Baseballisms: Recent Episodes
Joe Magennis
As many of you know, we post a daily scoreboard that represents a batter by batter account of a Legendary Game in baseball history. If you go back to April 7, 2008 on this site, you will find a post with the following quote; “There are three things in my life which I really love: God, […]
On the eve of the 2011 baseball season, it is a great privilege to have as a guest on the Cover the Bases podcast Josh Wilker, the author of Cardboard Gods; An All American Tale Told Through Baseball Cards. Josh is of similar “baseball age” and is also a Red Sox fan, so his coming […]
Do you know how hard it is for a pitcher to win 300 Major League Baseball games? Just the math alone can explain how amazing the feat actually is. In order to win 300 games, a pitcher must win at least 20 games over 15 seasons or conversely have 15 wins in 20 seasons. This […]
With great pleasure, we welcome Kathleen Lockwood to the Cover the Bases podcast. She is the author of Major League Bride: An Inside Look at Life Outside the Ballpark. The book was published by McFarland & Company in 2010. Kathleen has been married to former major leaguer Skip Lockwood for over 40 years, the first […]
Avid #Cubs fan Floyd Sullivan introduces us to his entire multi-generational family of “Cubbed-Up” baseball fans, in his book Waiting for the Cubs: The 2008 Season, the Hundred-Year Slump and One Fan’s Lifelong Vigil. The book was released in 2010 by McFarland & Company. This chronicle of the 2008 season coincides with the 100th Anniversary of […]
We are pleased to welcome Mike Lynch back on the Cover the Bases podcast. Mike is the founder of the Seamheads.com web site, as well as the author of It Ain’t So: A Might Have Been History of the White Sox in 1919 and Beyond. It is published by McFarland, and was released in November of […]
I cannot understate how fortunate I feel to have had a chance to speak with Dirk Hayhurst on the Cover the Bases podcast. His book The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran is receiving critical comparisons to classics such as The Catcher in the Rye and to the baseball standard Ball Four. […]
Hall of Fame careers like that of Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Pie Traynor can often be overlooked. The lack of video imagery, demonstrating the skill and style by which the player performed tends to relegate the career to historical archives. It is the diligence and hard work of biographers such as James Forr and his […]
Note: We must apologize in advance for the sound quality on this audio recording. We attempted some different phone options but had to settle on this. This conversation about the book The Imperfect Diamond is so good that we decided to release the podcast as is …. We are happy to have a return visit […]
A Voice for the Braves for 33 years, Pete Van Wieren has seen the highs and lows of a franchise that transformed baseball in Atlanta. Since retiring after the 2008 season, Pete has written a book called Of Mikes and Men: A Lifetime of Braves Baseball in which he chronicles his long career and some […]
Baseball Codes and unwritten rules have been a part of the game since pitchers and batters started dueling. On this episode of Cover the Bases, we welcome author Jason Turbow to discuss his immensely popular new book The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime. The book is […]
On this edition of the Cover the Bases podcast, we dive into a book that goes back further than any other topic we have discussed to date. We are so happy to present a conversation with author Ed Achorn, the Deputy Editorial Page Editor for the Providence Journal. His first baseball book, Fifty-Nine in […]
We are thrilled to present this exclusive conversation with our first repeat guest on Cover the Bases! It is a privilege and an honor that Tim Wiles, Director of Research at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, provides what we’ll call an extra base hit. Tim has joined us in the past to discuss his […]
We are excited to present a conversation with Dan Fost on this edition of Cover the Bases. It turns out that Dan is a freelance writer with a common interest in the technology scene. He covers topics such as content delivery devices that corresponds with the direction that we see Baseballisms.com headed, so the pre-podcast […]
Joe Cronin ascended from the sandlots of San Francisco through the ranks of star player, field manager, general manager and American League President to become one of the most influential people the game of baseball has ever seen. Historian and author Mark Armour has written the definitive biography of Cronin’s life in Joe Cronin: A […]
We have a unique topic on this episode of Cover the Bases. Rather than the biographies, histories and memoirs that we usually speak about, instead we cover myths, legends and ghost tales with Dan Gordon. Dan is a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and has covered the game of baseball internationally, but discovered the folklore and […]
Seamheads.com Founder and Managing Editor, Mike Lynch is our guest on this episode of the Cover the Bases podcast. He is the author of two baseball books and writes regularly as his web site. We really appreciate the time that he took out of his night to talk some baseball with us. His most recent […]
We talk about women in baseball during Episode 2 of our conversation with Perry Barber. We had such a great time talking about baseball, umpiring, and even music, that I decided it would be best to split our time together into two programs for your listening pleasure. Enjoy! We find out from Perry that her […]
The following is Episode 1 of a conversation with Perry Barber. We had such a great time talking about baseball, umpiring, and even music that I decided it would be best to split our time together into two programs for your listening pleasure. Enjoy! Our special guest on this episode of Cover the Bases came […]
The book Ball Four is a seminal book on the bookshelves of many baseball fans, particularly fans who are of a certain generation. During the early to mid-seventies I became a fan of the game. Key influences included the thousands of pickup games played with my brothers and other kids in the neighborhood, my father […]
Our guest on this episode of Cover the Bases is David Cataneo, author of I Remember Joe Di Maggio: Personal Memories of the Yankee Clipper by the People Who Knew Him Best . The book is published by Turner Publishing. We discuss the contradictions in DiMaggio’s public persona as we hear stories of his hardened […]
We continue to focus on the Negro Leagues on the Cover the Bases podcast, in recognition of February’s designation as Black History Month. During the first half of last century, the Negro Leagues provided an opportunityfor players who were unable to participate in the major leagues simply because of racial inequality. It is a critically […]
In recognition of February’s designation as Black History Month, we are focusing our Cover the Bases podcast on books that have been written about the Negro Leagues, and some of the legendary players who had an impact on the game of baseball on and off the diamond. There can be no better place to […]
StLCards fans have the great fortune of a long and storied legacy from their home town ball team. Cardinals fans can revisit teams spanning the entire century for a glimpse at defining moments and legendary players in the history of the game of baseball. On this episode of Cover the Bases we speak with Alan […]
Tim Sommer was drafted out of high school by the Baltimore Orioles and spent 8 years in the organization. He experienced great joys and elation as he progressed through the system, learning the ropes from experienced veterans and wise coaches. He also experienced the ruthless and heartless treatment that can come upon individuals attempting to […]
Over the long history of baseball, there are stories that have been swept under the rug in an attempt to protect the game. Potentially damaging concerns have included current day situations like steroids, amphetamines & alcohol in decades past, ball doctoring, and of course gambling. Our guest on this episode of Cover the Bases is […]
As a baseball fan growing up near Rochester NY in the 1960’s, author Curt Smith could tune in radio and television stations from around the country, delivering the play by play from some of the legends of the game. In his imagination he could see Yankee Stadium, Forbes Field, or Tiger Stadium among others, through […]
In another “I can’t believe this is real” moment here at Baseballisms.com, we get the chance to speak with Maury Allen, who previews his upcoming book titled Dixie Walker of the Dodgers: The People’s Choice on this edition of Cover the Bases. Maury wrote the biography of a major league ballplayer with deep roots back […]
I have wanted @EmmaSpan to appear on the Cover the Bases podcast since the moment I discovered her blog is called Eephus Pitch. We sort of have a fondness for Bill Lee around these parts. Emma is the author of 90% of the Game Is Half Mental: And Other Tales From the Edge of Baseball […]
For over 22 years, Andy Strasberg worked for the San Diego Padres overseeing their marketing efforts. He was on the scene for Ozzie Smith’s first backflip, when Kurt Bevacqua caught a ball dropped from the tallest building in San Diego, and was present when the San Diego Chicken hatched. In 2008 Strasberg co-authored “Baseball’s Greatest […]
Do you have a favorite player from your youth who captured your attention simply because he had that one magical year? The season that corresponds with your developing a passion for the game of baseball? Author Rich Letarte has collected the stories of twenty-one of those types of players from 1950 – 1961 in his […]
The opening paragraph of Willie’s Boys: The 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, The Last Negro League World Series, and the Making of a Baseball Legend is of Carl Hubbell acting as a scout for the New York Giants, watching a young Willie Mays. Hubbell watches as a ball in the gap is quickly cut off by […]
Branch Rickey is one of the immortals of baseball, one of the most influential people the game has ever known. On this episode of Cover the Bases, we are pleased to present historian and biographer, Lee Lowenfish, author of Branch Rickey: Baseball’s Ferocious Gentleman. The book is the winner of a coveted Seymour Medal award […]
Sal Maglie was the other pitcher in some of the most memorable games in baseball history. On this episode of Cover the Bases we speak with biographer Judith Testa, who provides us with insights into the story of Sal Maglie: Baseball’s Demon Barber and how his persona (and nickname) transcends his baseball legacy. We also […]
Take Me Out to the Ballgame is the third most frequently heard tune in the U.S. behind Happy Birthday and the Star Spangled Banner. It evokes instant images of green grass, sunshine, the crack of a bat, and as Warner Fusselle is quoted as saying “it’s the happiest minute in sports”. Our guest on this […]
Yankee fans, and truthfully, any baseball fan will know the book titles that author Peter Golenbock has penned over the course of his career. To name just a few, you have The Bronx Zoo: The Astonishing Inside Story of the 1978 World Champion New York Yankees, then you could turn to Dynasty: The New York […]
