Featuring premier authors, Pulitzer Prize-winners, team owners, Hall of Famers, and the most interesting folks in baseball
Episodes
Monday Nov 16, 2015
"A Century in the Bleachers" with Arnold Hano and filmmaker Jon Leonoudakis
Monday Nov 16, 2015
Monday Nov 16, 2015
Meet Arnold Hano. He might be the Babe Ruth of writers.
Arnold has been published in nine decades, wrote twenty-seven books, sold over a million of them, and penned 500 magazine and newspaper articles.
Hano! A Century in the Bleachers is the story of the extraordinary life and times of 93-year-old Arnold Hano, one of the most prolific writers of the past century.
Baseball fan, war veteran, activist and storyteller emeritus: few have lived and chronicled the American experience as extensively. His story has flown under the radar of popular culture for almost a hundred years... until now.
On a Friday evening in November, we welcomed the legendary Arnold Hano and filmmaker Jon Leonoudakis to the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse for a special event. Listen in...
Tuesday Nov 10, 2015
Tuesday Nov 10, 2015
In February 1947, the most memorable season in the history of the Cuban League finished with a dramatic series win by Almendares against its rival Habana. As the celebration spread through the streets of Havana and across Cuba, the Brooklyn Dodgers -- and a minor leaguer named Jackie Robinson -- were beginning spring training on the island.
Robinson was two months away from making his major league debut in Brooklyn. To avoid racism and harassment from the crowds in Florida during this critical time, the Dodgers relocated their spring training to Cuba.
It was also during this time that Major League Baseball was trying to bring the “outlaw” Cuban League under the control of organized baseball. As the Cubans fought to stay independent, Robinson worked to earn a roster spot on the Dodgers.
In Havana Hardball, veteran journalist Cesar Brioso brings together a rich mix of worlds as the heyday of Latino baseball converged with one of the most socially meaningful events in American history. Listen in to our discussion on a Fall evening in the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse...
Tuesday Nov 03, 2015
Tuesday Nov 03, 2015
We are continually pulled to the story of the 1919 World Series and the Chicago White Sox -- The Black Sox -- because so much of modern sport, and our attitude towards it, springs from the scandal.
In The Betrayal, Charles Fountain traces the Black Sox story from its roots in the gambling culture that pervaded the game in the years surrounding World War I, through the confusing events of the 1919 World Series itself, to the noisy aftermath and trial, and illuminates the moment as baseball's tipping point.
Situating the Black Sox events in the context of later scandals, including those involving Cincinnati Reds manager and player Pete Rose, and the ongoing use of performance-enhancing drugs in the game up through the present, Fountain illuminates America’s near century-long fascination with the story, and its continuing relevance today.
Charles Fountain is an Associate Professor at Northeastern University’s School of Journalism. His journalism career encompassed work in television, radio, newspapers and magazines. Fountain is the author of several books, including Under the March Sun: The Story of Spring Training and Sportswriter: The Life and Times of Grantland Rice.
On an off day for this year’s World Series, we took a look back at the most talked about Fall Classic in baseball history. Listen in...