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The Yankee Bullshitters: What Joe D, Yogi, And Mickey Were Really Like
Last week gave a short post on the late, great Lenny Shecter. Now, for a real taste of his no-bullshit style, here's an excerpt from "The Flower of America" chapter of his 1969 book of essays, The Jocks....
The Art of Storytelling
There’s a fine post on John Huston over at Cinephilia and Beyond, which has quickly become one of my favorite all-time sites. They give us a 1965 interview with Huston inFilm Quarterly. Dig this:...
Who You Calling a Red-Ass?
From his classic memoir, A False Spring, here's Pat Jordan on his minor league encounter with Joe Torre....
Bet a Million
I once had dinner with Vic Ziegel and asked him to name the most literate sports writer. And he laughed at me, laughed at the idea that someone working on deadline would stop to consider what they were doing literate. ...
What Boxing Writing Can Teach Us About Everything
Excerpted from his essay for A New Literary History of America, check out this piece by Carlo Rotella:...
Bitter and Beat by the Heat
Eliot Asinof is most famous for writing Eight Men Out. (He is less famous for once being married to Marlon Brando’s sister.) Asinof played minor league ball in the Phillies system for three years before World War II. His first book Man on Spikes was published in 1955 and to my mind is one of the bes...
Brawling And Boozing With The Rats Of Yankee Stadium
Lasting Yankee Stadium Memories, edited by yours truly, is out in paperback now. To celebrate, here's an essay from the late George Kimball. It's about Yankee Stadium II, Billy Martin, finks and phonies, brawling, and, of course, drinking with Bill "Spaceman" Lee....
A Sportswriter Goes To War: John Lardner In The Pacific Theater
From my introduction to Southwest Passage: The Yanks in the Pacific. ...
You Can't Go Home Again
John Ed Bradley's memoir of playing football at LSU, It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium, is one of the finest sports books ever written. If you've never read it, do yourself a favor a pick up a copy. It's a beautiful book. ...
A Little Greedy, And Exactly Right: Red Smith On Secretariat
Red Smith is the most respected sports columnist we've ever had. In his prime, Jimmy Cannon, Smith's friendly rival, was certainly as well-known. Cannon, the Voice of New York, was an emotional, colloquial writer whose reputation, unfortunately, has faded. But Smith endures. What is it about his wri...
The Black Berets: Red Smith On The Olympic Black Power Salute
Red Smith is the most respected sports columnist we've ever had. In his prime, Jimmy Cannon, Smith's friendly rival, was certainly as well-known. Cannon, the Voice of New York, was an emotional, colloquial writer whose reputation, unfortunately, has faded. But Smith endures. What is it about his wri...
Night For Joe Louis: Red Smith On Rocky Marciano's Knockout
Red Smith is the most respected sports columnist we've ever had. In his prime, Jimmy Cannon, Smith's friendly rival, was certainly as well-known. Cannon, the Voice of New York, was an emotional, colloquial writer whose reputation, unfortunately, has faded. But Smith endures. What is it about his wri...
Miracle Of Coogan's Bluff: Red Smith On The Shot Heard ‘Round The World
Red Smith is the most respected sports columnist we've ever had. In his prime, Jimmy Cannon, Smith's friendly rival, was certainly as well-known. Cannon, the Voice of New York, was an emotional, colloquial writer whose reputation, unfortunately, has faded. But Smith endures. What is it about his wri...
Bad Ass
My favorite bean ball story involves Dock Ellis when he was pitching for the Pirates in the 1970s. The following excerpt is from In the Country of Baseball, written by Ellis with Donald Hall....
Get Lost, Norman
From Bob Klapisch and John Harper's entertaining book about covering the Mets in the early '90s, The Worst Team Money Could Buy:...
Brownsville Bum
Here's W.C. Heinz's classic True magazine story on Bummy Davis (Jimmy Breslin called it the best magazine story ever written):...
Look, Up in the Sky
From Leigh Montville's wide-grin of a book, Evel: The High-Flying Life of Evel Knievel: American Showman, Daredevil, and Legend, here's a two part excerpt....
Book Excerpts That Don't Suck: Faith And Fear In Flushing
Sigh. Here we go. "Faith And Fear In Flushing: An Intense Personal History Of The New York Mets" is not a book I'd promote on this site unless it was really, really good....
Book Excerpts That Don't Suck: "The Rocket That Fell To Earth"
Jeff Pearlman's "The Rocket That Fell To Earth" comes out today. It's an unflinching look at how Roger Clemens became one of the most dominating pitchers before and after his alleged steroid use....
Book Excerpts That Don't Suck: "Blood In The Cage"
In his new book, "Blood in the Cage, SI writer L. Jon Wertheim examines the furious rise of the UFC and mixed martial arts fighting....