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Friday, July 30, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Jason Turbow Author of "The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime: Friday, August 20, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Talmage Boston Author of “1939: Baseball’s Tipping Point” Friday, September 17, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: The Honorable Gary Hart Former U.S. Senator and Co-Chairman of the U.S. Commission on National Security, and Scholar in Residence, Colorado University Speaking about His Life and His Book of Memoirs: ”The Thunder and the Sunshine: Four Acts in a Burnished Life” Tuesday, November 9, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Peter Gammons The Legendary Baseball Savant Editor of and Speaking On: “The Best American Sports Writing” Friday, April 8, 2011 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Harvey Frommer Author of and Speaking on: “Celebrating Fenway Park: An Oral and Narrative History of the Home of Red Sox Nation – 1912-2010” Friday, July 30, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Jason Turbow – Author of "The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime: 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue, next to Game On $50 Per Person (price includes autographed copy of Mr. Turbow’s book) To register for this event please click here. Jason Turbow – Biographical Brief Jason Turbow has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, SportsIllustrated.com, and Slam magazine. He is a regular contributor to Giants Magazine and Athletics, and for three years served as content director for “Giants Today,” a full-page supplement in the San Francisco Chronicle that was published in conjunction with every Giants home game. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two children. Honor Among Base Stealers – The New York Times Book Review Illustration by Rodrigo Corral and Sabine Dowek By BRUCE WEBER Published: March 25, 2010 Professional baseball is a society, of sorts, and “The Baseball Codes” is a book of casual sociology. The premise is that ballplayers, managers, coaches and various other participants in the culture of baseball are all clued in to a value system, a mode of behavior that defines a gauzy ideal: the right way to play the game. THE BASEBALL CODES Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime That phrase in itself needs explaining. If you’re not fluent in sportspeak, you might think the right way to play would involve skills — techniques for a hitter’s taking the outside pitch to the opposite field, say. Or maybe it would involve rules. But no. As the savvy fan knows, the right way to play refers to being a proper baseball citizen — that is, showing respect for your opponents, your teammates and the game itself, whether or not you hit .300 or your team makes it to the World Series. Jason Turbow and Michael Duca, obvious baseball obsessives from the San Francisco Bay Area, have collected dozens of stories from baseball history about situations that are not governed by the rule book but that pertain to the fuzzy notions of rightness and respect and that describe the contours of the so-called baseball codes. When is it legitimate for a pitcher to knock down a hitter? When is it unsportsmanlike for a base runner to steal a base? Spitballs may not be legal, but are they ethical? Why might a player lie to his manager? Is it ever O.K. not to join your teammates when a brawl starts on the field? And how about stealing your opponent’s signs? Is it proper? Always? Are some methods of thievery more tolerable than others? For true baseball-niks, the discussions of these issues won’t be especially enlightening. With so many former athletes now in the broadcast booth, the unwritten rules of the game get a pretty regular airing. (Disappointingly for a book that devotes a substantial section to cheating, there is no discussion at all of steroid use.) But the stories the authors have unearthed to illustrate ballpark justice and morality are often delicious. It won’t be news, for example, that when your team is ahead by seven runs in the eighth inning, it’s bad form to swing at a 3-0 pitch. (For the unimmersed: The pitcher will most likely throw the ball right down the middle in order to get a strike, and taking advantage of this when your team is way ahead is considered rubbing it in.) To do so is to invite retribution; sometime soon — that inning, the next inning, tomorrow’s game — the opposing team’s pitcher will be aiming a fastball at you or a teammate. But it is entertaining to learn that in 2006, Torii Hunter, the splendid outfielder then with the Minnesota Twins (he now plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), made just that mistake against the Boston Red Sox. And that after the game, to palliate the feelings of their opponents and prevent an act of revenge, the Twins’ manager, Ron Gardenhire, brought Hunter to the Red Sox clubhouse, like a parent teaching a 6-year-old a lesson, to apologize to the team’s manager, Terry Francona. Gardenhire is quoted as having said that he wanted Francona “to know we didn’t give a sign for him to swing away, that Torii just made a mistake.” He added, “I thought that it was good for Torii to explain it to him, so I took him over.” The authors offer stories like this in a spirit of romanticism, as though matters of violating and adhering to the codes of the game were enmeshed in its glorious tradition. But readers who are lesser fans may have limited tolerance for such minor episodes of baseball life, especially since what is collectively revealed is how thin-skinned, pouty, childish, vulgar and vengeful the baseball codes condition participants to be. The main dictum seems to be that even though you’re trying to beat your opponents’ brains in, you have to do it in a mannerly fashion, and if you don’t, you’re dead meat. How players follow this principle takes some interesting forms, and in many ­places “The Baseball Codes” reads like a lab report by a psychologist who has been observing hostile toddlers whack one another with plastic shovels in a sandbox. Nolan Ryan was so put off if a batter dared to bunt and make him field his position, the authors write, that he’d knock him down with his 100-mile-per-hour fastball. If a hitter smacks a home run and stands a little too long in the batter’s box admiring his feat, the pitcher — it doesn’t matter who — may be so ticked off that he’ll take the next opportunity to drill the guy. Ditto if a hitter tries to sneak a peek at the catcher’s signs. If one of your teammates is hit with a pitch, it’s incumbent on you, as a pitcher, to retaliate and nail one of their guys. Bob Gibson settled a grudge against one player 15 years after the fact, hitting him with a pitch in an old-timers’ game. In 1976, Frank Robinson, then a player-manager with the Cleveland Indians, sent a pitcher, Bob Reynolds, to the Toledo Mud Hens, a minor-league affiliate, and when the Indians played the Mud Hens in an exhibition game, Reynolds, still miffed, threw a pitch over Robinson’s head. “Robinson’s response wasn’t standard fare for most management types,” the authors write. “After grounding out, he walked to the mound and punched Reynolds twice, felling him with the second blow.” No punishment for Robinson was forthcoming. The general manager of the Indians shrugged off the event. “Things like this happen in baseball from time to time,” he said. Bruce Weber, a reporter at The Times, is the author of “As They See ’Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires,” which has just been published in paperback. Friday, August 20, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Talmage Boston – Author of, “1939: Baseball’s Tipping Point” 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue, next to Game On) $50 Per Person (price includes autographed copy of Mr. Boston’s book) To register for this event please click here. Talmage Boston – Biographical Brief Talmage Boston has lectured on baseball history at: Princeton University the National Baseball Hall of Fame Houston`s Museum of Fine Arts SMU`s Cox School of Business Boston`s essays on baseball have appeared in: the Dallas Morning News Fort Worth Star Telegram the National Baseball Hall of Fame magazine the Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives SABR`s Baseball Research Journal Elysian Fields Quarterly the Dallas Business Journal And on the walls of the Nolan Ryan Center in Alvin, Texas In recognition of his work, the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Boston as a Media Member. In the civic arena, Talmage serves as a director for: the Society For American Baseball Research (Dallas / Fort Worth Chapter) the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation the SMU Athletic Forum He and his wife, Claire, reside in Dallas, Texas. A shareholder and commercial litigator with the law firm of Winstead PC, Boston has been named a "Super Lawyer" in Texas Monthly magazine every year from 2003 - 2008, and currently serves on the State Bar of Texas board of directors. What People Have Said About Boston’s Books: "That`s because Boston (author of the 2005 book 1939: Baseball`s Tipping Point) does a superb job of striking a chord with baseball fans of the last several decades by pushing the right buttons..." -- Allen Barra, nationally renowned sportswriter "Talmage Boston, a trial lawyer and baseball historian, is at the top of his game in this terrific tome that has detailed essays and strong opinions..." --HARVEY FROMMER, author of sports books "A booming homer to right field, right where Maris would have put it." -- TOM HOFFARTH, LA Times, farther off the wall (April 17, 2009) "This is an enjoyable book that drips with the loving emotion of a lifetime baseball fan..." -- RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN (April 19, 2009) "Boston writes today with the same passion he had for the game when his thoughtful father guided him to Cooperstown while a senior in high school to avoid an embarrassing honeymoon." -- SID DORFMAN, New Jersey Sports ""Opening Boston`s book is a bit like wandering in on a good sports discussion in a bar. After you leave, you feel you`ve not only learned something, but also been honored to be in the company of those telling their tales." -- ROBERT FRANCIS, Fort Worth Business Press "But, it’s a well researched, somewhat uniquely constructed and a very pleasant reading experience - whether you’re a Baby Boomer or not. If you’re a baseball fan, and enjoy reading about it, I recommend that you consider checking out this book." -- STEVE LOMBARDI, WasWatching.com (March 15, 2009) "Different players are heroes to different people. Talmage`s selection of principals about whom he chose to write -- from Jackie Robinson to Bart Giamatti -- reveals what matters to him probably better than any traditional Rorschach test ever would. He seems to be at his most passionate -- and good for him -- in defending the feats of Roger Maris and Nolan Ryan from the ravages of the steroid era. But then it`s natural that we are invariably more impressed with the players of our youth. They seem to us to be bigger in every way then, and surely more indelible." -- FRANK DEFORD, from his Foreword, Six time National Sportswriter of the Year, Commentator, National Public Radio "When I opened Baseball and the Baby Boomer in the first time, my expectations were high for another great baseball history book by Talmage. But more than just history, when I read it, I began to think I was reading a love story -- love of the game, love for its heroes, and love for the values and lessons the game has taught the Baby Boomer generation." --LOU BROCK, from his Preface, Baseball Hall of Famer "Talmage Boston`s new book is a powerful statement of what baseball has meant to America`s fans since World War II -- in the Civil Rights movement, the television era, the challenges to the game`s integrity, and the binding of one generation to the next." --TIM McCARVER, Fox television analyst, Former major league catcher "Baseball has brought great joy to the life of Talmage Boston, and that joy washed over me as I devoured his book. Baseball and the Baby Boomer perfectly evokes the shared memories of our generation, but speaks to all generations of fans who find pleasure and meaning in baseball." -- DAVID MARANISS, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Author, Clemente: the Passion and Grace of Baseball`s Last Hero "Talmage Boston really loves and cares about baseball, and it shows in every page of his new book. I was especially taken by his chapter on John Grisham." -- TIM KURKJIAN, ESPN baseball analyst, Author, Is This A Great Game, or What? "Thoroughly researched and beautifully written, Talmage Boston brings new life to our Grand Old Game in Baseball and the Baby Boomer" -- DAN SHAUGHNESSY, The Boston Globe sports columnist, Author, Senior Year: A Father, A Son, and High School Baseball "Talmage Boston is a passionate baseball fan and historian. In his book, Baseball and the Baby Boomer, Boston infuses the game of baseball with a strong dose of humanity, integrity, and personal insight. After reading the chapter on my father, I sent Talmage an email saying: "Superb!" -- SHARON ROBINSON, Vice Chairperson, Jackie Robinson Foundation, Author, Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America "Equal parts passionate fan and clear-eyed historian, Talmage Boston is perfectly equipped to guide us through baseball`s rollicking last half-century, as it has changed all the time yet somehow stayed the same." -- ROB NEYER, ESPN.com baseball columnist, Author, Rob Neyer`s Big Book of Baseball Legends Friday, September 17, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Gary Hart – Former U.S. Senator and Co-Chairman of the U.S. Commission on National Security, and Scholar in Residence, Colorado University Speaking about His Life and His Book of Memoirs: ”The Thunder and the Sunshine: Four Acts in a Burnished Life” 12-Noon Luncheon Hotel Commonwealth – Esplanade Room 500 Commonwealth Avenue $50 Per Person – Autographed copy of Senator’s book included) Reservations: fenwayparkwriters@gmail.com Gary Hart - Biographical Brief “Souls that have toil’d, and wrought, and thought with me— That ever with a frolic welcome took The thunder and the sunshine…” —Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Ulysses” For almost four decades, from his role in the 1972 McGovern campaign to his years as a visionary senator, from his leadership on national security matters before and after 9/11 to his contributions as a respected statesman on various issues, Gary Hart has been and continues to be one of America’s great public servants. In this insightful, humble, and often humorous account of his political and public life, Hart shares his journey through the sometimes rough seas of American politics. Through this journey, Hart conveys the lessons he has learned along the way, including the importance of public service, the continued relevance of the ideals of our nation’s founders, and the role of the American republic in the world. More than a personal memoir, The Thunder and the Sunshine is an important contribution to understanding the history of our nation since the 1960s, including firsthand accounts of the end of the Cold War, the presidential elections of 1984 and beyond, America’s initial forays into alternative energy, and the landmark work of the Church Committee. Drawing on the same keen intellect and foresight that shaped his political achievements and prolific writings, Hart provides a lucid critique of our past, present, and future. At a time when political leadership is often questioned and civil discourse is on the decline, this book provides insight to where we have been as a country, and where we must go in the twenty-first century. Tuesday, November 9, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Peter Gammons – The Legendary Baseball Savant Editor of and Speaking On: “The Best American Sports Writing” 6:30 pm Dinner Hotel Commonwealth – Esplanade Room 500 Commonwealth Avenue $60 Per Person – Autographed copy of Mr. Gammon’s book included) To register for this event please click here. Peter Gammons – Biographical Brief Peter Gammons, born April 9, 1945, is an American sportswriter, media personality, and a recipient of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing, given by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). Gammons went to Groton School, an elite prep school in his hometown, Groton, MA. After graduating from Groton in 1965, he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a member of the Xi Chapter of St. Anthony Hall, also known as the Fraternity of Delta Psi. He worked for the university`s student-run newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel. After graduating in 1969, he began his journalism career at The Boston Globe. Gammons was a featured writer at The Boston Globe for many years as the main journalist covering the Boston Red Sox. (1969–1975, 1978–1986), or as a national baseball columnist. Between his two stints as a baseball columnist with the Globe, he was lead baseball columnist for Sports Illustrated (1976–78, 1986–90), where he covered baseball, hockey, and college basketball. Gammons also wrote a column for The Sporting News in the 1980s as well. Gammons has also authored numerous baseball books, including Beyond the Sixth Game. In 1988, he joined ESPN, where he served primarily as an in-studio analyst.[1] During the baseball season, he appeared nightly on Baseball Tonight and had regular spots on SportsCenter, ESPNEWS and ESPN Radio. He wrote an Insider column for ESPN.com and also wrote for ESPN The Magazine. The Globe reprinted some of his ESPN columns well into the 1990s. In 2006, Gammons was named as one of two field-level reporters for ESPN`s Sunday Night Baseball, joining Bonnie Bernstein. He held that position through the 2008 season, when he moved exclusively to baseball. After 20 years with ESPN, on December 8, 2009, Gammons announced that he would leave ESPN to pursue "new challenges" and a "less demanding schedule".[3] Gammons joined the MLB Network and MLB.com as on-air and online analyst. He works for NESN. He was voted the National Sportswriter of the Year in 1989, 1990 and 1993 by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. He has also been awarded an honorary Poynter Fellow from Yale University[5]. In 2004, Gammons was selected as the 56th recipient of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing, given by the BBWAA, and was honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 31, 2005.[1] January 9, 2009 was proclaimed Peter Gammons day in the City of Boston. The proclamation was made by Michael Ross, president of the Boston City Council at the Hot Stove Cool Music Sports Roundtable at Fenway Park. 2010 marked the 10th anniversary of Hot Stove Cool Music, a charitable concert benefiting the Foundation To Be Named Later. At this event, Theo Epstein, Vice President and General Manager of the Boston Red Sox, announced a new scholarship in Gammons` name. The "Peter Gammons - Foundation To Be Named Later Scholarship presented by RISO" enables select Boston Public Schools students to attend college who otherwise might not have the chance Gammons was born in Boston and raised in Groton, Massachusetts, where he graduated from Groton School. He lives in Boston and Cape Cod with his wife Gloria. On June 27, 2006, Gammons was stricken with the rupture of a brain aneurysm in the morning near his home on Cape Cod, Mass.[1] and was initially taken to Falmouth Hospital before being airlifted to Brigham and Women`s Hospital in Boston to undergo surgery. Sportswriter Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe reported that Gammons was expected to be in intensive care for 10 to 12 days. He was resting in intensive care following the operation, and doctors listed him in "good" condition the following dayOn July 17, he was released from the hospital and entered the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Cape and Islands.[7] On August 19, Gammons made his first public appearance since the aneurysm rupture at Fenway Park when the Red Sox played the Yankees. Peter returned to ESPN on Wednesday, September 20, 2006. He reported from Fenway Park on the 6 P.M. edition of SportsCenter and the 7 P.M. edition of Baseball Tonight.Gammons resumed his regular reporting coverage during the 2007 baseball season. Gammons has a penchant for indie rock and the blues, and is active in the Boston indie rock scene when his other commitments allow him the time; he has been sighted at several Midnight Oil shows, and has mentioned the band in several columns. He is also a fan of Pearl Jam, as he has talked about experiences at concerts as well as previous albums (as heard on various ESPN Radio shows.) With the assistance of a band of Boston musicians and Boston Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein, Gammons plays a Fender Stratocaster and sings at the annual Hot Stove, Cool Music concert event to benefit Theo and Paul Epstein`s Foundation To Be Named Later, a charity that raises funds and awareness for non-profit agencies serving disadvantaged youth in the Greater Boston area. Gammons` debut album, Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old, was released on July 4, 2006. Gammons sang and played guitar on this collection of originals and covers that includes The Clash`s Death or Glory and Warren Zevon`s Model Citizen. Proceeds again went to Epstein`s charity. The Boston Baseball Band wrote a song about Gammons called "Jammin` With Peter Gammons." Gammons founded the Hot Stove Cool Music benefit concert series with sportswriter Jeff Horrigan, Casey Riddles, Debbi Wrobleski, Mindy d`Arbeloff and singer Kay Hanley in December 2000. The fundraiser now takes place twice each year, with one show in January and another in July or August. Gammons is tightly connected to the Boston rock scene. He even served as minister at the November 2007 marriage of bassist Ed Valauskas (Gravel Pit, the Gentlemen) and singer Jennifer D`Angora (Downbeat 5, the Dents, Jenny Dee and the Deelinquents). Biographical material from Wikipedia Friday, April 8, 2011 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Harvey Frommer – Author of “Celebrating Fenway Park: An Oral and Narrative History of the Home of Red Sox Nation – 1912-2010” 12-Noon Luncheon Commonwealth Room – Hotel Commonwealth 500 Commonwealth Avenue (above the Kenmore Square “T” Stop) $50, Friends of The Writers Series and Season Ticket Holders, all others, $75 (price includes an autographed copy of Mr. Frommer`s book) Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. About Harvey Frommer Dr. Harvey Frommer received his Ph.D. from New York University, where he is Professor Emeritus. He was Distinguished Professor nominee, and recipient of the "Salute to Scholars Award" at CUNY, where he taught writing for many years. In addition, both the Congressional Record and the New York State Legislature cited him as a sports historian and journalist. His many sports books include: “Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball,” “New York City Baseball: 1947-1957”, “The New York Yankee Encyclopedia”, and autobiographies of sports legends Nolan Ryan, Red Holzman and Tony Dorsett. The prolific Dr. Frommer is also the author of “A Yankee Century”, “Red Sox v Yankees: The Great Rivalry” (with Frederic J. Frommer), and “Five O’clock Lightning: The 1927 Yankees.” His “REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM” was published to acclaim in 2008. Highlights from Dr. Frommer’s life: Historian, selected by the City of New York to research and write materials for the old Yankee Stadium site, 2010 Expert Witness, selected by Major League Baseball to testify as a baseball expert in a copyright infringement case, 2006 Keynote speaker, selected by Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) to deliver the keynote speech at Seventh Annual Seymour Conference in Cleveland, 2005 Guest Curator and Executive Producer, selected by B`nai B`rith International for the "Stars of David: Jews in Sports" exhibit that ran for six months at the Klutznik Museum in Washington, D.C., 1991 Author of "Growing Up at Bat," selected by Little League Baseball to research and write their 40th anniversary book, 1987 Editor and major author for "Games of the XXIII Olympiad," selected by International Sport Publishing, 1984 Principal author of "A Baseball Century: the First Hundred Years of the National League," selected by National League, 1975. Along with his wife Myrna Katz Frommer, he also teaches in the MALS program at Dartmouth College the course "Preserving the Past: Oral History in Theory and Practice." Dr. Frommer has also taught "Sports Journalism" and "SPORTS AND CULTURE" at Dartmouth College AND NEW YORK UNIVERSITY. What Others Are Saying: Remembering Fenway Park is an elegant, pennant-winning look-back that should warm the hearts of Red Sox fans young and old. Ted, Yaz, Rico, Roger, Nomar, and Big Papi -- they are all there, in the shadow of the Green Monster. What a feeling! -- Peter Golenbock, author of “Red Sox Nation”