THE WRITING ON (AND OFF) THE WALL PLACES IN THE HEART, AND SOUL, OF BASEBALL.Byline: TOM HOFFARTH Seems there's never a shortage of new baseball books written for the seam-head romantic, giving us all something to bury our noses in during the seventh-inning stretches: The book: ``Twilight of the Long-Ball Gods: Dispatches from the Disappearing Heart of Baseball,'' by John Schulian (Bison Books, $12.95, 184 pages). The synopsis: The former Sports Illustrated Sports Illustrated is the largest weekly American sports magazine owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. It has over 3 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men, 19% of the adult males in the country. and Chicago Sun-Times This article is about the Chicago newspaper. For the Canadian newspaper, see Owen Sound Sun Times. The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago. columnist revives columns he wrote about people who touched the game's soul, such as the old Pacific Coast League For the high school sports league, see . The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a minor league baseball league operating in the West and Midwest of the United States. It is one of two leagues, along with the International League, playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below teams of L.A., Josh Gibson
Joshua Gibson (December 21, 1911 in Buena Vista, Georgia - January 20, 1947 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) was an American catcher in baseball's Negro Leagues. , Bill Veeck William Louis Veeck, Jr. (IPA: [vɛk], rhymes with "wreck"; February 9 1914 – January 2 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill , Max Patkin Max Patkin (January 10 1920 - October 30 1999) was an American baseball player and clown, best known as the Clown Prince of Baseball. Patkin was the third officially crowned Clown Prince of Baseball, after Al Schacht and Jackie Price, though that sobriquet has also and the leagues of our youth. The excerpt: From a piece in 1990 for the National Sports Daily on the Woodland Hills West team trying to repeat as the national American Legion American Legion, national association of male and female war veterans, founded (1919) in Paris. Membership is open to veterans of World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. champs: ``The force that drove Woodland Hills West came not from the ego or the wallet but from the heart. ... It wasn't until I started bicycling to their weekend games a couple of months ago that the source of their strength became apparent. The names in the paper now had faces. And the faces had stories.'' The back story: Schulian, who lives in Pasadena, left sportswriting 20 years ago and came to Hollywood to write TV scripts. The time away from sports made him realize what really mattered about the game, and these columns definitely illustrate that. The book: ``Wrong Side of the Wall: The Life of Blackie black·ie n. Offensive Variant of blacky. Schwamb, the Greatest Prison Baseball Player of All Time,'' by Eric Stone (Lyons Press, $21.95, 309 pages). The synopsis: Schwamb was a bright prospect for L.A.'s Washington High in the 1940s, pitching for the St. Louis Browns at age 22. A year later, he was behind bars for a brutal murder of a doctor, tied to organized crime, a slave to alcohol. Pitching for the teams in San Quentin San Quentin (săn kwĕn`tən), peninsula extending into San Francisco Bay, W Calif., N of San Francisco. The state prison there was begun in 1852. San Quentin is the western terminus of the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge. and Folsom prisons over an eight-year span, his legend grew. The excerpt: From Stone's introduction, on why he tracked Schwamb down at his home in Lancaster in the mid '80s for the book: ``His story was real-life noir. It grabbed hold of me and like a fast-paced novel breathlessly raced me through Depression-era and World War II Los Angeles. ... It involved gangsters and nightclubs ... girls and guns and gambling and booze and ball games. ... Even though the thread that ran through all of it was Blackie constantly screwing up his own life, it was heady stuff.'' The back story: Stone, who lives in Silver Lake, had a personal quest to flush out the story of Schwamb, who died in 1989. Stone's uncle had pitched against him in high school. The book: ``Cooperstown: A novel,'' by Eugena Pilek (Touchtone Books, $13, 324 pages). The synopsis: Set in 1979 around the Mayberry-like folk who embrace their Baseball Hall of Fame, it's a time of crisis - the state wants to add a theme park, which threatens to squash their quaint existence. Dr. Kerwin Chylak, the local shrink, tries to hold everyone's fragile existence together. The excerpt: ``Cooperstown has evolved since (Chylak's) arrival. Then again, its initial, larval larval 1. pertaining to larvae. 2. larvate. larval migrans see cutaneous and visceral larva migrans. possibilities - the hope and desire for change, despite a longing to remain the same - now seemed in danger of flying clear out the window with the rest of the cuckoo birds ... If the amusement park came, he feared the town would evolve backward.'' The back story: Pilek is a Cooperstown native who blends facts with fiction, conjuring the old TV show ``Northern Exposure.'' The book: ``Coach: Lessons on the Game of Life,'' by Michael Lewis (Norton, $12.95, 91 pages). The synopsis: A memoir on how a coach who once built up young men struggles to connect with today's self-esteem-challenged teenage players. The excerpt: ``We listened to the man because he had something to tell us, and us alone. Not how to play baseball How to Play Baseball is a cartoon made by the Walt Disney Company in 1942. Synopsis Goofy takes the time to demonstrate America's national pastime, then plays a game - one in which he plays all the bases. ... not how to win ... not even how to sacrifice. He was teaching us something far more important: how to cope with the two greatest enemies of a well-lived life, fear and failure. To make the lesson stick, he made sure we encountered enough of both.'' The back story: Lewis, who made his name with ``Moneyball,'' shows again that with a tiny little book, quality wins out over quantity. CAPTION(S): 8 photos, box Photo: (1 -- 3) no caption (book covers) (4) Is that handwave a greeting or a quick so-long from Larry Brown at his first Knicks news conference? Julie Jacobson/Associated Press (5) ALEX SMITH (6) MANUEL WRIGHT (7) MILES THIRST (8) no caption (OJ Simpson) Box: SUNDAY PUNCH - Tom Reed, Akron Beacon Journal The Akron Beacon Journal is a morning newspaper in Akron, Ohio, and published by Black Press Ltd.. It is the sole daily newspaper in Akron and is distributed throughout Northeast Ohio. The paper places a strong emphasis on local news and business. - Rich Hammond |
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