When was the last time you read a baseball-themed book that combines wishful thinking, “what if” speculation, time travel (à la H.G. Wells), along with a heavy dose of imagination and creativity? I think the answer for most of us would be “never”; but that is exactly what author Timothy Bernard Carr does in his interesting book, “Timing is Everything”…
“It’ll never happen again!” Ty Cobb Completes the Stolen Base Cycle!
One hundred fifteen years ago today, for the second time in his career, Ty Cobb completes the stolen base cycle in one inning when he steals second, third, and home in the first frame of the Tigers’ 9-0 Bennett Park victory over Philadelphia…
The Origins of: “Nice Guys Finish Last!”
Exactly eighty years ago today, Leo Durocher got off one of the most famous aphorisms in the English language: “Nice guys finish last.” You can find it in the current edition of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. attributed to Durocher…
Book Review: “One Day in September: Baseball, Brotherhood, and the Birth of the All-Star Game”
The book, “One Day in September: Baseball, Brotherhood, and the Birth of the All-Star Game,” by author Scott D. Reich, gives a vivid account of the life and times of Tim Murnane and the September 27, 1917, Tim Murnane Benefit Game held in his honor at Fenway Park. I had been vaguely aware of Tim Murnane and the benefit game, but until I read Scott Reich’s book, I had no idea of its significance to baseball, momentarily uniting rivals for a good cause, and serving as a precursor to the first All-Star Game…
