Around The Horn

It was way back in 1975 when I was at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles interviewing for my first book “A Baseball Century.” I was a rookie at the game and boldly on the field started to approach the relief pitcher Mike Marshall. His back was towards me; nevertheless, he started screaming profanities threatening me with bodily harm if I came a step closer.

Suddenly, I felt a tug from behind and a soothing voice:” Stay away from him, he’s a nut job. Interview me instead.”

I did. That was my first of several meetings with terrific and affable Tom Lasorda.

We flash forward to 2007. I contacted his agent requesting access to the man who forever “bleeds Dodger blue.” I wanted to interview him for my then work in progress -REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, knowing full well of Lasorda’s many battles at “the House That Ruth Built.” It seemed a simple enough request on my part.

However, I was denied access by his publisher Houghton Mifflin. It seemed that he was writing his own book and they were fearful that the few paragraphs of memories he might yield up to me would diminish his tome.

Oh, well. I’ve been there before and probably will again having to deal with silliness. My book was completed with almost a hundred unique voices telling their stories. His was also completed.

Tommy Lasorda’s book “I Live for This!: Baseball’s Last True Believer,” with the LA Times sports writer Bill Plaschke (Houghton Mifflin) is an outspoken and at the same time nostalgic romp through his considerable baseball years. His unhappiness that it took so long to get voted into the Hall of Fame, his unhappiness being relegated to the sidelines after his managing career for the Dodgers ended, his old school ranting about the lack of manners he sees as part of the culture, are just several pieces of subject matter.

There are hits runs and errors in this book. There is also Tom Lasorda coming to life - warts and all.

Also from Houghton comes “The Cubs” with text by Glenn Stout ($40.00, 460 pages) a mother lode of facts, factoids, insights and anecdotes about all things Chicago Cubs baseball.

“The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008” ($19.95, 356 pages) contains all one probably would ever want to know about the 2007 baseball season including post-season playoffs and World Series action. Especially interesting are the detailed team statistics and graphs.

“The Ball is Round” by David Goldblatt (Riverhead Books, $24.00, 974 pages) is a Niagara of info on the world’s greatest game, the one multi-millions watch. Goldblatt has truly served up a treat and a treatise on the “beautiful game.”

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Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 39 of them including the classics: “New York City Baseball: The Last Golden Age, 1947-1957” and “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball,” his REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) will be published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.”

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.

FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in excess of one million and appears on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.

AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT BY HARVEY FROMMER

The definitive work on YANKEE STADIUM, my newest book (and eighth one with Yankee content), will be published by (Stewart, Tabori, Chang/Abrams) 2008.

Now booking speaking appearances, book store signings, interviews, displays, museum exhibits, excerpts, internet postings, pod casts, reviews, publicity and marketing ops for the book.

This is the only book with a foreword by Bob Sheppard, Yankee legendary public address announcer.

It mixes and matches voices from as far back as the 1920s to today providing the perspective of the rank and file who give the nitty gritty that the you won’t find from heavier names, those who will say over and over again: “When I stepped out onto the Stadium . . .”

Instead, nearly one hundred voices give the book a sense of place and time and people. There are Hall of Famers, bat boys, fans, vendors, famed broadcasters and authors, Yankee players and managers as well as their rivals, and long-time observers of the Stadium scene. There are game calls from legends like Mel Allen, Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Michael Kay.

There is the smell of mustard and the smell of jockstraps, the feel of being crushed, eight deep on the downtown D train after a game. And a sense of place you won’t find in any “official” history enhanced by more than 200 images, many of them archival and many never before published in a book. There are ticket stubs, baseball cards, program covers, scorecards. And there is a large “Stadiumology” section with stats and facts, first and lasts.

I learned many things about Yankee Stadium through writing this book. Here are 23 of them:

1. Some wanted the brand new Yankee Stadium in 1923 to be called “Ruth Stadium.” They settled for the nick-name “the House That Ruth Built.”

2. It took 500 workers 185 days to build the original Yankee Stadium.

3. At the start, names of Yankee players were imprinted in white chalk near the top of their lockers.

4. The practice of selling more tickets than existing seats endured until a 1929 stampede in the right field bleachers left two dead, 62 injured.

5. Negro League teams who played at the Stadium when the Yanks were on the road were not allowed to use the Yankee dressing rooms. Instead they were obliged to use the visitors’ dressing room.

6. “Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day” was staged before 61,808 on July 4, 1939 and his uniform number 4 was the first in baseball history to be retired.

7. In 1941, Yankee president Ed Barrow offered Civil Defense the use of Yankee Stadium as a bomb shelter in case of attack. He thought the area under the stands could provide a safe haven.

8. On August 16, 1948, Babe Ruth died of throat cancer at age 53. His body lay in state at Yankee Stadium and was viewed by more than 100,000 fans.

9. The last home run at the original Yankee Stadium on September 30, 1973 was hit by Duke Sims in his seventh day as a Yankee. A coin toss that day tabbed him to play. It was not until much later that Sims realized the significance of his home run shot.

10. The film “61″ was filmed in Detroit, not at Yankee Stadium. Billy Crystal explained the Motor City ballpark architecture was better able to be made to resemble that of the Yankee Stadium of 1961.

11. Sal Durante, the guy who caught the ball Roger MarisYankee Stadium.

12. Mickey Mantle originally wore Number 6, but equipment manager Pete Sheehy switched him to Number 7 after Mantle was recalled from Kansas City.

13. Twenty thousand letters that Mickey Mantle never answered were not bid on in the old Yankee Stadium fire sale in 1974.

14. There was widespread and indiscriminate disposal of valuable items during demolition of much of the Stadium in the mid 1970s.

15. Among the items sold in the refurbishment “fire sale” at Yankee Stadium were player jockstraps which had names on them for identification when they came back from the laundry. The selling was stopped because of sanitary reasons.

16. In 1976, a homer by Chris Chambliss gave the Yankees the American League pennant. Such a mob crowded the plate that Chambliss was taken back a few minutes after hitting the homer, and he finally touched home plate.

17. All kinds of crazy things went on in the bullpens - some of them outlandish and some of them sexy and lots having to do with food.

18. In 1988, behind a wall that was closed off for decades, a scorecard, a program and what was supposedly the bases for the 1936 team were unearthed.

19. The 1990 Yankees had but one starting pitcher who won more than seven games, nine-game winner Tim Leary. But he also lost 19.

20. On September 11, 2001 within 90 minutes of the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center, Yankee Stadium was evacuated.

21. Ron Guidry, a good drummer, once kept a trap set at Yankee Stadium and also played in a post-game concert with the Beach Boys.

22. Joe Torre was witness to all three perfect games in Yankee Stadium history: He saw Don Larsen’s beauty as a 16-year-old fan, and the gems spun by David Wells and David Cone from the dugout as Yankee manager.

23. Bob Sheppard holds the record for seeing the most games at Yankee Stadium.

Please check out my home page.

“Harvey Frommer brings a vast amount of experience in the art of the oral history, one of the many tools at the disposal of the historian. From his Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball to Red Sox-Yankees The Great Rivalry, Frommer shows that he is a baseball writer and historian of repute.” -SABR executive director John Zajc.

“First among equals is Harvey Frommer, with his wife Myrna Katz Frommer, a great expert on all things baseball and New York (and that city within a city,) Brooklyn” - John Thorn, Baseball Historian

Canadian slugger will surpass Terry Puhl tonight for number two spot in games played

Toronto - Matt Stairs, St. John, New Brunswick’s version of the Energizer Bunny, just keeps going and going and going.

Tonight, assuming John Gibbons pencils him into the line-up versus the Boston Red Sox at Rogers Centre, Stairs will hike his career games played to 1532, one more than Melville, Saskatchewan’s Terry Puhl. Stairs will only trail Maple Ridge, BC’s Larry Walker in Major League games played by a Canadian, as Walker appeared in 1988 games over his 17-year career.

Stairs, in his 15th year in the bigs, isn’t just clinging on to notch milestones. A case can be made for him as the Blue Jays MVP of this season, as evidenced by his team leading .301 batting average and .571 slugging percentage, including 19 homeruns and 59 RBI in just 115 game appearances. He is hitting at a .319 clip in September, and is .333 over the last 30 days. Stairs has had numerous clutch hits for the Blue Jays throughout the season, and has contributed on the defensive side of the ball as well, playing in the outfield as well as a stellar first base, having made just six errors all season. He’s even stolen a pair of bases.

Rounding out the top ten Canucks in career games played are Jack Graney (St. Thomas, ON) with 1402, Jeff Heath (Fort William, ON) 1383, Moonie Gibson (London, ON) 1213, Frank O’Rourke (Hamilton, ON) 1131, Pop Smith (Digby, NS) 1112, Tip O’Neill (Woodstock, ON) 1054, and Bill Phillips (St. John, NB) with 1038.

Stairs holds the record for the most consecutive seasons with 100 or more games played by a Canadian with 11 (from 1997-2007), and is second in homeruns, third in RBI, doubles, triples, total bases and walks. He is fifth in career hits, at bats and runs.

Source: Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum.

I have been nominated for President of Red Sox Nation by Larry Lucchino. All I ever wanted was a job somewhere in baseball, and now I am trying to go to the top. The competition is steep at redsox.com they list me with the:

Celebrity Nominations

1. Joe Castiglione
2. Hazel Mae
3. Sam Horn
4. Mike Barnicle
5. Peter Gammons
6. Bill Simmons
7. Dennis Drinkwater
8. Cindy Brown
9. Rob “Just A Regular Rob” Crawford
10. Rick Swanson, “The Fan’s Commish”
11. Doris Kearns Goodwin

Then Boston Dirt Dogs ran this story about me, “The Fan who would be President”

Here is my Platform Statement to be President of Red Sox Nation:

Rick Swanson, born in New Britain, resides in Glastonbury, CT. Married since 1985 with 3 children.   P.E. teacher. I  went to my first Red Sox game in 1957, when TW hit a tying home run in the ninth against NY. Lucky enough to be there for Longborg, Fisk, and Papi, faithful enough to be there for Bucky, Buckner and Boone.

Wrote the following to the owner, president, and GM of the team after game 2 in 2004.  ”I’m going to say something now that probably no other Red Sox fan would even say, or even think. I hope they lose game three and fall behind 3 games to zero. Then I want to see the greatest comeback ever in the history of baseball. The 2004 Boston Red Sox will be the first team in baseball history to come back from the grave, and win a 7 game series after losing the first 3 games. Then on top of that they will then go on to win the World Series in four straight, over the Cardinals.”

The number one priority of my platform, is to influence the leaders to make the best trades, and play the right people at the right time, and to assist in leading the Red Sox to a World Championship every year. Well at least 2 in a row.

2. To put a team on the field that the fans love. Every effort will be made to bring back Orlando Cabrera, and Dave Roberts.

3. Johnny Pesky will be back in the dugout before October 1, if I am elected on September 29.

4. Red Sox Nation will be a free nation for all who want to participate. Any Red Sox fan with passion will be in. Pink hats too.

5. To create Red Sox World and hotel with 200 rooms with a view over the monster looking down on Fenway built over the Mass Pike. Better than Disneyland for all Red Sox fans. Machinima avatars will recreate every great game in Red Sox history. 

6. Retire number 25.   

7. Eliminate Standing from Standing Room Only, with a Walkstool for all.  

8. Have an Okajima titanium necklace day, where all fans receive the same red and white necklace, with the same magical powers. 

9. Put a new statistic to measure defense into baseball. Reaction and Range.  

10. Replay games by editing each game so you only see the last pitch of every at bat. A complete game will be shown in 30 minutes.

Rick Swanson

For now I call myself The Fan’s Commish soon I hope I can call myself President of RSN.

If you love a beautiful book, if you are a baseball fan, if you are a fan of prized archival photographs, if you have a special affection for the old Brooklyn Dodgers - if you are any of these “Through a Blue Lens” is just the book for you.

Sub-titled “The Brooklyn Dodgers Photographs of Barney Stein 1937-1957” by Dennis D’Agostino and Bonnie Crosby (Triumph Books, $27.95, 162 pages), the book is a real page turner. Ms. Crosby is the daughter of the late and great official photographer of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Mr. D’Agostino is a highly respected author and sports public relations executive especially know to many for his sparkling stint at Madison Square Garden. The two make a terrific team serving up words from such bleeding Dodger blue types as Vin Scully, Johnny Podres, Ralph Branca) and images (nearly 200 taken over 21 seasons by Barney Stein. The result is a fabulous book, re-living the world and time of the Brooklyn Dodgers. For browsing, for gift giving, for treasuring — make this your next sports book purchase.

“Ted Williams At War” by Bill Nowlin (Rounder Books, $24.95, 352 pages) is a sterling look in words and pictures focused on not only a terrific ball player but an authentic American hero. The “Kid” is the only Hall of Famer who served in two wars. A flight instructor with the Marines in World War II, Williams flew 39 combat missions in the Korean War. Nowlin, the author of 15 books and Vice President of the Society for American Baseball Research, knows his stuff and struts it in page after page in this important tome. The prolific and energetic Nowlin interviewed more than 40 pilots who flew with the Splendid Splinter and more than 100 who knew Williams during his military service.

This August Cal Ripken, Jr. will be officially inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. In anticipation of that event we have “Get in the Game” from the baseball legend and Donald T. Phillips (Gotham Books, $26.00, 247 pages). The major focus of the work are “eight elements of perseverance that make the difference” and that surely made the difference in Ripken’s career as he honed in breaking the Lou Gehrig consecutive games played record and setting the new one at 2,632. If you are a Ripken fan, if you want some sage advice on getting into any game - this is the book for you.

From Thunder Bay Press comes two engrossing picture book: “Ballpark: Then and Now” by Eric Enders and “Chicago: Baseball in the City” by Derek Gentile. The former is a roundup of parks then and now in words and pictures; the latter focuses on the national pastime in the windy city.

Coming soon: “You’re Still Away” by Robert Sullivan (Maple Street Press, $19.95) is a on the drawing board and coming to bookstores very soon. Father’s Day? It is a delightful and ranging work about so many facets and thrills that the world of golf contains as seen by a man who is the editorial director of LIFE books and accepts the game for what it is, which is much more than a game. Go for it. Highly recommended for golfers and those who like a wonderful read.

BACKLIST: “Great Baseball Films” by Rob Edelman (Citadel Press) is still a page turner and still very relevant. If you are a movie buff and a baseball book lover - Edelman’s effort is your cup of tea.

Harvey Frommer is now in his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. He is the author of 39 sports books, including the classics: “New York City Baseball,” and “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.” His FIVE O’CLOCK LIGHTNING: BABE RUTH, LOU GEHRIG AND THE GREATEST TEAM IN BASEBALL HISTORY, THE 1927 NEW YORK YANKEES will be published by Wiley in the fall of 2007. Frommer is at work on REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) an oral/narrative history to be published in fall 2008.

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.

We have got your number if you are a number cruncher, a stat guy, a fan or the Yankees or just into baseball trivia. Single digits, double digist, triple digits and on and on - the world of baseball is one that lives and dies with numbers.

So for your perusal and reading pleasure . . .

1,995 - Most career RBI’’s, Lou Gehrig.
2010 ­ Expiration year of Derek Jeter’s contract.
2,120 ­ Number of games Babe Ruth played for the Yankees.
2,130 - The number of consecutive games Lou Gehrig played in.
2,401 - Most games played in by a Yankee, Mickey Mantle, 1951-1968.
2,584 ­ Career hits, Reggie Jackson.
2,597 - The record number of career strikeouts by Reggie Jackson.
2,721 - The Yankee record number of hits recorded by Lou Gehrig.
3,654 ­ The number of home runs Yankees hit at old Yankee Stadium,1923-1973
$6,595.38 - The amount payable in 1927 in bi-weekly checks to Babe Ruth that added up to the record salary he earned of $70,000.
$18,000 - Cost of purchasing the franchise of Baltimore and transferring it to New York City.
$50,000 The New York Giants offered that unheard of amount to the Yankees for Yogi Berra.
64,519 - The number of people in attendance at Yankee Stadium in 1956 when Don Larsen pitched the Perfect Game.
$65,000 ­ Gillette and Ford paid this amount for the exclusive sponsorship rights to the first televised World Series shown only in New York City, 1947. Liebmann Brewery had offered $100,000 for the rights, but baseball Commissioner Chandler rejected the offer claiming it wouldn’t be appropriate having the Series sponsored by the producer of an alcoholic beverage.
211,808 -The New York Highlanders attendance, 1903
2,561,123 - Shea Stadium attendance for Yankees, 1974-75
3,451,542 - Hilltop Park attendance 1903-1912
6,220,031 -Polo Grounds attendance 1913-1922
$12,357.143 ­ Annual salary of Bernie Williams in 2001, more than the entire Division play-off opposition Oakland infield and two of its outfieders.
$12.6-million - Annual salary of Derek Jeter that began in 2001.
64,188,862 -Yankee Stadium attendance 1923-1973

Harvey Frommer is now in his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. He is the author of 39 sports books, including the classics: “New York City Baseball,” and “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball.” His FIVE O’CLOCK LIGHTNING: BABE RUTH, LOU GEHRIG AND THE GREATEST TEAM IN BASEBALL HISTORY, THE 1927 NEW YORK YANKEES will be published by Wiley in the fall of 2007. Frommer is at work on REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) an oral/narrative history to be published in fall 2008.

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.