Pandemic Baseball Book Club

Today’s conversation features Greg Larson, author of “Clubbie: A Minor League Baseball Memoir”, chronicling his time as a clubhouse attendant for the Aberdeen IronBirds. It was there he transformed from starry eyed fan to the crafty clubbie, getting a first hand look at the exploitative nature of the Minor Leagues. He talks with Andrew Forbes about his adventures in the dugout and beyond.

They say that the history books are written by the winners, but Erik Sherman took a different approach in his latest book "Two Sides of Glory:  The 1986 Red Sox in their Own Words".  A collection of interviews with players from the team that fatefully lost a title in dramatic fashion, not just on a ground ball to first.  He talks with fellow author Greg Larson about the process of writing the book, the players he talked to, and more.

In the latest edition of our Author Interview Series, Essayist Andrew Forbes talks with club member Devin Gordon about his latest book "The Only Way is the Steady Way" (released just this week), a collection of essays, stories, and reflections on the wisdoms of superstar Outfielder Ichiro Suzuki.

On this episode of our Author Interview Series, Anika Orrock talks with the PBBC’s newest member, Andrea Williams, who authored “Baseball’s Leading Lady: Effa Manley and the Rise and Fall of the Negro Leagues”. On what would be Manley’s 124th Birthday, the two discuss Manley’s impact and why her story needed to be told.

Released earlier this month, author Lincoln Mitchell discusses "The Giants and Their City:  Major League Baseball in San Francisco 1976-1992", when the team was unliked, un-welcomed, and un-winning (that's a thing, right?), not to mention in constant competition with their cross-bay rivals, the Oakland A's.  He and fellow author Dave Jordan (author of "COBRA") talk about the team, the city, and why they nearly left not once, but twice.  

It's another "Opening Day Special" episode with Dan Epstein talking with Frank Guridy about his new book, out today, "The Sports Revolution:  How Texas Changed the Culture of American Athletics".  They discuss Texas's place in American sports history, and why it's a lot more complicated than you may think.

On this episode of our author interview series, Frank Guriti talks with Devin Gordon, author of “So Many Ways to Lose, The Amazing True Story of the Mets, the Best-Worst team in sports”, which releases today. The two authors cover the book’s genesis, as a magazine article, and dives into its content. From Casey Stengel to Pedro Martinez and more.

In his latest book, Don Zminda examines the aftermath of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox team, as it navigated through the following season before the story broke of their fixing the World Series to the benefit of gamblers.  Steve Steinberg asked Zminda about what inspired the story, the other factors at play, and so much more during their conversation.  

"Singled Out" is a book, released today, telling the story of Glenn Burke, Major League Baseball's first openly gay player.  It is the latest book written by author Andrew Maraniss, but no the first one on the former outfielder.  In 2015, Erik Sherman wrote "Out at Home" along with Burke himself, and sat down with Maraniss to talk about the book, the man, and the impact he left on the game and culture at large.  

Another day, another Author Interview!  This episode features a conversation between two authors, Anika Orrock ("The Incredible Women of the AAGBL") and Malaika Underwood, author of "Birdie Can Too!" (which Orrock illustrated).  Along with other topics, they discuss how they became connected, Underwood's experience as an infielder on the USA Women's National Baseball Team, and so much more.  

Jason Turbow sits down with legendary baseball player and manager Felipe Alou, and author Peter Kerasotis, to talk about "Feliple Alou: My Baseball Journey."  

In the latest installment of our interview series, author of “The Wax Pack”, Brad Balukjian gets to talk to Geoff Miller about his latest book “Intangibles”. In this discussion, Balukjian and Miller talk about his work in Major League Baseball, and approach to working with athletes and understanding things like pressure and anxiety, and what makes them perform at their best. To order: https://bookshop.org/books/intangibles-big-league-stories-and-strategies-for-winning-the-mental-game-in-baseball-and-in-life/9781618220622

For our latest installment of the Author Interview Series, Mark Healey sits down with Ethan Bryan about his latest book "A Year of Playing Catch."  They talk about how the book was put together, his own baseball fandom, and share some stories about his adventures playing catch every day for a year (with some pretty extraordinary people).  

In this installment of our author interview series, book club member and author of "Mets All-Time All-Stars" Brian Wright talks to MLB.com writer Anthony DiComo about his joint venture with Mets third baseman David Wright's memoir.  They discuss the writing process with David, and his overall legacy and impact on the Mets organization.

Like John Smoltz and Jack Morris, the concluding matchup might be the most exciting, as Eric Nusbaum and Jason Turbow discuss the series won just last night by the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Tampa Bay Rays.  They discuss the sixth and deciding game, how it feels to see them win, and more!

In the sixth episode of our special mini-series on Dodgers World Series appearances, Jason Turbow and Eric Nusbaum talk about the controversial 2017 World Series, where the Dodgers ultimately lost to the Houston Astros, but the results have since been in doubt over cheating by the Astros during the series. 

In the fifth installment of our special series, discussing seven Dodgers World Series over seven conversations lasting (roughly) seven minutes, Jason Turbow and Eric Nusbaum re visit the 1981 World Series, which also happens to be the subject of Jason's Book "They Bled Blue".

In part four of Jason Turbow and Eric Nusbaum's series of conversations paying tribute to the Dodgers in the Fall Classic, we visit 1965 when the team from LA faced off agains the Minnesota Twins.

In the third in a seven part series, Eric Nusbaum and Jason Turbow continue their discussions on the Dodgers in the Fall Classic.  Next up, 1978.  

In part two of their ongoing series of short conversations about the Dodgers in the World Series, Jason Turbow and Eric Nusbaum discuss a bright spot in Dodger history, the 1955 Fall Classic.

In celebration of the Dodgers reaching the World Series, founding club members Eric Nusbaum (author of "Stealing Home") and Jason Turbow (author of "The Baseball Codes" and "They Bled Blue"), reflect on the team's previous adventures in the Fall Classic!

On the eve of Game One of the 2020 World Series, a few PBBC members share memories and readings about their fondest times during this special time of year.   In order of appearance: - Adam C. MacKinnon - Anika Orrock - Eric Nusbaum - Dan Schlossberg - Todd Radom - Danny Gallagher - DB Firstman - Jon Shea - Jason Turbow Music credit, South City Riot/Song:"From the Cold"/Album:"Acworth Royalty"

In our latest installment of our author interview series, Brian Wright and David Krell sit down to discuss "Mets in Popular Culture", a collection of essays which Krell contributed to and edited.  There's not possibly two better people to discuss the impact of the franchise not just on the field, but in popular culture at large.  Enjoy!

Mark Healey sits down with Dan Schlossberg to discuss his two works released this year, "Designated Hebrew" and "The New Baseball Bible".  In this conversation, Mark and Dan talk about the books, baseball in general, and about what the PBBC means to them.  

In our latest episode, Michael Stahl sits down with Jason Turbow to discuss "Big Sexy:  In His Own Words", which Stahl co-wrote with beloved pitcher Bartolo Colon.  Listen as they talk about the research, working with Bartolo, and how the project came together.  

In this episode of our author interview series, Ralph Carhart (author of "The Hall Ball") talks to Paul Gilbert about his latest book "How Baseball Happened:  Outrageous Lies Exposed!  The Truth Revealed.".  

Mark Healey, author of "Gotham Baseball"  is joined by Colin Cerniglia, author of "Culture of Excellence:  What the Yankees can teach us about Leadership".  The book is as much about winning in business as it is winning in baseball, and makes for good conversation.  

Founding club member Jason Turbow interviews Jon Pessah on his latest book, "YOGI:  A life Behind The Mask".  If you're looking for interesting stories on one of baseball's most interesting lives, then look no further.

It is officially official!  We at the Pandemic Baseball Book Club are thrilled to announce that we are joining SABR as an online chartered community!  This opens a lot of doors for the club and for those who follow us as well, and we're thrilled to be in such company.  Here with the inaugural address are founding members Jason Turbow, Eric Nusbaum, and Anika Orrock, along with SABR CEO Scott Bush.

In this episodes, Mitch Nathanson, author of "Bouton:  Life of a Baseball Original" sits down with Brad Balukjian (author of "The Wax Pack") to talk about Nathanson's latest book Bouton:  Life of a Baseball Original.  Music Credit: "Blossom Being the Quickest, Most Viscous Root" - The Collingwood https://thecollingwood.bandcamp.com/album/the-pitter-patter-of-little-everything

Author of the new Expos book Always Remembered, Danny Gallagher, discusses his work with Dan Schlossberg.

Our own Brian Wright and Jason Turbow discuss the legacy of Terrific Tom.

Mark Healey discusses his new book, Gotham Baseball, with Ralph Carhart.

Chris Haft discusses his new book, co-written with Giants clubhouse manager Mike Murphy, with the SF Chronicle's John Shea.

SABR editor and writer Bill Nowlin discusses his new book "Working A Perfect Game" with Jim Overmyer.

Joan Ryan discusses her new book about the science behind team chemistry, Intangibles, with Ray Ratto.

Joan Ryan discusses 24: Life Lessons and Stories from the Say Hey Kid with author John Shea

The author of Billy Ball, Dale Tafoya, discusses his book on the 1980-82 Oakland A's with Jacob Kornhauser.

Author Brian Wright discusses his new book, The New York Mets All-Time All-Stars, with fellow New York baseball author Mark Healey.

Author Ralph Carhart discusses his new book, The Hall Ball, with Mark Healey, author of Gotham Baseball.

The author of Stealing Home, Eric Nusbaum, discusses his new book on the origin story of Dodger Stadium.

The author of Billy Ball,  Dale Tafoya, Zooms down with former Oakland A's president Roy Eisenhardt in this exclusive bonus episode.

Adam MacKinnon discusses his new book, Baseball for Kids, with author Eric Nusbaum.

Author Jacob Kornhauser discusses his new book, The Cup of Coffee Club.

The author of Billy Ball, Dale Tafoya, speaks with former catcher Mike Heath about his relationship with Billy Martin and time in the major leagues.

The author of the Cactus League, Emily Nemens, discusses her debut novel with Anika Orrock, author of The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League,

The Wall Street Journal national baseball writer Jared Diamond discusses his new book with New York Times national baseball writer Tyler Kepner.

Tyler Kepner, author of K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, speaks with Jason Turbow about his research, writing, and creative process.

Anika Orrock, the author of the new book "The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League" talks baseball and books over drinks with Brad Balukjian. 

Hear all about the origin and process of writing Hall of Name, from author D.B Firstman. Also: Rusty Kuntz.

Author of "Stealing Home," Eric Nusbaum, interviews Jason Turbow about the paperback release of "They Bled Blue," a chronicle of the Los Angeles Dodgers' 1981 championship season.

In the premier episode of the Pandemic Baseball Book Club podcast, fellow baseball writer Jason Turbow stands up with Brad Balukjian to discuss his new book The Wax Pack: On the open road in search of baseball's afterlife.