An Interview with the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

Hey baseball fans! I have an interview for you today! This interview is with the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri: Bob Kendrick! Kendrick has been involved with the Museum since 1993 and was officially named President in April 2011. Before we get to the interview, let me tell you a little […]

Baseball with Matt’s First Ever Analysis of a Poem

Hey baseball fans! I’m going to do something that I’ve never done before on Baseball with Matt: I’m going to analyze a poem! But don’t worry; the poem is about baseball. This poem is probably my favorite, because it captures the description of a player’s entire personality and career in only a few lines. I […]

Negro Leagues Players Who Have Been Overlooked by the Hall of Fame

When I set out to write my book, Baseball State by State, which features all-time teams by players’ state of birth, I originally did not include Negro Leagues players. I quickly realized the error of my ways, since how can you name an All-Time Georgia team and leave out Josh Gibson or compile an All-Time […]

Bill Veeck Day

Today is Bill Veeck Day. It is the day that Paul Dickson’s biography of Bill Veeck is officially released, the day “Sport Shirt Bill” is back with us once again. Like a bad penny, he has returned. It is something he himself said often, as he bounced between Wrigley Field and Comiskey, forever part of […]

2012 Milestones (And Beyond): Wins

Champagne has been quaffed in St. Louis, free agents have already begun signing with new teams (where have you gone, Jonathan Papelbon?) and the winter meetings are right around the corner.  Those of us who don’t live in tropical climes are looking for ways to stay warm as winter nears, and what better way to […]

“Pop” Paved the Way

If I were to ask you who were the best black baseball players, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Oscar Charleston might readily come to mind. Chances are it would take you awhile to think of John Henry “Pop” Lloyd. You might never get there. In that case the list would be sorely lacking. Better pick […]

An Interview with Bob Kendrick: President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

One of the more under-appreciated elements of baseball history is the Negro Leagues. Barred from playing in the Majors, black players instead played at the highest level of competition in their own leagues. Legendary players like Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Rube Foster rivaled or exceeded the popularity and productivity of any stars in the […]

Stanley “Doc” Glenn Fondly Remembered in Quebec

Word came down the other day that 84-year old Stanley “Doc” Glenn had passed away on April 16. Glenn, a rangy 6’ 2” son of a Virginia fisherman who once described himself as a journeyman catcher, was in fact a superior defensive rearguard with a great arm. During the 1940s he made his mark with […]

Humdingers and Head Scratchers

Why not start the new year with a jolt? From a man who mixes pot and pancakes, throws his own pitch (the Leephus), and has something to say about everything comes “Baseball Eccentrics.” Read Bill “Spaceman” Lee’s collection of anecdotes and one-liners because: 1. Lee presents his cast of characters as just that, men who […]

The Beacon of Birmingham

In the midst of a dark and all-too predictable world, Rickwood Field became a beacon. Birthed out of a conversation with Connie Mack, the ballpark started with a handful of rivals but outlasted each of them to stand peerless. Read Allen Barra’s “Rickwood Field: A Century in America‒s Oldest Ballpark“ because: 1. Similar to last […]

Sweet or Oh So Sour

Black and white. Cut and dry. Or, in the case of aspiring baseball players from San Pedro de Macorís, red and blue. There is a wide disparity between those who reach the high levels of professional baseball and those who do not. That’s the setting we are exploring in Mark Kurlansky’s new book, “The Eastern […]

Remembering a Baseball Player So We Don’t Forget the Mistakes of Our Past

A good friend of mine lost a good friend yesterday. My friend is Claire Smith, and her friend was Alfred “Slick” Surratt. Slick was a player for the Kansas City Monarchs, a teammate of Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson in the Negro Baseball League. He died at 87. Claire was one of the first women […]

Alabama, the Cradle of Baseball Greatness

A little while ago I started to realize that Alabama has produced some of the greatest players in baseball history. I remembered reading Bill James making a point somewhere in his Historical Baseball Abstract from the ’80s about sports players tending to come from poor areas. I thought about Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, and […]