Return of the CPF Book Club

[Willets Point]

I'm proposing reviving our latent book club for the offseason.

Answer in this thread a) if you're interested in participating and offer suggestions for books to read and discuss.

The best books for discussion would be about the Mets, followed by any books about baseball, and then sports in general. In the past we've read The Natural by Bernard Malamud, The Thrill of the Grass by W.P. Kinsella, and Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby.

I'm proposing this now because if we get an early start we could discuss more than one book (maybe one in early December and another in early February) and also to attract the attention of those CPF members who go into hibernation after the World Series ends.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'll play.

I've bombed out in my ability to show any leadership.

But I'll play.

We also read the Bob Costas book.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

I can participate from mid-December through mid-January. Otherwise, my reading consists of exciting tomes such as "Computer Concepts, 7th Edition."

Thanks for organizing this Willets

[Willets Point]

Scarlett: Ah, wait until you read Wynar's Introduction to Cataloging and Classification : Revised Ninth Edition. By the way, if you have time for elective library studies reading check out Sorting Out the Web : Approaches to Subject Access by Candy Schwartz, one of my favorite profs.

Edgy: All right smarty, I said "includes" not "a complete list." All the same, thank you for reminding us that we've also read Fair Ball : A Fan's Case for Baseball by Bob Costas, an extended article more than a book.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Next semester I get to take a course on Principles of Searching. I can't wait - something actually library related!

[Guest Edgy DC]

Didn't mean to be a smartie.

I nominate Wrecking Crew.



Although I fear it. Perhaps I nominate it because I fear it.

[Willets Point]

Did Big Al play for that team?

[metirish]

Looks like an interesting book...I'm in...Flea loves it...

]Review: "I loved Wrecking Crew. It is my story too. John Albert put it all together, he is a great original voice from L.A.'s wasteland." Flea, of the Red Hot Chili Peppers

[Guest sharpie]

Book looks good. I'll join too.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Well, let's get a few more nominations here.

I think this book is still in hardcover, though my baby picked me up a cheap copy. (I'll find out from where.)

It chills me a little because Legs McNiel endorses it, and he was an abusive creep when I knew him at SPIN. Regularly put me off my food.

[Guest SwitchHitter]

How about "Bang the Drum Slowly"?

I'll be in

[Theoldmole]

I'll try to join in.

[Willets Point]

Edgy DC wrote: It chills me a little because Legs McNiel endorses it, and he was an abusive creep when I knew him at SPIN. Regularly put me off my food.

Posting this in a public forum means that any day now Legs McNiel will find this site, register, and post that we're a bunch of elitist, pompous pricks. It's inevitable.

[Willets Point]

May I suggest Foul Boul by Jim Bouton,

or,

Veeck as in Wreck by Bill Veeck

or,

The Glory of Their Times by Lawrence Ritter

or,

Baseball Forever by Ralph Kiner w/ Danny Peary.

I plan on reading all of these books soon anyhow, but it would be a pleasure to read one or two of them with all of you.

I should also note that today is Ralph Kiner's birthday (for the next forty minutes or so). Kiner's Korner does well at Jump the Shark.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Powell's has Wrecking Crew at $15.95. That says used but it's likely remaindered.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yeah, I can pretty wholeheartedly endorse Wrecking Crew. It's sad to read about self-destructive LA fringe types, but, so the cliche goes, funny and poignant as well.

Current or former members of Lifter, Junkyard, and Bad Religion play on the team. Jane's Addiction and Chili Pepper guitarist David Navarro declines politely, but his cousin joins.

Fun ensues.

[Willets Point]

Here's one book we won't be reading.

[Zvon]

The last baseball book I read was THE SUMMER OF '49 by David Halberstam.
Even though it covers a time before the Mets existed, I highly recommend it. I know it sounds like a book about the Yankees, but its really so much more.

With the airwaves saturated with so much sporting choice, it's hard to imagine how, not that long ago, baseball so completely dominated the landscape and captured imaginations. Given the 1949 season that veteran journalist David Halberstam meticulously recreates, maybe it's not so hard after all. It was a season of great public and personal drama for the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, with the conflict finally resolving itself in a Yankee pennant following a head-to-head showdown on the final day of the season. Each team was led by a star of the highest magnitude: Joe DiMaggio spurred the Yankees despite missing half the season with a foot injury; Ted Williams virtually carried the Sox on his back, missing an unprecedented third Triple Crown by mere decimal points on his batting average. Halberstam focuses much of his narrative on the trials of these two individual sporting giants, adding fine supporting performances by Yogi Berra, Ellis Kinder, Dom DiMaggio, even restaurateur Toots Shoor. Both on and off the field, Halberstam beautifully captures the ethos of a more innocent game that no longer exists, played by heroes far more driven by their pride than by their salaries.


read a preview here
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0380710757/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-6137059-9875220#reader-page

[Theoldmole]

My last one was another Halberstam book -- Teammates, about Williams, Doerr, Pesky and Dom DiMaggio. Highly recommended. And I wouldn't even mind going down memory lane and revisiting John R. Tunis (see What are you reading? in NBF).

[Guest Edgy DC]

Jumptheshark.com comments about Kiner's Korner:

• Never jumped. Still a thoroughly entertaining end to any Mets game, win or
  lose.


• One of the finest comedies ever to air on public television, intentional
  or not.


• Ralph called Hubie Brooks "Mookie" for an entire show once. God
  bless Ralph Kiner!


• This show never jumped the shark. The sheer brilliance of allowing Ralph
  to prattle on in malaprop heaven makes this pure genius since 1962. Who can
  ever forget the hijinks which would invariably ensue when Gary Carter
  ("Cooper to Ralph") or Sid Fernandez (Hernandez to our host) would
  appear, or back in the old days when both Bob and Ken Forsch were pitching
  in the NL? Finally from the wayback machine, who can forget Ralph asking
  Choo Choo Coleman about his wife? Ralph: What's your wife's name and what's
  she like? Choo Choo: Her name's Mrs. Coleman and she likes me. Classic,
  untouchable brilliance from the cheesy set to the besotted host.


• Kiner's Korner never jumped. But I don't want non New Yorkers to mistake's
  Ralph's habit of getting names wrong and misspeaking as a sign of stupidity.
  He is a very bright guy, and brilliant baseball man. And he is modest to a
  fault. He rarely talks about his own Hall of Fame career. My favorite moment
  was when he had Mookie Wilson and Danny Heep on the show. Heep, who is
  white, was wearing that black stuff under his eyes that many players wear.
  So Ralph said "Danny has that black stuff to cut down on glare. He's
  not trying to look like Mookie." Classic Ralph!


• What about when Ralph had Darryl Boston on the show and called him Darryl
  Strawberry 5 times?


• Ralph Kiner to Cleon Jones, who had feet problems: "How are your
  feet" Cleon: "My feets is feelin' well"


• Who can forget the appearance of Lenny Dykstra's mom during the 1986
  season? At first I thought I was watching a drastically aged Cyndi Lauper.


• My favorite Kiner line was when he asked Mookie if Doug Sisk's sinkers
  were hanging because "he was holding his balls to tight"


• it's "her names Mrs Coleman and she likes me,BUB." The Bub is
  the icing on the cake...


• One time he announced "today is Father's Day, so to all you fathers
  out there, Happy Birthday." He said during a Mets game, not a KK
  episode, but it's worth remembering. My most vivid KK memory is when Expos
  pitcher Dan Schatzeder got mad at Ralph because he couldn't pronounce his
  name. He continuously called him Shatner. Maybe he thought he was talking to
  Captian Kirk. Kiner and Phil Rizzuto were the broadcasters of my youth. They
  weren't great and they botched the language quite a bit, but I really miss
  those Huckleberries.


• Wow! I was amazed that this was even listed on Jump the Shark. I couldn't
  stop laughing at all the mis-quotes poor Ralph would say. I think that line
  with Choo-Choo Coleman is still hysterical after all these years. Kiner's
  Korner was always a must see after every televised Met's game. God Bless you
  Ralph! And as always "LET'S GO METS!"


• Kiner's Korner was great! WWOR (Channel 9) consistently put garbage on the
  air and KK was no exception, except for the fact it was somewhat entertaining
  watching mastodon-headed beige-suited Ralph with his flubs and foibles. I
  can't remember exactly, I think he was interviewing Juan Samuel after he was
  traded to the Mets and Ralph not only called him by some other name, if he
  didn't actually call him Samuel Juan, but he forget his own name! "Welcome
  everybody to Kiner's Korner, I'm ... (looks for a loooooong moment at the
  screen and then turns to his guest) we have a guest on the show." Ralph was
  the definition of a trooper.


• When I was a kid Ralph would end each show with "and if you can't
  make it out to the ball park we hope to see y'all right back out
  there."


• Awesome quotes! Kiner's Korner was and is konsistant. No, it never jumped.
  My favorite quote: Ralph always confused Mets catcher Ron Hodges with the late
  great Gil Hodges. Once, during the highlight portion of the show Ralph called
  a Ron Hodges homerun "...the game winning homerun by Gil Hodges...damn it, I
  always do that!"


• Hi! And welcome to Korner's Kiner! Yup, you guessed it -- poor Ralph was
  also mildly dyslexic. But I loved this show, Yankee and Met games and
  postgames were a key part of my childhood. Anyone remember when Rizzuto was
  reading Bill White's cue card, and said, "Hi, I'm Bill White?" You can't make
  this stuff up.


• Ralph says to the ever-grinning Nails, Lenny Dykstra: Lenny, your mother
  is a very attractive woman and that never hurts


• Kiner's Korner never jumped the shark. Everyone's recollections of Mr.
  Kiner's "Kinerisms" are wonderful and hysterical! Do you remember when Mr.
  Kiner, during a Met-Pirate game, exclaimed excitedly, "And here comes Pirate
  catcher 'Mel' Ott into home with the tying run!"? (FYI, the Pirate catcher was
  ED Ott, not MEL Ott, who played for the old NY Giants against Mr. Kiner and
  the Pirates many years before.) Of course, I've always loved Mr. Kiner's
  "unique" pronunciation of unusual baseball names, such as: Dan Billardello,
  Joaquim Andujar, Jorge Roque, John Boccabella, Argenis Salazar and Coco Laboy
  to name but a few. Long live Ralph Kiner!!!


• KK never jumped! In the late 80's, early 90's I always wanted to hear
  Ralph say, "And Nick Esasky is tagged out by Mackey Sasser!" Ralph always knew
  his baseball, but had some problems with peoples names. LET'S GO METS!!


• How about when Ralph had to say "and now a word from our sponsor,
  Mitsubishi?"...must've head every possible permutation and combination of
  pronunciations.


• Boy am I glad I'm not the only one who remembers Lenny Dykstra's mother on
  Kiner's Korner! "Boy, Lenny your mother's a lovely woman!" He spent the whole
  show trying to pick her up! Long Live Kalph Riner!


• Kiner's Korner never jumped. Even more fun than watching Ralph screw up
  everyone's name was seeing how drunk he would be. If the game ran into extra
  innings, he would be practically incoherent! LET'S GO METS!


• My short list of botched names by Kiner. Dan Bilardello = Diane Bordello.
  Daryl Strawberry = Marv Throneberry. Dwight Gooden = Greg Goosen. There was
  also the time, I think it was Mets-Padres, a fly ball went over the
  outfielder's head, only when Kiner called it, it sounded like it was the
  outfielder's head rolling around on the warning track, instead of the
  baseball.


• Ralph was always a guaranteed laugh, no matter how the Mets were playing.
  His malapropisms, mispronunciation of names, and alcohol-fueled babblings were
  always a delight. Long live Ralph!


• Ralph once referred to the Charlotte Hornets as "the Charlotte Harlots".
  He described a better getting hit by the pitch as "got hit right in the back
  of the back."


• I can't believe this show is still on. I mean I watched it when I was a
  kid and now my grandson watches it! Jesus, how old is Kiner anyway, about
  1000? At any rate, Kiner's Korner never jumped. It has been konsistantly
  entertaining for more than 40 years (!). Ralph's malaprops, his general
  confusion and his drunken blunders are legend among Mets fans. I hope he does
  the show for another 43 years! LET'S GO METS!


• I just wanted to add one of the great all-time Kinerisms. A long, boring
  Sunday day-game, late 80's. Ralph has a few "adult beverages" (ever noticed
  that eventually he leaves the broadcast booth around the 5th inning?). They
  are doing a promo for a WOR-TV movie showing of Charlton Heston and Lawrence
  Olivier in Kartoum (sp?). Ralph reads it "be sure to watch Charles Heston and
  Lawrence Oliver in Cart 'em". I liked the comment that he almost never talked
  about his own career. Kiner's Korner was a way to prolong the game a little
  before having to get back to reality. A great memory from my youth.

[Willets Point]

Someone needs to make a videotape/DVD compilation of old Kiner's Korners.

[metirish]

Well that was a good laugh..I guess KK never jumped the shark then, did he do more that a few last season, I only remember one show.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Well, I'm done with Wrecking Crew. Is that our selection, or should I just write a book report?

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

When are we starting our Kiss It Goodbye discussions?

I'm getting through it slowly, but I'm hoping to have a chance to pick up the pace a bit this weekend.

[Willets Point]

Week of January 30th.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Good - with any luck I'll be finished (or at least substantially finished) by that point.

[Guest cooby]

Thanks to Scarlett's kind generosity, I will be able to read this book as well...it arrived in the mail today (along with some other interesting titles)

I'll try to get it finished by the 30th

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

I think you'll enjoy it - Mr. Thomas is very detail-oriented.

His scrapbook collection must be incredible!

[Guest cooby]

He scrapbooks? Wow, my daughter scrapbooks!

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

I'm assuming he has scrapbooks, based on the amount of detail about every one of his playing seasons.

I'm sure your daughter's scrapbooks are much prettier, though.