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Even before that press release landed less than a half hour ago, the words of John Thorn woke us up again this morning.  Words that came recently via a tweet from Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal.

For those in self-isolation and concerned about self preservation, we hope you might agree it’s OK to spring forward with a review of a few dozen baseball books we’ve been doing, as we sit out this serious delay.

For the last 10-plus years of reviewing 30 baseball baseball books during the 30 days of April, the only real guidelines we established for ourselves as guard rails for this sometime crazy/self-inflicted/worthwhile project was to have it coincide with the Major League Baseball season launch, and also the books should be recently released or, in some cases, within the last six months if they provide some historical context to what we’re seeing these days.

Then we saw another Thorn message from his own tweet:

Why not launch this rocket a few weeks early — especially to give some heads up about those books already available? We can space it out a bit, even as some say the start of the MLB season may not be until June, if we work this thing out right.

Diamond’s new book “Swing Kings: The Inside Story of Baseball’s Home Run Revolution,” is due for release March 31. That’s right around the time Brad Balukjian’s “The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife” arrives.

Eric Nusbaum’s must-read “Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between,” should be coming a week from Tuesday, along with Jesse Doughtery’s “Buzz Saw” on the Washington National’s World Series run (and running right over the Dodgers).

Others like Billy Ripken’s “State of Play,” is already out, as are baseball novels by Emily Nemens (“The Cactus League”) and Gish Jen (“The Resisters”).

I’m not paid to do any of these reviews, per se. The life of a freelancer now involves many pitches and a lot more swings and misses that we’d care to admit. If we’re hitting .300 with our pitch count, that’s not bad. If it pays, even better.

We’ve had time to read. A lot. For many reasons.

There are too many reasons to launch this now instead of waiting. We’re game to start the clock early on this and go extra innings if needed. Give us a little time to warm up and we’ll get it going.

Also:
* The 2019 review series at this link, with the L.A. Times picking up a portion of the reviews at this link.
* A 2018 roundup.
* Sadly, our former employer eliminated archives of the reviews going back many years that we did at insidesocal.com/tomhoffarth. Hopefully, you can find some of them through Google searches, but …
* Our 2013 review of Ron Kaplan’s book “501 Baseball Books fans Must Read Before They Die” that continues to be a fine resource for the historical list of books one might want to go back and find.
* We did a 2009 review of “Six Decades of Baseball: A Personal Narrative” that we thankfully see was blessed with our thoughts.

With nothing ahead to preview, five things that one may want to read from the past weekend:

The New York Times’ great John Branch, who did a magnificent piece about the Church in the Canyon in Calabasas not long after the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash, comes back with “Does Coronavirus Mean the End of Sports as We Know Them?” He writes:
For decades, sports were a constant, part of the background noise of American culture, and maybe an unhealthy obsession. Games were always on. Radio was filled with banter. Twitter fights were had. There were office pools, side bets and serious gambling. Sports gave us something to talk about when the conversation slowed, something to watch when there was nothing else to do. Maybe this will be a reboot, a cleanse to slow or recalibrate our metabolism. Maybe, when this is all over, we will be weirdly thankful for the cultural enema.
Follow John at https://twitter.com/JohnBranchNYT

From Tim Layden of NBCSports.com, under the headline: “Sports crystallized coronavirus for America; now we adjust to life without them,” as he writes:
All of this does two things: One, it drives home the seriousness of the health issue facing the United States and the world. (Perhaps it should not have needed driving home, but these times we live in can be confusing). Two, it underscores, with less urgency but analogous longing, the role that sports play in the lives of many Americans. The games will be gone, and even amidst everything else that inconveniences us, and frightens us, the absence of those games will be profoundly felt.
Follow Tim at https://twitter.com/ByTimLayden

There is a sportswriter in Minnesota who wrote his first column in 1945 has just turned 100. And he continues to work. Hail Sid Hartman, and read the lead he wrote for Sunday’s piece in the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Writing a column as I turn 100 years old is hard to believe. Writing it as the sports world has completely shut down around the world is even harder to believe.
As you ponder how those older than you might be affected by this virus, think of what this man is thinking in this point in time.
Follow Sid at twitter.com/SidHartman

Ben Cohen, Louise Radnofsky and Natalie Andrews of the Wall Street Journal have a piece that explains “How a Doctor, Congressman and NBA Star Shut Down American Sports,” with some interesting context to who and how Dr. Anthony Fauci got to this position in being a voice of reason. They write about Fauci, a huge Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle fan who captained his high school basketball team:
This diminutive high-school basketball player, a man perceived as marginalized in the Trump administration’s response to coronavirus, would change the course of sports history.
Follow Ben at https://twitter.com/bzcohen

Fr. James Martin is a go-to person for perspective in the world from the prism of faith. His piece for America Magazine, “Faith in the time of Coronavirus,” brings us peace. He writes:
Many things have been cancelled because of the coronavirus. Love is not one of them.
Follow Fr. Jim at https://twitter.com/JamesMartinSJ

 

From where we hang out on the edge of the cliff:

=== Our discussion with Fred Wallin about where L.A. sports can go from here:

=== We are on the cover of the Los Angeles Business Journal with a rare extended Q&A with  Rams owner Stan Kroenke, the publication’s 2020 Business Person of the Year. It’s one of the coolest interviews we’ve ever done in our 40-plus years in the business of journalism. It is also online at labusinessjournal.com:

=== We have this piece in Angelus News about how the Salesian basketball team from East L.A. — the varsity roster had only seven players — won the CIF 3AA title less than a week after they were invited to attend the Kobe Bryant Memorial Service at nearby Staples Center, thanks to the Lakers’ Tim Harris.

=== How we spent last weekend, at least Saturday:

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*Also:
== This tweet, leading to this video:

== From the Washington Post (offered free): A global coronavirus simulator shows how outbreaks spread, and the best ways to “flatten the curve.”

== If you’ve made it this far, here are two more:
— The New York Times: “Stirring Sermons About Coronavirus, in Empty Cathedrals”
— Esquire: “Fox News Is Still Peddling Coronavirus Misinformation to Its Extremely At-Risk Viewers“

In a week that has started with the cancellation of the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament at Indian Wells because of the coronavirus outbreak, and likely finding ourselves adjusting each hour of each day to new information, here is how it looks at 10 a.m. on Monday, March 9:

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What we know going into a week where college basketball sorts itself out to post up for the real postseason:
== CBS’ annual men’s hour-long bracket reveal – Sunday, Channel 2, 3 p.m. – also has the ESPN slightly delayed overlapping reveal during its 3 p.m. SportsCenter, then folds into a “Bracketology” show from 4-6 p.m.
Those who are already in (as verified here) :
Utah State (26-8) – Mountain West Conference tournament champion (dropping San Diego State to No. 6 in the AP Top 25)
Belmont (26-7) – Ohio Valley Conference tournament champion
Winthrop (24-10) – Big South Conference tournament champion
Bradley (22-11) – Missouri Valley Conference tournament champion
Liberty (30-4) – Atlantic Sun Conference tournament champion

== Leading into the final 68:
== The Pac-12 aims for seven teams – depending on how many other conference tournament tournaments turn out, depleting the bubble team spots (such as Utah State knocking off San Diego State for the Mountain West). If seven get in, that would match the past two years combined and equal the conference record set in 2016.
The latest ESPN Bracketology layout has USC as a No. 9 and UCLA as a No. 11 in the Midwest, Oregon as a No. 4 and Arizona State as a No. 10  in the South, Colorado as a No. 7 and Arizona as a No. 8 in the West, and Stanford in a play-in game for No. 11 in the South.
But would it really be representative of the strength of the conference, whose tournament’s championship (relegated this year to FS1, Saturday at 7:30 p.m.) goes at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
No. 2 seed UCLA (19-12, 12-6) and No. 4 seed USC (22-9, 11-7) have a bye into the quarterfinals and could only meet in the title game. How the bracket sets up:

= Wednesday:
= Utah (16-14, 7-11) vs. Oregon State (17-13, 7-11), noon, Pac-12 Network
= Washington (15-16, 5-13) vs. Arizona (20-11, 11-7), 2:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network
= Stanford (20-11, 9-9) vs. Cal (13-18, 7-11), 6 p.m., Pac-12 Network
= Colorado (21-10, 10-8) vs. Washington State (15-16, 6-12), 8:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network
= Thursday:
= No. 13 AP Top 25 Oregon (24-7, 13-5) vs. Utah/Oregon State, noon, Pac-12 Network
= USC vs. Arizona/Washington, 2:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network
= UCLA vs. Cal/Stanford, 6 p.m., Pac-12 Network
= Arizona State (20-11, 11-7) vs. Colorado/Washington State, 8:30 p.m., FS1

Semifinals are Friday at 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Network) and 8:30 p.m., (FS1).
= More info: pac-12.com/mens-basketball

== The West Coast Conference Tournament final at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas  – Tuesday at 6 p.m., ESPN – could have had Pepperdine continue it impressive run. But instead, we anticipate getting to see how potential No. 1 regional seed and No. 2 AP Top 25 Gonzaga (29-2, 15-1) looks going in (the Zags are in Monday’s first semifinal vs. USF, 6 p.m., ESPN; with 24-7/13-3 BYU, ranked No. 14 in the AP Top 25, facing 25-7/11-5 Saint Mary’s in the second semifinal, 8:30 p.m., ESPN2)
= More info: wccsports.com/tournaments

== The Big West Tournament’s title game at the Honda Center in Anaheim — Saturday at 8:30 p.m., ESPN2 – comes after:
= Thursday quarterfinals:
= No. 2 seed Cal State Northridge (15-17, 10-6) vs. Cal State Fullerton (11-20, 6-10), noon, ESPN3
= No. 3 seed UC Santa Barbara (21-10, 10-6) vs. UC Riverside (17-15, 7-9), 2:30 p.m., ESPN3
= No. 1 seed UC Irvine (21-11, 13-3) vs. No. 8 seed Long Beach State (11-21, 6-10), 6 p.m., ESPN3
= No. 4 seed Hawaii (17-13, 8-8) vs. UC Davis (14-18, 8-8), 8:30 p.m., ESPN3
= Friday semifinals:
= Highest remaining seed vs. lowest remaining seed, 6:30 p.m., ESPNU and ESPN3
= Other two quarterfinal winners, 9 p.m., ESPNU
= More info: bigwest.org

==Other tournament championship games of note:
Sunday:
= SEC: No. 8 Kentucky and No. 20 Auburn are the top contenders in Nashville, Tenn.: 10 a.m., ESPN (semifinals at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Saturday, ESPN)
= Atlantic 10: No. 3 Dayton is on target to be in the final in Brooklyn, N.Y.: 10 a.m., Channel 2 (semifinals at noon and 2 p.m., Saturday, ESPN2)
= Big Ten: No. 9 Michigan State, No. 12 Maryland, No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 19 Ohio State, No. 21 Illinois and No. 25 Iowa are at the mix in Indianapolis: 12:30 p.m., Channel 2 (semifinals at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Channel 2)
= American Athletic: No. 22 Houston is the favorite to get to this final, 12:15 p.m., ESPN
= Ivy League in Boston: 9 a.m., ESPN2
= Sun Belt in New Orleans, 11 a.m., ESPN2
Saturday:
= Big 12: No. 1 Kansas and No. 5 Baylor, with No. 22 West Virginia, are bracketed in Kansas City, 3 p.m., ESPN
= Big East: No. 7 Creighton, No. 11 Villanova and No. 16 Seton Hall are alighted in New York, 3:30 p.m., Channel 11 (semifinals are Friday at 3:30 and 6 p.m. on FS1)
= ACC: No. 4 Florida State, No. 10 Duke, No. 15 Louisville and No. 17 Virginia are in the mix in Greensboro, N.C., 5:30 p.m., ESPN
= American East, 8 a.m., ESPN2
= MAC in Cleveland, 4:30 p.m., ESPN2
= MEAC in Norfolk, Va., 10 a.m., ESPN2
= Southland in Katy, Tex., 6:30 p.m., ESPN2

== More info here about the women’s tournament, which will be announced Monday, March 16

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What we can’t quite figure out about today’s NBA:
== If the Lakers’ wins over Milwaukee and the Clippers over a three-day period last weekend at Staples Center sent a statement, it might not have resonated as loudly as they thought.
Milwaukee remains the No. 1 team in the ESPN NBA Power Rankings for Week 20, despite losing three of four last week and having Giannis Antetokounmpo now missing time with a sprained knee during the loss to the Lakers.
Meanwhile, the Lakers, staying at No. 2, have defeated two of the top four teams in the NBA in back-to-back games for the first time since February, 2009.
== The Lakers recently clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2013, and it’s possible they could meet the Clippers in the postseason. The crowd for Sunday’s nine-point made it feel like a playoff atmosphere, with a strong contingent of raucous Lakers fans on hand for what was a Clippers’ home game. They chanted “MVP! MVP!” when LeBron James completed a 3-point play that tied the Lakers’ largest lead of 12 points with 40 seconds to play.
The Lakers have won four in a row and 11 of the last 12. The Clippers had a six-game win streak end. It was the first time in 11 games the Clippers lost when having a completely healthy roster.

How the week unfolds for the Lakers (49-13, 6 ½ games up in the Western Conference)
= vs. Brooklyn, Staples Center, Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Spectrum SportsNet
= Vs. Houston, Staples Center, Thursday at 7:30 p.m., TNT
= Vs. Denver, Staples Center, Sunday at 6 p.m., Spectrum SportsNet, ESPN

How the week unfolds for the Clippers (43-20, second in the Western Conference, one game ahead of Denver, No. 3 in the ESPN NBA Power Rankings)
= At Golden State, Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., TNT
= Vs. Brooklyn, Staples Center, Friday at 7:30 p.m., Prime Ticket
= Vs. New Orleans, Staples Center, Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Prime Ticket

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Just guessing here Josh Guesman wasn’t all that impressed with the Galaxy’s 1-0 loss to Vancouver in their home opener last Saturday as he wrote this under the headline: “Galaxy Provide the Perfect Lead-In To Disaster”

Everything leading up to the match was perfect. The stadium was filled over capacity, the grass was cut inch-perfect, the hype video — filmed in the same location as the Dark Knight Bat Cave — was energetic, and the new MLS Anthem, written by world-famous composer Hans Zimmer, taxed the sound system in all the right ways.
But what they got was an immature performance with some concerning trends that should have everyone in the organization asking questions.
The Galaxy passed horribly, and throughout the night, they sent in cross after cross for a much taller man who wasn’t there– a tactical problem that LA Galaxy Head Coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto had a week to remedy but didn’t fix.
To be fair, the 10-man LA Galaxy team that finished the night didn’t deserve the win. They generated almost no offense while controlling the better of the game and had just one shot on target over the 90-minute affair.
“I think everyone is waiting on the Chicharito goal, and everyone will ask me about Chicharito if he doesn’t score in the game,” Schelotto said while answering the second question of the night. “I think I am more worried about the result tonight than whether Chicharito scores or not.
“Because I know he is a regular striker, and we have just two games, and he hasn’t scored, but we expect he will score in the next game. We put the ball in the box all the time, but we couldn’t find him. We will try in the next game.”
Atonement may come in the Galaxy’s trip to Inter Miami CF – Saturday, 11:30 a.m., Channel 11 – which has plenty of David Beckham storylines.

Meanwhile: LAFC goes against Cruz Azul in the CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16, first at Banc of California Stadium (Thursday, 7:30 p.m., FoxSports2) with a follow up in Azteca Stadium on March 18.

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If Sierra Canyon reaches the CIF California State final on Saturday in Sacramento, we’d expect nothing less than to see LeBron James courtside. Because the Lakers’ schedule allows it.
All games on Spectrum SportsNet:
Saturday:
= Boys Open Division, 8 p.m. (Sierra Canyon faces Etiwanda in the semifinal, Tuesday at 7 p.m., Cal State Northridge, to advance against the Northern California finalist)
= Girls Open Division, 6 p.m.
= Boys Division II, 4 p.m.
= Girls Division II, 2 p.m.
= Boys Division IV, noon
= Girls Division IV, 10 a.m.
Friday:
= Boys Division I, 8 p.m.
= Girls Division I, 6 p.m.
= Boys Division III, 4 p.m.
= Girls Division III, 2 p.m.
= Boys Division V, noon
= Girls Division V, 10 a.m.

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Two things of note about this week of the NHL season:
== The third Kings-Ducks match up (Staples Center, 1 p.m., Saturday, Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket)
== Bobby Ryan returns with Ottawa to meet up with his old Ducks (Honda Center, Tuesday at 7 p.m., Prime Ticket)
== Also this week for the Kings (27-35-6, 60 points, still last in the Western Conference despite a current conference best five wins in a row):
= Vs. Colorado, Staples Center, Monday at 7:30 p.m., Fox Sports West
= Vs. Ottawa, Staples Center, Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Fox Sports West
== Also this week for the Ducks (28-32-9, 65 points, 13th in the Western Conference out of 15 )
= Vs. St. Louis, Honda Center, Wednesday at 7 p.m., Prime Ticket
= Vs. Montreal, Honda Center, Sunday at 1 p.m., Prime Ticket

**This week in college baseball:
==How the week plays out for UCLA (13-2, after handing USC a 15-3 thumping on Sunday, and now the Pac-12 schedule starts):
= vs. Oregon, at Jackie Robinson Stadium, Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m.
==How the week plays out for USC (9-5, as the Pac-12 schedule starts on the weekend):
= vs. Xavier, Dedeaux Field, Tuesday at 6 p.m.
= vs. Washington, Dedeaux Field, Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m.
==How the week plays out for Long Beach State (10-5):
= At Tulane, Friday at 4:30 p.m., Saturday at noon, Sunday at 11 a.m.
==How the week plays out for Cal State Northridge (10-5):
= Vs. Iowa, Matador Field, Friday at 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
==How the week plays out for Loyola Marymount (8-8 after sweeping at San Jose State, with the WCC schedule starting):
= At BYU, Thursday and Friday at 5 p.m., Saturday at noon
==How the week plays out for Pepperdine (12-3 after taking two of three against Michigan, with the WCC schedule starting on the weekend):
= Vs. Cal Poly, Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.
= Vs. University of San Francisco, Friday at 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.

 

** As part of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass – Thursday-Sunday, NBC and Golf Channel each day, with the $15 million purse (the Masters only has $11.5 mil and the U.S. Open is at $12.5 mil) plus 600 FedEx Cup points, also known as the unofficial fifth PGA major of the season — The Chainsmokers are doing a concert on Tuesday. Which would seem like a better fit for the PGA Champions tour, on many levels. The field will be missing Tiger Woods – and that’s apparently only a surprise if you haven’t been paying attention – but most of the other top players are playing. At the Players. Because they want to play.
If you don’t get air sickness, watch this sick video of the last three holes of the Players Stadium Course: The par 5 at No. 16, the famous par 3 island at No. 17 and the par 4 finishing No. 18.

**The XFL starts the second half of the season with Week 6 — and how do we even assess your 2-3 L.A. Wildcats?
Here’s one try:
This is a team that is headed nowhere, despite the comeback against Tampa Bay Sunday. Winston Moss’ Wildcats have two wins, one against a team that is 1-4 and the second against the DC Defenders, who can’t buy a win away from home. The Wildcats put up 80 points in their victories. Let’s consider that a tribute to the opponents. Grade: C-minus
== Week 6 schedule:
= L.A. Wildcats at Seattle, Sunday at 4 p.m., ESPN2
Also:
= Houston at New York, Saturday at 11 a.m., Channel 7
= St. Louis at Tampa Bay, Saturday at 2 p.m., Fox Sports 2
= Dallas at D.C., Sunday at 1 p.m., Fox Sports 1

** The International Fencing Foil Grand Prix event – the final men’s and women’s event before the 2020 Olympic Team is selected – is still scheduled to happen at the Anaheim Convention Center, Friday through Sunday. More info: www.usafencing.org