding in 1936, the Hall of Fame's standards for election have been nebulous, and its selection processes arcane, resulting in confusion among voters, not to mention mistakes in who has been recognized and who has been bypassed.  Numerous so-called "greats" have been inducted despite having not been so great, while popular but controversial players such as all-time home run leader Barry Bonds and all-time hits leader Pete Rose are on the outside looking in.

Now, in The Cooperstown Casebook, Jay Jaffe takes us through his revolutionary ranking system.  The foundation of Jaffe's approach is JAWS, an acronym for the Jaffe WAR Score, which he developed over a decade ago.  Through JAWS, each candidate can be objectively compared on the basis of career and peak value to the players at his position who are already in the Hall of Fame.  Because of its utility, JAWS has gained an increasing amount of exposure in recent years.  Through his analysis, Jaffe shows why the Hall of Fame still matters and how it can remain relevant in the 21st century.

Jay Jaffe is a contributing baseball writer for SI.com.  He is the founder of the Futility Infielder website, one of the oldest baseball blogs, and from 2005 - 2012 was a columnist for "Baseball Prospectus."  He has been a recurring guest on MLB Network's "MLB Now" and "Clubhouse Confidential" shows and a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America since 2011.

On a Wednesday evening in July, Jay Jaffe led our final author event of the summer.  Listen in to our intimate and lively Clubhouse conversation...

The untold story behind the first great sports film... The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic

On July 4, 1939, baseball great Lou Gehrig stood in Yankee Stadium and gave a speech that contained the phrase that would become legendary: "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."

He died two years later and his fiery widow, Eleanor, wanted nothing more than to keep his memory alive.  With her forceful will, she and the irascible producer Samuel Goldwyn quickly agreed to make a film based on Gehrig's life, "The Pride of the Yankees."  Goldwyn didn't understand -- or care about -- baseball.  For him this film was the emotional story of a quiet, modest hero who married a spirited woman who was the love of his life, and, after a storied career, gave a short speech that transformed his legacy.  With the world at war and soldiers dying on foreign soil, it was the kind of movie America needed.

Using original scripts, letters, memos, and other rare documents, Richard Sandomir tells the behind-the-scenes story of how a classic was born.  The search to find the actor to play Gehrig; the stunning revelations Eleanor made to the scriptwriter Paul Gallico about her life with Lou; the intensive training Gary Cooper underwent to learn how to catch, throw, and hit a baseball for the first time.

On a warm summer evening, Richard Sandomir led our intimate Clubhouse conversation and brought "The Pride of the Yankees" to life.  Listen in...

The untold story behind the first great sports film... The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic

On July 4, 1939, baseball great Lou Gehrig stood in Yankee Stadium and gave a speech that contained the phrase that would become legendary: "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."

He died two years later and his fiery widow, Eleanor, wanted nothing more than to keep his memory alive.  With her forceful will, she and the irascible producer Samuel Goldwyn quickly agreed to make a film based on Gehrig's life, "The Pride of the Yankees."  Goldwyn didn't understand -- or care about -- baseball.  For him this film was the emotional story of a quiet, modest hero who married a spirited woman who was the love of his life, and, after a storied career, gave a short speech that transformed his legacy.  With the world at war and soldiers dying on foreign soil, it was the kind of movie America needed.

Using original scripts, letters, memos, and other rare documents, Richard Sandomir tells the behind-the-scenes story of how a classic was born.  The search to find the actor to play Gehrig; the stunning revelations Eleanor made to the scriptwriter Paul Gallico about her life with Lou; the intensive training Gary Cooper underwent to learn how to catch, throw, and hit a baseball for the first time.

On a warm summer evening, Richard Sandomir led our intimate Clubhouse conversation and brought "The Pride of the Yankees" to life.  Listen in...