All in the Cards

Thanks to Steve for keeping you company while I was gone. Here's my latest post. Thanks for reading!

Ozzie Smith, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson. Three names Cardinals fans and baseball enthusiasts know well. But those are just three of the Redbirds 42 Hall of Famers. What about Rabbit Maranville, Chick Hafey or Pud Galvin? Authors Greg Marecek and Myron Holtzman engage readers with story after story in “The Cardinals of Cooperstown.”

Sam Miller/Free Keon

Stan the Man from Donora

Here's my latest post from Seamheads. Slammin' Sam on Sports Media Links comes at you on Thursday!

Some months ago, I examined a pair of Stan Musial biographies at a friend’s request. Not long afterward, “Stan the Man” hit the shelves. What makes Wayne Stewart’s book different?

Thanks for reading!

Sam Miller/Free Keon

Baseball’s Craftsmen: "Men at Work"

Here's my latest post from Seamheads. Look out for Slammin' Sam on Sports Media Links on Thursday!

George F. Will’s “Men at Work” is a classic. Twenty years after the book stood at No. 1 on the NYT Bestseller list for 19 straight weeks, it’s back as a re-release. This week, for those of us who were too young to appreciate it the first time around, let me shed light on what you will find in this acclaimed book.

Thanks for reading!

Sam Miller/Free Keon

Dousing the Flames

Here's my latest post from Seamheads.com... Thanks for reading and watch out for Slammin' Sam on Sports Media Links on Thursday!

My, have the one-time accessories known as pitchers evolved. You see, when baseball began, pitchers served as a launching pad for batters’ rockets. Standing 50 feet from their counterpart, only a few moments snuck by before their rockets went up, up and away on contact.

As recently as 1980, relievers milled around in the shadows. “Relievers were like utility players who weren’t good enough to start,” seven-time All-Star and three-time Rolaids Relief Award winner Lee Smith says of his big-league beginnings in 1980 (vii, Fireman). Try to catch up with a 103 m.p.h. Joel Zumaya pitch in the present. The question is, how did we get here? Fran Zimniuch examines in “Fireman.”

Sam Miller/Free Keon

Once Considered Jewels, Baseball Cards Have Lost Luster

Hey Free Keon and Slammin' Sam on Sports Media Readers!
Allow me to preview my latest Seamheads.com post. This book made me put off Rick Reilly's sure-fire hit, "Sports from Hell" off till next week if that tells you anything. Enjoy!

Remember the days when “gem” referred to the rock on a lady’s finger or to a pitcher’s performance? Remember the days when you’d scrounge up three or four dollars for a pack of cards, hoping that you’d find that 1:150 insert? Today we journey back to yesteryear with Dave Jamieson’s “Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession.”

Slammin' Sam on Sports Media Links returns on Thursday.

Sam Miller/Free Keon

Psst – Wanna know a secret?

Hello Free Keon and Slammin' Sam on Sports Media Readers!
I have an exciting announcement. Thanks to Mike Lynch at Seamheads.com, I've joined forces with the baseball enthusiasts there, starting today. In addition to Seamheads blogging, I will continue my contributions to Free Keon. Keep clicking here for Slammin' Sam's Links and non-baseball coverage. Thanks for your support!

Here's a preview of my Seamheads debut:

Psst – Wanna know a secret? A lot of your heroes weren’t the men you thought they were. The reality of the game they played differs from your ideal picture too. OK, I guess that’s not really a surprise. But more often than not, histories paint romantic pictures of yesterday’s stars. Perhaps some childhood mischief or an 0-4 day snuck into the story. Rarely is there reason to worry about anything that would besmirch your favorite hitter or pitcher in most retrospectives. Zev Chafets’ “Cooperstown Confidential” is a delightful dastardly exception.

Sam Miller/Free Keon

Check It "Outta Here"

Slammin’ Sam on Sports Media
Exactly one year ago today, Philadelphia Phillies Hall of Fame broadcaster and the voice of NFL Films Harry Kalas died of heart disease. Here’s why you should read “Harry the K” by Randy Miller.

Back in Radbourn's Day, Backing Down was Out of the Question

Slammin' Sam on Sports Media
Now batting for Slammin’ Sam on Sports Media, “Fifty-Nine in ’84.”

Here’s why you should read Edward Achorn’s book at the dawn of the baseball season:

Do You Know the Code?

Slammin' Sam on Sports Media
Calling all Baseball Fans, calling all Baseball Fans,

With the MLB season less than a week away, it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty at Slammin’ Sam on Sports Media.

Have you ever found yourself watching a baseball game and wondering why a player stole a base during a blowout? Or maybe you watched your favorite hitter at the plate and salivated at his 3-0 count? Those are the kind of questions we ponder this week while reading Jason Turbow and Michael Duca’s new book, “The Baseball Codes.”

Make a (Baseball) List and Check it Twice

Slammin' Sam on Sports Media
Isn’t it a great time of year when exhilaration for two sports nears its simultaneous zenith? Yep, here we are again. The NCAA tourney extended an invitation to several Cinderellas for the Sweet 16, while baseball fans are welcome to delude themselves with fairytale endings for 30 darlings.

Today, Slammin’ Sam on Sports Media stops (or at least puts a pause on) the Madness and shifts to baseball.

In 2008, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman developed an unlikely friendship in “The Bucket List.” As two men stared the end of their lives in the face, they arrived at the same realization. All of us want to look back on our lives with no regrets. Knowing you enjoyed some adventure is important as well.

If you enjoyed the movie, or if those ideas resonate with you, now’s the time to start planning your list. Fortunately “The Baseball Fan’s Bucket List” contains a full season’s worth of suggestions.