Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

[Edgy MD]

"I don't know if Reggie had a good time or not. I know I didn't. You wanted to be able to have a good time with Jack, but the problem was that you just could not hide him anywhere. If he wasn't harassing patrons he was harassing me, stealing food from my plate and everyone else's. That night I didn't care if I ever dined with Reggie again."



　　— Nothing but the Truth: A Baseball Life

　　Don Baylor with Claire Smith

　　St. Martin's Press (New York), 1989



　　Page 194 of the paperback edition.



　　https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9780312921064-us.jpg>

[Edgy MD]

Add your own!



"He captured his first pennant with Oakland, just before going to the Yankees, when the team won 111 games in the Pacific Coast League. It was then that his old friend George Weiss beckoned. Just for starters, Casey led the Yankees to five consecutive pennants and five consecutive World Series. This is perfect for the course."



　　— The Mets Will Win the Pennant

　　William R Cox

　　G.P. Putnam's Sons (New York), 1964



　　Page 21, first edition hardcover



　　[fimg=350]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91ac2l6IesS.jpg[/fimg]

[kcmets]

I'm sure I'm not among the true elitists here when it comes to completionism of

metly-hoarding but I did alright in my 40+ years of Obsessed Collecting Disorder.

I'm pretty sure I've never seen that very cool Willard cover.



Must fight the urges it conjures up. We're liquidating, not acquiring hahaha...

[Edgy MD]

I'm currently (slowly) trying to catch up in my database skillz, and databasing these books would be a good project.

[kcmets]

What software are you using to database?

[Edgy MD]

MySQL administered through phpMyAdmin.



My skills were all self-taught through trial and error 15 or more years ago, so I clearly knew less than I thought and going back to the beginning is drag.



If you have a favorite freebie interface, I'm all ears. I'm thinking of experimenting with Python. That's what all the cool kids use, but that name just feels so porny.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The UMDB is also mySQL through phpMyAdmin. Scripting language is PHP.



I can send you some sample code, if you like, of how I select and display data from database tables.

[kcmets]

I'm most familiar with MySQL I guess because of my past with this place.

I have access to Access but does anyone actually use that? OpenOffice has

a free app called Base. I've never dipped my quill in that yet.



Ben G, of course, would be the guy whose brain one c(sh)ould pick for all that.

[kcmets]

Ooops, I type too slow...

[Edgy MD]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: The UMDB is also mySQL through phpMyAdmin. Scripting language is PHP. I can send you some sample code, if you like, of how I select and display data from database tables.

That would be helpful.



My past experience has been with Access. I designed some sophisticated queries, but I realize now that building the infrastructure was largely shrouded in mystery to me.



Back to business! Post a random paragraph from a random baseball book on the shelf, randomly opened!

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'll send you some mocked-up code. It may be a day or two.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

It was the Ryan contract, signed with the Astros in late 1979,that broke the $1 million barrier and finally broke Bill Veeck's spirit. Nolan Ryan wouldn't attain national monument status until years later. At the time he was just considered a hard-throwing underacheiver. Said Mike Veeck: "It was the high price of mediocrity that bothered Dad."



https://dynamic.indigoimages.ca/books/0345465245.jpg>

[Benjamin Grimm]

Maybe this is too random, as it has nothing apparently to do with baseball. From David Halberstam's Summer of '49, page 131 of my paperback edition:

The proprietor himself had a strict sense of propriety, though. He did not like men who told dirty stories in front of women, and he did not like men who cheated on their wives. If a regular came in with a woman other than his wife, he received icy treatment. The club was about being pals, what one regular called palship. The rituals observed were on the order of lending money to a guy who was down, or making sure that the children of pals got handsome presents on their birthdays (though such children were rarely seen, and certainly not known).

I don't know who or what this is referring to.

[Edgy MD]

That's pretty sweetly obscure. A quick peek says that this refers to the post-game scene at Toots Shor's.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

In the third, I'm robbed. Murphy makes a diving catch in center--but the replay clearly shows the ball of the ground behind him! The umpire at second, Jerry Davis, can't see that, but he does see Murphy jump up and fire the ball to second base, a dead giveaway. When an outfielder catches the ball on the dive, he comes up waving it in the air. Davis calls me out, though, and he's not overruled.



page 175 IF AT FIRST, Keith Hernandez

[Edgy MD]

Is that from the July 4th/5th game?



That can be a sideline of this thread: "Guess the context!"

[batmagadanleadoff]

Edgy MD wrote: Add your own! 　　— The Mets Will Win the Pennant 　　William R Cox 　　G.P. Putnam's Sons (New York), 1964 　 　　 That's from the October 1, 1978, entry within The Bronx Zoo by Sparky Lyle & Peter Golenbock. The next portion of Lyle's diary deals with a phallus-shaped cake he adorned with a sign that read "FOR WOMEN REPORTERS ONLY," sort of undermining whatever interesting points he was making that Sunday. "Some people can't take a joke," according to the co-author. In the ensuing offseason, George Steinbrenner did, in fact, get rid of Sparky Lyle, who had helped him win the year before (1977) if not so much in the year the book covers. And the Yankees wouldn't win it all again for a very long time.

batmagadanleadoff Nov 07 2022 01:53 PM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

Oh, I get it now. The trick is not as I thought, to get 40-HR hitters and pitchers that could whiff 250 batters in a season. The trick is to stockpile players that were on prior playoff teams. I'm sure there's overlap, but if I was choosing from players who don't Venn diagram those categories, I'll take Ernie Banks over Al Weis all of the time. Gimme a break with the winning attitude players. That's why playoffs baseball is so unwatchable.

Edgy MD Nov 07 2022 02:51 PM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

That's not my copy of the Cox book, but mine is in pretty sharp shape too.

G-Fafif Nov 07 2022 02:59 PM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

In the clutch, bats grew slow and tentative. On the bases, veterans found their instincts gone haywire as they inexplicably ran in the wrong direction. The worst of all contagious baseball diseases — pressing under pressure — became epidemic. Journeyman players, made confident by their reincarnation in pinstripes, suddenly reverted to humbler pedigrees. Like clowns at a masked ball removing their masks, folks like Rick Reuschel, Larry Milbourne, Aurelio Rodriguez and Jerry Mumphrey began resembling the lowly Cubs, Mariners, Senators and Padres they once had been. —Tom Boswell, “Indecent Exposure,” Inside Sports, December 1981 Another of those quotes that stayed with me for more than four decades, written after the MFYs fell to the Dodgers. I was moved to look it up this summer when the Mets had suddenly imported a Pirate, a Red, a Cub and a Giant, three of whom were nowhere near the postseason a year earlier. Seeing as how two World Series before 1981, the Pirates were, to a tangible extent, propelled by in-season trades for Bill Madlock and Tim Foli, this pedigree business is probably hogwash. Boswell saw a throughline he liked and rode it. I do appreciate he got in a plug for his long gone hometown Senators.

Edgy MD Nov 07 2022 07:38 PM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

I did not remember Rick Reuschel being on the 1981 Yankees (or ever in the American League, for that matter). What a weird post-season that was.

Edgy MD Nov 10 2022 12:11 PM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

Before I got a word out of my mouth, Kristi said, emphatically, "Pitch Bobby today. He's going to pitch the game of his life." She looked me right in the eye, and I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I walked into the clubhouse, grabbed the game ball out of the ball bag, and went over to put the ball in Bobby's locker. 　　— https://www.alibris.com/search/books/isbn/9781637580943Valentine's Way: My Adventurous Life and Times 　　Bobby Valentine and Peter Golenbock 　　Permuted Press (New York • Nashville), 2021 　　Page 257, first edition hardcover 　　https://www.alibris.com/search/books/isbn/9781637580943[FIMG=260]https://www0.alibris-static.com/valentines-way-my-adventurous-life-and-times/isbn/9781637580943_l.jpg[/FIMG]

MFS62 Nov 10 2022 03:53 PM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Nov 10 2022 03:56 PM

"What about Aaron?" asked Powers. "Knock him down, first pitch" said Pete. "Curve him away" said Willard. "Jam him good. He'll swing at the ball a foot inside, sometimes," said Brooks. "Change up on him once every trip," I suggested. "Boys, I think Pena struck him out on a spitter", said Deal. "Good pitch" we agreed. From The Long Season by Jim Brosnan. Hard cover, Second edition. Page 259 https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Ltdz3lywL._SX373_BO1,204,203,200_.jpghttps://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Ltdz3lywL._SX373_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg Later

Edgy MD Nov 14 2022 07:53 AM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

"Ron Fairly kept hitting balls to the warning track and was frustrated," Davis said. "One time, he came back to the dugout and slammed his bat into the bat rack tube. Well, there was concrete at the other end, so the bat came flying back out, right past Walter's head. Walter looked at Fairly and said, 'Next time that happens, I'm going to kick your ass'. Well, the next time Fairly returned with his bat, he was like Dennis the Menace in the dugout, sliding his bat back in the rack very easily." 　　— https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/long-before-the-miracle-the-making-of-the-new-york-mets-1534686789Long Before the Miracle 　　Bill Sullivan 　　Self-published (San Bernadino), 2016 　　Page 251, first edition, paperback 　　https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/long-before-the-miracle-the-making-of-the-new-york-mets-1534686789

Johnny Lunchbucket Nov 14 2022 08:12 AM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

One of our jocko things is to mince around like a fairy, which is kind of funny sometimes especially while wearing baseball underwear. THere is something hilarious about a lumpy, hairy guy trying to act like a queer while wearing the things we wear under a baseball uniform. Take my word. Ball Four

Edgy MD Nov 14 2022 08:32 AM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

You can't win 64 games in a season without that sort of clubhouse camaraderie.

G-Fafif Nov 14 2022 09:26 AM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

Also, doesn't the word "uniform" mean that players are actually supposed to be dressed the same? I thought they were supposed to be standard. When I played, we all generally looked the same. Now guys have compression sleeves, and a lot of other things. Nine guys in a lineup are dressed in nine different ways. And during the playoffs, Joe Maddon wears a beanie. I can't imagine any of the managers when I played doing that. Have a little class. --Rod Gaspar with David Russell Rod Gaspar: Miracle Met, BPB Publications, 2019 Page 202

Edgy MD Nov 14 2022 09:30 AM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

That's great. Cranky Old Man Publications oughta be a thing. In my day, we'd be embarrassed to have netting in front of the field level seats. You paid attention to the game, or you died! That's just the way it was! It was sad when a distracted kid took one off the bean while searching for his Cracker-Jack prize, but the way we looked at was survival of the fittest. We went right on with the game knowing the gene pool was that much better! 　　— Me and the Game 　　Tommy McSpitchew 　　Cranky Old Man Books (Omaha), 2017

Benjamin Grimm Nov 14 2022 09:44 AM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

Tommy is probably hitting on Lauren Boebert on Twitter this week.

Edgy MD Nov 14 2022 10:18 AM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

Wow! I thought you were kidding, but ... 　　https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/spitchew.png>

Benjamin Grimm Nov 14 2022 10:52 AM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

I wish this forum had a LIKE button!

MFS62 Nov 14 2022 12:43 PM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I wish this forum had a LIKE button! Should we bring back the BOC? Later

G-Fafif Nov 15 2022 06:43 AM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

Wilpon was grooming his son Jeff to become involved in the organization and asked a favor of Valentine as the manager prepared to hold a season-ending meeting with his coaches: Could Jeff Wilpon sit in on the meeting? Fred Wilpon wanted his son to be immersed in all aspects of the organization and told Valentine not to worry about disruption, as Jeff Wilpon would be there to listen and not talk. As Valentine recalls, the elder Wilpon insisted that Jeff Wilpon would not speak up for two years. The plan was for his son to be seen, but not heard. Valentine was fine with the arrangement. Tom Robson, the team's bench coach, had been a respected hitting coach with the Mets previously. During the coaches' meeting, Robson began speaking about the team's hitting woes, prompting Jeff Wilpon to violate his gag order. Wilpon insisted that Robson's analysis was amiss, and began interjecting his own thoughts on hitting philosophy. Wilpon cited the swing instruction he had received from some of the country's best golf professionals, whose teaching differed from what Robson was preaching. Valentine, remembering Fred Wilpon's vow that Jeff Wilpon would be seen but not heard for two years, later conveyed his disgust to the owner: "Have two years gone by already?" Valentine said to the elder Wilpon. The following day, Valentine says he was told by Fred Wilpon that he had changed his mind: Valentine was fired. --Mike Puma If These Walls Could Talk: Stories from the New York Mets Dugout, Locker Room and Press Box, 2021 Pages 36-37

Johnny Lunchbucket Nov 15 2022 07:11 AM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

bombshell

Benjamin Grimm Nov 15 2022 07:30 AM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

Wilpon cited the swing instruction he had received from some of the country's best golf professionals, whose teaching differed from what Robson was preaching. Holy crap! You know, I'm beginning to think it's a good thing that Jeff isn't around anymore.

MFS62 Nov 15 2022 09:44 AM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Wilpon cited the swing instruction he had received from some of the country's best golf professionals, whose teaching differed from what Robson was preaching. Holy crap! You know, I'm beginning to think it's a good thing that Jeff isn't around anymore. He doesn't have enough intelligence to run for Senator from Georgia. Later

G-Fafif Nov 16 2022 11:42 AM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

Baseball wives, then, are their own club. "I always joke that when you get traded they kind of throw you into the family room and say, "Pick a friend," said Lory Ankiel, wife of former Nationals outfielder Rick. "And you think about it. What if I would not be friends with any of these girls? Who would understand? --Barry Svrluga The Grind: Inside Baseball's Endless Season, 2015 Page 27

Edgy MD Nov 16 2022 02:26 PM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

That's some good random. Lori kind of looks like she fell through the La Brea sinkhole/time portal. https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E03AQE9_hN0xNKTrQ/profile-displayphoto-shrink_800_800/0/1516809480463?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=A12eZitF7qt2pKL-mBhb_oarsvsE-egtofyJhZCSw4I> Of course, that passage is kind of a dis to the wives of Rick's Mets teammates. On the other hand, Alyson Cowgill could occasionally rub a person the wrong way.

G-Fafif Nov 17 2022 09:20 AM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

Satch didn't often get to the railroad station. He had spent so much of his life hopping from town to town by himself that he had a rather cavalier attitude toward communal travel. It can be said of Satch that he missed countless trains but no scheduled games. He had the plane schedules committed to memory. When the game was due to start, Satch and the umpires would be there. It was a mark of the special esteem in which he was held that the other players permitted him this special privilege. --Bill Veeck with Ed Linn Veeck -- As In Wreck, 1962 Page 194 (Paperback Edition)

Edgy MD Nov 21 2022 08:59 PM Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph

"I'll tell you what I hate. I loathe the trading that goes on in baseball. It's tragic. You commit yourself to a friendship, and the next thing you know, the guy is traded and shipped out. Baseball players and their families live in great fear of this cruel practice. Being a baseball widow isn't much fun. I hate being alone, but most of all, I hate the question, 'What's it like being married to Tom Seaver?' Ugh!" 　　— https://www.abebooks.com/9780698107168/superwives-Parr-Jeanne-0698107160/plpThe Superwives 　　Jeanne Parr 　　Avon Books (New York), 1976 　　Page 121, first edition, paperback 　　https://www.abebooks.com/9780698107168/superwives-Parr-Jeanne-0698107160/plp [fimg=459]https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/413Sg7xZ+9L._AC_SY780_.jpg[/fimg]

[batmagadanleadoff]

Oh, I get it now. The trick is not as I thought, to get 40-HR hitters and pitchers that could whiff 250 batters in a season. The trick is to stockpile players that were on prior playoff teams. I'm sure there's overlap, but if I was choosing from players who don't Venn diagram those categories, I'll take Ernie Banks over Al Weis all of the time.



Gimme a break with the winning attitude players. That's why playoffs baseball is so unwatchable.

[Edgy MD]

That's not my copy of the Cox book, but mine is in pretty sharp shape too.

[G-Fafif]

In the clutch, bats grew slow and tentative. On the bases, veterans found their instincts gone haywire as they inexplicably ran in the wrong direction. The worst of all contagious baseball diseases — pressing under pressure — became epidemic. Journeyman players, made confident by their reincarnation in pinstripes, suddenly reverted to humbler pedigrees. Like clowns at a masked ball removing their masks, folks like Rick Reuschel, Larry Milbourne, Aurelio Rodriguez and Jerry Mumphrey began resembling the lowly Cubs, Mariners, Senators and Padres they once had been.

—Tom Boswell, “Indecent Exposure,” Inside Sports, December 1981



Another of those quotes that stayed with me for more than four decades, written after the MFYs fell to the Dodgers. I was moved to look it up this summer when the Mets had suddenly imported a Pirate, a Red, a Cub and a Giant, three of whom were nowhere near the postseason a year earlier.



Seeing as how two World Series before 1981, the Pirates were, to a tangible extent, propelled by in-season trades for Bill Madlock and Tim Foli, this pedigree business is probably hogwash. Boswell saw a throughline he liked and rode it. I do appreciate he got in a plug for his long gone hometown Senators.

[Edgy MD]

I did not remember Rick Reuschel being on the 1981 Yankees (or ever in the American League, for that matter). What a weird post-season that was.

[Edgy MD]

Before I got a word out of my mouth, Kristi said, emphatically, "Pitch Bobby today. He's going to pitch the game of his life." She looked me right in the eye, and I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I walked into the clubhouse, grabbed the game ball out of the ball bag, and went over to put the ball in Bobby's locker.

　　— https://www.alibris.com/search/books/isbn/9781637580943Valentine's Way: My Adventurous Life and Times

　　Bobby Valentine and Peter Golenbock

　　Permuted Press (New York • Nashville), 2021



　　Page 257, first edition hardcover



　　https://www.alibris.com/search/books/isbn/9781637580943[FIMG=260]https://www0.alibris-static.com/valentines-way-my-adventurous-life-and-times/isbn/9781637580943_l.jpg[/FIMG]

[MFS62]

"What about Aaron?" asked Powers. "Knock him down, first pitch" said Pete. "Curve him away" said Willard. "Jam him good. He'll swing at the ball a foot inside, sometimes," said Brooks. "Change up on him once every trip," I suggested. "Boys, I think Pena struck him out on a spitter", said Deal. "Good pitch" we agreed.

From The Long Season by Jim Brosnan. Hard cover, Second edition. Page 259



https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Ltdz3lywL._SX373_BO1,204,203,200_.jpghttps://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Ltdz3lywL._SX373_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

Later

Edited November 10, 2022 by Guest

[Edgy MD]

"Ron Fairly kept hitting balls to the warning track and was frustrated," Davis said. "One time, he came back to the dugout and slammed his bat into the bat rack tube. Well, there was concrete at the other end, so the bat came flying back out, right past Walter's head. Walter looked at Fairly and said, 'Next time that happens, I'm going to kick your ass'. Well, the next time Fairly returned with his bat, he was like Dennis the Menace in the dugout, sliding his bat back in the rack very easily."

　　— https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/long-before-the-miracle-the-making-of-the-new-york-mets-1534686789Long Before the Miracle

　　Bill Sullivan

　　Self-published (San Bernadino), 2016



　　Page 251, first edition, paperback



　　https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/long-before-the-miracle-the-making-of-the-new-york-mets-1534686789

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

One of our jocko things is to mince around like a fairy, which is kind of funny sometimes especially while wearing baseball underwear. THere is something hilarious about a lumpy, hairy guy trying to act like a queer while wearing the things we wear under a baseball uniform. Take my word.

Ball Four

[Edgy MD]

You can't win 64 games in a season without that sort of clubhouse camaraderie.

[G-Fafif]

Also, doesn't the word "uniform" mean that players are actually supposed to be dressed the same? I thought they were supposed to be standard. When I played, we all generally looked the same. Now guys have compression sleeves, and a lot of other things. Nine guys in a lineup are dressed in nine different ways. And during the playoffs, Joe Maddon wears a beanie. I can't imagine any of the managers when I played doing that. Have a little class.

--Rod Gaspar with David Russell

Rod Gaspar: Miracle Met, BPB Publications, 2019

Page 202

[Edgy MD]

That's great. Cranky Old Man Publications oughta be a thing.



In my day, we'd be embarrassed to have netting in front of the field level seats. You paid attention to the game, or you died! That's just the way it was! It was sad when a distracted kid took one off the bean while searching for his Cracker-Jack prize, but the way we looked at was survival of the fittest. We went right on with the game knowing the gene pool was that much better!



　　— Me and the Game

　　Tommy McSpitchew

　　Cranky Old Man Books (Omaha), 2017

[Benjamin Grimm]

Tommy is probably hitting on Lauren Boebert on Twitter this week.

[Edgy MD]

Wow! I thought you were kidding, but ...



　　https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/spitchew.png>