Since the dawn of the game itself, Baseball and Art have been inextricably linked. Nowhere is this more so than in literature, which often propagates the national pastime as folklore and myth. One of these great neo-“myths” is The Natural, a 1952 baseball novel written by Bernard Malamud. The Natural is the story of Roy Hobbs, a baseball prodigy whose career is sidetracked by a lover’s gun. The story then picks up with an...
Fresh off the heels of “Odd Man Out” and Dirk Hayhurst’s two novels comes a work from former Philadelphia Phillie Eric Pettis chronicling his time as a rookie in the Phillies organization. Pettis was a 35th round pick out of UC-Irvine in 2010, and in a stream of consciousness narrative he reports on it. Is it a worthy read? That’s something you’re going to have to wait for the end to get answered. But...
We are happy to announce the release of our second annual book: The Bus Leagues Experience Volume 2. Like our first release, The Bus Leagues Experience Volume 2 is a collection of interviews and conversations with some of the brightest prospects in Minor League Baseball as well as coaches, media personnel, fans, and other people associated with the lower levels of professional baseball. Volume 2 expands on our original work by featuring the voices...
Last week I finally saw Moneyball. While the baseball community knows Moneyball for its unique perspective on team building, Moneyball is also unique as a baseball movie. As in the book, Moneyball the movie focuses on the struggle of the Oakland A’s to rebuild after the departure of Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, and Jason Isringhausen. While the story of plucky underdogs who make the playoffs after their superstars leave the team is not unusual...
For someone who writes a lot about baseball, I don’t read too many books on the sport. Although I have my favorite books such as “The Curious Case of Sidd Finch” and “Boys of Summer”, my baseball reading is usually pretty sparse. This year however, I’ve been on a bit of a baseball literary kick. Before the season I read Jonah Keri’s “The Extra 2%”, the story about the assembly of the Tampa Bay...
So, I read yesterday that Craig Robinson, creator of the fantastic infographics site Flip Flop Flyball, has published a book. This is great news, because it was evident from day one that Robinson’s graphics were something special – a new way of looking at the sport we all take for granted. I say “take for granted” because I did not know until today that Robinson came to the game late in life, and fell...
It always feels nice when someone gets you. We’ve toiled in near-complete obscurity here at Bus Leagues for about three years, and those who love the game like we do are starting to take notice. Benjamin Hill, who writes the excellent Biz Blog at MLB.com, took the time to review our maiden publishing effort today, and we’re happy to say it was postitive press from someone whose work we respect and enjoy in return....
Over the last week I had the pleasure of partaking in a roundtable discussion with a group of Tampa Bay Rays bloggers on the subject of the Rays minor league system. Led by the blog RaysProspects.com, the group was asked which Rays prospect was going to break out on a lower level and upper level team, which prospect was over-hyped, what the Rays prospect list will look like in 2012, and a miscellaneous prediction....
I know things have been quiet here, but for good reason. While Eric has been focusing on College Hoops and his new gig at CBS Sports.com, and Mike has been learning the stand-up comedy ropes at the Tampa Improv, Brian has been hard at work taking Bus Leagues Baseball to the next level. And by “the next level”, I mean publishing. That’s right. Your favorite esoteric minor league writers are now in book form....
I think it was Henry Rollins who said that the memories of pop culture when you were a teenager are the memories that you remember most kindly. And as a child of the Midwest who saw the days of big league baseball’s strike implosion, the Northern League holds a special place in my heart. This is why I was excited to read a tale written by Stefan Fatsis. He grew up to write A...
2012 05 14 Scranton Wilks Barre/ Empire State Yankees vs Pawtucket Red Sox
