The things one finds wandering down the rabbit hole. I was doing some research and just happened to come across the new film, Fielding Dreams: A Celebration of Baseball Scouts. It’s a fascinating look at an under-reported part of the game. The first thing I thought of was the scene in Moneyball in which Billy […]

It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since I last posted a Conversation with Joe Posnanski. Perhaps that’s because the book that was the impetus for that one — The Baseball 100 — has been a constant on the weekly Baseball-Best Sellers list. In addition, his new book — and the subject of this […]

As I mention in the Conversation, there’s much more attention paid to the draft from a fan point of view in recent years. Go back a decade, and I can’t remember the whole proceedings being covered by the media from start to finish. Now, it’s almost “appointment television.” I must admit, I don’t follow the […]

For those who think they know baseball, consider this quote from Tommy Lee Jones’ character in the movie Men in Black: “A thousand years ago, everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, they knew the Earth was flat. Fifteen minutes ago, you knew we humans were alone on […]

Going old school here as we return to an audio-only Conversations. A couple of years ago, I was engaged to work on the memoirs of a gentleman from the Middle East. He was in my town on an extended trip, staying at an Air BnB run by friends of ours. Just about every day after […]

As I often say, I don’t like to blend the current political situation with baseball. This blog is meant as an escape from the day-to-day problems of the world. But with this particular book, there’s no getting away from the connection between the Oval Office and the National Pastime. Of course, the subject has been […]

When last we spoke with Paul Dickson, it was about his excellent biography, Leo Durocher: Baseball’s Prodigal Son. This time it’s not about a new book, per se, but an old one that got a second life. Dickson, who recently turned 80, has re-released The Hidden Language of Baseball: How Signs and Sign-Stealing Have Influenced […]

Whenever I come across an obituary about a baseball player in The New York Times, I check the byline. More often than not these days, it’s been written by Richard Goldstein (Bruce Weber, a former Times staffer and author of As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires, about his experiences […]

Welcome back to a new “season” of Bookshelf Conversations. Now that the summer is over, I hope to be doing these on a regular basis. Leading off, we begin with Seth Kramer, “hyphenate” for the documentary, Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel, about the almost-Cinderella story that was the Israeli National Team in the 2017 […]

At long last Leavy. First off, an apology. This was originally meant to be posted way back in December but something went kerfluie with the recording. You could hear my side of the conversation, along with the ticking of the clock on the wall and assorted noises from the various pets, but you couldn’t hear […]