I’m catching up a little here.  Here are some photos from a talk that Dr Adrian Burgos did on campus last week.  Dr Burgos is the author of Playing America’s Game: Baseball, Latinos and the Color Line.

Dr Burgos took the time to talk to a journalism student before the talk.

Dr Burgos addressing the crowd.

Dr Burgos gets around.  He made a trip to the Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City where he presented his book.  After his talk at the U of I, Dr Burgos told me he was headed to Washington DC to speak at the National Archives. 

If you missed the interview that we did with Dr Burgos on Baseball Zealot Radio, take a listen.  It’s definitely worth it especially for baseball history buffs. 

Tags: Baseball History, Books, Negro Leagues by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »

I’d like to encourage any baseball fan in the C-U area to attend this event.  University of Illinois professor and baseball historian Adrian Burgos will be speaking at the Illini Union Bookstore on Wednesday at 4:30.  He’ll be plugging his latest book, Playing America’s Game:  Baseball, Latinos and the Color Line. 

We interviewed Dr Burgos on Baseball Zealot Radio a few shows back.  He’s a font of baseball historical knowledge (especially regarding the Negro Leagues and the role of Latinos in baseball). 

If you can’t make it to the event, you can order his book from the University of California Press. 

Hope to see you there!

Tags: Baseball History, Books, Negro Leagues by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »

Show Notes for Episode 27:

Hosts: Tom

Summary:    University of Illinois Professor of History Adrian Burgos has just come out with his book, Playing America’s Game: Baseball, Latinos and the Color Line, and I thought I’d have him come on and talk about it.  Dr Burgos has done extensive research on Latinos in baseball especially in relation to the Negro Leagues.  More info from the University of Illinois website…

Also, Dr Burgos played an instrumental part in the induction of the class of 2006 Negro League ballplayers.  Again more info…

For those in the Champaign-Urbana area, he will be doing a book signing at the Illini Union Bookstore on September 19 at 4:30pm (note the corrected time). 

Thanks for listening!!

Time: 40:41

Date Recorded: 8/11/07 

Direct Link to Episode 27  

Listen via iTunes

Listen to other BZR episodes

Tags: Baseball History, Baseball Podcasts, Baseball Zealot Radio, Books, Negro Leagues by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »

The Cheater’s Guide to Baseball posted a question of mine. It was regarding what I thought was unfortunate behavior by a fan at the Big Ten Tournament.

Check out the question and CGB’s response.

By the way, if you haven’t seen Cheater’s Guide to Baseball yet, it’s an informational and quite honestly, enjoyable read. They even have a book out.

Tags: Books by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »

My buddy Tyler sent me this link to ESPN’s excerpt of Tim Kurkjian’s book “Is This a Good Game, Or What?”.

It’s a good read.

Hmm… Jon Milller plays Strat-o-matic, btw.

Tags: Books by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »

Just so you know… I haven’t forgotten 1984…

That said, I’ll still help out Geoff Young from Ducksnorts.

Ducksnorts, if you haven’t checked it out is probably the best San Diego Padres blog out there. And now, Geoff’s got a book out called Ducksnorts: 2007 Baseball Annual . Here’s the summary:

Recap of the 2006 season * In-depth look at the Padres’ game of the year against Colorado on September 4, 2006 * Retrospective of the Padres’ 1998 World Series appearance and Tony Gwynn’s 3000th hit * Analysis of Kevin Towers’ trades as Padres’ GM * Best by position through Padres’ history * Deconstruction of pitching prospects * How to succeed despite having limited resources, including the art of building a bullpen for cheap Featuring a foreword by Padres CEO Sandy Alderson, the Ducksnorts 2007 Baseball Annual
will make an excellent companion for any fan of the Padres throughout the ‘07 season and beyond. It will also be of interest to general baseball fans who want to learn what makes one organization tick.

You can order the book here.

Tags: Baseball Blogs and Web Sites, Books by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »

I got a package in the mail the other day. I immediately thought of DonS since he inquired of my street address a few weeks back. After shaking it and listening for any ticking sounds, I established that it was safe to open.

It was Marvin Miller’s A Whole Different Ball Game: The Sport and Business of Baseball. This will be a great companion read to A Well Paid Slave, the book about Curt Flood that my wife got me for Christmas. I’m very much looking forward to reading it.

Thanks DonS!

Tags: Books by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »

Charles Euchner, author of The Last Nine Innings, is back at it again writing about baseball. This time around with his book Little League, Big Dreams, he’s covering the little leagues, specifically the race for the Little League World Series championship and the pressure and marketing that comes with it.

In his book, The Last Nine Innings, Euchner broke down the 2001 World Series almost by each at-bat and used that as a backdrop to cover the mechanics and strategy of baseball. He does something similar with Little Leagues, Big Dreams. Many chapters cover a particular Little League team and their quest for the Little League World Series championship.

In addition, Euchner does a fine job relating the history of Little League history from the beginning with Carl Stotz who started the league and developed the special rules.

Euchner is a baseball fan but he looks at the Little League organization with a critical eye. In his travels, he has visited with many Little League teams culminating with a trip to Williamsport for the 2005 Little League World Series. He documents many incidents of pushy parents, coaches overusing pitchers, and over-commercialization of the whole event.

What I think the author is trying to get across to the reader is that we’re talking about 12-year-olds here. We don’t need to corrupt them with ad contracts, teach to win at all costs, and essentially take the fun out of the game.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, I would. I found his writeup on the history of the Little League well-researched and his profiles of the teams gave me an inside look. I’m not surprised by Euchner’s allegations but I’m glad he has taken the time to document them.

The publication of the book was timed to come out around the same time as this year’s Little League World Series. Yesterday, Columbus Northern Little League defeated Kawaguchi Little League of Japan to win the series. A few days ago when I was halfway through this book, I read that a team was bitter and accused Columbus of losing on purpose. It was an ugly incident that even required that a security guard get involved. It seems things aren’t getting any better from last year.

Tags: Books, Uncategorized by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »