Dr. Harvey Frommer On Sports

Friday, May 29, 2009

The Book Review: “Straw” and “’78”

Oh, how many times did I watch Darryl Strawberry do his thing especially as a member of the New York Mets. In so many ways he was the most talented of players I had ever seen. And in so many ways he was the biggest disappointment.

Now in “Straw” with John Strausbaugh (Ecco/HarperCollins, $26.99, 240 pages) Strawberry explains how the wheels came off his wagon, how and why he got violent, into drugs and alcohol, how being a celebrity got to be too much, how he overcame colon cancer. If you are into inspirational memoir – this is for you.

“’78: The Boston Red Sox, a Historic game, and a Divided City” by Bill Reynolds (New American Library, $24.95, 305 pages) is recommended reading for Red Sox fans delving as it does into that tale told many times about that special season and the sociological pressures that afflicted the city of Boston. Tighter editing might have made it a better read and an index would have been useful as a road map for what at times becomes a maze of material not totally sorted out.

For the younger sporting fans - - and there are so many of them – two books especially belong on the bookshelf - “Baseball Great” & “The Prince of Fenway Park”

“Baseball Great" by Tim Green (HarperCollins Children’s Books, $16.99, 250 pages) is geared to ages 8 and up. It is compelling, a thriller, a book that places its 12-year-old central character Ty Lewis is a precarious position in this football and pro gambling subject matter centered to me.

“The Prince of Fenway Park” by Julianna Baggott HarperCollins Children’s Books, $16.99, 322 pages) is aimed at ages 8-12. The book is especially appealing to me in the midst of writing REMEMBERING FENWAY PARK. Part fantasy, part legend, part reversing the curse, part baseball novel - - “The Prince of Fenway Park” is all about Oscar Egg, aged twelve. Potter-ish reading!

Monday, May 18, 2009

The Book Review: “Bases Loaded,” “The Baseball Hall of Fame” and more . . .

Kirk Radomski was employed in the clubhouse of the New York Mets for a decade. Now in his first book “Bases Loaded” (co-authored by David Fisher (Hudson Street Press, $25.95, 246 pages) the chief figure inn the Mitchell Reports takes the reader behind the scenes for some little tolds stories of the steroid scandal in baseball. It is an eye raising book, a story whose end is not yet in sight, a book as timely as today’s headlines. Controversy and conflict dogged Radmoski who became the main clubhouse supplier of performance enhancing drugs to nearly 300 major leaguers.

“The Baseball Hall of Fame” by Bert Randolph Sugar” (Running Press, $35.00, 272 pages, more than 500 photos) is the mother of all books on the shrine in Cooperstown, New York. Page after page of items from the Hall’s collection intermingle with the text of Sugar, an old hand at the sports book game – he has written more than 50 books. Recommended

From Clerisy press in Cincinnati comes a quartette of baseball books aimed at all kinds of readers and for all types of tastes. “365 Oddball Days in Boston Red Sox History” by John Snyder ($12.95, 372 pages, paper) is an almanac style tome that picks up a lot of eccentric nuances of Sox history through the years. “Rollie’s Follies” by Rollie Fingers ($14.95, 228 pages, paper) is a collection of stats, lists and lore – all very illuminating and entertaining. “Cincinnati’s Crosley Field” by Greg Rhodes and John Eradi ($25.00, 216 pages, paper) is a perfect book for fans of the Reds and others into baseball history showcasing as it does the old ballpark in words and picture. And finally “Dodgers Journal” by John Snyder ($29.95, 800 pages, paper) is a fountainhead of all kinds of information about the franchise since its inception in 1884.

For the golfers for getting or giving there is Homer Kelley’s “Golfing Machine” by Scott Gummer (Gotham Books/Penguin, $26.00, 267 pages) an illuminating look at nuances of the game and the genius whose theories revolutionized it.

Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his acclaimed REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his classic "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball." The prolific Frommer is at work on REMEMBERING FENWAY PARK (2010).

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in the millions and is housed on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

HarveyFrommerSports.com http://frommerluxurytravel-arts.com/
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http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61871 (IT HAPPENED IN THE CATSKILLS, new edition)
http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61872 (IT HAPPENED IN BROOKLYN, new edition)

Saturday, May 09, 2009

Remembering Dom DiMaggio

Sicilian immigrants Giuseppe -- the fisherman -- and Rosalie lived in the North Beach section of San Francisco and raised nine children. Three of the five boys became big league ball players. The last one, Dominic Paul DiMaggio, passed away a couple of days ago at the age of 92.

I was probably the last one to interview him. He is my 130th voice for the opus I am working on - - REMEMBERING FENWAY PARK: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY, slated for 2010 publication.

The man they dubbed the "Little Professor" because of his spectacles and 5-foot-9, 168-pound frame was a hell of a ballplayer even though he played in the gigantic shadows of Ted Williams and brother Joseph. He hit in 34 straight games in 1949, a streak snapped when big brother Joe snared a sinking line drive in a 6-3 Red Sox win over the Yankees.

I reached Dominic Paul DiMaggio on the phone not too long after he passed his 92nd birthday.

“How much time do you need?” he asked. “Thirty minutes.”

“Too much. How about five minutes”

We settled on 20 minutes, and I was told to talk louder throughout. What follows are some of the more moving and interesting aspects of the oral history that should make their way into the book. The words reveal a confident and intelligent man, who had a little tartness to him.

DOM DIMAGGIO: The first time I walked into Fenway Park was April 1940 before the season started, and there was ice on the field. It was a bit of a shock for me having been in California all my life. I was wondering how we were going to start on time. I do believe we did.

The weather wasn’t that bad. But there were cold days. I loved Fenway Park because it was cozy. Playing baseball there was a pleasure and a joy. It was close to the public and the whole thing was a perfect picture in my mind.

The atmosphere was increased when the Red Sox and Yankees played and you could feel that and so I enjoyed playing against New York.

In 1941, when my brother Joe had the hitting streak going, Ted would be talking to the guy in the scoreboard and the guy would keep him posted when Joe got a hit. You couldn’t do that at any other park.

There were times at Fenway when Joe would be coming in from centerfield and I would be coming out. I said very little to him on those occasions. What the hell was I going to do, stop in centerfield and have a conversation?

Sam Mele wasn’t a bad outfielder. Ted Williams wasn’t a bad outfielder either especially at Fenway Park - he played that wall nicely.

I enjoyed a challenge and Fenway Park did offer a challenge because of its structure and that was something but other than that it was a pleasure to play in. Having played there so often for so many years and so many games I felt I mastered the ballpark and got along beautifully with the fences. They didn’t hurt me and I didn’t hurt them.

I did not shoot for the Green Monster. No. I was an all-around hitter, a line-drive hitter, a damn good one too. I loved to hit in Fenway.

Saturday, May 02, 2009

The Book Review: "Yankee Colors” by Al Silverman and Other Notable Reads

The avalanche of quality sports books keeps on coming. They arrive in all sizes and shapes, from major publishers and pretenders to the throne, from first time authors and veterans of the trade. There is room for all in the frenzied, fabulous and fulfilling world of sports books.

“Yankee Colors” with text by Al Silverman and photographs by Marvin E. Newman with a foreword by Yogi Berra who not only seems to be everywhere but is (Abrams, $35.00, 200 full-color and 35 black and white photographs) is a paean to times past, specifically as the sub-title proclaims the glory years of the Mantle era. If you are a fan of lush, lovely, likable photo books with pleasing prose or a Yankee fan of a certain age the book is a must. For others it is highly recommended reading and browsing in a remarkable trip down Yankee memory lane from 1949 to 1963 with the legendary figures in Bronx Bomber history. Newman was a long time contributor to Sports Illustrated and Silverman was at the top of the game as a sportswriter in that time period. `
“Jerry Remy’s Red Sox Heroes” by the one and only Jerry Remy, former Sox star and current winning broadcaster, plus Corey Sandler (Globe Pequot, $24.95, 227 pages) is an up close and personal look at 44 players ranked as the best of all time in BoSox history. You may argue with some of the choices but you will probably lose. The RemDawg knows his stuff and you will too after reading this book.

Continuing in an olde towne team frame of mind there is “The Boston Red Sox From Cy to the Kid” by Mark Rucker and Bernard M. Corbett (Arcadia Publishers, $19.99, 128 pages, paper). A bit pricey especially in these down economic times, the slim product is nevertheless Boston Red Sox illustrated history at a glance.

“Baseball and the Baby Boomer” by Talmage Boston (Bright Sky Press, $24.95, 288 pages) is part history, part commentary, part memoir – all worthwhile. Talmage Boston, a trial lawyer and baseball historian, is at the top of his game in this terrific tome that has detailed essays and strong opinions on such as Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Jimmy Piersall, Roger Maris, Bart Giamatti, Nolan Ryan. A lot of the book in Boston’s words “defends the feats of Maris and Ryan from the ravages of the steroid era.” And that alone (although there are many other reasons) is a strong argument for one to buy this thoughtful book.

For those trivia buffs among you comes a series of books just up your alley - -THE GREAT BOOK OF SPORTS LISTS series. Cities included are Philadelphia, Denver, Washington, DC, Cleveland, Detroit, Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Prices at $14.94, published by Running Press, all paperbacks, the books are geared to fans of specific teams and written by different authors. `

BOOKENDS: “Breaking the Slump” by Jimmy Roberts (HarperCollins, $24.99 249 pages) is all about lessons learned by great players who went on from their worst moments in golf. There are all kinds of highly interesting personal stories from some of the greats.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

The Book Review: “Bottom of the Ninth” by Michael Shapiro and other Reads

If you like an untold story, and who of us does not, and if you are even a little bit of a sports junky than “Bottom of the Ninth” by Michael Shapiro ( Times Books, $26.00, 303 pages) belongs on your reading list. It is as its sub-title proclaims about Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball From Itself.

Shapiro, author of “The Last Good Season,” is in top form breaking new ground and providing new awarenesses of a little reported on chapter in American sports history – the aborted attempt by Branch Rickey to create the Continental League and Casey Stengel’s yen to remake the ways in which the national pastime was played. A good read.

“Crystal Clear” by Eric Le Marque with Davin Seay (Delacorte, $24.00, 256 pages) is the remarkable story of the author’s attempt to snowboard California’s Mammoth Mountain. Trapped by an approaching storm, he survived in sub freezing temperatures for 8 days but at a cost – he would lose both legs below the knees through frostbite. This is the story of a true “Miracle Man.”
“The Unwritten Rules of Baseball” by Paul Dickson (Harper, 256 pages, $14.95, paper) is an interesting reference read on the sub-text of the national pastime.

“The Baltimore Elite Giants” by Bob Luke (Johns Hopkins University Press, 192 pages) is a raising of consciousness about one of the legendary teams from the old Negro Leagues.

From “MR. RED SOX BOOKS” - Bill Nowlin - comes another couple of winners edited by him - - “The Ultimate Red Sox Home Run Guide” (Rounder Books, $18.95, 192 pages, paper) and “Lefty, Double-X and The Kid,” (Rounder Books, $18.95, 165 pages, paper). The former book is chock full of relevant, irreverent and very informative data on circuit clouts and their place in BoSox legend, lore and fact. The latter book is all one would want to know (and some things one might not want to know) about the Boston Red Sox of 1939. Both books HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for Red Sox fans.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Jackie Robinson Remembered (FROM THE VAULT)

He was born in Cairo, Georgia on the last day of January in 1919, and died on October 24, 1972 in Stamford, Connecticut. A chilly April 15, 1947 was the day he broke baseball's color barrier at Ebbets Field, the lone black man wearing the ice cream white uniform of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The man they called "Robby" attended UCLA, where he won letters in three sports. He was in the Army during World War II and then played briefly in the Negro Leagues when the war ended. He was signed to a minor league contract with the Montreal Royals in 1946 by Branch Rickey, and the following year came up to the Brooklyn Dodgers and broke baseball's age-old color line.

He played in the major leagues for a decade. He won the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949, and he helped the Dodgers win six pennants and one world championship.

Despite all the pressure he played under, he was still able to record a lifetime batting average of .311. His base-stealing ability and hustle won many games for the Dodgers. He set several records for fielding for second basemen.

His influence on sports is immeasurable. His breaking of baseball's color line against the greatest of odds is still one of the most dramatic stories in all of sports history. And there are those who still have special memories of the man and the legend. Here is how one from that time still remembers the great player Brooklyn Dodger fans called "Robby".

When school was out, I sometimes went with my father in his taxi. One summer morning, we were driving in East Flatbush in Brooklyn down Snyder Avenue. My father pointed to a dark red brick house with a high porch.

"I think Jackie Robinson lives there," my father said. He parked across the street and we got out of the cab, stood on the sidewalk and looked at the house. Suddenly, the front door opened. A black man in a short-sleeved shirt stepped out. I didn't believe it. Here we were on a quiet street on a summer morning with no one else around.

The man was not wearing the baggy, ice-cream-white-uniform of the Brooklyn Dodgers that accentuated his blackness. He was dressed in regular clothes, coming out of a regular house in a regular Brooklyn neighborhood, a guy like anyone else going out for a bottle of milk and a newspaper.

Then, incredibly, he crossed the street and came right toward me. Seeing that unmistakable pigeon-toed walk, the rock of the shoulders and hips that I had seen so many times before on the baseball field, I had no doubt who it was.

"Hi Jackie, I'm one of your biggest fans," I said self-consciously. "Do you think the Dodgers are going to win the pennant this year?"
"His handsome face looked sternly down at me. "We'll try our best," he said.
"Good luck," I said."
"Thanks," he replied."

He put his big hand out, and I took it. We shook hands and I felt the strength and firmness of his grip. I was a nervy kid, but I didn't ask for an autograph or try to prolong the conversation. I just he walked away down the street.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

THE BOOK REVIEW

“George” by Peter Golenbock

I had two chance encounters with George Steinbrenner and both were memorable.
I was sitting in his office at Yankee Stadium with the late Robert Merrill, the great opera singer, who for many Yankee fans was better known as the man who sang the "Star Spangled Banner." I was interviewing Merrill for a profile. This was late 1980s. Steinbrenner charged in, military stance, bristly and in charge.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he snapped at me.
"I was invited in here by Mr. Merrill."
"What for?"

When I explained, the Yankee principal owner relaxed and told me to get myself a drink. I declined saying I wanted to fully concentrate on my interviewing job at hand. Hearing that and no longer of interest to him apparently, Steinbrenner exited.

The second meeting was around the same era at Madison Square Garden at half time in the VIP quarters where drinks flowed freely and most tried to show off their hoop IQs. Steinbrenner came by and exchanged pleasantries with the late Red Holzman, then the former and legendary coach of the New York Knicks who I was with.

“The Boss” then turned to me.
“And you are writing Red’s autobiography.”
“Yes,” I said.
Those two encounters with G. Steinbrenner revealed a lot about the man. But those two encounters only were surface insights.

To read "George” by Peter Golenbock (Wiley, $26.95, 366 pages) is to get the total package of a complex, driven, nasty man who has his “good side,” too.

"George” is a page turner carefully crafted by one of America’s most skilled sports authors. It is a book that is part Golenbock autobiography but all Steinbrenner. Sub-titled “The Poor Little Rich Boy Who Built The Yankee Empire,” is a tome created over a couple of decades from more than 100 interviews and prodigious research.

Golenbock, a best selling author several times over, has out-done himself in this sweeping narrative of George Steinbrenner’s life and times. Golenbock has out-done himself in this terrific tome that gives an up close and sometimes too personal portrait of the man many have called "the Boss."

To read "George" is to read the definitive book on the principal owner of the Yankees.
BOOKENDS: “The Baseball Economist” by J. C. Bradbury (Plume, $15.00, 337 pages, paper) is a treatise and an argument about many of baseball’s cherished myths - like steroids are not the reason for behind the breaking of home run records, etc.

“The 1969 Miracle Mets” by Steven Travers (The Lyons Press, $24.95, 185 pages) was created to pay homage to one of the more popular NYC baseball teams. Unfortunately, it falls short in many ways – priced too high for too little, rehashing rehashed data and recycling stock photos – Met fans deserve better.

Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including “New York City Baseball,1947-1957″ and “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball”. His “Remembering Yankee Stadium: An Oral and Narrative History of the House that Ruth Built” (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime. His REMEMBERING FENWAY PARK will be published in 2010.
Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

**Last call for Fenway Memories - now working on "Remembering
*****Fenway Park" - will feature stories– first game attended, marker moments, odd events, tales of a special player at the Fens, architectural features... Please contact me by e-mail if you have something to contribute.

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Opening Day at Yankee Stadium: 1927

1927 (last season before the grandstand was extended around past the foul poles)

Another season, another opening day.

The old Yankee Stadium still stands but the new one (as if we needed it) is in place poised for its first opening day.

One of the most memorable of openings days at the “House That Ruth Built” took place in 1927 when the old Yankee Stadium was just four years old.

Owner Colonel Jacob Ruppert was very upbeat about prospects for baseball in 1927 but was muted in his predictions for his team. He did not seem to have a clue as to what tremendous accomplishments lay ahead for his Yankees.

“Everything indicates that 1927 will be one of the most remarkable in baseball history,” Ruppert told reporters. Although born in New York, he had never lost the German accent inherited from his paternal grandfather. It was an accent that became thicker when he became emotional, usually when talking about the Yankees.

On April 10th , a New York Times headline proclaimed:
“BIG LEAGUE SEASON TO OPEN ON TUESDAY: Yanks Will Greet Athletics, Picked by Many to Win Flag, at the Stadium”

“Well, it won't be long now,” James R. Harrison wrote in The Times. “Only a few days more and the greatest show on earth will be on. Tired business men will lock their desks and go uptown for an important "conference" at 3:30 P.M. The mortality rate among the grandparents of office boys will take an alarming jump . . .”

Everything was in readiness for the Yankees of New York beginning their fifth season at their majestic Yankee Stadium home field in the Bronx.

"The big parade toward Yankee Stadium started before noon yesterday,” Peter Vischer described Opening Day 1927 in the New York World. “Subways brought ever-increasing crowds into the Bronx. Taxicabs arrived by the hundreds. Buses came jammed to the doors. The parade never stopped.”

"Yankee Stadium was a mistake, not mine but the Giants’," Ruppert had said. The site was chosen for among other reasons to irritate the Yankees former landlords the Giants and because the IRT Jerome Avenue subway line snaked its way virtually atop the Stadium's right-field wall.
Built at a cost of $2.5 million, "The Yankee Stadium", as it was originally named, and nick-named "the House that Ruth Built,"when the park first opened in 1923 by Fred Lieb always one especially handy coming up with a catch phrase, had a brick-lined vault storing electronic equipment under second base, making it feasible to have a boxing ring and press area on the infield.

Yankee Stadium was the first ballpark to be called a stadium. A mammoth horseshoe shaped by triple-decked grandstands, the edifice’s huge wooden bleachers circled the park. The 10,712 upper-grandstand seats and 14,543 lower grandstand seats had been fixed in place by 135,000 individual steel castings upon which 400,000 pieces of maple lumber were fastened by more than a million screws. Sod from Long Island, 16,000 square feet of it, was trucked in.

The Stadium had eight toilet rooms for men and as many for women scattered throughout the stands and bleachers, a nice touch for the time. A 15-foot deep copper facade adorned the front of the roof, covering much of the Stadium's third deck, giving it an elegant almost dignified air. This decorative and distinctive element was the ball park’s logo.

Seating capacity in 1927 was now 62,000, increased from 58,000. The admission price for the 22,000 bleacher seats (the most in baseball) was reduced in 1927 from 75 cents to 50 cents. Grandstand admission was $1.10. All wooden seats were painted blue. In right center field there was a permanent "Ruthville" sign. Sometimes , the area was also called "Gehrigville".
The left-field pole was but a short 281-foot poke from home plate. It was 415 feet to left, 490 feet to left center, 487 feet to dead center, 429 feet to right center, 344 feet to right, and 295 feet down the right field line. The 82 feet behind home plate made for plenty of room for a catcher to run and chase wild pitches, passed balls, foul balls.

Above the bleachers in right centerfield was the manual scoreboard. The Yankee bullpen looked out on left centerfield. The dark green Yankee dugout was on the third base side of the field and remained there until 1946.

"By game time the vast structure was packed solid," Peter Vicher’s article continued. "April 12, 1927, Opening Day at Yankee Stadium. Rows of men were standing in back of the seats and along the runways. Such a crowd had never seen a baseball game or any other kind of game in New York."

The crowd was the largest in all the history of baseball, 73,206, breaking the previous attendance record of 63,600 that had been set in Game 2 of the 1926 World Series. Another 25,000 were turned away.There were 9,000 guests of the New York Yankees plus one thousand who were able to get in with passes.

On the balmy, almost summery day, the Seventh Regiment Band dressed in gray outfits began playing with vim and gusto. Red coated ushers, really into their effort of trying to keep the level of behavior orderly, worked the crowd, seating people.

At 3:25 the string bean manager Cornelius McGillicuddy (Connie Mack) of the Philadelphia Athletics, in dark civilian clothes and high stiff collar who was featured on that week’s Time Magazine cover, and the wisp of a Yankee pilot Miller Huggins posed for photographs.

Mayor Jimmy Walker, 45, typified New York City and the 1920s. A svelte, more dressed up model of the gregarious Babe Ruth, Walker in 1927 was happily involved with Betty Compton, 23, an actress. The two of them, it was said, had a gay time of it in their Ritz Hotel suite. Largely ignoring public mention of the relationship, the press instead gave lots of attention to the way Walker dressed, the parties he attended, the stories he told.

Urbane, dashing, positioned in Ruppert's private box, the Mayor threw out the first ball – twice, taking no chance to miss a photo op, to Eddie Bennett, referred to in newspapers of the time as “the hunchback bat boy.”

Bennett gave players their bats, presented baseballs to umpires. He let his cap and hump be rubbed by Yankees before games. He sat on the bench next to Miller Huggins, observing and pointing out things out on the field, a kind of precursor to today’s bench coaches. He would bring bicarbonate of soda to Babe Ruth before every game generally during batting practice after the big man had downed his massive quota of hot dogs and soda pop.

Ruth and Bennett would create laughs for early arrivals at the Stadium by engaging in a highly animated game of catch. Starting about ten feet apart, they would toss the ball back and forth. Ruth would throw the ball after a while about a foot above Bennett’s reach, and he would scamper after it. They would repeat the routine and the Yankee mascot would bitch a bit to the Babe who would feign total innocence. The game continued until Bennett found himself backed up against the screen behind home plate. To some, the whole ritual was viewed as cruel behavior on Ruth’s part, a taunting, shaming of a cripple. It wasn’t – just two guys playing around.

On this day of days, the Yankees had two loud voiced announcers using megaphones to inform the crowd of the on-the- field goings on. Previously one megaphoner had sufficed, colorful Jack Lentz, longtime announcer, who wore a derby hat and sometimes mangled the King's English. He was joined by George Levy, who had made a reputation working the Polo Grounds. He wore a soft hat and made use of a smallish megaphone. The work of the announcers was simple: speak the name of each player as he came to bat; keep silent after that except when a new player entered the game.

Knowledgeable fans noticed a significant change in New York’s white wool flannel home uniforms for 1927. "Yankees" was now on the front of the jersey rather than the name of the city. Navy blue vertical pinstripes and stirrups accentuated the uniform. Players wore navy blue caps with a white interlocking "NY" in script on the front. The v-necked shirts had a brief tapered extension around the neck. Sleeves extended over the elbows, and the knicker pants reached just below the knees. Belts and cleats were black. On the road, the team from the Bronx would wear a gray uniform with "YANKEES" in navy blue block letters across the chest, and two colored stirrups, navy blue on top and rust on bottom.

By noon, a carnival-like atmosphere pervaded the area around Yankee Stadium. Swarms of hawkers, vendors, gawkers and fans intermingled in a circus of sounds and colors.
By three o'clock most unreserved seats had been snatched up. Lines of police were at River Avenue in the back of the park and also along the approaches in front of the Stadium. New York’s Finest checked carefully allowing only those with tickets to pass.
It was exactly half past three when the game got underway.

This was the Yankee Opening Day lineup:

Earle Combs cf
Mark Koenig ss
Babe Ruth rf
Lou Gehrig 1b
Bob Meusel lf
Tony Lazzeri 2b
Joe Dugan 3b
Johnny Grabowski c
Waite Hoyt p

The Yankees, scoring four runs in the fifth and sixth innings, triumped , 8-3, They were in first place where they would remain day in and day out throughout the season.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

CHILDREN'S SPORTS BOOK REVIEWS

A Trio of "Sluggers" By The Team of Loren Long & Phil Bildner From Simon and Schuster Books For Young Readers/Aladdin Will Appeal To Youngsters and Others, Too.
"Water, Water Everywhere" ($14.95, 259 pages, hardcover) is the remarkable story of the Travelin' Nine making their way in a barnstorming tour across the USA. Spread over 21 concise and highly readable chapters and adorned with "inky" black -and white images, this is a book to treasure.
"Magic in the Outfield" ($5.99, 136 pages, paper) melds old-time baseball again with those inky and quite marvelous Loren Long images.
"Horsin' Around" ($5.99, 195 pages, paper) is set in the year 1899 and is about family, faith and baseball. And once again features those inky and quite marvelous Loren Long images.
"Before They Were Famous Babe Ruth" by Vito Delsante with remarkable illustrations by Andres Vera Martinez (Aladdin, $8.99, 120 pages, paper) is all about the young "Sultan of Swat" in comic strip form because he became what he would become. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Remembering Brothers Richman, Arthur & Milt

Back in the day in the late fifties when I was a journalism major at New York University I worked the five P.M. to past midnight shift at United Press International then located in the New York Daily News Building not far from the United Nations.
It was there that I met Milton Richman, the outgoing and at the same time introspective top gun in the sports department. I was a lowly sports assistant but he mentored me, cared about me and truly kick-started my career in sports journalism. Lessons learned from him are still part of my craft.
The typing back then was on old IBM clunky typewriters and yellow paper. I would do a story and there was Milt standing behind me telling to write "faster, faster," to leave stuff out, to reverse sentence structure, to get a more exciting lead. Truly, it was like a post graduate course in the intricacies and nuances of how to be a fast and efficient writer of all things sports.
We would go out for dinner very late and sometimes Milt's younger brother Arthur would come along. He was then a sports writer for the New York Daily Mirror, of not such blessed memory. It was in these Richmanesque supper times that I learned more about the brothers, how much affection they had for each other, what New York characters they were, how their knowledge and contacts in the world of sports reached Niagaraesque heights.
I also learned about their passion for the St. Louis Browns. As kids, the brothers Richman used to hang out by the visiting players' gate at Yankee Stadium and when the St. Louis Browns visited they adopted the brothers taking them on trains to Philadelphia and Boston.
Arthur Richman died in his sleep at age 83 in his Manhattan apartment on March 25th ending a life of 40 years in baseball where his greatest claim to fame was recommending Joe Torre as manager. He was laid to rest in his 1944 Browns' cap.
Milton Richman passed in 1986. He was inducted into the writers' wing of the Hall of Fame in 1981.
Now the brothers Richman belong to history; they will not be forgotten.
Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his acclaimed REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his classic "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball." The prolific Frommer is at work on REMEMBERING FENWAY PARK (2010).
Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in the millions and is housed on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

SPRING BASEBALL BOOKS PART 3: THE BOOK REVIEW

“Bill James Gold Mine,” “Sweet Lou and the Cubs,” “The Fielding Bible,” “Graphical Player” “Tim McCarver’s Diamond Gems”

This spring has once again seen the pub of many different kinds of sports books – and especially baseball books with a statistical slant. For those into that kind of thing, this is especially good news.
“Bill James Gold Mine,” (Acta Sports, $23.95, 271 pages. paper) is the latest publication from the man who made his mark in the 1970s and 1980s and is still going strong asking the right questions, asking ways to measure players and aspects of the game. Stats, charts, tables, essays – if you are a Bill James fan – this is the book to grab hold of.
“Sweet Lou and the Cubs” by George Castle (The Lyons Press, $16.95, 283 pages, paper) is all about one of the nicest men in baseball – public image for some notwithstanding. Castle has been a coverer of the Cubs since 1980 and for the past two seasons has seen Piniella up close. This is a book filled with gossip, inside scoops, new awarenesses. Must read for fans of the Cubbies.
“The Fielding Bible, Volume II” by John Dewan ($23.95, 400 pages, paper) is a mother lode of all kinds of info on the area of fielding, an area that has been largely overlooked in most analytical treatments on the national pastime. There are defensive scouting reports, defensive runs saved, a couple of interesting essays by the one and only bill James. “The Fielding Bible, Volume II” is a keeper.
“Graphical Player” with a host of contributors featuring writers from “Heater” magazine (ActaSports, $21.95, paper) is highly recommended fir veteran fantasy players and all interested in new insights and ways to look at major and minor leaguers. This sixth edition of “Graphical Player” boasts dashboards revealing at a glance much info.
“Tim McCarver’s Diamond Gems” (McGraw-Hill, $24.95, 270 pages) edited by is an interesting kind of book showcasing as it does favorite baseball stories from the multitude of celebrities who have appeared on his show through the years. From managers thru catchers to the rest of the lineup, the book is a treasure chest of baseball legend, love, and lore.
Backlist item: “Shooting the Pistol” ( Louisiana State University Press, $23.00, 120 pages) is a picture book with images created by Danny Brown. It showcases one of basketball’s flashiest performers in his glory days at LSU.

Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including “New York City Baseball,1947-1957″ and “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball”. His “Remembering Yankee Stadium: An Oral and Narrative History of the House that Ruth Built” (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

**Call for Fenway Memories - now working on "Remembering
*****Fenway Park" - will feature stories– first game attended, marker moments, odd events, tales of a special player at the Fens, architectural features... Please contact me by e-mail if you have something to contribute.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

REMEMBERING GEORGE KELL

The sad news of passing of Hall of Famer George Kell at his home in Swifton, Arkansas in his sleep on March 24, 2009 has just come out.

The former star third baseman Kell grew up in Swifton and lived in the same house from his birth to the time it burned down in 2001. It was rebuilt on the same land.

I had the good fortune to interview this true southern gentlemen and twice over the past few years – for my REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (2009) and for my REMEMBERING FENWAY PARK to be published in 2011. Both times he was forthcoming, anecdotal, interesting.

For the Yankee Stadium book he offered unique insights about what it was like to come in and perform there as an opposing player.

The multi-time All Star played for the Red Sox from 1952 to 1954 and really enjoyed the fans and the environment at Fenway Park.

Here, in draft form, is just some of the oral history subject matter he gave me: (FOR MORE - - BUY REMEMBERING FENWAY PARK in 2010)

GEORGE KELL: Fenway Park was sort of made for me. I didn’t have a lot of power. I’m a right-handed hitter and I could reach that left-field fence occasionally. And I just loved that ballpark. The people were great. The stands were full every day. It was just baseball, baseball. I couldn’t wait to get out there.

I was traded from Detroit to Boston on June 3, 1952: Hoot Evers, Johnny Lipon, and Dizzy Trout for Bill Wight, Walt Dropo, Fred Hatfield, Johnny Pesky, and Don Lenhardt. and the first day there I hit a home run over the left-field fence and I hit a double off of the left-field fence and I thought “my goodness, what could I do here? I’m liable to hit a lot of home runs and a lot of doubles.” But it wasn’t that way, it wasn’t that easy. They pitch you a little different. They’re not going to keep bringing the ball inside to where you can pull it all the time.

I began my career in 1943 with Philadelphia had played in Fenway as an opposing player for quite a few seasons coming in with the Athletic uniform and then the Tiger uniform.

There was something about Boston and it still is today. I was traded for an idol: Pesky. But I did get a wonderful reception. I broadcasted for the Tigers for 37 years. I came into Fenway all through the summers at various times. There is something about Fenway Park that is a little bit different.

I felt like I would never go into a slump at Fenway Park. I felt like I could always reach that wall out there one time everyday, but I didn’t. But it felt that way. And I felt like I could hit .300 there and I did the years I was there.

Everybody was trying to pull the ball. And I don’t think I ever had so many hot shots hit right at me by people just like myself who were trying to reach the left-field wall. Day after day after day that I was very busy at third base. That didn’t bother me. But I had to be more alert. There was not a lot of bunting, everybody was trying to reach the left-field fence and could. It was not an easy place to play third base.

Ted Williams came back from the Korean War and played at the end of my career there. Yes, I got to be close friends with Ted Williams. Maybe for one specific reason. When I won the batting title on the last day of the season in 1949, I won it because Ted went hitless that last day and I had a couple of hits. And I won it by two thousandths of point and boy I tell you to me it was tremendous for me but a tremendous loss for him because he was he was the all-time great hitter. And the next year at Fenway a man asked me if I would pose for a picture with Ted Williams. I left the dugout and I started over there.

Ted said, “No, no, no, we are going to make it in front of your dugout because you won the batting title from me fair and square.”

And I thought, “what a wonderful man he is.” We remained good friends from then on. . . .
Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books.

The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his acclaimed REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his classic "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball." The prolific Frommer is at work on REMEMBERING FENWAY PARK (2010).

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in the millions and is housed on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

What's in a Yankee Nickname? (I)

Yankee nick-names have run the gamut from complimentary to embarrassing, from hero worshipping to amusing from over-reaching to on target. Herewith, a sampler.

"The Babe" George Herman Ruth leads off the list and paces the list in most nick-names acquired. First called "Babe" by teammates on the Baltimore Orioles, his first professional team because of his youth, G.H.Ruth was also called "Jidge" by Yankee teammates, short for George. He called most players "Kid," because he couldn't remember names, even of his closest friends. Opponents called him "The Big Monk" and "Monkey."

Many of Babe Ruth's nick-names came from over-reaching sports writers who attempted to pay tribute to his slugging prowess:

"The Bambino", "the Wali of Wallop", "the Rajah of Rap", "the Caliph of Clout", "the Wazir of Wham", and "the Sultan of Swat", The Colossus of Clout, Maharajah of Mash, The Behemoth of Bust, "The King of Clout."

Other Yankee nick-names, expressions, bon mots of note for "Babe" and "Ruth" In spring training 1927, Babe Ruth bet pitcher Wilcy Moore $l00 that he would not get more than three hits all season. A notoriously weak hitter, Moore somehow managed to get six hits in 75 at bats. Ruth paid off his debt and Moore purchased two mules for his farm. He named them "Babe" and "Ruth."

"Babe Ruth's Legs" - Sammy Byrd, used as a pinch runner for Ruth "Bam-Bam" - Hensley Meulens could speak about five languages and had a difficult name to pronounce.

"Banty rooster" - Casey Stengel nickname for Whitey Ford because of his style and attitude.

"Battle of the Biltmore" 1947 Series celebration in Manhattan's Biltmore Hotel was a time and place where Larry MacPhail drunkenly fought with everyone and ended his Yankee ownership time.
"Biscuit Pants" - A reference to the well filled out trousers of Lou Gehrig.

"Billyball" - the aggressive style of play utilized by Billy Martin

"Blind Ryne" - Ryne Duren because of his very poor vision, uncorrected -20/70 and 20/200.

"Bob the Gob" - Bob Shawkey spent most of 1918 in the Navy as a yeoman petty officer aboard the battleship Arkansas.

"The Boss" - A a formerly apt description of Yankee owner, George Steinbrenner

"Boomer" - David Wells, for his in your face personality.

"The Boston Massacre" - described the way the Red Sox collapsed in 1978 and the seep of a four game series by the Yankees that September.

"Broadway" - Shortstop Lyn Lary was married to Broadway star Mary Lawler.

"Bronx Bombers" For the borough and home run power.

"Bronx Zoo" a derogatory reference to off color behavior on and off the playing field through the years and especially in the 1970s.

"Brooklyn Schoolboy" was what they called Waite Hoyt for his time as a star pitcher at Erasmus High School.

"Bulldog" - Jim Bouton, for his tenacity.

"Bullet Bob" - Bob Turley, for the pop on his fastball.

"Bye-Bye"- Steve Balboni, the primary DH of the 1990 Yankees had 17 homers but hit just .192.

''Carnesville Plowboy'' - Spud Chandler for his hometown of Carnesville

"Deacon" - Everett Scott, for his not too friendly look.

"Georgia Catfish" - Jim Hunter, name given to him by Oakland owner Charles Finley
""the CAT-a-lyst," name given to Mickey Rivers by Howard Cosell for his ability to trigger Yankee team offense.

"Chairman of the Board" - Elston Howard came up with the phrase in tribute to Whitey Ford and his commanding and take charge manner on the mound.

"Clutch versus Clutch" - qualitative commentary about Yankee-Red Sox competition.

"Columbia Lou" - Lou Gehrig because of his collegiate roots.

"Commerce Comet" - Mickey Mantle

"The Count" - Sparky Lyle, handlebar mustache and lordy ways

"The Crow" - Frank Crosetti loud voice and chirpy ways

"Danish Viking" - George Pipgras, for his size and roots.

"Daddy Longlegs. - Dave Winfield, for his size and long legs.

"Death Valley" - the old deep centerfield in Yankee Stadium - a
home run here was a mighty poke.

"Dial-a-Deal - Gabe Paul earned this one for his telephone trading habits.

"Donnie Baseball" - Don Mattingly was the only player in any sport to have a nickname with the actual name of his or her sport in it. Some say it was coined by Yankee broadcaster Michael Kay; others say it came from Kirby Pucket. Kay takes the credit; Mattingly gives the credit to Puckett.

"El Duque" - Orlando Hernandez

"El Duquecito" -ADRIAN HERNANDEZ because of a pitching style similar to Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, the younger Cuban is of no relation to his elder countryman.

"Ellie" - affectionate abbreviation of Elston Howard's first name

"Father of the Emory Ball" Rookie right-hander Russ Ford posted a 26-6 record with 8 shutouts, 1910

Fireman" - The first to have this nick-name was Johnny Murphy, the first great relief pitcher who put out fires. Joe Page picked up this nick-name for his top relief work later on.

"Five O'clock Lightning" - At five o'clock the blowing of a whistle at a factory near Yankee Stadium signaled the end of the work day in the 1930s and also what the Yankees were doing to the opposition on the field.

Flash" - Joe Gordon earned this nick-name because of his fast, slick fielding and hot line drives.

Four hour manager" - Bucky Harris, who put his time in at the game and was finished.

"Fordham Johnny" - for the college Johnny Murphy attended.

"Friday Night Massacre" - April 26, 1974, Yankees Fritz Patterson, Steve Kline, Fred Beene, Tom Buskey, and half the pitching staff were traded to Cleveland for Chris Chambliss, Dick Tidrow, and Ceil Upshaw.

"Gator" - Ron Guidry, who came from Louisiana alligator country.

"Gay Caballero" - Lefty Gomez for his Mexican roots and fun loving ways.

"Gay Reliever" - Joe Page for his night owl activity.

" Gehrigville." Bleachers in right-center at Yankee Stadium.

"The Godfather" - Joe Torre, for his Italian roots and his leadership skills on the baseball field.

"Gooneybird" - Don Larsen's teammates called him that for his late-night behavior.

"Goofy" or "El Goofo" - earned by Lefty Gomez for his wild antics

"Goose" Gossage

"The Great Agitator" -for Billy Martin, self explanatory.

"Grandma" - it was not a nick-name Johnny Murphy liked, but he was called that for his pitching motion, rocking chair style. Another story is that fellow Yankee Pat Malone gave him the name because of his complaining nature especially as regards food and lodgings.

"Happy Jack" Jack Chesbro's time as an attendant at the state mental hospital in Middletown, New York where he pitched for the hospital team and showed off a very pleasant disposition won him the nickname.

"Holy Cow" - one of Phil Rizzuto's ways of expressing awe

"Horse Nose" - a nick-name given catcher Pat Collins by Babe Ruth, a reference to a facial feature.
"Horsewhips Sam" - Sam Jones earned this because of his sharp-breaking curve ball.

"House That Ruth Built" - Ruth's immense popularity that propelled the Yankees into their new home, Yankee Stadium

"Home Run" - Frank Baker, for the two game winning homers he hit in the 1911 World Series.

"Home run twins" Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, phrase coined in 1961.

"Iron Horse" - Lou Gehrig

"Joltin' Joe" - Joe DiMaggio, for the jolting shots he hit.

"Jumping Joe" Joe Dugan earned his nickname for being AWOL from his first big league club as a youngster

"Junk Man" - Eddie Lopat frustrated hitters off stride with an assortment of slow breaking pitches thrown with cunning and accuracy.

"Kentucky Colonel" - Earl Combs came from Kentucky

"The King and the Crown Prince" - Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig

King Kong" Charlie Keller earned this nick-name because of his muscular body type and black, bushy brows.

"Knight of Kennett Square" - Herb Pennock because he raised thoroughbreds and hosted fox hunts in his home town of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

Knucksie" - Phil Niekro because of his knuckleball

Thursday, March 12, 2009

BASEBALL NAMES AND HOW THEY GOT THAT WAY (Part 9)

Another spring. Another baseball season. Another time for baseball lingo to be spoken, The words and phrases are used and written day after day, year after year - generally without any wonderment as to how they became part of the language. All have a history, a story.

For those of you who liked Parts I – VIlI. and wanted more, here is more.

As always, reactions and suggestions always welcome "Wabash George" ("Big George")moniker for George Mullin because he played semi-pro ball in Wabash, Indiana. He hurled for the Detroit Tigers from 1902-1913 among other teams.

"Walk-off home run" game ending home team home run in the bottom of the ninth inning or in an extra inning game.

"Wall-scraper" home run when ball hits the outfield fence above the home-run line.

"Wahoo Sam" Sam Crawford, Detroit Tiger star and Hall of Famer, hailed from Wahoo, Nebraska.

"Whale" Former Brooklyn Dodger hurler Don Newcombe was called this for his size and some would say slow manner. ("Newk") was used too, a shortening of his surname.

"White Rat" Former manager Whitey Herzog earned the name for his blonde hair and scheming ways.

"The Whiz Kids" Back in the 1950's the Phillies had a really young team that was surprisingly good.

"The Wheeze Kids" The Philadelphia Phillies had some good teams in the 1980s that featured old timers like Steve Carlton Pete Rose, etc.

"The Wild Hoss of the Osage" Oklahoma bred Johnny Leonard Roosevelt Martin of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1930s ("pepper") Martin, an aggressive player, was said to play baseball like a "wild mustang" and was given his nickname in the minor leagues.

"The Wild Thing" Mitch Williams, pitcher, would hit and walk a lot of batters, as well as throw a lot of wild pitches. He also had wild hair and a wild pitching motion. This nickname was also used in the movie "Major League."

"Willie the Wonder" Hyperbolic name pinned on Willie Horton who played for several American League teams in 1960s and 1970s and impressed people with his talent.

"Walking Man” Eddie Yost played nearly two decades in the major leagues. His lifetime batting average was only .254, but that didn't keep him off the bases. Yost coaxed pitchers into yielding I,614 walks to him--almost a walk a game through his long career--which places him fifth on the all-time bases- on-balls list.

"The Weatherman" Mickey Rivers had a knack for predicting weather.

"The Warrior" Paul O'Neill had this name pinned on him by George Steinbrenner as a nod to the Yankee outfielder's fiery ways.

“Wee Willie” He was born March 3, 1872, in Brooklyn, New York. He died on January 1, 1923, in Brooklyn, New York. William Henry Keeler made his debut at the Polo Grounds as a member of the New York Giants on September 30, 1892. He singled off the Phillies' Tim Keefe for the first of his 2,926 career hits. The son of a Brooklyn trolley switchman, Keeler Two years later became a member of the famed Baltimore Orioles. A lefty all the way, he weighed only 140 pounds and was a shade over 5'4". His tiny physical stature earned him his nickname, but pound for pound he was one of the greatest hitters baseball ever produced. Keeler played for 19 years and recorded a lifetime batting average of .345, fifth on the all-time list. He collected 2,962 hits in 2,124 games, spraying the ball to all fields. Wee Willie's greatest year was 1897, a season in which he batted .432, recorded 243 hits and 64 stolen bases, and scored 145 runs. He swung a bat that weighed only 30 ounces, but as he said, he "hit 'em where they ain't" --and that was more than good enough to gain Keeler entry into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1939.

Keeler opened the 1897 season with two hits in five at bats against Boston. Then for two months the slight southpaw swinger slapped hit after hit, game after game - from April 22 to June 18 - for 44 straight games. His record stood for 44 years until Joe DiMaggio came along and snapped it in 1941.

The Sporting News offered this mangled prose about Keeler as a fielder. "He swears by the teeth of his mask-carved horse chestnut, that he always carries with him as a talisman that he inevitably dreams of it in the night before when he is going to boot one - muff an easy fly ball, that is to say, in the meadow on the morrow. 'All of us fellows in the outworks have got just so many of them in a season to drop and there's no use trying to buck against fate'."

In 1898, a year after Keeler batted that astonishing .432, he set a mark for hitting that will probably never be topped, notching 202 singles in just 128 games. He truly was hitting them where the fielders weren't. It was a season in which the left-handed bat magician recorded 214 hits. His batting average was .379, but the incredible amount of singles amassed saw him register a puny .410 slugging percentage. That 1898 season Keeler came to bat 564 times in 128 games and walked only 28 times and did not strike out.

A slugger he was not. But, oh what a hitter!

William Henry Keeler played 19 years in the major leagues and finished his career with a .345 lifetime batting average. Quite justifiably the little man was one of the first to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hal of Fame in 1939.

“The Whip” A 6'6" right-hander, Ewell Blackwell had a sidearm motion and a crackling fastball that terrorized National League batters in the 1940's and 1950's. The former Cincinnati star's right arm seemed to "whip" the ball in at the batter, and that's how his nickname came to be. Winner of sixteen straight games in 1947, he struck out almost a batter an inning during his ten year career.

“Wild Horse of the Osage” Johnny Leonard Roosevelt Martin, better known as Pepper Martin, starred for 13 seasons with the National League's St. Louis Cardinals. He could hit, he could run, he could field, he could throw, he could win--and he did all of these things with wild abandon, with an élan and a verve that earned him his nickname. If he couldn't stop a hard smash down to his third-base position with his glove, he would stop the ball with his chest. If he could not get into a base feet-first, he would leap into the air and belly-flop his way there. Martin took the extra base, risked the daring chance, played with fire and fury. Three times in the mid-1930's he led the league in stolen bases, and throughout that decade he functioned as the horse that led the Cardinal "Gashouse Gang" (see GASHOUSE GANG).

"Wizard of Oz" An abbreviation of his first name and tip of the cap to Ozzie Smith for his peerless fielding skills. No other shortstop could get to the ball as fast as, and utilize the fielders around him like Ozzie.

"Yo-Yo" - for small size and hyper activity, Luis Arroyo

"You Could Look It Up" Casey Stengel began his major league playing career in 1912, his managing career in 1934. He played for 14 years, managed for 25 years. His baseball career ended in 1965 after stints with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants, New York Yankees, New York Mets. Casey could talk for hours about baseball and life. And sometimes in the midst of animated conversation about a utility outfielder on the old Boston Braves, or a balk by a forgotten pitcher on the Pittsburgh Pirates--to emphasize that he was not relating fiction he would exclaim: "You could look it up!"

Monday, March 02, 2009

Spring Baseball Books Part II: “Under The March Sun,” “Becoming Manny,” “As They See ‘Em,” “Hardball Times Season Preview 2009”

All sizes, all shapes and for all tastes and budgets the spring 2009 parade of books about different aspects of the national pastime keep coming. Some are from famous authors and major publishers with some advertising and marketing muscle behind them. Others are by first time of little known authors from mid-level or small houses. All have something to offer – especially if you are a baseball fan.

“Definitive, fascinating, a groundbreaking cultural and sports history of spring training from humble origins to mega-million status today. A winner.” Those are the words I used to blurb “Under The March Sun” by Charles Fountain (Oxford University Press ($24.95, 336 pages) when I first came into contact with the work before it was an actual book. I feel the same way about it now. Fountain has created a fountainhead of work from the phenomenon’s origins in the 19th century to the present – this is a home run of a book filled with anecdotes, facts, facets bound to illuminate and entertain.

“Becoming Manny” is the effort of Dr. Jean Rhodes, the world’s leading expert on youth mentoring and a professor at the University of Massachusetts in Boston and Shawn Boburg, a reporter at the Record in New Jersey. Published by Scribner, priced at $25.00, 304 pages – this carefully crafted work - - the result of unlimited access to Manny Ramirez and his family, friends, teammates and handlers is fascinating stuff about the man many view as the Greta Garbo of baseball. What you see is often not what you get. In the crass and common world of gee whiz biographies, this combo bio and autobiography reveals much about a gifted and sensitive athlete and the world he lives in. Its sub-title proclaims: “Inside the Life of Baseball’s Most Enigmatic Slugger” and that it is. NOTABLE!

“As They See ‘Em,” Scribner, $26.00, 352 pages) is an inside book compiled by author Bruce Weber after talking with about one third of the umpires who plied their tough trade 2006-2008 - - and that is only part of this effort.

Weber, who has been with The New York Times in various roles since the mid 1980s, reveals a journalist’s curiosity and a fan’s zeal as he ranges far and wide over issues, icons, irritations and insights. If the wide world of umpires is your dish – this is the book for you.

“Hardball Times Season Preview 2009” (Acta Sports, $19.95, 296 pages) is a bargain for all it has to offer. A think tank of analyses, graphs, stats, essays, projection and commentaries for over a thousand players and all 30 MLB teams – this is a mother and father lode of all stuff baseball for the new season.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

THE BOOK REVIEW: Spring Baseball Books Part I: Baseball Prospectus 2009, Diamond Gems, Baseball Dictionary, The Big Field

With spring training underway another sure sign that the 2009 baseball season will soon be with us is the deluge of new books focused on all manner of different facets of the national pastime. There is something out there for every taste, every budget.

"Baseball Prospectus 2009" is a mother and father lode of information for even the most crazed of stat guys. Now in its 14th season, this oversized paperback (Plume Original, $21.95, 628 pages) presents a Hall of Fame group of analysts analyzing all kinds of things connected to the summer game. Sagacious, smart, this book belongs on the top of your baseball buy list.

"Diamond Gems" edited by Tim McCarver with Jim Moskovitz and Danny Peary (McGraw Hill, $24.95, 270 pages is essentially a book that was more than decade in the making and includes a vault of material from "The Tim McCarver Show." There is Willie Mays on "the Catch," Yogi Berra on war and baseball, Sandy Koufax on his quest to add a third pitch. It is neatly organized by position - the "lefties" for example - contains Warren Spahn, Whitey Ford, Sandy Koufax, Jim Kaat, Tom Glavine and Al Leiter - thinkers all. "Diamond Gems" is a gem of a baseball book.

"Baseball Dictionary" in a new life - revised and expanded by Paul Dickson weighs in at 974 pages and a hefty fifty dollar price tag from WW Norton. One quibble I do have is that two of my books "Sports Lingo" and "Sports Roots" are in the annotated bibliography. But Dickson sadly missed out on my terrific tome - THE SPORTS JUNKIES BOOK OF TRIVIA, TERMS, AND LINGO" --What They Are, Where They Came From, and How They Are Used. Otherwise, this is deep, definitive, daunting - a thesaurus of all things baseball.

Now in paperback reprint is Mike Lupica's "The Big Field" (Plume, 272 pages, $7.99) recommended for ages 10 and up - the story of Keith "Hutch" Hutchinson and his relationship with father, a former boy phenomenon.

HIGHLY NOTABLE: "High and Inside: My Life in the Front offices of Baseball" by Lou Gorman (McFarland, 226 pages) is to be up close and personal with a man who has spent almost a half century in pro baseball and who is now an executive consultant for the Boston Red Sox. This is a man who drafted Roger Clemens, signed George Brett , developed Jim Palmer. This is a man who knows his way around a story and can tell it in detail, with humor and insight. "High and Inside" is a work that belongs on the bookshelf of every baseball fan - there's a lot to learn from an expert on the national pastime.

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

Sunday, February 08, 2009

February 1927 Part II

(Excerpt from Five O'Clock Lighting: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and the 1927 New York Yankees, The Greatest Baseball Team Ever)

This 1927 spring was a different spring, a different Babe Ruth, one more circumspect and more caring about taking care of his body. Actually, after the 1925 season, during which he weighed more than 250 pounds and played abysmally, the Sultan of Swat for the first time started to watch (somewhat) what he ate and drank.

His first appearance in spring training 1927 was filled with hype, hullabaloo and hoopla as befitted the King of clout. Reporters swarmed about, crowded around him. They looked him over. All the stories about the terrific shape he was in seemed true. The great Ruth announced in that deep voice of his that had just a hint of a Southern accent: "I never felt better in my life. I weigh 223 pounds and will lose only 3 pounds while here."

Showing off his expanded 47 inch chest, he bragged about the hardened belly. "Hit me," he smiled. Hit me as hard as you can." One of the more intrepid scribes, James R. Harrison of The Times, went for the suggestion. Ruth took the poke, feigned some pain, kept on smiling.

“Twenty four gaping rookies stood at attention as he sauntered through the lobby of the hotel,” Ford C. Frick, wrote in the New York Evening Journal, “and flocks of femininity dogged his footsteps to the very portals of the elevator where a flunkey in uniform barred the way.. . .The Babe was friendly to all, smiling, bowing, yelling in a hoarse voice to teammates.”

That morning he played golf, a round of 92, violating the training rule set by Miller Huggins that banned participation in the sport by players except on Sundays. “Special permission,” Huggins explained to reporters was given to Ruth.

“The Big Bam,” the New York Evening World’s Arthur Mann wrote: “shags flies to begin the day's work, fields bunts, and then warms up with a catcher. By this time he is ready to go into the box, and there he remains, pitching for about 25 minutes. His batting practice consists of about 12 good wallops."

Billy Sunday made a visit to the Yankee training camp. Ex-major leaguer, ex-drunk, celebrated revivalist, umpire and scribe, he hit some balls – one was a shot he got good wood on that according to one scribe "was still smoking."

Smoking, characterized the way many Yankees reacted to a Billy Sunday comment: “Of all the ball clubs I have looked at this spring the Athletics are by far the most impressive. The club doesn't appear to have a single weakness."

But Sunday was not the only one with the pro-Philly point of view. The New York Betting Commission had installed the Philadelphia Athletics favorites to win the pennant because of their addition of veterans like Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins and Zach Wheat. Only 9 of 42 writers polled gave the Yanks any chance to repeat as pennant winners. American League President Ban Johnson predicted a historic-five team pennant race. An AP poll of 100 players and "baseball experts" tabbed the Athletics to win it all.

Grantland Rice writing in the New York Herald-Tribune said: "From present indications, the American League race figures as follows: Philadelphia, New York, Washington, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Boston." Professional odds makers set the Athletics at 2-1, the Yankees at 3-1, the Senators at 7-2.

Harvey Frommer is his 34th consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.".

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

You can reach Harvey Frommer at:
Email: harvey.frommer@Dartmouth.EDU

About the Author:
Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published September 1, 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.". Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~frommer
http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/02/sports_frommer083002.htm
http://www.redsoxnation.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=15388&s=93d3ba714519f785d290b4305f62c42d

Harvey Frommer along with his wife, Myrna Katz Frommer are the authors of five critically acclaimed oral/cultural histories, professors at Dartmouth College, and travel writers who specialize in cultural history, food, wine, and Jewish history and heritage in the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean.

Monday, February 02, 2009

February 1927:(Excerpt from Five O'Clock Lighting: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and the 1927 New York Yankees, The Greatest Baseball Team Ever)

The pieces were falling into place for the 1927 Yankees. But the biggest piece, Babe Ruth, had not yet signed a new contract and seemed not likely to do so anytime soon. Hands down, he had rejected the $52,000 salary he earned in 1926. That was out of the question. In early February, Jake Ruppert sent another in what would be a series of contract offers to Ruth. This one was for $55,000. The offer annoyed the hell out of the competitive Babe who said he had it on good authority that Ty Cobb, now with the Philadelphia Athletics, was slated to get $75,000. The peripatetic Yankee outfielder moved on to "Hooray for Hollywood" time. He was now a star on the East Coast and the West Coast, now making his first movie, "The Babe Comes Home" for First National pictures. In a break during shooting he said: "Reading, like picture shows is almost taboo, I've got to watch the old optics closer than anything else." Under strict orders from his trainer Artie McGovern, the Bambino, also got his beauty sleep. He was early to bed by 9 P.M. (it wasn't clear whether he was there alone or had company), and early to rise he was on there on the movie set no later than six A.M.

On Hollywood Boulevard, running three to five miles a day, George Herman winked and smiled at folks all along the way, truly a sight for all kinds of eyes. After the up and downing on the streets, Ruth was rewarded back at his Hollywood Plaza Hotel with a comforting and stimulating rub down by McGovern who had taken leave of his New York City gymnasium on 42nd Street and Madison Avenue to press the flesh of his most illustrious client still unsigned to a Yankee contract for the 1927 season. McGovern, in a comment praising himself and the wondrous work he was accomplishing remarked about his beginnings with Ruth: "He was as near to being a total loss as anyone I ever had under my care."

On February 22, six days before the first Yankees were scheduled to arrive in St. Petersburg for spring training, Babe Ruth mailed to Colonel Ruppert from Hollywood an outline of what he thought he should be paid for 1927, just another salvo in their continuing out in the public eye contract wrangling. The Babe was adamant as he spoke to reporters. He pressed the point that he would retire from baseball and organize a string of gymnasiums with Artie McGovern if his salary needs were not met. On February 25, the day before the big man left California for New York, his salary demands were published in the New York Daily News.

Two days later a letter he wrote to Colonel Ruppert appeared in The New York Times. The letter's tone was conciliatory. It was also forceful. "You will find enclosed contract for 1927 which I am returning unsigned because of the $52,000 salary figure. I am leaving Los Angeles February 26 to see you in New York and will be prepared to report at St. Petersburg but only on the basis of $100,000 a year for two years, plus $7,700 held out of my salary in the past.. . .

"In fine physical condition today I hope to play as good as last year or better. I have exercised all winter and for the past twelve weeks have been working out of doors. At my own expense I have brought Arthur McGovern from New York to condition me. "The New York club has profited from five of the best years of my baseball life. During that period my earning power to the club has greatly increased while my salary has remained unchanged. . ..

"During the winter season I booked my own exhibition games and without support from other players I have received more in three weeks than the New York club pays me in three months....

"I have refused to discuss my new contract or salary during the Winter but now that I have returned my contract unsigned an explanation will be expected, and I wish you would show this letter to any newspaper writer who wishes to see it"With best personal wishes, I amYours truly, BABE RUTH"After the long trip from California, Babe Ruth arrived on the second day of March at Grand Central Station in Manhattan at 9:40 A.M. on the first section of the Twentieth Century Limited. Half a dozen gate tenders, a squad of private police and railroad security were powerless to hold back more than a hundred of the more ardent and adoring fans who had broken through and gained access to the train platform. They roared at their idol, easy to spot in his brown cap and tan overcoat, as he got off the train. Outside the entrance to the train, more than two thousand more fans waited, excited, cheering as their hero came through, a wide smile on his big face.

Harvey Frommer is his 34th consecutive year of writing sports books.

The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.".

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed. FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

Monday, January 19, 2009

THE BEST OF TIMES

(For your reading pleasure adapted from FIVE O'CLOCK LIGHTNING: BABE RUTH, LOU GEHRIG AND THE GREATEST TEAM IN BASEBALL HISTORY, THE 1927 NEW YORK YANKEES)

Charles Lindbergh was given a grand ticker tape parade on his return from Paris and his solo, nonstop transatlantic flight that began in New York. In Harlem, dancer Shorty Snowden, during a dance marathon, named his dance step the Lindy Hop inspired by the headline: "Lindy Hops the Atlantic."

The twenty-two newspapers of William Randolph Hearst, published in fifteen cities, had a daily circulation of 3,500,000 and reached 4,000,000 on Sundays. New York City had 18 daily newspapers in the 1920s. The New York Daily Mirror was a morning tabloid first published in 1924 in New York City by the William Randolph Hearst organization to compete with the New York Daily News, the most widely circulated newspaper in the United States. The News had begun in 1919 as the first picture newspaper, one that sports fans loved. In 1923, the year Yankee Stadium opened, the circulation of the News moved past 600,000 making it the best selling newspaper in the United States. That year of 1923 the percentage of newsprint devoted to sports rose from the four per cent it had been in 1890 to 17 per cent. Widespread coverage of baseball was already in place in specialized publications like the Sporting News and Baseball Magazine.

By 1927, newspapers in New York had 10 columns of sports. The news tabloids often led their front pages with sports news and pictures. Even the New York Times and New York Herald-Tribune were giving over more and more column space to sports

It was a time when most people received virtually all of their current information from newspapers. Afternoon newspapers cost three cents; morning papers were two cents. The half a dozen or so afternoon papers, like the Sun, Telegram, and Journal featured baseball results on page one. Papers were positioned face up on newsstands, and fans could see the score without buying the paper.

Arguably, the most talented bunch of newspaper sports journalists in action at one time worked back then. They called themselves "the Gee-Whizzers," and their zeal and love for sports and games at times surpassed that of the people they wrote about and for. They told the stories, provided the game accounts, wrote the poems. There was no television, little radio, some excellent but somewhat limited photography. What images, views, information on sports there was, came in the main from these sportswriters.

The sports pages had facts, but they were also sources of entertainment, soft news. Educated and eloquent, dedicated and opinionated, lyrical and knowledgeable, the sports writers of that time plied their trade in an era when players were drinking buddies, not antagonists. Yet the writers competed with themselves and among themselves to tell the stories, to break the scoops, to come up with new angles.

Those who plied their trade on the New York City newspapers were a who's who of sports writers. The New York Times boasted sports editor and columnist John Kiernan, Yankee writers Richards Vidmer and James Harrison. W.B. Hanna, Rud Rennie and sports editor W.O. McGeehan worked for the Herald Tribune. New York Daily News writers included Paul Galico, Marshall Hunt and Roscoe McGowen. Ford C. Frick wrote for the Evening Journal. Frank Graham, Joe Villa and Will Wedge did their stuff for the New York Sun. The New York Telegram featured Fred Lieb, Dan Daniel and Joe Williams. Lieb later wrote for The New York Post .The Monitor had George Bailey. Dan Parker and Charles Segar were on the New York Mirror, Edward Luster and Bill Slocum wrote for the New York American, and Arthur Mann was on the New York Evening World. Still doing their thing on the newspaper scene were icons Ring Lardner and Damon Runyan.

Jack Dempsey held the heavyweight-boxing title from 1919 through 1926. Then in 1927 in an epic grudge match seen by more than 150,000 who had paid two and a half million dollars at Soldier Field in Chicago, Gene Tunney won a controversial decision over Dempsey for the heavyweight boxing title. Big Bill Tilden dominated a lot of the tennis news in a sport that was the most rapidly growing one in America in 1927. Golf was also expanding big time. The great golfers Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen dominated not only American courses but the venerable British greens as well. Red Grange at Illinois was a three time football All-American. At Notre Dame, Knute Rockne coached the "Fighting Irish" to three national championships. In 1927, the Harlem Globetrotters played their first basketball game. The New York Giants won the National Football League title game, and Johnny Weissmuller set several swimming records. Henry G. Steinbrenner, the father of George, won the 1927 NCAA low-hurdles championship.

In that golden age of sports there were those who towered above the rest: Red Grange in football, Jack Dempsey in boxing, Bobby Jones in golf, "Big Bill" Tilden in tennis, and the poster boy for excess . . .for more, George Herman "Babe" Ruth in baseball,

The 1920s, the age of Ruth, witnessed the largest increase in a decade for recreation and entertainment. In the previous decade those who attended baseball games were mainly affluent, white collar workers. In the 20s a better standard of living and the introduction of Sunday baseball widened the audience - attracting all classes including immigrants and the children of immigrants - working-class Italians, Poles and Jews. Like the cities baseball was played in, urban stadia were now becoming a meeting and melting ground for Americans of all classes and backgrounds.

Major league baseball, played in the daytime concluding before darkness fell, saw its average attendance rise 50% in the roaring 1920s, reach 93 million, nearly three thousand a game more than it had been in the previous ten years.

In New York City all sports were pretenders to the throne that baseball sat on. At least one Big Apple baseball team played in the World Series in eight of the years of the 1920s. In 1921, 1922 and 1923, the Yankees and Giants played in Subway Series.

Contrary to what many might believe, according to one 1927 estimate, 107 men from 79 colleges made up nearly one-third of big league regulars. The farm system belonged to the future.

Players spent a lot of time on long train trips. It was bonding time, a restful time, a time to eat and sleep, to play cards, read books and newspaper sports pages. Liquor and beer were the liquid refreshment of choice, both available in abundance. The game was the national pastime. All the best athletes gravitated to baseball. So many with a very strong work ethic and competitive fires were drawn to being part of the game.

The game was very different from baseball in the 21st century. Pitchers didn't throw nearly as hard. Strikeouts were way down because batters focused more on putting the ball in play and making contact. Pitchers threw far fewer pitches. Conserving strength and going the distance was the goal.

In 1927 batted balls bouncing into the grandstand were counted as home runs instead of ground-rule doubles, as they do today. But each of Babe Ruth's home runs hit that year were examined by historians who are convinced that none of them bounced into the seats. But there were four baggers smacked by others that got where they got on the bounce.

The time it took for games to be played was much less than today. There was no need to build advertising into the structure of the contests. A batter rarely got in and out of the batter's box. And if one did the home plate umpire would call for a pitch. And if it was anywhere near the plate it was deemed a strike.

Babe Ruth totally dominated all. In that glorious decade Babe Ruth finished number one in home runs (467), RBIs (1,328), walks (1240), strikeouts (795), slugging percentage (.740). Babe Ruth, a self made man, the American dream come true, a free swinger in a free swinging time.

"Once my swing starts," he said, "I can't change it or pull up on it. It's all or nothing."

Babe Ruth was the king. The 1927 New York Yankees were the royalty of baseball.

Historian A. D. Suehsdorf said: "If you didn't like the Yankees, it was a tough time to be alive."

But if you loved the Yanks, it was the best of times.

Harvey Frommer is in his 34th consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball." His latests are REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) as well as a reprint version of his "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball."