As I keep mentioning, regular readers of The Bookshelf know of my disdain for superlatives and similar declarations, such as “Greatest,” “Worst,” “Complete,” in titles. But there are a few cases in which they seem totally appropriate. In the case of Andy McCoullough’s new (and first) book, Clayton Kershaw just might be The Last of […]

I always felt a bit jealous of beat writers like Andy Martino. They get to go to every game, sit in (mostly) the best seats, have great access, etc. Of course, that’s an idealistic view. Travel can be brutal, players can be jerks (as can writers and their editors), competition can be fierce. Look at […]

Take two. Don’t know what happened, but the original post from earlier this week disappeared like a Doc Gooden curveball. Not even a draft of it, so I’m trying to recreate it as faithfully as possible. It seems to many outside the area that New Yorkers have an inflated image of themselves (at least those […]

East Side, West Side, New Yorkers have an overlarge image of themselves (at least in Manhattan). Everything has to be the best: Bigger, faster, most glitzy. Perhaps that’s why a lot of people outside the Big Apple dislike them so much. But there’s no denying the National Pastime has its roots deep into there, as […]

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 […]