BaltimoreTerp
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Posts posted by BaltimoreTerp
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Joe Posnanski and Michael Schur just did a podcast where they held a 5 round Baseball Book Fantasy Draft.
Dude! Spoilers! :cussing:
Here were their picks:Schur
1 Moneyball
2 The Summer of '49
3 The Universal Baseball Association
4 The Natural
5 Ring Around the Bases
Poz
1 The New Historical Baseball Abstract
2 The Boys of Summer
3 The Great American Novel
4 A False Spring
5 Ball Four
After the draft, they declared Posnanski the winner.
Of the ones I've read:
Universal Baseball Association: Need to read again, but I thought it was very good the first time.
The Natural: Same, but I liked that the endings in the book and movie are different.
The Great American Novel: I've tried twice, but can't get through it.
Ball Four and Moneyball: Two of the best books I've ever read. Not baseball books, but books.
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Finished 56. I've read a few "one-season"-type baseball books and this might be the best of them. Kennedy really does a great job getting in DiMaggio's mind. There's also a few chapters mixed in on subjects like the mindset of a hitter when they go to bat, Pete Rose and the differences between his 44-game streak and Joe's, and a great one at the end on probability in streaks that I really think a lot of Orioles fans should go read right now
Starting A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. With the series coming out on HBO, I have heard so much about the books and the style and how you don't really need to like "fantasy" to enjoy them that I figured I would give the first book a try. Next up: either Campy: The Two Lives of Roy Campanella by Neil Lanctot or Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game by John Thorn
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First, from my previous post I want to highly recommend Triumph of the City. Very interesting look at the advantages cities provide the world.
I'm reading two books right now. I'm finishing up Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, as Told By Its Stars, Writers and Guests by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller, and starting 56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports by Kostya Kennedy.
The former I highly recommend if you are an SNL fan or are curious how a TV show like that can function and adapt over the years. The latter is very interesting so far, with quite a bit of detail about the era and even (seemingly) random Americans who came to be DiMaggio fans.
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I'm currently reading The Last Boy, the Mickey Mantle Book.
I also just picked up Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier by Edward Glaeser.
Hopefully it will at least help me play SimCity a bit better :laughlol:
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I just started Scorecasting, the new book being promoted as essentially the sports version of Freakanomics. So far, interesting stuff on how officials decide to make/not make calls.
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I just finished a book called Medicus, by Ruth Downie. It's basically an ancient Roman murder mystery: an army doctor stationed at a fort in Britannia investigates a series of murdered prostitutes from a local bar.
Really interesting read, and I'll be starting her next book shortly.
I'm also reading Field of Schemes, the book that basically tears to shreds every argument supporting publicly-funded stadia. Probably the same way Death to the BCS will destroy the arguments around that system when my copy shows up.
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The Killer Angels. Yes, it was on my 11th grade reading list. Sixteen years later, and I'm finally getting around to it. :laughlol:
My all-time favorite book. Enjoy
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MAGIC...MAGIC...MAGIC...MAGIC...
When did Craig Robinson and Matthew Lillard play for the Orioles? :laughlol:
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Even at one-thirty in the morning...things do seem a little bit brighter, don't they?
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I'm reading Mike & Mike's new book: Mike and Mike's Rules for Sports and Life.
My recommendation? Find it in audiobook, because it's essentially a dialogue between the two anyway.
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I'm currently reading Washington Burning: How a Frenchman's Vision for Our Nation's Capital Survived Congress, the Founding Fathers, and the Invading British Army. It's a really interesting book that gives background on the process of selecting a site for a permanent capitol (some sites in question were Baltimore, Annapolis, Lancaster, Peach Bottom, and an unnamed spot on the lower Susquehanna) and all of the controversy around the location, design and construction. And even though I haven't made it to that point, it seems to be heading towards how the burning by the British actually rallied American pride towards Washington as a symbol.
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I'm reading But Didn't We Have Fun: An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer Era, 1843-1870.
Since most baseball histories tend to go "Doubleday did NOT invent baseball---rounders/town ball---New York Knickerbockers---Cincinnati Red Stockings---National League" in about three pages, something that goes in-depth into that era is very interesting to me. It's a little slow, since it's mostly taken from interviews and letters and other sources from the era, but it's great stuff.
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Speaking of...Win Shares
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Not officially "currently reading" yet, but I got my copy of Pirate Latitudes from the library today. Michael Crichton's last completed novel; supposedly there's one more that was discovered 1/3-finished after his death and the publisher is looking for an author to finish it.
Will be reading it probably as soon as I get home.
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No Less Than Victory by Jeff Shaara. Love his books.
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Chapter 5.
I'd be curious why, but not in the thread since my guess is it will quickly delve into politics.
(And lets just say when the authors answered the question in the chapter title, my thought about it was a bit off
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Except for the one chapter that is a big steaming pile of [watch your mouth!]
Which one? I haven't found it yet, I don't think...
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SuperFreakanomics. Just as good as the first, so far.
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Joe Posnanski has a new book out on the 1975 Reds: The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds
I'm about 2/3 through it. Really good so far, and a fast read.
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Nestor Aparicio
Enough said.
I assume every possible pun is intended?
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"The Blind Side" is a book about the Raven's own Michael Oher.
Its an amazing story about a big kid totally disenfranchised and abandoned by the system who gets taken in by a family and finds rebirth on a football field. Michael Lewis also traces the evolution of pro football and how the importance of the Left Tackle has skyrocketed in the last few decades.
And now its a warm and fuzzy movie starring Sandra Bullock.
:cussing:
I hate to derail your rant, but to be fair:
1) They HAVE to sell it as a Sandra Bullock movie. They won't get anyone in the theater otherwise.
2) The Michael Oher half of the book is as much about the family that took him in and gave him his chance as about how his own transition from homeless kid to Division I (and now NFL) offensive tackle. Since they aren't going to be talking about the evolution of the left tackle position in the movie, at least more than a passing mention, it makes sense that Bullock's character has as much of a role as Oher.
I have my own questions as to whether it will work as a movie, at least as anything more than your basic inspirational family movie, but so far I haven't seen much that tells me it will be a train wreck.
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I'll start with The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, and add from there.
Best book I've ever read (and re-read, and re-re-read...)
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Baseball Books
in Book and Writers Club
Posted
Forgot about the Abstract. Definitely up there with Moneyball and Ball Four.