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Bergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball ClubhouseA Conversation with Watercolor Artist James FiorentinoA special presentation from the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse.  Our first podcast during these pandemic times…   In the Fall of 2017, the now shuttered brick-and-mortar location of the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse hosted “Baseball in Black and White: The Watercolor Paintings of James Fiorentino.”   In the Fall of 2021, the Studio 7 Fine Art Gallery in Bernardsville NJ hosted James Fiorentino and “Baseball in Black and White: Extra Innings.”   I sat down at the beautiful Studio 7 gallery with my long-time friend and we had a wide ranging “inside baseball” discussion that touched on memories throug...2021-11-2243 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"San Francisco Year Zero" with Lincoln MitchellSan Francisco Year Zero: Political Upheaval, Punk Rock, and a Third-Place Baseball Team with Lincoln Mitchell Special Roundtable Guests: Jennifer Blowdryer and Kenneth Sherrill A wide-ranging conversation touching on San Francisco in the 1970s, George Moscone, Harvey Milk, Dan White, urban America, political campaigns, city government, the San Francisco Giants leaving the city, segregation, diversity, bubbles, Dianne Feinstein, Jello Biafra, the Dead Kennedys, the punk rock scene, Joe Dirt, East Bay Ray, David Peel, the 1978 Giants, being a gay elected official in the 1970s, and Reggie Jackson’s role in reforming the judiciary.   2019-12-031h 00Bergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"War in the Ring" with John Florio and Ouisie ShapiroWar in the Ring with John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro -- and special Roundtable Guest: Mitch Nathanson. A wide-ranging conversation touching on a behind-the-scenes look at the writing process and the challenges of a Young Adult book, Joe Louis and the IRS, Max Schmeling’s actions during the Nazi regime, Jim Bouton, Dick Allen, Willie Horton and the Detroit riots, the “First Game” project and memory, Janis Ian, Mudcat Grant and JFK, boxing in the 20th century, Major League Baseball in 1938 and its state in 2019. John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro are the authors of One Nation...2019-09-031h 12Bergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Doc, Donnie, The Kid, and Billy Brawl" with Chris DonnellyDoc, Donnie, The Kid, and Billy Brawl with author Chris Donnelly and special Roundtable Guest: Tony Denera. We discussed Major League baseball in 1980s New York, Gary Carter, Don Baylor, Nelson Doubleday, George Steinbrenner, Frank Cashen, Seinfeld, Bat Day, Billy Martin, Ed Whitson, the National and American Leagues, the All-Star Game, Duane Reade and ticket scalping, and Sinatra the French Bulldog. Chris Donnelly is the author of How the Yankees Explain New York and Baseball’s Greatest Series: Yankees, Mariners, and the 1995 Matchup That Changed History. Tony Denera was born Anthony D’Ambrosio on E...2019-09-0345 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Arena" with Rafi KohanInside the tailgating, ticket-scalping, mascot-racing, dubiously funded, and possibly haunted monuments of American sport "For one year, I traveled the United States visiting sports stadiums -- all manner of arenas, domes, ballparks -- for the purpose of writing a book.  The idea was to go beyond the ball games and architectural blueprints to explore the inner workings of these steel and concrete structures that hover over our towns, imposing their will on landscapes and skylines, to better understand our relationship to them -- psychologically, economically, politically, culturally, historically -- as individuals, as cities, and as a society."  -R...2017-11-1050 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Cooperstown Casebook" with Jay JaffeThe National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, tucked away in upstate New York in a small town called Cooperstown, is far from any major media market or big league stadium.  Yet no sports hall of fame's membership is so hallowed, nor its qualifications so debated, nor its voting process so dissected. Since its founding in 1936, the Hall of Fame's standards for election have been nebulous, and its selection processes arcane, resulting in confusion among voters, not to mention mistakes in who has been recognized and who has been bypassed.  Numerous so-called "greats" have been inducted despite ha...2017-07-2834 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Pride of the Yankees" with Richard Sandomir  The untold story behind the first great sports film... The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic   On July 4, 1939, baseball great Lou Gehrig stood in Yankee Stadium and gave a speech that contained the phrase that would become legendary: "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." He died two years later and his fiery widow, Eleanor, wanted nothing more than to keep his memory alive.  With her forceful will, she and the irascible producer Samuel Goldwyn quickly agreed to mak...2017-06-2634 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Piazza" with author Greg PrinceA franchise and fan base in perpetual search of validation finally had its ticket punched as 2016 dawned.  Mike Piazza, who held records in one hand and a city's rapt attention in the other, gained election to the Hall of Fame.  Within weeks of this long-awaited announcement, the ballclub with whom he chose to cast his eternal lot, the New York Mets, made a date to retire his number. In Piazza: Catcher, Slugger, Icon, Star, Greg Prince explores the parallel paths Piazza and the Mets set out on in the early 1990s and how their individual journeys merged in...2017-06-161h 07Bergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Making My Pitch" with Jean Hastings Ardell  "Making My Pitch: A Woman's Baseball Odyssey" tells the story of Ila Jane Borders, who despite formidable obstacles became a Little League prodigy, MVP of her otherwise all-male middle school and high school teams, the first woman awarded a baseball scholarship, and the first to pitch and win a complete men's collegiate game. After Mike Veeck signed Borders in May 1997 to pitch for his St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League, she accomplished what no woman had done since the Negro Leagues era: play men's professional baseball.  Borders played four professional seasons and in 1998 be...2017-06-1052 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Urban Shocker" with Steve SteinbergBaseball in the 1920's is most known for Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees, but there was another great Yankees player in that era whose compelling story remains untold. Urban Shocker was a fiercely competitive and colorful pitcher.  With the 1927 Yankees, widely viewed to be the best team in Major League Baseball history, Shocker pitched with guts and guile, finishing with a record of 18-6 even while his fastball and physical skills were deserting him.  Hardly anyone knew that Shocker was suffering from incurable heart disease that left him able to sleep only while sitting up an...2017-06-0257 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"It Happens Every Spring" with Pulitzer Prize-winner Ira Berkow  A Pulitzer Prize-winner returns to the Clubhouse. It Happens Every Spring: DiMaggio, Mays, the Splendid Splinter, and a Lifetime at the Ballpark -- opinions and reflections on the National Pastime from one of New York's most popular sportswriters. As these gents would say... "It can be stated as a law that the sportswriter whose horizons are no wider than the outfield fences is a bad sportswriter because he has no sense of proportion and no awareness of the real world around him.  Ira Berkow knows what is important about a game is...2017-05-2056 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Dinner with DiMaggio" with Dr. Rock Positano and John Positano  The real Joe DiMaggio -- remembered by the man who knew him best in the last decade of his life.  Candid and little-known stories about icons from Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, and his Yankees teammates on the field to Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, and other great celebrities off the field. Dr. Rock Positano, an internationally renowned foot specialist in New York City, was introduced to Joe DiMaggio by Bill Gallo in 1990.  The Yankee Clipper's career-ending heel spur injury and botched surgeries brought them together.  During the time Dr. Positano successfully treated DiMaggio, a friendship slowly deve...2017-05-1656 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Hank Greenberg in 1938" with Ron Kaplan  Hank Greenberg was coming off a stellar season where he hit 40 home runs and had 184 RBIs.  Even with his success at the plate, neither Greenberg nor the rest of the world could have expected what was about to happen in 1938. From his first day in the big leagues, the New York-born Greenberg had dealt with persecution for being Jewish.  From a teammate asking where his horns were to the verbal abuse from bigoted fans and the media, the 6'3" slugger always did his best to shut the noise out and concentrate on baseball.  But in 1938, that...2017-05-081h 03Bergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Casey Stengel: Baseball's Greatest Character" with Marty Appel  As a player, Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel's contemporaries included Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, and Christy Mathewson... and he was the only person in history to wear the uniforms of all four New York teams: the Dodgers, Giants, Yankees, and Mets. For more than five glorious decades, Stengel was the undisputed, quirky, hilarious, and beloved face of baseball -- and along the way he revolutionized the role of manager while winning a spectacular ten pennants and seven World Series Championships. But for a man who spent so much of his life in the limelight...2017-04-2957 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The New York Yankees Fans' Bucket List" with Mark Feinsandbuck•et list - noun informal - a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime   All New York Yankees fans have a bucket list of activities to take part in at some point in their lives.  But even the most die-hard fans haven't done everything there is to experience.   Sportswriter Mark Feinsand led us through ideas, recommendations, and insider tips for must-see places and can't-miss activities.  And not every experience requires a trip to the Bronx.   Feinsand has covered...2017-04-221h 05Bergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"One Nation Under Baseball" with John Florio & Ouisie Shapiro  "The '60s were a time of conflict, progress, tragedy, triumph, and unforgettable events in the nation and its pastime.  One Nation Under Baseball connects the two in revealing and insightful fashion."  -Bob Costas One Nation Under Baseball highlights the intersection between American society and America's pastime during the 1960s, when the hallmarks of the sport -- fairness, competition, and mythology -- came under scrutiny.  John Florio and Ouisie Shapiro examine the events of the era that reshaped the game: the Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale million-dollar holdout, the encroachment of television on newspaper coverage, the...2017-04-1558 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"42 Faith" with Ed Henry  "Quit praying for me alone, Ma, and pray for the whole team."  -Jackie Robinson's letter to his mother in 1947, his rookie season   Journalist and baseball lover Ed Henry reveals for the first time the backstory of faith that guided Jackie Robinson into not only the baseball record books but the annals of civil rights advancement as well.  Through recently discovered sermons, interviews with Robinson's family and friends, and even an unpublished book by the player himself, Henry details a side of Jackie's humanity that few have seen.   42 Faith: The Rest...2017-04-071h 11Bergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Frick: Baseball's Third Commissioner" with John Carvalho  "Keep your temper.  A decision made in anger is never sound."   Ford Frick is best known as the baseball commissioner who put the "asterisk" next to Roger Maris's record.   But his tenure as commissioner carried the game through pivotal changes -- television, continued integration, West Coast expansion and labor unrest.  During those 14 years, and 17 more as National League president, he witnessed baseball history from the perspective of a man who began as a sportswriter.   Auburn University professor John Carvalho led our final intimate Clubhouse conversation of 201...2016-12-1953 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Will Big League Baseball Survive" with Lincoln Mitchell  In his shrewd analysis -- Will Big League Baseball Survive? -- Lincoln Mitchell asks whether the sport will continue in its current form as a huge, lucrative global business that offers a monopoly in North America and whether those structures are sustainable.   Mitchell places baseball in the context of the larger, evolving American and global entertainment sector.  He examines how both changes directly related to baseball -- including youth sports and the increased globalization of the game -- and broader societal trends, such as developments in media consumption and celebrity culture, will impact big...2016-12-0556 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Baseball's Most Baffling MVP Ballots" with Jeremy Lehrman  "I just won the Nobel Prize of baseball."  -Elston Howard, American League MVP, 1963  Snubs.  Grudges.  Conspiracies.  Incompetence.  All in a day's work for some of those who vote on Baseball's Most Valuable Player Award.  From its colorful and scandalous beginnings more than a century ago, the MVP has evolved into the most prestigious -- and contentious -- individual honor in the sport.  No award means more to the players, the media, or the fans -- and no other award can claim a voting history so rich in controversy.  "2016-11-121h 00Bergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Eighth Wonder of the World" with Robert Trumpbour and Kenneth Womack “This is a tough park for a hitter when the air conditioning is blowing in.”  -Bob Boone When it opened in 1965, the Houston Astrodome -- nicknamed the Eighth Wonder of the World -- captured the attention of a nation, bringing pride to the city and enhancing its reputation across the country. It was a Texas-sized vision of the future, an unthinkable feat of engineering with premium luxury suites, theater-style seating, and the first animated scoreboard.  Yet there were memorable problems such as outfielders’ inability to see fly balls and failed attempts to grow natural grass -- which...2016-11-0559 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Last Innocents" with Michael Leahy White, black, Jewish, Christian, wealthy, working class, conservative, liberal -- the Los Angeles Dodgers of the 1960s embodied the disparate cultural forces at play in an America riven by race and war. In “The Last Innocents,” award-winning writer Michael Leahy tells the story of this mesmerizing time and extraordinary team through seven players -- Maury Wills, Sandy Koufax, Wes Parker, Jeff Torborg, Tommy Davis, Dick Tracewski, and Lou Johnson. It is a story about what it was like to be a major leaguer when the country was turned upside down by the tumult of the civi...2016-10-011h 03Bergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Baseball Whisperer" with Michael Tackett “For all who care about baseball, character, and leadership, Michael Tackett has brought us the inspiring and unforgettable story of a phenomenal coach and his legacy.”  -Michael Beschloss, historian and political commentator Clarinda, Iowa, population 5,000, sits two hours from anything.  There, between the corn fields and hog yards, is a ball field with a bronze bust of a man named Merl Eberly, a baseball whisperer who specialized in second chances and lost causes.  The statue was a gift from one of Merl’s original long-shot projects, a skinny kid from the ghetto in Los Angeles: Ozzie Smith. ...2016-09-2431 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Down On The Korner" with Mark Rosenman “Ralph Kiner was a jewel.  He loved the game of baseball.  He loved to talk baseball.”  -Tom Seaver One of the staples of the long and storied history of baseball on television is the postgame show, and none was more beloved than “Kiner’s Korner.”  From the early 1960s into the 1990s, Hall of Famer and iconic broadcaster Ralph Kiner hosted the show that brought players into the homes of fans across the nation. Down on the Korner -- from the host, to the set, to the guests, to the stories amassed over more than thirty-two yea...2016-07-1849 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Terror in the City of Champions" with Tom Stanton “The Freedom of Information Act is a critical and sometimes underappreciated tool that allows all of us access to the records of our government.  It was through the act that I obtained copies of more than nine hundred pages of FBI documents related to the Black Legion.  These proved vital.”  -Tom Stanton In the mid-1930s, Detroit reigned as the City of Champions.  Within a six-month span, the Tigers, Lions, and Red Wings won a World Series, NFL title, and Stanley Cup -- a major-sports trifecta achieved by no other American city before or since -- and it happe...2016-06-1750 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Jackie Robinson In Quotes" with Danny Peary “When he was eight, Dad got into a name-calling fight with the little white girl who lived across the street.  The children’s verbal battle was interrupted when the girl’s father came outside and started throwing rocks at my father.”  -Sharon Robinson, Jackie’s daughter "Jackie Robinson In Quotes: The Remarkable Life of Baseball's Most Significant Player" Danny Peary has skillfully curated the best quotes to shed new light on the man behind number 42.  Featured are quotes by Jackie Robinson, his widow Rachel, other family members, friends, teammates, coaches, members of the media, and many more. 2016-06-1355 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Nine Innings To Success" with Hall of Famer Jim Palmer In 1966, Jim Palmer was just 20 years old when he became the youngest pitcher to throw a World Series shutout, helping lead the Baltimore Orioles to their first-ever championship.  Two years later, Palmer's budding career almost ended due to arm problems.  Yet, he mounted an inspiring comeback and reached the pinnacle of his profession, becoming the winningest pitcher of the 1970s and the only hurler to win a World Series game in three different decades. A Hall of Famer... with three World Series rings, three Cy Young Awards, six All-Star selections, an exemplary record as a model spokesperson fo...2016-06-061h 05Bergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Cuba's Baseball Defectors" with author Peter Bjarkman “All things considered there are only two kinds of men in the world -- those that stay at home and those that do not.  The second are the most interesting.”  -Rudyard Kipling The stellar play and fascinating backstories of exiled Cuban ballplayers in Major League Baseball has become one of the biggest headlines in America's national pastime.  On-field exploits by Yoenis Cespedes, Yasiel Puig, Jose Abreu, Aroldis Chapman, and a handful of others have been further enhanced by feel-good tales of desperate Cuban superstars risking their lives to escape Castro’s communist realm and chase a celebrated American...2016-05-2856 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Only Rule Is It Has To Work" with Ben Lindbergh What would happen if two statistics-minded outsiders were allowed to run a professional baseball team? It’s the ultimate in fantasy baseball: You get to pick the roster, set the lineup, and decide on strategies -- with real players, in a real ballpark, in a real playoff race. That’s what baseball analysts Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller got to do when an independent minor-league team in California, the Sonoma Stompers, offered them the chance to run its baseball operations according to the most advanced statistics. Lindbergh and Miller applied their number-crunching insights to a...2016-05-1341 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Last Chicago Cubs Dynasty" with Hal Bock “The Cubs became a metaphor for the underdog, the loser, lovable or not, that we as a species can’t help but instinctively pull for.”  -Joe Mantegna, actor "The Last Chicago Cubs Dynasty: Before The Curse" by Hal Bock The last time the Chicago Cubs played in the World Series, World War II had just ended.  The last time they won a World Series, World War I had not yet begun.  But from 1906 - 1910 the Cubs not only played in the World Series four of the five years, they won two World Championships, as well.  It was a t...2016-05-0753 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"God Almighty Hisself: The Life and Legacy of Dick Allen" with author Mitchell Nathanson “I believe God Almighty hisself would have trouble handling Richie Allen.”  -George Myatt, Philadelphia Phillies’ interim manager, 1969 When the Philadelphia Phillies signed Dick Allen in 1960, fans of the franchise envisioned bearing witness to feats never before accomplished by a Phillies player.   A half-century later, they’re still trying to make sense of what they saw. Carrying to the plate baseball’s heaviest and loudest bat as well as the burden of being the club’s first African American superstar, Allen found both hits and controversy with regularity as he established himself as the premier individualist in a game that...2016-04-2356 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Kings of Queens: Life Beyond Baseball with the '86 Mets" with author Erik Sherman “I’m so proud of what we accomplished in that magical 1986 season and the brotherhood that we still have for one another all these years later.  Enjoy this personal portrayal of one of baseball history’s greatest and most charismatic teams.”  -Davey Johnson In 1986, the bad guys of baseball won the World Series. “What if I actually went out and visited the players where they are today -- in their homes, in the dugouts they currently coach or manage in, or in the bars they might frequent?  I would interview the men who’d made up this magical...2016-04-0756 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Greatness in the Shadows" with author Douglas Branson “Larry Doby’s trials, and the triumphs that earned him a place in Cooperstown, are a stirring story wonderfully told by Douglas Branson.”  -George F. Will Just eleven weeks after Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, Larry Doby became the first black player to integrate the American League, signing with the Cleveland Indians in July 1947.  Doby went on to become a seven-time All-Star who led the Indians to two pennants.  In many respects, Robinson and Doby were equals in their baseball talent and experiences and had remarkably similar playing careers. Well into the 1950s, Doby was the o...2016-03-2852 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Amazin' Again" with author Greg Prince “The Mets are gonna be amazing.”  -Casey Stengel, circa 1975 They were coming off a seemingly endless string of losing records.  They were considered years away from legitimate contention.  They were derided and disregarded as a matter of course.  But in 2015, the New York Mets changed their course and changed their story.  The result was the best kind of amazin’.  They proceeded to capture a division title, raise a pennant, and lay claim to the heart of their city. Author Greg Prince -- cocreator of Faith and Fear in Flushing -- traces the trajectory of this championship...2016-03-1954 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Cardinals Way" with Howard Megdal How one team embraced tradition and Moneyball at the same time... The St. Louis Cardinals have experienced the kind of success that is rare in baseball.  They not only win, but do so with an apparently bottomless pool of talent, one that is mostly homegrown. “The Cardinal Way” -- a term that has come to represent many things to fans, media, and other organizations, from an ironclad code of conduct to the team’s cutting-edge use of statistics and analytics, and a farm system that has transformed baseball. In the spirit of “Moneyball,” baseball jo...2016-03-0859 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Black Baseball, Black Business" with Roberta Newman and Joel Nathan Rosen “Desegregation in baseball was hard on everybody.”  -Monte Irvin, Hall of Famer An extraordinary history of the Negro Leagues and the economic disruptions of desegregating a sport Roberta Newman and Joel Nathan Rosen examine how the relationship between black baseball and black businesses functioned, particularly in urban areas with significant African American populations.  Inextricably bound together by circumstance, these sports and business alliances faced destruction and upheaval. Once Jackie Robinson and a select handful of black baseball’s elite gained acceptance in Major League Baseball and financial stability in the mainstream economy, shock waves tr...2016-02-261h 14Bergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Golden Era of Major League Baseball" with Bryan Soderholm-Difatte A former CIA analyst walked through the Clubhouse door... In The Golden Era of Major League Baseball: A Time of Transition and Integration, Bryan Soderholm-Difatte explores the significant events and momentous changes that took place in baseball from 1947 to 1960. Beginning with Jackie Robinson’s rookie season in 1947, Soderholm-Difatte provides a careful and thorough examination of baseball’s integration, including the struggles of black players who were not able to break into the starting lineups.  In addition, the author looks at the dying practice of player-managers, the increasing use of relief pitchers and platooning, the iconic 1951 penna...2016-02-0559 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Fun City: John Lindsay, Joe Namath, and How Sports Saved New York in the 1960s" with Sean Deveney “Coming events cast their shadows before.”  -Thomas Campbell, Scottish poet On January 1, 1966, New York came to a standstill as the city’s transit workers went on strike.  This was the first day on the job for Mayor John Lindsay.  He would approach the transit shutdown with the sort of dynamic problem solving that would be his hallmark.  He ignored the cold and walked four miles, famously declaring, “I still think it is a fun city.” As Lindsay juggled his city’s repeated crises, the sporting scene saw tremendous upheaval.  On one hand, the venerable Yankees -- who had won 15...2016-01-2550 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Baseball Immortal: Derek Jeter" with Danny Peary“Passion is the genesis of genius.”  -Galileo Baseball Immortal: Derek Jeter takes you on a remarkable forty-year journey, letting you step inside the great Yankee shortstop’s life and career through his own words and those of the people who have known him best personally and in the sports community.  The result is an incredible, insightful look at what made him not only an amazing ballplayer, but also an intriguing and complex personality. The book is packed with quotes by Jeter’s parents, friends, teachers and mentors, coaches, scouts, teammates, opposing players, his fans and critics, celebritie...2015-12-171h 10Bergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"A Century in the Bleachers" with Arnold Hano and filmmaker Jon Leonoudakis 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...2015-11-1645 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Havana Hardball: Spring Training, Jackie Robinson, and the Cuban League" with Cesar Brioso 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 th...2015-11-1040 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Betrayal: The 1919 World Series and the Birth of Modern Baseball" with Charles Fountain 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...2015-11-0358 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Game of My Life: NY Mets" with Ed Charles and author Michael Garry An October evening in the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse with a World Series Champion. Michael Garry, author of Game of My Life: New York Mets, took us through the most unforgettable games in Mets history, as the franchise morphed from a dismal expansion team in 1962 to World Series Champions in 1969 and 1986 and then back to basement dwellers before meeting the Yankees in the 2000 Subway Series and evolving into the current, highly promising squad. Then, special guest Ed Charles -- "The Glider" -- of the 1969 Miracle Mets, told stories and answered questions.  It was a night filled w...2015-10-221h 16Bergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Pinstripes and Penance / Long Road Home" with John Malangone and Mike Harrison “I want you to stay away from my brothers.  You are prone to trouble.  You are always in trouble.”  -Mickey Mantle After a private screening of the award-winning documentary Long Road Home, John Malangone spoke in the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse. In 1937, at the age of six, John found a broken umbrella in the basement of his East Harlem tenement.  He stripped it and turned it into a javelin.  John threw it, accidentally hitting a child in the head, piercing his skull.  The child was only a year older.  He was also John’s uncle. As a...2015-10-1043 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"At The Ballpark" -- A Phenomenal Panel A phenomenal panel on a Friday evening in the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse... “At The Ballpark” with Lee Lowenfish, Roberta Newman, Charlie Vascellaro & Russell Wolinsky. They talked Baseball.  We listened and learned. “At the Ballpark: A Fan’s Companion” is the perfect how-to guide -- especially for young fans -- illustrating the experience of watching, understanding and enjoying baseball.  In the words of the Chicago Tribune:  “Take kids out to the ballgame -- and bring this book.” The phenomenal panel... Lee Lowenfish, baseball author and CBN (Certified Baseball Nut), still remembers t...2015-09-261h 08Bergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Dad Report: Fathers, Sons, and Baseball Families" with Kevin Cook A tapestry of uplifting stories in which fathers and sons share the game... Almost two hundred father-son pairs have played in the big leagues.  Kevin Cook takes us inside the clubhouses, homes, and lives of many of the greats. In visiting these legendary families, Cook discovers that ball-playing families are a lot like our own.  Dan Haren regrets the long road trips that keep him from his kids.  Ike Davis and his father, a former Yankee, debate whether Ike should pitch or play first base.  Buddy Bell leads a generation of big-leaguers determined to open thei...2015-06-2229 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Crack of the Bat: A History of Baseball on the Radio" with James Walker “I watch a lot of baseball on the radio.”  -President Gerald R. Ford Radio has brought the sounds of baseball into homes for almost one hundred years.  The first All-Star Game, Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech, Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard ’Round the World.”  Red Barber, Vin Scully, Harry Caray, Ernie Harwell, Bob Uecker, and dozens of other beloved announcers helped cement the love affair between radio and the national pastime.   Crack of the Bat: A History of Baseball on the Radio takes readers from the 1920s to the present.  Despite cable television’s ubiquity, live video streaming...2015-06-0651 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Colonel and Hug: The Partnership That Transformed The New York Yankees" with Steve Steinberg “Ruppert and Huggins were the principal figures in the transition of the Yankees from an afterthought on the New York baseball scene to the nation’s greatest sports dynasty of the twentieth century.”  -Marty Appel From the team’s inception in 1903, the New York Yankees were a floundering group that played as second-class citizens to the New York Giants. With four winning seasons to date, the team was purchased in 1915 by Jacob Ruppert and his partner, Cap “Til” Huston. Three years later, when Ruppert hired Miller Huggins as manager, the unlikely partnership of the two figures began, one that set...2015-05-3057 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Split Season 1981" with Jeff Katz, the Mayor of Cooperstown The Mayor of Cooperstown, an author, and a former options trader walked into a Clubhouse... The never-before-told, behind-the-scenes story of the exciting and memorable 1981 baseball season.  The year of Fernando Valenzuela, Pete Rose, the last Yankees-Dodgers World Series -- and the mid-season players’ strike that cut the heart out of the American summer. Sourcing extensive interviews with almost all of the major participants in the strike, Split Season 1981: Fernandomania, The Bronx Zoo, and The Strike That Saved Baseball returns us to the on- and off-field drama of an unforgettable baseball year. On a spr...2015-05-2751 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Billy Martin: Baseball's Flawed Genius" with Bill Pennington “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned,” Billy Martin said.  He was in second grade. Billy Martin is a story of contrasts. He was the “other” second baseman in New York in the 1950s, playing nearly every fall opposite Brooklyn’s Jackie Robinson. He spent sixteen seasons managing in the big leagues and is considered by anyone who knows the sport to have been a true baseball genius, a field manager without peer. Yet he’s remembered more for his habit of kicking dirt at umpires, for being hired and fired by George Steinbrenner five separate times, for his rabbl...2015-05-1655 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"If These Walls Could Talk: New York Yankees" with Jim Kaat Pitching through four decades in the Major Leagues, Jim Kaat won 283 games with the Washington Senators, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals.  After his playing days, Jim went on to win seven Emmy Awards for his work as a broadcaster for the New York Yankees.  Since joining MLB Network, Jim has been nominated for three national Emmys. As a ballplayer and broadcaster, Jim had a prime seat to watch it all unfold.  In If These Walls Could Talk, he provides a closer look at the Yankees.  Via multiple interviews cond...2015-05-1139 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"A Game of Their Own: Voices of Contemporary Women in Baseball" with Jennifer RingThere 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...2015-04-3056 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Freedom Between The Lines" with Gregory Rubano 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...2015-04-2055 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"100 Years of Who's Who in Baseball" with Marty Appel and Doug LyonsIn celebration of the 100th issue of 2015-04-101h 02Bergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Amazing Aaron to Zero Zippers" with 16-year-old author Matt NadelWe’ve hosted Hall of Famers and Pulitzer Prize winners.  But never a 16-year-old author.  Until now. Matt Nadel’s first book -- Amazing Aaron to Zero Zippers -- is an A-to-Z compendium of the best players, ballparks, teams, and moments in the history of the game.  Filled with stats and quick facts, and featuring over 50 iconic photographs, the book is a primer for baseball beginners, a resource for developing fans, and a treat for long-time devotees.  Special bonus: a foreword by Hall of Famer Jim Palmer. All of Matt’s book proceeds will be donated to the ALS...2015-03-2840 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Joe Black: More Than A Dodger" with Martha Jo Black “I pray that my Dad knew how much I loved and respected him. I am very blessed to be able to say that Joe Black was my father.”  -Martha Jo Black When Joe Black was in high school, a Major League scout told him that the color of his skin would keep him out of the big leagues.  But in 1952, at the age of 28, he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers.  In the face of segregation, verbal harassment, and even death threats, Joe Black became Jackie Robinson’s roommate and rose to the top of his game; he was named...2015-03-1649 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Gil Hodges: A Hall of Fame Life" with author Mort Zachter “No man lives his image.”  -Gil Hodges “As a Marine, one of Brooklyn’s beloved Boys of Summer, and the manager of the Miracle Mets, Gil Hodges lived a great American life, though one cut too short. In these pages you understand how Hodges defined what it meant to be a role model in a golden age."  -Tom Verducci, senior writer for Sports Illustrated “Zachter brings the same grace and precision to the page that Hodges brought to first base at Ebbets Field and with methodical research, insight, and pure affection gives life to the man behi...2015-03-0757 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Circus Maximus" with Andrew Zimbalist Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup “Andrew Zimbalist is a perpetual source of insight on the economics and administration of modern sports.”  -Bob Costas For his third appearance in the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse -- and on the date of its release -- we celebrated the newest book by noted sports economist Andrew Zimbalist. Athletes compete for national honor in Olympic and World Cup games.  But the road to these mega events is paved by big business.  How did both the Olympics and the World Cup evolve from no...2015-02-1655 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball ClubhouseSpecial Event: "A Baseball Life" with Bill Giles and author John Lord "I was born and raised in a ballpark." A special event in the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse: "A Baseball Life" with Bill Giles and author John Lord. Celebrating Bill Giles & Baseball, we discussed the inner workings of the national pastime. Bill and John spoke about realignment, the wild card, revenue sharing, collusion, Bud Selig, Peter Ueberroth, Lance Parrish, Ernie Lombardi's missing glove, Pete Rose, the Major League Baseball Players Association, Citizens Bank Park, and so much more. Listen in to an evening of emotion and stories, live from the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse...2014-11-1459 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Chalmers Race" with author Rick Huhn In 1910, auto magnate Hugh Chalmers offered an automobile to the baseball player with the highest batting average that season.  What followed was a batting race unlike any before or since, between the greatest but most despised hitter, Detroit's Ty Cobb, and the American League's first superstar, Cleveland’s popular Napoleon Lajoie. The race came down to the last game of the season and became a national obsession. The Chalmers Race details a story of dubious scorekeeping and statistical systems, of performances and personalities in conflict, of accurate results coming in 70 years too late, and of a c...2014-10-1150 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball ClubhouseNY Giants Preservation Society special guest: Ed Lucas The final NY Giants Preservation Society event of the 2014 season. Special guest: Ed Lucas "Baseball took my sight, but gave me a life." There is nothing else to add, except listen.  Please pull up a chair and listen.  47 spellbinding minutes... 2014-10-0747 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball ClubhouseA special evening in the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse with Nicholas Dawidoff On a September evening, we celebrated the 20th Anniversary of The Catcher Was a Spy with Nicholas Dawidoff, writer extraordinaire. Dawidoff, a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard, has been a Guggenheim Fellow, Civitella Ranieri Fellow, Berlin Prize Fellow of the American Academy, Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton University, and is currently a Branford Fellow at Yale University.  A Pulitzer Prize finalist for The Fly Swatter, Dawidoff is a contributor to The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, and Rolling Stone. Listen in to Nicholas Dawidoff, a fascinating fellow, discuss his books The Catcher W...2014-09-1256 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"No No: A Dockumentary" - special panel discussion with director Jeffrey Radice and sports agent Tom Reich On an evening in June 1970, Dock Ellis threw a no-hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In all of baseball history, Dock is the only pitcher to ever claim he accomplished this feat while high on LSD. During his 12 years in the major leagues, Dock lived the expression “Black is Beautiful!” He wore curlers on the field. He stepped out of his Cadillac wearing the widest bell bottoms and the broadest collars. When he put on his uniform, he was one of the most intimidating pitchers of the 1970s. Dock was often at the forefront of controversy and...2014-09-0855 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Big Red" with Ken Griffey A special All-Star evening in the Clubhouse... "Big Red: Baseball, Fatherhood, and My Life in the Big Red Machine" by Ken Griffey and Phil Pepe Reflecting on an outstanding 19-year major league career, Ken Griffey's autobiography details his decision to venture into the baseball business, documenting his time as a player, scout, coach, and manager along with his accomplishments as a father, raising two other major league ballplayers: Craig, who played briefly for the Seattle Mariners, and future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. Capturing Griffey's time with the Big Red Machine, this...2014-07-1642 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Stars and Strikes" with author Dan Epstein America 1976.  Colorful. Complex. Combustible.   A year of Bicentennial celebrations and presidential primaries, of Olympic glory and busing riots, of “killer bees” hysteria and Pong fever.  For both the nation and the national pastime, the year was revolutionary. It was the craziest season of baseball’s most colorful decade.  A year which witnessed the “Big Red Machine,” the rise of the “Bronx Zoo”-era New York Yankees, the dismantling of the Oakland A’s dynasty, the onset of full-scale free agency, the outrageous antics of team owners Bill Veeck, Ted Turner, George Steinbrenner, and Charlie Finley -- all set against t...2014-06-3055 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball ClubhouseNY Giants Preservation Society Presents: "1954" with Bill Madden On June 17th, the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse hosted the NY Giants Preservation Society's summer meeting.  Their special guest: Bill Madden. The 2010 recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame's J.G. Taylor Spink Award, Bill Madden has covered baseball for the New York Daily News for more than 30 years. Listen in as Bill discussed his outstanding new book -- 1954: The Year Willie Mays and the First Generation of Black Superstars Changed Major League Baseball Forever... 2014-06-1943 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Wrigley Field" with Pulitzer Prize-winner Ira Berkow On a June evening, a Pulitzer Prize-winner returned to the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse. This stunning tribute to Wrigley Field, written by journalist Ira Berkow, coincides with the 100th anniversary of “the one and only.”  Wrigley Field brilliantly and beautifully documents the stadium’s entire career through a decade-by-decade account, a priceless collection of historical photographs and memorabilia, and vivid first-person reminiscences of the people to whom this great place has meant so much. Notable fans interviewed for this book include Barack Obama, Scott Turow, Joe Mantegna, Sara Paretsky, Jim Bouton, and George Will, among others. With a...2014-06-1055 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Fight Of Their Lives" with John Rosengren “John Rosengren extraordinarily depicts how two men long since retired taught the world a valuable lesson -- that it is okay to forgive.” -Andre Dawson, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame The moment is immortalized by an iconic photo: Juan Marichal’s bat poised to strike John Roseboro’s head. But that moment is merely a flashpoint in an extraordinary story about fierce baseball competition and culture, an era of great conflict and change, and two men who were determined to turn...2014-06-0147 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Babe Ruth's Called Shot" with Ed Sherman The Myth and Mystery of Baseball's Greatest Home Run Game Three of the 1932 World Series between the Cubs and Yankees. Some 50,000 fans had gathered at Wrigley Field that bright October day, but above their roar Babe Ruth heard insults pouring from the Cubs dugout. He watched a fastball from Cubs pitcher Charlie Root set the count at 2-2.  Agitated, the Bambino made a gesture, holding out two fingers -- but what did it mean? In the on-deck circle, Lou Gehrig heard him call out: “I’m going to knock the next one d...2014-05-0955 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Down To The Last Pitch" with Tim Wendel “The star of Down to the Last Pitch is Tim Wendel, one of our game’s must-read writers.” -John Thorn, official historian of Major League Baseball Never before in baseball history had a team finished last and rallied to take the pennant the following season. Yet in 1991, lightning struck twice as the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves both reached the World Series.  Four of the games between the Twins and Braves were settled by “walk-off” runs.  Three of them, including the climactic Game Seven, went into extra i...2014-04-2152 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"NY Giants Preservation Society event with the children of Dusty Rhodes" On April 10th, the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse hosted the NY Giants Preservation Society's spring meeting.  Their special guests: Dusty Rhodes's children, Helane and Jeffrey. They spoke, answered questions, mingled, exhibited one-of-a-kind memorabilia. A special night in the Clubhouse.  A standing-room-only crowd.  Pull up a chair and listen in... 2014-04-1429 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams" with Ben Bradlee Jr. Ted Williams wanted to be an immortal.  He arrived in Boston in 1939, a cocky 20-year-old phenom eager to become, in his words, the “greatest hitter who ever lived.”  Just two years later, his .406 batting average -- a mark that has never again been met -- backed up that claim.  In The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams, Ben Bradlee, Jr., draws on numerous untapped sources to take us inside the clubhouse, the batter’s box, and beyond.  He reveals new details about Williams’s feelings of shame over his Mexican heritage, his war service, the rages that fu...2014-04-0252 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Sabermetric Revolution" with Andrew Zimbalist Leading off our first author event of 2014, the country's preeminent sports economist... The Sabermetric Revolution with Andrew Zimbalist From the front office to the family room, sabermetrics has dramatically changed the way baseball players are assessed and valued.  Rocketed to popularity by the 2003 bestseller Moneyball and the film of the same name, the use of sabermetrics to analyze player performance has appeared to be a David to the Goliath of systemically advantaged richer teams who could only be toppled by creative statistical analysis.  The story has be...2014-01-2955 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball ClubhouseNew York Giants Preservation Society - Winter 2014 meeting with special guest Ken Davidoff On Wednesday, January 8th -- the evening of the Hall of Fame announcement -- baseball columnist Ken Davidoff joined the New York Giants Preservation Society winter meeting for a fascinating discussion/Q&A at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse. Pull up a seat and listen in... 2014-01-1053 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Groundbreaking History of WFAN" with author Tim Sullivan and special guest Rich Ackerman Before we closed the book on another year of extraordinary events in the Clubhouse, we had one more for the fans... The Groundbreaking History of WFAN with author Tim Sullivan and special guest Rich Ackerman A behind-the-scenes look at the most powerful voices on New York’s AM dial, this is the all-encompassing history of WFAN.  Created in 1987, WFAN was the nation’s first 24-hour, all-sports radio station and this work recounts how, a quarter-century later, it is the highest-rated station in New York and the home t...2014-01-0454 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Inside the Clubhouse Look at Baseball Scouting" On December 12th, three noted Major League Baseball Scouts returned to the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse for a fascinating insider's conversation/Q&A... Billy Blitzer - Pro Scout, Chicago Cubs Joe Rigoli - Pro Scout, St. Louis Cardinals Dennis Sheehan - Northeast Area Supervisor, Atlanta Braves Panel Moderator: Lee Lowenfish It was, once again, an enchanting evening.  Listen in... 2014-01-0455 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Willard Mullin's Golden Age of Baseball" with Hal Bock “A beautiful compilation of the finest work of a uniquely talented artist.” -Bob Costas Willard Mullin’s Golden Age of Baseball: Drawings 1934-1972 collects for the first time Mullin’s best drawings devoted to baseball.  From Babe Ruth to the Baby Mets, Willard Mullin, “Sports Cartoonist of the 20th Century,” was there.  Beautiful, tearful, insightful, morally charged, and outrageously hilarious cartoons.  Gehrig, DiMaggio, Musial, Berra, Mantle, Mays, the Brooklyn Bum, and hundreds more make history anew in this astounding collection. Join Hal Bock from his December appearance in t...2014-01-0456 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Smoky Joe Wood" with Gerald Wood Smoky Joe Wood. He impersonated a woman, had one of the most dominating seasons in major league history, and coached the Yale University baseball team. With details culled from interviews and family archives, this biography, the first of this rugged player of the Deadball Era, brings to life one of the genuine characters in baseball history. Listen in to a fascinating Clubhouse discussion led by Gerald Wood... Smoky Joe Wood. 2013-11-1153 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Beyond Home Plate: Jackie Robinson on Life After Baseball" with Michael G. Long One of the most revered public figures of the 20th Century, Jackie Robinson is remembered for both his athletic prowess and his strong personal character.  The world knows him as the man who crossed baseball's color line, but there is much more to his legacy.  At the conclusion of his baseball career, Robinson continued in his pursuit of social progress.  Beyond Home Plate, an anthology of Jackie Robinson's columns in the New York Post and the New York Amsterdam News, offers fresh insight into the Hall of Famer's life and work following his historic years on the...2013-10-2349 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball ClubhousePeter Magowan & the NY Giants Preservation Society A night to remember. The Bergino Baseball Clubhouse hosted the NY Giants Preservation Society for their final meeting of 2013.  The featured guest speaker: none other than Peter Magowan. In a packed, yet relaxed, Clubhouse, Peter told stories about his life as a Giants fan, the Polo Grounds, AT&T Park, Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Horace Stoneham, Stan Musial, and more. Listen in to one of the great night’s in Clubhouse history, featuring the guys & dolls of the NY Giants Preservation Society...2013-09-2146 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball ClubhouseAll-Star Scouts Round Table -- Part Two Part Two of the All-Star Scouts Round Table... On the morning of the All-Star Game, Baseball Prospectus hosted an All-Star Scouts Round Table in the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse. The panel was moderated by Joe Hamrahi, president of Baseball Prospectus.  Joining Joe on the panel: *Don Welke, senior special assistant to the GM & Scouting for the Texas Rangers *Dennis Sheehan, northeast area supervisor for the Atlanta Braves *Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus Listen in as these legendary gents discussed the art of scouting and then took questions from our VIP audience.  A fascinating morning in...2013-08-0220 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball ClubhouseAll-Star Scouts Round Table -- Part One On the morning of the All-Star Game, Baseball Prospectus hosted an All-Star Scouts Round Table in the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse. The panel was moderated by Joe Hamrahi, president of Baseball Prospectus.  Joining Joe on the panel: *Don Welke, senior special assistant to the GM & Scouting for the Texas Rangers *Dennis Sheehan, northeast area supervisor for the Atlanta Braves *Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus Listen in as these legendary gents discussed the art of scouting and then took questions from our VIP audience.  A fascinating morning in the Clubhouse...2013-08-0254 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Happiest Recap" with author Greg Prince The team that's lived a life like no other finally receives the epic retelling it deserves.  From the author of the beloved Mets fan memoir Faith and Fear in Flushing comes The Happiest Recap, a four-volume history of the New York Mets. Their greatest games, the era they were played in, the circumstances surrounding them, the people who made them happen.  500-plus tales of the Mets at their best and sometimes overcoming their worst.  The championship years, the striving years, the stumbling years.  These are the games you'll always remember and the...2013-06-2854 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball ClubhouseFather's Day with Dwight Gooden During our intimate, exclusive VIP Special Event, Dwight spoke eloquently about his relationship with his Dad, the pressure of pitching in NYC, his childhood, the memories of his playing career, his teammates, addiction, the fans, Mets history and more... Listen in as Doc made us laugh, cry, remember.  Father’s Day.  A special day in the Clubhouse. 2013-06-2635 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Jewish Major Leaguers In Their Own Words" with Peter EphrossBetween 1870 and 2010, 165 Jewish Americans played Major League Baseball.  This book presents oral histories from Bob Berman, a catcher for the Washington Senators in 1918, to Adam Greenberg, an outfielder for the Chicago Cubs in 2005.  The players discuss their careers and consider how their Jewish heritage affected them.  Legends like Hank Greenberg and Al Rosen, as well as lesser-known players, reflect on the issue of whether to play on high holidays, responses to anti-Semitism on and off the field, bonds formed with Black teammates also facing prejudice, and personal and Jewish pride in their accomplishments. Listen in, as Peter Ephross takes us thr...2013-06-0841 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Bird: The Life and Legacy of Mark Fidrych" with Doug WilsonFor those who remember him, Mark Fidrych is still that player who brings a smile to your face, the irresistibly likable pitcher whose sudden rise brightened the season of 1976 and reminded us of the pure joy of the game. Lanky, mop-topped, and nicknamed for his resemblance to Big Bird on Sesame Street, Fidrych exploded onto the national stage during the Bicentennial summer as a rookie with the Detroit Tigers.  He won over fans nationwide with his wildly endearing antics such as talking to the ball -- and throwing back the ones that “had hits in them;” getting down on his knees...2013-05-1841 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read Before They Die" with Ron KaplanYou're not getting any younger.  Listen up. "I don't know whether Ron Kaplan took any performance-enhancing drugs, but he has accomplished something amazing.  His book is the ultimate guide to baseball literature.  If you love baseball or books or any combination thereof, you should pick this up now." -A. J. Jacobs, editor-at-large at Esquire magazine and author of four New York Times bestsellers From a bewildering array of baseball books, Ron Kaplan has chosen 501 of the best, making it easier for fans to find just the books to suit them -- or to know what they're missing.  From biography, history, fict...2013-05-1055 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Core Four" with author Phil PepeDerek Jeter.  Mariano Rivera.  Jorge Posada.  Andy Pettitte. Tracing the careers of four instrumental players who turned around the New York Yankees, Core Four shares behind-the-scenes stories from their early days together in the minors through the 2012 season, and follows them on their majestic ride to the top of the baseball world.  At a time when the Yankees were in free fall, having failed to win a World Series in 17 years and had not played in one in 14 years -- the Bronx Bombers’ longest drought since before the days of Babe Ruth -- along came four young players whose powerful impact...2013-05-0249 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Honoring Hank Greenberg" with author John Rosengren & filmmaker Aviva Kempner“A man does not expire with his last breath.  He lives on in memories and the changes he wrought.  Hank Greenberg is not dead.  So long as his story is told, he remains with us.” --John Rosengren, epilogue to “Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes” Baseball in the 1930's was more than a national pastime; it was a cultural touchstone that galvanized communities and gave a struggling country its heroes despite the woes of the Depression. Hank Greenberg, one of the most exciting sluggers in baseball history, gave the people of Detroit a reason to be proud.  But America was facing more...2013-04-2649 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"So Many Seasons In The Sun" with Dr. Lawrence HoganSo Many Seasons In The Sun is the untold history of baseball as seen in the story of the major leagues' two most historically important teams told from the vantage point of the game's ultimate insiders, Fred and Ed Logan, Pete Sheehy, and Mike Murphy.  These four legendary clubhouse men are at the center of So Many Seasons In the Sun.  Their combined service for baseball's two most storied franchises, the Highlanders/Yankees of New York, and the Giants of both New York and San Francisco, stretches over a century.  Their stories, and the stories they tell, present the rich his...2013-04-2449 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"The Greatest Game Ever Pitched" with Jim KaplanIt would have been enough just to see them pitch. Taking the mound at San Francisco's Candlestick Park that summer night in 1963 were 42-year-old Warren Spahn and 25-year-old Juan Marichal -- the embodiment of an ageless wonder headed for the Hall of Fame and a whirling wunderkind making his own case for immortality. But as one scoreless inning followed another en route to a 16th-inning climax, the 15,921 fans in attendance began to sense that they were watching a pitching duel for the ages. They remained, shivering and thrilled, to see it end after midnight. The sui generis event surpassed the...2013-04-1238 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball ClubhouseBig Fly Baseball Radio HourBIG FLY BASEBALL RADIO HOUR - FRIDAY, APRIL 5,  2013 A CELEBRATION OF BASEBALL ENTERTAINMENT SPECIAL GUEST: FORMER MLB PLAYER, BILLY SAMPLE YOUR HOST: CHRIS LUTKIN BIG FLY BASEBALL RADIO HOUR PROGRAM RAPHAEL BADAGLIACCA  - THE YOGI POEMS & OTHER CELEBRATIONS OF LOCAL BASEBALL Author Raphael Badagliacca reads from his book, “The Yogi Poems,” a collection of 25 stories and poems is for anyone who loves baseball. http://www.theyogibook.com/ BROOKLYN BRAD – CASEY AT THE BAT Brad "Brooklyn" Shaw, President of the Flemington Neshanock Base Ball Club and historian of the MAVBBL and VBBA (Vintage Base Ball Associations), performs his rendition of “Casey at the Bat...2013-04-0942 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Swinging 73" with Matthew SilvermanFrom the Library Journal:  "If you had to pick out one year that epitomized the volatility of the 1970s, 1973 would be it.  Watergate was rearing its ugly head.  The Vietnam War finally ended.  OPEC embargoed oil, sending gas prices soaring.  In the midst of all of this, Matthew Silverman suggests, baseball offered a reprieve.  He details how the 1973 MLB season unfolded as it ushered in Willie Mays’s last season, and started two American League phenomena that changed the game: the designated hitter and George Steinbrenner’s ownership of the New York Yankees.  Silverman takes readers around the major leagues, placing the...2013-04-0655 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Summers at Shea" with Ira BerkowOpening Day for the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse Spring 2013 Event Calendar... with a Pulitzer Prize winner throwing out the first pitch! "My job as a columnist and feature writer, primarily -- as opposed to a beat writer covering the game itself -- was to give a sense, a feel of being there, to write about elements of the on-field participants that the spectator is not aware of, and cannot be aware of from his vantage in the grandstands, or on a couch in front of his television set." -Ira Berkow Former New York Times columnist Ira Berkow captures the spirit of...2013-03-1655 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Satchel Paige" with author Larry TyeLeroy "Satchel" Paige -- Athlete / Showman / Philosopher / Boundary Breaker Through dogged research and extensive interviews, award-winning author and journalist Larry Tye has tracked down the truth about this majestic and enigmatic pitcher.  A stirring account of the child born to a poor Alabama washerwoman, the boy who earned his nickname from his enterprising work as a railroad porter, and the young man who took up baseball on the streets and in reform school before becoming the superstar hurler of the Negro Leagues. Larry Tye reveals how Paige, hurt and angry when Jackie Robinson beat him in breaking the Major League c...2013-02-0256 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Lefty: An American Odyssey" with author/special guest Vernona Gomez -- Part TwoPart Two -- Q&A -- with Vernona Gomez. Enjoy this special event -- live from the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse on December 13, 2012... 2012-12-2133 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Lefty: An American Odyssey" with author/special guest Vernona GomezVernona Gomez is the daughter of New York Yankees Hall of Fame pitcher Lefty Gomez and Broadway star June O'Dea. As a child, she bounced on Babe Ruth's knee, made sandcastles on the spring training beach with Joe DiMaggio, and won card games with Cy Young.  Growing up in a baseball family, Vernona was a tag-along with her parents at Old Timers' games, World Series, and Cooperstown Induction weekends.  A concert pianist, Vernona made her debut at Carnegie Hall -- at the age of 8. On December 13th, we were extremely fortunate to have hosted a special night with Vernona Gomez... sto...2012-12-2149 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Yankee Miracles" with Ray NegronListen in as we welcomed Ray Negron for an emotional evening in the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse... "Much of sports can leave us skeptical if not cynical. But I defy anyone to read Ray Negron's remarkable story and not come away believing that there still can be genuine heart, soul, and even redemption in the games we watch and play." -Bob Costas "Full of fascinating personal anecdotes and behind-the-scenes details, it brings back memories of what it was like to be in Yankee Stadium on a warm summer afternoon." -Henry Kissinger 2012-12-1756 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball ClubhouseNew York Giants Preservation Society - Inaugural Meeting with special guest Joshua PragerWhy was this night different from all other nights in the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse? On October 25, 2012, we hosted the Inaugural Meeting of the New York Giants Preservation Society.  The Clubhouse was packed with mensches who happen to love the Giants. Listen in to a bit of this evening, as Joshua Prager, author of "The Echoing Green: The Untold Story of Bobby Thomson, Ralph Branca and The Shot Heard Round The World," told story upon fascinating story. (This podcast is dedicated to the memory of my Dad.)2012-10-2757 minBergino Baseball ClubhouseBergino Baseball Clubhouse"Yankee Greats: 100 Classic Baseball Cards" with Bob Woods“Yankee Greats” features 100 baseball cards of the greatest and most popular New York Yankees from the celebrated trading-card company Topps. Showcasing original cards for legendary players such as Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Derek Jeter, this unique package provides a fun and fresh approach to revisiting America’s pastime. “Yankee Greats” will let all baseball fans revel in and reminisce over many of the players that helped make baseball the game it is today.  These legendary cards will fill you with fond memories, whether you’re young -- or young at heart.  Join Bob for an evening in the Clubhouse...2012-09-2200 min