January 2, 2025
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THE SSTN INTERVIEW SERIES RETURNS!!!
Please tell our readers a little about yourself and, of course, your books.
I’m the only American journalist who covers baseball and travel exclusively, as both a print and broadcast journalist. I have no interest in any other sport and have never even seen a Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, Stanley Cup playoff game, Indy 500, or Kentucky Derby. For me, baseball is America’s national pastime 12 months a year, with so much going on during the off-season. Personally speaking, I’m a graduate of Passaic (NJ) High School and the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. I later worked for The Associated Press (AP), Bergen Jewish News, Woman’s World Magazine, and M. Silver Associates, a travel PR firm, before going freelance full-time. I’m the author of 42 baseball books, including two biographies of Hank Aaron and collaborations with Ron Blomberg, Al Clark, and Milo Hamilton. I’m now a national baseball writer for forbes.com, weekend editor of a baseball newsletter called Here’s The Pitch, and host of a live half-hour Thursday podcast called Travel Itch Radio, which enters its 14th season in January.
What do you most enjoy about writing?
Writing gives me the chance to express my strong and usually non-conformist opinions – and to have fun with alliterations, puns, and other plays on words. I do my best work when it’s quiet (early morning and late at night) and love to see my byline on books and articles I produce.
Do you have any current writing projects you are working on? Can you tell us about them?
2024 was a busy book year for me, with Home Run King: the Remarkable Record of Hank Aaron published in May, Here’s The Pitch 2015 released in November, and The New Baseball Bible Third Edition due next April 1. I write at least 10 columns a month for forbes.com and cover everything from spring training to the All-Star Game, Hall of Fame inductions, post-season play, and winter meetings. I also write an annual book roundup for Sports Collectors Digest.
Why are people so drawn to baseball and its stories, legends, and people?
Anyone can play – size, sex, or age doesn’t matter – and rules are easy to understand, despite unnecessary tinkering by current commissioner Rob Manfred. I’m a historian who grew up when baseball had two eight-team leagues, sent winners directly to the World Series, and did not have night World Series games, designated hitters, post-season tournaments, divisional play, wild-card teams, and so many other revenue-raising gimmicks MLB needs so that teams can meet payroll in the Marvin Miller era (or should we say “error?”).
What is your favorite baseball book?
Have to nominate my own, starting with The Baseball Catalog in 1980, when it was a Book-of-the-Month Club alternate. It has since changed titles a half-dozen times and received regular updates, including the upcoming April 1, 2025 publication of The New Baseball Bible. This oversized, unorthodox, illustrated paperback will have 500+ pages, forewords by Chip Caray and John Thorn, and much artwork and photographs never published elsewhere previously.
Outside of baseball, what is your favorite book and/or who is your favorite author? (You can list as many as you wish.)
I’m a big science fiction fan, so I loved Jules Verne for Around the World in 80 Days and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. But I also love politics, especially non-fiction books that agree with my points of view. From Time Immemorial, by Joan Peters, was originally supposed to document the alleged land-grab by the Jews from the Arabs but wound up showing that exactly the opposite was true. In addition to a huge baseball book collection, I also have a small library of Holocaust books.
There's a lot of talk about baseball needing to be "fixed." Is baseball broken? If you were the Commissioner of Baseball what change(s) (if any) would you make to the current game?
My list is long, starting with all the revenue-raising gimmicks Rob Manfred (and Bud Selig before him) imposed to keep teams solvent in an era when salaries have escalated beyond the stratosphere. I would love to see baseball add a payroll cap, if not a salary cap, and return to a format that makes it less likely for non-championship teams to reach the World Series (as in 2023). Expansion to 32 teams and creation of four eight-team leagues would be a giant step in that direction. And elimination of both The Manfred Man “ghost runner” and the man who created it would be a big help too.
I love to talk about the Baseball Hall of Fame. Which former Yankee most deserves to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame?
No question: Gary Sheffield and Andruw Jones. Though neither wore pinstripes at the peak of their careers, both have the career credentials that should have gotten them early selections during the “regular” vote of the baseball writers (Andruw is now in his 8th try). Can’t overlook Andy Pettitte either; his numbers were almost identical to CC Sabathia’s and he spent much more time with the Yankees.
What is the greatest baseball movie of all time? (Yes, you can list a few!)
Eight Men Out, which captured the flavor of the ragtime era beautifully, and Fever Pitch, the best baseball comedy I ever saw. Too many factual errors ruined Field of Dreams and 42, including depiction of Shoeless Joe Jackson as a right-handed batter – even though Babe Ruth, like Jackson a lefty, copied his swing! Honorable Mention to A League Of Their Own, which had many laugh-out-loud scenes.
What is your favorite baseball memory?
As a Braves fan, have to rank Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS at the top of the list. Pittsburgh at Atlanta, series tied 3-3, winner gets the NL flag and a trip to the World Series. Doug Drabek and Stan Belinda combine to blow a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth, with third-string catcher Francisco Cabrera hitting a two-out, two-run single that gave Atlanta a 3-2 victory. After refusing Andy Van Slyke’s advice to move up in left field, Barry Bonds was slow getting to the ball and unable to make a strong, accurate throw – even with slow-footed Sid Bream carrying the winning run from second base.
Please share anything else you'd like with our audience.
Even with its myriad of flaws, baseball is still the national pastime. I love baseball cards, books, magazines, and my many friends in the game – thanks to my access as an active baseball writer. Dusty Baker wrote the foreword of my 2024 Hank Aaron book and I loved working with him; we’ve been friends since he was a rookie outfielder with the Braves in the early ‘70s and I look forward to his virtually-certain Hall of Fame induction in a year or two.
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