As promised, a whole mess of baseball links in honor of Opening Day.
Let’s go to the oldest piece first. The Deadspin Stacks reprinted Robert Ward’s legendary article about Reggie Jackson published in Sport[1] magazine in 1977. It, in many ways, defined how Reggie was perceived for the rest of his career. Not unfairly, I should add. Be sure to read the epilogue Ward added for the reprint.
The Day A Shit-Talking Reggie Jackson Tore Apart The Yankees
Daniel Norris could not be more different than Reggie Jackson. Forget about Reggie, he’s in dramatic opposition to the bulk of young guys who have big fat contracts and limitless futures. The Blue Jays rookie spent spring training living in an old Volkswagen camper he parked in a Wal-Mart parking lot. And that’s just the beginning of his unorthodox way of living life.
Joe Posnanski with a pretty great profile of Bobby Bragan, a man who moved past history and prejudice to embrace Jackie Robinson when he broke the color line.
C. is playing softball this year. A few weeks back we bought her a bat, tee, and glove. Since my glove disappeared sometime in the past 20 years, I also bought the third baseball glove of my life. I just got a cheap, discontinued Rawlings model on Amazon. I figured I’m just going to be playing catch with the girls, or fielding their hits, so there was no need to spend a ton of money.
This article appeared at the perfect time, as I’ve been going through all the rituals of breaking my mitt in. Like so much about baseball, the simple act of making leather supple can take on spiritual elements.
To Break In Their Gloves, Yankees Dunk, Tenderize and Lather Up
Speaking of baseball ritual, here is yet another nice accounting of how baseball helped bridge the gap between father and son.
Saying ‘I Love You’ With Baseball
Ten baseball books every fan should read. Sadly I’ve read seven, which means there isn’t much new here for me.
An interesting history of how baseball caps became the most common headwear for men off the diamond.
Finally, Will Leitch’s 125 predictions for the season.
- I loved Sport magazine. And Inside Sports. I often wasted a library pick on the current issue of one or the other back in 4th and 5th grades. Even though I usually had them read, front-to-back, before the school day was over. ↩