Jerry Reuss Autograph Event

I had a day off and woke up to news that Jerry Reuss was signing autographs at a US Bank in Panorama City sponsored by ESPN LA.  I arrived about 11 o'clock and Mr. Reuss started to sign about 12 noon. He was so very gracious and when I had mentioned that I had reviewed his book Bring in the Right-Hander, he really lit up.  I also forgot to mention that he emailed us to thank us for reviewing the book.

Many thanks for the kind words regarding my book, Bring In the Right-Hander! 

When I first related the story to Vin a few years ago, he fondly recalled those days of some 40 years ago. Then he proceeded to tell me the story of how transistor radios played a large part in Dodger history.

Hope you enjoyed the rest of my story and look forward to saying hello in person.

Jerry Reuss

What a classy guy.  I think this was the first time a Dodger has emailed us (that is emailed to thank us instead of asking where to serve that restraining order).  They even had pizza and soda afterwards.  Thanks to US Bank, ESPN LA, and Mr. Reuss for putting on this great event.

Line o' People

Not That Long of a Wait

To The Sons!

Book Review: Bring in the Right-Hander!

I was graciously delivered a copy of Bring in the Right-Hander! My Twenty-Two Years in the Major Leagues authored by Jerry Reuss.  Full Discloser: The book was sent to me for free (did happen) and they put me up in the Presidential Suite with all the food that I could eat (Did not happen, but wish it did).  This book must be good, because dear old dad had something great to say about it on the back cover.   The front cover is great, with Lasorda walking to the mound and a defiant Ruess looking right back at him. I really didn't know that Ruess is on the limited list of players that have played in four decades, including Carlton Fisk, Nolan Ryan, Rick Dempsey, and Bill Buckner.  Amazing.  I guess after 22 years in the major leagues, you have some stories to tell, and Ruess writes them with humility and humor.  I remember watching the lanky left hander throw off the Dodger Stadium mound.  What I didn't know was that Ruess was such a jokester.  Seems like he enjoyed pranking other players and managers, especially Tommy Lasorda.  He also respected the game and the traditions.  One of the passages in the book is entitled "When Vin Speaks, Los Angeles Listens."

I pitched in six games at Dodger Stadium as a member of the Astros.  If the crowd was around twenty thousand and was quiet, I could hear the radios from around the ballpark when standing on the mound.  I couldn't clearly make out the words, but I could tell from Vin's cadence where he was in the broadcast.  One night while staring at the catcher's signs, I noticed Vin was in midstory.  As a courtesy to the best in the business, I stepped off the rubber, grabbed the rosin bag, gave it a shake, and threw it behind the mound.  By this time Vin delivered his punch line, the crowd had its laugh, and I was back on the rubber, getting the sign from the catcher. Vin, ever the professional, never missed a beat.  "Ruess winds and the pitch on the way..."

There are many other stories that capture the essence of the Dodger culture in the 80's, including Ruess' no hitter and winning the world series.  If you are a Dodger fan, then you should definitely pick up a copy for an enjoyable read.  Thanks to the publisher and Brener Zwikel and Associates for sending us a copy.

Other book reviews at SoSG:

• Dodgers Past and Present by Steven Travers (reviewed by Sax)
• 100 Things Dodgers Fans Should Know And Do Before They Die by Jon Weisman (reviewed by Orel)
• The Yankee Years by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci (reviewed by AC)
• The Soul of Baseball by Joe Posnanski (reviewed by Orel)

Book Review: Cardboard Gods

Thanks to SoSG Sax for giving me this book, in which he inscribed:

2010
To SoSG Orel
This blog thing sounds interesting. Maybe we should try it.

♦

I discovered Josh Wilker's blog, Cardboard Gods, during the Dodger Thoughts-era Baseball Toaster years. A singular voice in the baseball blogosphere, Wilker uses seventies-era Topps baseball cards as launching points to delve into his personal life.

As a writer, the guy is fearless. It takes an insane kind of courage to write so directly and honestly about yourself — just ask this anonymous blogger.

Wilker's fearlessness paid off in a book deal, and the result is Cardboard Gods: An All-American Tale Told Through Baseball Cards. Think The Complete Book of Baseball Cards crossed with On the Road.

Wilker's was not a conventional childhood. His mother and father separate but do not divorce; her hippie-era idealism and his weakness are major factors in the book. His mother's boyfriend is another, but Wilker's defining relationship is that with his older brother, Ian. They grow up in Vermont (Red Sox fans, of course), and their love-hate, push-pull, older-younger dynamic makes for the most poignant of Wilker's writing.

But it's our own Steve Garvey who provides the impetus for one of the most painful chapters in the book. Wilker describes Garvey's "1976 card featuring an all-American asphyxia-blue two-plus-two-makes-four symmetry broken only by the reaching out of the 1974 NL MVP's glove hand, an aesthetic disturbance that seems to call on the viewer to complete some larger symmetrical pattern."

"I needed heroes. I needed gods," Wilker writes. "But Steve Garvey and Superman took it too far." So affected is Wilker by his demons that the all-American becomes clownish. There are no rose-colored, gift-wrapped aphorisms to be found here.

The only disappointing thing about Cardboard Gods is that Wilker doesn't devote enough space to major milestones in his life: the Red Sox's two World Series championships, and his marriage (insert joke about which is more meaningful). He makes so much of pain and humiliation — joy and happiness get short shrift here.

But really, who makes art from joy and happiness? Wilker's artistry is based on his acute self-awareness, making Cardboard Gods worth a read as a journey through the complexity of his upbringing and maturation barely hinted at by the flatness of his baseball cards.

Cardboard Gods has just been released on paperback.

♦

Also related:

• Holding on to Mark Fidrych (Wilker, Huffington Post)
• The powers of Cardboard Gods (Buster Olney, ESPN the Magazine)

Book Review: The Soul of Baseball

The lovely Mrs. Orel was kind enough to gift me with a Kindle this Xmas. My first e-book purchase? The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America by Sports Illustrated writer Joe Posnanski (not pictured at the left. That's Jeff Bezos).

SoSG readers know we are big fans of Posnanski, who marries a sharp and rational baseball mind with a skill for lucid, convincing writing. He's now one of my favorite sportswriters (along with Gary Smith, Steve Rushin and pre-repeating-himself Rick Reilly). Combine Posnanski's considerable talents with a subject as worthy as Buck O'Neil and the Negro Leagues, and you get one must-read book. Naturally, I got to it three years after it came out.

No matter, as The Soul of Baseball is timeless, despite viewing the Negro Leagues, which had its heyday in the 1930s and 1940s, through the eyes of O'Neil, who was 93 when Posnanski decided to write a book about him. While the pairing came naturally — Posnanski wrote for the Kansas City Star, and O'Neil played for and managed the Kansas City Monarchs (and later scouted for the Royals) — the exact focus of the book was not quite as straightforward.

As Posnanski describes it, his project started as a recollection of one particular Negro League game and morphed into a Buck O'Neil travelogue. History buffs will still find plenty of Negro League-era details; the book does an effective job of detailing the gameplay and personalities of the time. But its shining strength is simply being a first-person account of spending time with Buck O'Neil.

How to describe Buck O'Neil? Words like survivor and irrepressible and optimist come to mind, but they diminish the complexity of a man who played so many roles on and off the field, who endured more than is imaginable — and who nonetheless came through it all with a self-awareness, a sense of humor and a giving nature. Reading about Buck O'Neil will make you want to be a better person.

And reading Joe Posnanski's work will make you weep — either from emotion or despair, because how can we hope to write half this well? Conversational but not casual, Posnanski's writing eschews sentiment — the word plainspoken, but only in the most positive sense, comes to mind — yet his writing somehow makes you feel sentimental.

As an example, please see his non-sports, Harry Potter-related blog post:

• Katie the Prefect (Joe Blogs)

If that didn't move you a least a little bit, then you, sir or madam, are a total hardass. But if you liked it, then you'll love The Soul of Baseball. Get your mitts on a copy and get jazzed for a good book, for baseball, and for life in general.

♦

Other book reviews at SoSG:

• Dodgers Past & Present by Steven Travers (reviewed by Sax)
  
• 100 Things Dodgers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die by Jon Weisman (reviewed by Orel)
  
• The Yankee Years by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci (reviewed by AC)

Off-Season Reading

What the heck is there to do when there is no more baseball on television? READ about baseball! I was at the library (remember those?) and picked up The Yankee Years by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci. Actually it should read "by Tom Verducci with Joe Torre as guest commentator but am putting him as first author because it will sell more."

Overall, it was actually a pretty entertaining read. The book traverses the Yankee years from 1995 to the year before Torre became the Dodgers manager when the Yankees went on that tear of 12 playoff appearances, 6 AL pennants, and 4 World Series titles. The first part of the book is actually more player interviews and a lot of insight by David Cone. It is always fun to read about the inside of a baseball clubhouse and the conversations that go on during the game - Kevin Brown breaking his hand during a game, Randy Johnson getting rattled in NY, Zimmer getting thrown to the ground by Pedro. Verducci also highlights the steroid scandal, the Red Sox romp, the Rodriquez rantings, the Steinbrenner superstitions, and the Joba journey (see Tom, I can do alliterations too!). It was somewhat sad to see how Torre viewed his dismissal from the Yankees after all of those great years. But I guess with the Yankees winning this year, it worked out for Steinbrenner.

I was also surprised to read a lot of former or current Dodgers named in the book - Joe Torre, Larry Bowa, Don Mattingly, Doug Mientkiewicz, Kevin Brown (ugh), Mariano Duncan, Karim Garcia, Nomar Garciaparra, Grady Little, Kenny Lofton, Derek Lowe, Adrian Beltre, Fred McGriff, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, Mike Piazza, Manny Ramirez, Dave Roberts, Gary Sheffield, Darryl Strawberry, David Wells, Jeff Weaver, John Wetteland, and even yours truly (where's my residuals?). I thought Torre would delve more into his fight with cancer and some of this family's plight with the disease in order to raise awareness, but most of the book was all about baseball. I just wish that the Dodgers would go on a roll for 12 years and someone would write the book Dodger Days (and if you use that title, I get the residuals, right?). Go Blue!

Oh, one other observation I forgot to mention is that Torre swears like a sailor. It is sort of funny to see a guy that looks and acts like your grandpa and is so smooth with the media throw down the f bombs like no tomorrow.

Book Advance Copy: 1 Thing SF Giants Fans Should Hope To Do Before They Die

It seems that the success of Jon Weisman's book has led to an entire book series. SoSG was lucky enough to get its hands on the next book in the series, targeting a different demographic (to be fair, it isn't really a book; it's more like a pamphlet).

Below, an excerpt:

Special thanks to SoSG Orel for the Photoshop assist!

Book Review: 100 Things Dodgers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die

This is the highest compliment I can pay 100 Things Dodgers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die: I would love to hear Vin Scully read it aloud.

For those used to consuming author Jon Weisman's writing in blog-sized chunks at Dodger Thoughts, 100 Things proves a pleasant revelation of Weisman stretching a single into a double on the written page, where his prose often reaches heights of unabashed lyricism. (Thing #95, practically a poem about some of the more mellifluous names to wear Dodger Blue, is just about worth the price of admission alone.)

Weisman, on Scully (a top-ten (T10) Thing*):

He's an artist. Of course he's an artist. You don't need a book to tell you that the man could broadcast paint drying and turn it into something worthy of Michelangelo.**

Weisman, on Walter O'Malley (#14), "something of a five-tool coat-and-tie":

His effort to keep the team in Brooklyn is well-chronicled and undeniable, but aging Ebbets Field was a pitch he ultimately couldn't drive. Like a savvy hitter, O'Malley went the other way for a hit, and smacked an opposite-country home run.

The book is much more weighted toward the "know" than "do" side of matters, appropriate for a franchise with over 125 years but only three major stadiums (T10, #18 & #49) in its existence. Weisman proves his mettle as a historian and researcher, bringing a snappy you-are-there quality to his narration of ballgames, regardless of era. Whether it's Brooklyn's "Wait 'Til Next Year" loss to the Yankees in the 1941 World Series (#54) or 2006's 4+1 game (#24), the descriptions are crisp and vivid.

From a historic perspective, Weisman doesn't shy away from Dodger controversies (such as leaving Brooklyn (T10), the occupancy of Chavez Ravine (#11) and Al Campanis on Nightline (#39)), although he takes pains not to throw anyone under the bus, not even Campanis. The O'Malley family is given due respect—Peter O'Malley wrote the book's foreword and Walter O'Malley's official website provided historic photos—and Weisman exonerates the Dodger organization from the "specter of looted art [that] hovers over Chavez Ravine."

With multiple sidebars, 100 Things is actually well over 100 things.

Weisman also shines the spotlight on a roster of deserving players, from the unsung Dick Nen to the under-appreciated Hideo Nomo (#19). The sections on the ahead-of-his-time Zack Wheat (#58) and spitballer Burleigh Grimes (#74) are as illuminating as Thing #46 is maddening—Pedro Martinez, Mike Piazza and Alex Rodriguez on the Dodgers? It almost happened. Also, it's probably safe to say 100 Things is the only work where you'll find Piazza (#23) and a Tolstoy novel in the same sentence. And who knew Leo Durocher (#57) was such an asshole?

Avid Dodger Thoughts readers will be pleased to find Weisman's waggish wit in fine fettle throughout his book. Witness the 4+1 home runs, described thusly:

Back-to-back-to-back-to-back back back back back backs.

Or a tidbit on Dodger Stadium's sadly defunct Cool-a-Coo ice cream sandwiches:

A similar dessert is the It's It, but is an It's It it? It isn't.

Or Thing #71, simply titled "Manny Mota Mota Mota Mota Mota."*** Very nice.

With multiple sidebars, 100 Things is actually well over 100 things, all of which are rewarding reading for Dodger fans of all stripes. The breadth of the book's scope is a tribute to not only Weisman's Dodger knowledge but also the richness of the team's history. Like Dodger Thoughts, 100 Things is fun, educational and clearly a labor of love. Highly recommended.

And Mr. Weisman? We're looking forward to your book about Don Newcombe (#17).

♦

100 Things Dodgers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die (Amazon.com)

♦

*The exact order of which I won't spoil.
**"It's tiiime to watch paint dry. Hi everybody, and a very pleasant good afternoon to you wherever you may be. Today primer takes on semi-gloss...."
***Interestingly, Mota and Pedro Borbon never played on the same team.

Book Review: Dodgers Past & Present

Earlier this year, the Sons were sent a copy of Steven Travers' Dodgers Past & Present (MVP Books, 144 pages, $25). One in a series of similar books (along with works on the Cubs and Cardinals), Dodgers Past & Present is a fine coffee table book that does a great job of capturing many of the key images in Dodgers franchise history, oftentimes linking black-and-white pictures of the past with full-color pictures of modern times. Tracing some of the moments in the Dodgers' history along the way, Travers demonstrates why the Dodgers are one of baseball's most storied franchises, beloved by teams on both coasts.

Rather than approach this work chronologically, Travers opted to instead group photos and vignettes around short chapters of subject matter. First come chapters about the team's legacy, teams, championships, and rivalries (with the Giants and the Yankees of particular mention). Then, groups of individuals, from "barrier breakers" to managers to key sets of players. Third comes a list of the Dodgers' key players organized by position. And finally comes a group of chapters about some of the relics and items surrounding the Dodgers, from the uniforms to the stadiums to the fans and the food.

What's interesting about this circuitous approach is that it allows Travers to not be bound by the density of memories of any particular era; he is free to weave vignettes and expand on some while contracting others, without seeming like he is short-changing any particular subject or player. It's a maddening approach for the knowledgeable fan trying to link a linear path of the franchise, but for a casual fan versed in one era but not in any of the others, it allows multiple entry points to learn more about the ballclub.

Fond of Duke Snider? Then reading about him in the chapter on home runs allows one to see his 1952 at bat juxtaposed near the fearsome foursome of the 1977 Dodgers squad, including the father of our staff, Steve Garvey, as well as Ron Cey, Steve Yeager, and Reggie Smith (Dusty Baker got aced out in the photo collage simply because he didn't happen to hit a homer in Game 2 of the 1977 World Series). Brad Penny looks especially robust in 2007, especially when contrasted with the beanstalk that is Ramon Martinez from 1995.

And there are plenty of great shots from the 2008 campaign, including winning the division title, Vin Scully in the booth, James Loney in the dugout. In all these pictures, the continuity and simplicity of the uniform makes the Dodgers seem almost timeless--which I suppose is the point of the book. Past, present: for the Dodgers, it's just one big continuum, filled with triumph and heartache, racial diversity and young phenoms, Ebbets Field to Chavez Ravine.

Avid Dodger fans might already be quite familiar with most of the tales Travers recounts, and he often doesn't go into the depth necessary to capture the drama of a moment or emotion of the time. That's unfortunate, as Travers, a former professional baseball player who has written other books about the Dodgers, surely has a perspective that would make it worthy of sticking around on a vignette to spend a bit more time.

But the upside is that the rapid-fire pace allows every page turned or paragraph read has so many memories mentioned and pictures shown, that it's bound to spark memories on its own. And that's a fun way to casually read about the Dodgers, celebrating their rich and vivid history. It's a nice book for the coffee table at home...or right here in the Sons of Steve Garvey staff room, where our copy sits today.

Interested? Dodgers Past & Present is available in bookstores everywhere or through www.voyageurpress.com.

And, for one lucky SoSG reader: watch this blog carefully this weekend, for information on how you could win your own copy of Dodgers Past & Present!