Author: fartheroffthewall

“The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City”

The author:
Kevin Baker

Publishing info:
Knopf/
Random House
528 pages, $35
Released March 5,2024

The links:
The publishers website
the authors website
at Bookshop.org; at Powells.com;
at Vromans.com
at {pages a bookstore};
at BarnesAndNoble.com;
at Amazon.com

The review in 90 feet or less

The other night, my wife fell into a deep New York state of mind.

It had nothing to do with New York’s Mets (and hotshot Pete Alonzo) coming into L.A. to face the Dodgers. Or anticipating New York’s Yankees (and hotshot Alex Verdugo) coming to Orange County in about a month and trying to arrange for tickets behind the dugout.

It was all because of that Billy Joel TV concert special, and he started playing “New York State of Mind.”

Mind you, tears actually welled in her eyes as she sang along, all those sappy lyrics. She couldn’t help herself. While California born and reared, she lived for a time as a working adult on Long Island, and felt a real connection to the New York lifestyle — high energy, fast moving, get the hell out of my way if you’re not ready to order your bagel.

Everything this ballad isn’t by the way.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the queen-sized bed — if it matters, I’m more a “King of Queens” guy — this was all a distraction. I was trying to cry my way through “The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City.”

All those people in Madison Square Garden singing along to the song made me want to hop a flight to Hollywood. And I wasn’t even there.

It did also think of two quick stories.

First: I’d rather be a Yankee.

“Beisbol on the Air: Essays on
Major League Spanish-Language Broadcasters”

The editors:
Jorge Iber
Anthony R. Salazar

The publishing info:
McFarland; 172 pages
$39.95; released Oct. 17, 2023

The links:
The publishers website; the authors website; at Bookshop.org; at Powells.com;
at {pages a bookstore};
at BarnesAndNoble.com;
at Amazon.com

“Play-by-Play From the Minors: Profiles
of Baseball Broadcasters from Scranton to Yakima”

The author:
John Kocsis Jr.

The publishing info:
McFarland; 208 pages,
$35; released Oct. 13, 2023

The links:
The publishers website;
the authors website;
at Bookshop.org
at Powells.com;
at {pages a bookstore}; at BarnesAndNoble.com; at Amazon.com

The review in 90 feet or less

An essay posted in late August of 2023 found its way to the opinion section of The Hill, the media company based in Washington D.C. that focuses on “nonpartisan reporting on the inner workings of Government and the nexus of politics and business.”

This concerned the inner workings of how people were being informed about the local Major League Baseball team, which happens to be visiting Dodger Stadium this week.

In a piece with three bylines attached, it insisted the Washington Nationals deserved a Spanish-language broadcast of their games. The lack of one, at a time when the country was celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, was somewhat problematic.

It pointed out that 22 of the 30 MLB teams have a least some games broadcast in Spanish, “an important way to market their teams in the growing Hispanic communities around the country.”

The one most obviously interested in this endeavor has been the Dodgers, along with markets with influencial Hispanic populations like San Diego, Texas, Houston, Miami, Arizona, both New York team and both Chicago teams. Also on board: Boston, Minnesota, Oakland, Seattle, Tampa Bay, Colorado, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, St. Louis and San Francisco. The last one to join was Detroit, starting in 2023.

Wait, that’s only 21 teams. The one missing is …

“Under Jackie’s Shadow:
Voices of Black Minor Leaguers Baseball Left Behind”

The author:
Mitchell Nathanson

The publishing info:
University of Nebraska Press; 224 pages, $32.95; released April 1, 2024

The links:
The publishers website; the authors website; at Bookshop.org; at {pages}; at Powells.com; at Vromans.com; at TheLastBookStoreLA; at BarnesAndNoble.com; at Amazon.com

The review in 90 feet or less

Once upon a time, a preferred method to go about “honoring Jackie Robinson” was to buy “useful and attractive trophies and sculptured reproductions.”

This company in New York could facilitate.

A star-struck kid had no real choice if he spent nickle after nickel trying to get a Robinson Topps card. With a couple extra quarters taped to a piece of cardboard, stick it in the mail and there would be mementos aplenty. In fact, the word “useful” is mentioned a few times in this advertisement above.

These days, it might be more useful (is that still not the right word?) to commit $135 for a replica Dodgers jersey – Brooklyn or Los Angeles – from the MLBShop, via the Nike branding. Pick a style and color that better fits the statement you want to convey.

Or go bigger — a $250 model set aside for those inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame produced by, of all names, Ebbets Field Flannels.

In 2022, the Dodgers had a Robinson giveaway gray flannel jersey that was nifty looking retro thing, available now on eBay (especially size Medium, which few can actually wear) and was “licensed by the estate of Jackie Robinson and Mrs. Rachel Robinson” with the website www.JackieRobinson.com attached to the front tail.

For today’s Jackie Robinson day, the trinket will be … a blue Brooklyn cap with a large “42” on the side.

There are other quality items out there as well from our favorite Baseballism.com — shirts that proclaim 42 is “more than a number” and “bigger than a game” these days. Robinson’s name isn’t even incorporated into the branding here. His family likely likes that approach.

Still, if only we can get out of the corporate shadow of what Jack(ie) Robinson Day has become.

Editor’s note: I’ve decided that as much as possible, we should refer to the man as Jack Robinson. That was his name. That’s his Hall of Fame plaque. The media added the “ie” to the end to try to soften his image way back. Last year, I reviewed the book “Call Him Jack: The Story of Jackie Robinson, Black Freedom Fighter” and make a conscious effort to stick by that.

In Mitch Nathanson’s new book, “Under Jackie’s Shadow,” he writes in the introduction about that October day in 1972 – 25 years after Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier – when Major League Baseball decided to give him a cursory recognition in Cincinnati. Red Barber did the introductions. Pee Wee Reese, Peter O’Malley, Joe Black and Larry Doby were also there.

It turned out to be Robinson’s last public appearance – he died nine days later.

“The Fenway Effect: A Cultural History of the Boston Red Sox”

The author:
David Krell

The publishing info:
University of Nebraska Press; 264 pages; $34.95; released April 1, 2024

The links:
The publishers website; the authors website; at Bookshop.org; at BarnesAndNoble.com; at Amazon.com … and the Harvard Book store.

The review in 90 feet or less

Hark, the unheralded Angels make their only 2024 visit to Fenway Park this weekend – games against the Red Sox on Friday, Saturday and Sunday come very early this time around for some reason we don’t quite understand. It’s such a great summer road trip to take otherwise.

This is also a missed opportunity.

Had the Angels been allowed to stay just one more day, they’d have landed a rare trifecta — an April 15 appearance that would a) celebrate Jackie Robinson Day, b) celebrate Patriots’ Day (as the city shuts down for the Boston Marathon) and c) celebrated the dreaded 2024 Tax Day, with perhaps some planned tea party re-enactments in Boston Harbor.

The Angels struggled against the Red Sox at Angel Stadium last weekend, losing two of three to mark their home-opening series. Their return to Boston this time will be without their not-so-secret weapon, Shohei Ohtani.

Remember the effect Fenway Park had on Ohtani during his career?