Featuring premier authors, Pulitzer Prize-winners, team owners, Hall of Famers, and the most interesting folks in baseball
Episodes
Thursday Apr 30, 2015
"A Game of Their Own: Voices of Contemporary Women in Baseball" with Jennifer Ring
Thursday Apr 30, 2015
Thursday Apr 30, 2015
There is a national women’s baseball team in the United States. It is virtually unknown.
One of the best kept secrets in American sports: Team USA has medaled in every international competition it has played in for the past decade.
A Game of Their Own chronicles the largely invisible history of women in baseball. Jennifer Ring includes oral histories of eleven members of the U.S. Women’s National Team, from the moment each player picked up a bat and ball as a young girl to her selection for Team USA. Each story is unique, but they share common themes that will resonate with all baseball fans: facing skepticism and taunts from players and parents when taking the batter’s box or the pitcher’s mound, self-doubt, the unceasing pressure to switch to softball, and eventual acceptance by their baseball teammates as they prove themselves as ballplayers. The stories of these racially, culturally, and economically diverse players come alive as they recount their battles and most memorable moments playing baseball -- the joys of exceeding expectations and the pleasure of honing baseball skills and talent despite the lack of support.
Featuring exclusive interviews with players, coaches, and administrators, A Game of Their Own celebrates the U.S. Women’s National Team and the excellence of its remarkable players. In response to the jeer “No girls allowed!” these are powerful stories of optimism and staying true to oneself.
Listen in to our wonderful evening with Jennifer Ring in the Clubhouse...
Monday Apr 20, 2015
"Freedom Between The Lines" with Gregory Rubano
Monday Apr 20, 2015
Monday Apr 20, 2015
A story that needs to be told...
Devised in the late nineteenth century, the United States government’s “solution” to “the Indian Problem” was simple and heartless. Take the children from their homes, strip them of their cultural identity and pride, and make them “Americans.” Teaching them baseball -- “America's Game” -- would complete the indoctrination. Or so they thought.
Freedom Between The Lines recreates the story of Native American youth sent to a federally run boarding school -- the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. What awaits the children is a carefully plotted re-education program intended to “civilize” them by “driving the Indian out of them.” The psychological assault begins as soon as they arrive: hair is cut, uniforms issued, clothes and keepsakes destroyed. In baseball, however, the boys find a way to reclaim their proud warrior tradition, a way to compete fairly against an unjust society. The book focuses upon one of the boys, Charles Albert Bender. He was so good at “America' Game,” Bender became the only Native American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The book includes a supplement with many photos that traces both the tragic history of the government’s attempts to solve “the Indian problem,” and the early history of baseball’s amazing appeal to all of America.
A recently retired English teacher, Gregory Rubano is currently the director and curriculum consultant for an arts integrated anti-bullying and intolerance program, All for Youth.
Listen in to our Clubhouse conversation with Greg Rubano and Freedom Between The Lines...
Friday Apr 10, 2015
"100 Years of Who's Who in Baseball" with Marty Appel and Doug Lyons
Friday Apr 10, 2015
Friday Apr 10, 2015
In celebration of the 100th issue of Who’s Who in Baseball -- one of the game’s most venerable publications -- this beautiful book features each of the annual's 100 iconic covers in full color along with an account of why the player rated the cover and what was going on in baseball at the time.
Marty Appel is the author of many books, including Pinstripe Empire and the New York Times bestseller Munson. Following his years as the Yankees’ public relations director, he became an Emmy Award-winning television producer and director of Marty Appel Public Relations. Appel lives in New York City and appears frequently on ESPN, HBO, the MLB Network, and the YES Network.
Douglas B. Lyons is a leading authority on all things baseball. He is the author of Out of Left Field, Curveballs and Screwballs, and Short Hops and Foul Tips, all of which he co-wrote with his brother Jeffrey. He also wrote Broadcast Rites and Sites: I Saw It on the Radio with Red Sox broadcaster Joe Castiglione.
On a spring evening in the Clubhouse, we had a wide-ranging, fascinating discussion with two of the country's leading baseball experts. Listen in...