Jaybird's Jottings

My Favorite Books for 2008

Every December when we look back at the books we have read in the past year, it seems like we always wonder if the next year can be as good.    For me, this time around is no exception as 2008 was indeed a great one.  Below are the ones I enjoyed the most.  

And looking ahead, perhaps the new year will bring a much anticipated title in the baseball and Giants world.   James Hirsch is writing an authorized biography on Mays, with a working title of Willie Mays: The Life, the Legend.   Also, Craig Wolff, a journalism professor at N.Y.U., who reportedly has interviewed 2,000 people, is writing one too (Mays did not agree to sit down with him).   And according to this article by Leon Neyfakh, Bill Rhoden is "still working on a "Willie Mays project."  

Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederic Douglass and Abraham Lincoln by John Stauffer 

The type of book you can't put down, but at the same time, you want to slow down and savor it.   I learned a lot about Lincoln, and even more about Douglass.  Two extraordinary men and the timing, of course, is brilliant.

But Didn't We Have Fun, An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer Era, 1843-1870 by Peter Morris

Peter Morris has established himself as a great writer and historian.    This is a fantastic look at the roots of the game and how baseball transformed from a collection of bat and ball games played in the 1820s and 1830s to the "New York" game, and then into the professional era in the 1870s.  


Baseball's Greatest Hit, The Story of Take Me Out to the Ballgame by Robert Thompson, Tim Wiles and Andy Strasberg.

A wonderful book about our country's third most popular song.   Includes CD and listings.


The Science of Fear: Why We Fear the Things We Shouldn't--and Put Ourselves in Greater Danger by Daniel Gardner

Is there any subject more fascinating, any frontier more worthy of exploration than human thought and behavior?

I so much enjoyed this book, learning how we process our thoughts and fears.   I think people can really improve their lives by realizing how the media, politicians and corporations all profit from fear-mongering, and understanding our irrational fears.  


Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2009

Chase those winter blues away with some of the best baseball writing around.   

The Option of Urbanism, Investing in a New American Dream by Christoper Lienberger 

The cover of this book has a cheap quality to it.  Well, you know what they say about book covers…

The Place to Be:  Washington, CBS, and the Glory Days of Television News by Roger Mudd

Although they have made somewhat of a comeback in the ratings, CBS is now, we have to say it, the place not to be.   But in its time, CBS was king, and Mudd tells the story.       He criticizes his colleagues and competitors fairly, noting their weakness and strengths.  He also criticizes himself, noting that when he was offered the chance for a big assignment, he told the chief about his previous vacation plans.  He was aghast at myself for not realizing that would come back to haunt him.  And it did, Dan Rather got Cronkite's chair.

This Just In:  What I Couldn't Tell You on TV by Bob Schieffer

Wanted:  A long-time journalist to write a book about the television news industry from the 60s to present day.   Sense of humor a plus.  

Great read, a lot of tripping down memory lane and Schieffer is one of the few journalists to work the Capital Slam - Congress, the Pentagon, the White House and the State Department.   I read this after Mudd's so I was worried it wouldn't be as good.  Mudd edges him out but this is an excellent read too.      

Washington, The Making of a Capital by Fergus Sedwich

I have to admit I skip-read parts of this but it was fascinating to read how Washington came to be our capital.   

 

The Big Fellow

On a summer day at the Polo Grounds in 1885, Giants manager Jim Mutrie, feeling good his team was playing the best they had in their third year of existence, and knowing that some of his players were rather tall, screamed out, "My Big Fellows, my Giants!

No doubt Mutrie would like the fact the franchise just signed a rather big fellow himself, Randy Johnson.

I like this signing for the reasons explained eloquently, as usual, by El Lefty Malo.   I have to say, though, that one of my indelible memories from Candlestick is Arizona and Johnson celebrating their 1999 pennant-clincher on the mound. 

Time is a fast river, however, and I welcome The Big Unit. I even have an out (no pun intended) of sorts.  (You just knew I had to get this one in).   Johnson is friends with Geddy Lee, a kind of kinship they share, what with the long brown hair, not-so-good looks, big adam's apple, and still bringing it after all these years.

By the way, this signing is reminiscent of San Francisco signing Warren Spahn in 1965 (44) and Steve Carlton in 1986 (41) (um, all three lefties, interesting).

And, for trivia buffs and mojo seekers, the last time a pitcher wearing the Giants uniform won his 300th game was Christy Mathewson, in 1912. 

Here's to the big fellows and good luck Randy.

Magic Moment

This morning, after watching yet another highlight of an amazing Alex Ovechkin goal, my thoughts turned to the MLB Network.    Maury's got a channel checker now, so I turned to 261 (I think most of Washington has Comcast, but here in Fairfax County the carrier is Cox Communications).  

Not expecting to see much of anything, the very first thing I see is Willie Mays in the dugout.    They're showing a lot of clips and talking about how the network came together.   

The good vibrations in MLB is great to see.   Fans my age remember a lot of acrimony in the 70s, 80s and 90s.     

Anyway, I had to pull myself away.  Baseball is addicting...

Inauguration News

Well, I hope everyone had a good one yesterday.   Sitting here post-turkey sandwich, it's time for some Inauguration news.

Washington Life magazine has The Man on its cover, and feature pieces such as  "Who's Who in Obamaland."   I'm certainly not a reader of this publication but it's a keeper off the shelves.  

They also have a piece by Presidential historian Barry H. Landau, who is writing a forthcoming book titled, The President's Inauguration. 

Catching up with the Post's Inauguration Blog, they have an update bus riders will like.  Some of you were going to be let off at satellite points such as RFK, and then shuttled in.  But the city will now have designated parking downtown near The Mall.   A smaller portion will still be let off at Metro. 

Needless to say, this Inauguration will be the hippest in terms of the most cell phones ever there to record the history and share the moments.   Mobile phone networks will be boosted, but you may want to have a backup plan for any rendezvous. 

See Cecilia Kang's article for info and tips.  Visitors from Tokyo, don't laugh…     

And finally, I came across what looks like a very helpful site, Inauguration Survival Guide.  

Happy Leftovers!

MLB Network Calendar

Apologies to Maury and others if they have already covered this, but I noticed the MLB Network now has a calendar for their TV schedule.  I cruised through it for a look see.  Here's some observations.

If you've got a New Year's Day hangover, you'll be pleased the channel throws out the first pitch at 6 pm.

Ken Burns's Baseball documentary will be broadcast on Tuesday nights at 8 pm, starting on January 6.   

There's a nice variety of programming.

The Hot Stove show, which runs from 6 am to 11 am and then a couple of times at night, looks like it will be very popular.    ESPN has something similar, but I always seem to catch it just on my channel flipping, and not the knowing of the show time.
  
There are several Special shows. 

Hall of Fame Selection Live
Monday, Jan 12, 2 pm

The Story of the Negro Leagues
Monday, January 19, 9 pm
Tuesday, January 20, 11 am

World Baseball Classic Rosters Announced
Monday, January 19, 10 pm
Tuesday, January 20, 7am and 9 am

Plays and Players of the Year

(These have other times so be sure and check that out).

The preponderance of memories and shows for the Dodgers, Red Sox and Cardinals is market driven and that's fine.   I just hope the Giants start showing up. 

East Coasters young and old who can't remember the last time they saw the conclusion of a World Series game, will delight in the knowledge that some of the post-season re-broadcasts have times when the sun is still shining.  These may even spawn Watch Parties. 

Overall, I like what I see so far with the MLB Network.  It all starts in one week.

Washington Greats: Part Two

Nats320 now has Part Two posted of his interview with Amrany, which includes photos of the three statues.   Drool bibs optional…

Also in this second part, Amrany talks about a sculpture he is working on of Willie Mays.

"I am very pleased with what we have. And I am sure it will exceed my expectations on what we are doing. People do ask me what's my best piece? Well, it's the piece I have never done yet. I am hoping in my next sports figure that we do, we can go the extra mile. I will give you an example. I am working on a sculpture for Willie Mays and I created a drawing of him catching and throwing at the same time. Everybody knows "The Catch". Many people forget about "The Throw". Basically, he threw the ball and burned another player on the spot. So, the twist of it. The capability to run and catch with your back to the ball and then turn and make a pinpoint throw to another player. Well, he can do that right, but there is no computer out there that can do that yet. It's what I call the Human Factor."

"So, I am taking that, but I want to create it only by energy. It would be like taking The Mona Lisa painting and create Mona Lisa in which you see The Mona Lisa, but you don't see her-just the energy. I want to go the extra mile with a sportsman that everybody will say: 'It's Willie Mays-The Catch, but what is here is The Spirit. That's what I want to do."

Since there's already the statue of Mays in San Francisco, my guess would be this work is for the Mets new ballpark.   Either way, very exciting news, and Mays, who said he was always just as much proud of The Throw, as The Catch, has to be thrilled both will be captured this way.

 

 

 

Washington Greats in Bronze

Nats320 has a great piece on Omri Amrany, the man sculpting the bronze statues for Walter Johnson, Josh Gibson and Frank Howard.   In Part Two, he will have photos of the statues. 

The three greats will be on display starting this season at the Centerfield Plaza.   Jeff reports the induction ceremony will take place some time in the Spring.

I'm a big believer that statues need their own space, such as the way the Giants present Mays, Marichal and McCovey.   But most of the fan flow at Nationals Park is through the Centerfield Plaza, so that way, the statues will get maximum exposure. 

And I hope the Nationals do a good job of presenting the statues.   The Giants did it right with Mays, while the Phillies did not with Schmidt.   

By the way, the Howard statue will no doubt raise a few eyebrows.  There are good statistical and objective arguments as to why he doesn't deserve a statue alongside these two greats, but perhaps the best reply to that would be, you weren't here in the 60s, were you?

Gibson, too, some might say, belongs elsewhere.

Now Walter Johnson.  Oh my, the all-time no-brainer...

Commemorative Obama Fare Cards Now On Sale

Better hurry folks, these will go like hot cakes.   The Obama Commemorative SmarTrip farecards are now on sale at Metro's site.

DCist has a nice summary.  

Consider purchasing the one that has value as opposed to the one that doesn't have value.  If you add the value at the station here, the lines will no doubt be long.   

Once you start using the card, there's two ways of checking the value.    You can see the value flash when you go through the lane, although it seems to me that when people are pouring through, I'm not quite sure if it's my value.

The other way is to check it at the buying station by holding it up at the designated spot.  Of course, if there are long lines, you'll wait.

The paper cards show the value on them so you don't have to worry about that.  

Also, don't forget that on the 20th only, you have to pay four dollars cash for parking at the Metro parking lots.   That is, if there's space.

Good luck, hope you get the keeper card.

 

The Baseball Channel

Are you ready for some Baseball Channel?

Actually, that would be the MLB Network, ready to lift the lid on January 1.   The new channel will be seen in 50 million homes and its debut will be the largest in cable history.  

Maury Brown at Biz of Baseball is doing a great job with giving us heads up on what will be on.   There's lots to choose from including Ken Burns's Baseball, his flawed classic.   I remember watching it when it was broadcast in those two-hour segments in 1994.    The big leagues are  now in slightly better shape..

Also, this promo caught my eye. 

Prime 9 (Mondays, 8:00 and 8:30 p.m.):

This half-hour program breaks down the top nine all-time in a variety of areas in baseball history, such as players at different positions, great comebacks and unbreakable records. The show will premiere on January 5 with All-Time Centerfielders at 8:00 p.m.

Say hey, looks good!   

The game has always helped fans out in not-so-good times for the country, and so it looks like this 24/7 baseball will do just that once again.  

  

First Lady Gowns

With a month to go, there are three questions remaining for the Inauguration.

What will the weather be like?

How many people will come?

Who will get the incredible honor of designing the First Lady's gown?

I personally don't have a clue what constitutes a great gown, but a hubby does pick up things from watching shows like Project Runway with the better half (Heidi Klum had nothing to do with it..) and seeing movies like 27 Dresses with her, although that end scene didn't do a lot for me.  

Anyway, what prompted this is two articles on the subject.  The first is by Robin Givhan, titled Gown and Country.  Be sure and check out the photo gallery, which is also in today's paper Post.

Also, the National Museum of American History now has an exhibit titled "First Ladies at the Smithsonian."   There are 14 dresses and more than 90 other objects.  Brett Zongker of the AP writes about it. 

This is new territory for yours truly.  I don't know much about style but I know Michelle Obama is bringing back the word pizzazz to the White House vocabulary.