Midnight Library of Baseball

Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth’s most sacred record, and baseball never forgave him. Labeled unfairly, burdened by an asterisk, and judged by a narrative that ignored the facts, Maris paid a heavy price for doing something history said couldn’t be done. In this episode, I revisit 1961 and the story baseball got wrong.

In this episode, I explore the strange and overlooked history of what has become an event that rivals the allstar game for American popularity. Through this history, we see how baseball has changed, and we might get a glimpse of what's to come with home run derbies of the future. 

Jackie Robinson arrived at exactly the right moment, not just in baseball, but in media history. As television spread into American homes, Robinson became the first athlete millions didn’t just read about or hear on the radio, but watched. This episode tells the rarely discussed story of how television shaped Robinson’s fame, magnified the pressure he carried, and helped transform American culture in ways no box score could capture.

In the beginning, experts swore television would never matter. Viewers would tire of “staring at a plywood box.” Baseball could never be captured on one screen, and no one would trade the color of their imagination for grainy black-and-white flicker. And yet, one messy, chaotic, barely-watchable baseball experiment in 1939 sparked a revolution. In this episode, I trace the improbable origin story of baseball on television, from the fuzzy “little white flies” of the first broadcast to the national shared experiences that made America rush to buy a set for themselves. This is the story of how a single game, and a si...

In the 1950s, baseball broadcasts on television were expanding, and this fairly new technology was starting to catch up to radio in sports coverage, until a groundbreaking innovation cemented radio for the next sixty years as the most flexible, reliable way to experience a game away from the ballpark. In this episode, I discuss the history of this breakthrough, along with some of the iconic personalities that benefited from the invisible waves that carried their voices to the most remote reaches of the country, and world.

Like broadcasts and broadcasters of the early days, the 1992 Simpsons episode, Homer at the Bat, shaped the lives of millions. It made people laugh, it connected people more deeply with their favorite sports heroes by humanizing these mythical figures, and it instilled a deeper curiosity for those on the periphery of the game. If you’re a fan of the Simpsons and baseball, there are many great stories about the making of this episode you won’t want to miss.

In this episode, I discuss the complicated relationship between radio and baseball, and how, when baseball was resisting, radio was sneaking in through every back door in America. I tell the stories of some iconic announcers of the day, like Red Barber, who nearly quit when he heard Branch Rickey was going to sign Jackie Robinson.

Step into the forgotten world of baseball recreation, a unique phenomenon created to fill an enormous void in baseball coverage during the 1920s to the 1950s, a strange blending of truth and fiction that connected millions to the game and their heroes, and introduced millions to a young recreator named Ronald Reagan, who cited baseball recreation as a valuable tool in his journey through American politics. 

The story of Kelyn Ikegami developing and completing this documentary is as fascinating as the story itself: a bunch of ragtag minor leaguers relegated to the baseball graveyard, only to resurrect their story in legendary fashion. I really enjoyed our conversation just as I really enjoyed the documentary, which you can find on Apple TV and Amazon Prime. Links to film at Apple and Amazon

Before Graham McNamee, there was basic reporting of the game by broadcasters, and long dead silences between plays. But the opera singer turned broadcaster changed the way people listening to their radio interacted with the game, and he paved the way for the type of broadcasting we know and love today. Tune in to listen to this story and more.

Radio was floundering in its early days. People didn’t know what to make of it. Baseball owners were afraid of it, and for the first years of radio broadcasting, there was no banter, only dead air between plays. In the midst of this lull came an athlete and personality who bewitched a nation, and was single-handedly responsible for the spread of millions of radios across the country. But the reasons for the “Babe Ruth addiction” are not as obvious as they may seem.

In this first episode of Season 4, I discuss a lie I’ve been telling myself for 40 years about who my favorite team actually was, and I begin the amazing journey of baseball broadcasting. Before there was television, there was radio, and before that, there was the telegraph and the amazing broadcasting innovations that came from this limited technology, like scoreboard baseball, and ballgames performed, live, in opera houses. But the first radio broadcasts were missing one crucial ingredient.

I sit down with Jeffrey Lambert to have a fun debate about whether or not certain players should be included on record lists, and whether we should be comparing players from different eras in the first place. You can find the Rounders podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rounders-a-history-of-baseball-in-america/id1415099174. And you can find a new MLoB episode at https://www.patreon.com/midnightlibraryofbaseball/about?

It’s easy to compare numbers on paper, but what happens when we do a deep dive into the times and worlds in which Cal Ripken Jr and Lou Gehrig lived? In this final episode of Season 3, I pull back the curtain on what training, medicine, culture, and competition looked like for each man in his day, to get a much better idea of where each man stood in the realm of baseball legacy.

I had the pleasure recently of sitting down with prolific baseball author Robert Elias. We talk about the amazing and overlooked life of ballplayer Danny Gardella, the man of a thousand nicknames who receives little credit for how significantly he changed the game. You can find Elias’s book on Amazon, but send a message to midnightlibraryofbaseball@gmail.com for a discount code.

In this episode, I explore several key factors that would have helped or hurt Gehrig and Ripken Jr in their pursuit of the consecutive game streak. This comparison will also shed light on each player’s baseball legacy. Who had it harder, considering the times. The answer might not be what you think.

Most people know Lou Gehrig as the Iron Horse, as the man who played more games than any other player, until Cal Ripken Jr. They know him as one of the best players in baseball history, period, and the man who had a disease named after him. In this episode, I shed light on lesser-known stories about the man, and how some hidden traits and tendencies point to the real motivations behind his wish to play indefinitely without taking a break.

Cal Ripken Jr and Lou Gehrig are well known for their consecutive game streaks. But what about the third man on the all-time list? Had circumstances been slightly different, his name would be the name we all know, we all talk about. And yet, most of us have never heard of him. Tonight, I move his fascinating story from the dark corners of history, into the light.

n the early 1900s, there was no such thing as a consecutive games streak, because nobody followed it. Until a man named Al Munro Elias brought the statistic into the public consciousness. Even then, few players actively chose to pursue the streak. So of all the people to attempt this feat, of all the people to do what no one else had come close to doing after Lou Gehrig, why Cal Ripken Jr? In this episode, I try to get to the bottom of this question.

The consecutive game streak is not just something that happened with Cal Ripken Jr. The whole, fascinating story involves Lou Gehrig, dozens of aspiring ballplayers, statistical pioneers, and a rollercoaster of emotions, perceptions, and changed minds regarding a record people ignored, ridiculed, and finally, revered.

Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis is known in baseball history as the man who saved baseball, the man who took charge, and acted. But he is also known as the man who did nothing in some of the biggest issues to ever occur in the major leagues? Was he a man who intentionally stood in the way of human rights and progress, or was he simply a man of his time?

In the second part of this 3-part series, I dive into Kenesaw Mountain Landis’ transition from federal judge to first baseball commissioner, and what happens when the judge gets down to business. Lives will be destroyed. More conspiracies uncovered. But while he’s cleaning up baseball, Landis is also willfully preventing millions of Americans from enjoying the game. The man seen as a saint, as a tough-as-nails hero, is not quite as shiny and pure as advertised.

For all the known controversies and unbelievable stories surrounding Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, there are just as many mysteries. In this episode, I dig into the origin story of the man who shaped baseball like no other commissioner in the history of the game.

I sit down with Scott Miller to discuss his new book about the relevance of managers, fifty years ago, and today. I love the overlooked and misunderstood parts of the game, and during our conversation, Scott Miller does not disappoint.

In this episode, I uncover some hidden stories and unforeseen outcomes of night games in Major League Baseball, including a son who learned, after his father’s death, how integral his father had been in the development of lights in the game.

In this episode, I dig into the question, why did it take Major League Baseball 55 years to introduce the night game, when the first night game actually occurred in 1880? I’ll explore the reasons, and the overlooked consequences to millions of fans.

What do hauntings look like in baseball, and where are ghosts most entrenched? In this episode, I answer these questions, and I explore some of the fascinating, overlooked elements of the most well known curse in baseball history.

In this episode, I try to solve the mystery of why Larry Luebbers spent the equivalent of $300,000 to rebuild Crosley Field on his farm, ten years before a fictional character named Ray Kinsella would decide to accomplish a similar feat.

In this episode, I dive deep into the story of a baseball museum described as both a compliment to and antithesis of Cooperstown, a place where players and people are recognized for their contributions and character, not their statistical accomplishments. A place that has been overlooked and undersold. A place that deserves more attention.

In this episode, I dive into the extraordinary life and career of Lefty O’Doul—a baseball legend whose impact on the game goes far beyond his unorthodox playing days. Despite his remarkable contributions both on and off the field, he remains absent from the Baseball Hall of Fame. Why has he been overlooked, and what can we learn from this amazing story?

Chuck Klein put together one of the greatest five seasons in Major League history, and yet he was forgotten for thirty years, until an unlikely intervention by President Richard Nixon. In this episode, I’ll discuss Klein’s many miraculous feats, including nearly hitting five home runs in one game. I’ll also explain why he was forgotten, and what happened to change people’s minds.

When I came across the article on Sports Illustrated titled, “Don’t Kid Yourself, Field of Dreams is a Bad Movie,” I had to talk with Jerry Blevins to hear his story. And it’s not what you think. We also talk about his incredible journey from a college walk-in to a long major league career. And see his hat? That’s connected to a surprise I didn’t see coming.

In the finale of this 3-part series, I dive into the myths and misconceptions about Shoeless Joe Jackson, one of the most well-known ballplayers to fans and non-fans around the world, including his actual role in the 1919 World Series fix, contradictory evidence about his performance in the series, and insights into the question: did Joe Jackson pull off one of the greatest long cons in baseball history?

In this episode, I explore the nature of the dysfunctional relationship between White Sox teammates, and the bitterness of one player that may have cost his teammates their baseball careers. Also, I’ll have some fun discussing the extraordinary history that might have been written if not for this life-changing scandal.

The 1919 Black Sox World Series fix and the 1921 trial are fascinating for not only what we know, but for what we are still discovering a hundred years later. From myths about motivations to cheat, to misperceptions of the some of the greatest ballplayers of all time, this story has it all. In this episode, with the help of some experts, I debunk some of the biggest myths and shed light on what was really happening in 1919, and the years leading up to a scandal that rocked the nation

Here's a brief teaser for season 3, where I open with a 3-part series on the fascinating 1919 Black Sox scandal and the endless myths that surround the event. I also describe a review contest and some of the prizes I'll be giving away. 

In the finale of Season 2, I talk with hall of fame historian Tim Wiles about a real-life Field of Dreams story that predated W.P. Kinsella’s book by ten years. Did Kinsella know about this field and draw inspiration from it? I’ll also share some final thoughts about this film, and discuss my own story around Field of Dreams, and baseball overall.

In this episode, we delve into the fascinating collision of fantasy and reality surrounding the iconic field in Dyersville, Iowa. Truth is often stranger than fiction—and this magical ballfield is no exception. Join us as we uncover extraordinary stories and remarkable occurrences that have unfolded on this small farm long after the cameras stopped rolling.

In this episode, we reveal the pivotal edits made just before the film’s release, including a bold title change that angered many involved. We also examine how audiences across the country responded to a small-scale debut that ended up catching fire.

What composer James Horner attempted with Field of Dreams had never been done. In this episode, we look at the unorthodox, emotional score that Horner created on the fly. We also discuss a man who has played catch more than 900 days in a row, and the impact he’s had on countless lives.

In this episode, I explore more of the strange happenings on set, and the amazing coordination of the final scene. I also discuss the incredible story of Dwier Brown, who was processing the recent death of his father as he worked to embody the role of the father in Field of Dreams.

In this this episode, I discuss with cast and crew the magic that took place when everyone finally landed in Iowa, and we explore the many amazing tricks that allowed audiences to fall so deeply into a seemingly ordinary world. For example, in a time before CGI, what do you know when the corn that would not grow for months, suddenly grows taller than the leading man?

In this episode, I crack open long-forgotten archives and discuss the many well-known actors considered for Field of Dreams, and the equally fascinating stories of the actors who eventually got the parts.

For years, Phil Alden Robinson had been struggling to get his favorite book, Shoeless Joe, turned into a film. When he finally got his wish, it was more than he bargained for. Pressure and anxiety nearly brought Robinson and Field of Dreams to a screeching halt. In this episode, I discuss what saved Robinson and his film. I also reveal a real-life Doc Graham hidden among the crew, and I dig into the most “Field of Dreams” story there ever was, linked to two people integral to the movie.

W.P. Kinsella never saw the father-son relationship as the central emotional story in his book, Shoeless Joe. This is just one of many revelations in Episode 6, where I follow the path of writer/director Phil Alden Robinson, who roamed the streets of Hollywood for years with the vision of what Shoeless Joe would become on the big screen. But it was this very struggle and years of failure that led to what many called a magical script.

When J.D. Salinger learned that he was a character in W.P. Kinsella’s novel, Shoeless Joe, he threatened a lawsuit, which led to Salinger being rewritten as Terence Mann for the film. But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to coincidences and controversies between J.D. Salinger, W.P. Kinsella, and their iconic novels. In this episode, I explore the question, would Field of Dreams exist without J.D. Salinger and The Catcher in the Rye?

1 out of every 5 men claiming to have played professional baseball was lying, according to the Baseball Hall of Fame in the 1990s. But there was no name for this phenomenon, until author W.P. Kinsella created a fictional character named Eddie Scissons. Stranger still, two men in real life decided to study cases of Eddie Scissons syndrome, and what they found blew their minds.

There are many great moments from Field of Dreams taken directly from the novel, Shoeless Joe, but there are also key differences in both. Some of the additions and changes in Field of Dreams led to a better story, but some of the deleted characters and stories from the novel are wonderful gems worth discussing, including a very meaningful part cut from Terence Mann’s final speech.

Unlike many predestined stories of artists, author W.P. Kinsella was born and raised to NOT write the novel, Shoeless Joe.  In this episode, I explore the many fascinating contradictions that made Kinsella such an interesting character, and that led to stories no one else in the world could write. 

In this first episode, I explore the crazy story of editor Lawrence Kessenich, who was instrumental in helping W.P. Kinsella turn a 16-page short story into a full novel. Along the way, there were many improbable occurrences and treacherous hazards that nearly derailed the project. But born from this struggle was a bond that would last generations.

The making of Field of Dreams, across countries and continents, is a story of vision, of redemption, and of slowing down and appreciating the people and things in your life that matter. This season, I will talk to actors, directors, and other fascinating men and women in the film industry. I will also talk with you, the fans, about your stories of baseball and Field of Dreams. I will trace the film back decades to improbable imaginings and encounters, to daunting casting and production disasters, to unlikely and uplifting box office performances, and finally, to what Field of Dreams...

For the final episode of season 1, I dive into the major league catcher and the tools that make him what he is today. Because of his equipment, the catcher is literally masked, but there are so many other areas where he is overlooked and underestimated. In this episode, I explore these areas, and why they have come to be.

In this episode, I dive into the origins of the baseball bat, the number one piece of marketing equipment in the history of the game. I also discuss the colorful stories of the inspirational, stubborn, superstitious men who wielded this instrument of hope and despair.

What began as an object of great shame eventually turned into the most intimate relationship between a ballplayer and an object. Come along on this fascinating journey of the baseball glove, from infamy to celebration, honor, and love. 

In this episode, I explore the history of the baseball, and some surprising facts about what was initially used inside a baseball. I also discuss changes to the ball that greatly affected the game, and how a few additional simple changes could help evolve the game for the better.

The three major home run races in baseball history were between six very different men. In this episode, I explore these mythic figures, and discuss how they were a product of their times and also instrumental in shaping what came next.

I had the pleasure recently of sitting down with Dan Levitt and Mark Armour, authors of the book, Intentional Balk: Baseball’s Thin Line Between Innovation And Cheating. We dig into the gray areas of cheating, what cheating and innovation have meant to baseball, baseball fans, and Mark and Dan. We also discuss where the game is headed and what kind of cheating and innovation we might see in the future.

More info about the book is at https://intentionalbalkbook.com and the book can also be found at https://www.amazon.com/Intentional-Balk-Baseballs-Innovation-Cheating/dp/B09ZZXTB7G<...

In terms of traditional stats that have misled fans, players, and managers for decades, the pitcher win is a whopper. In this episode I discuss the origins and many examples and reasons why wins and saves have been so problematic, and also why we love them all the same.

A few of the pillars of baseball statistics contain serious flaws, but it can be hard to turn away from them. In this episode, I discuss the historical reasons for trusting these stats, the consequences of this trust, and the reasons why so many closed their eyes to the truth for so long.

Before there were leagues in baseball, there was barnstorming, and as major league baseball expanded, with its rules, revenue, and discrimination, barnstorming remained to remind players and fans what baseball was, when stripped down to nothing but the game.

In this episode, I explore the origins and background of various popular substances in Major League Baseball, and the entertaining and heartbreaking stories that go with them. From Dock Ellis pitching a no-hitter on LSD, to the tragic end to one of the best players in the game in his prime, to the debate of performance enhancing drugs and some surprising arguments.

There are a lot of surprising twists and turns in the history of tobacco in Major League Baseball. In this episode, I will answer why smokeless tobacco was so popular during the origins of baseball, why it then almost disappeared, and how it roared back despite its known dangers. 

I’ve written about both The Natural and Field of Dreams, so I thought it would be fun to compare the two films, based on a number of different criteria, to see, in the end, which film came out ahead.

In this episode, I talk with Jason Turbow, author of “The Baseball Codes, the Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime,” about his updated views on the code since writing the book and viewing the changes in baseball. 

People think they know what they saw in 1993 between Nolan Ryan and Robin Ventura, just like they think they know what they saw in the 1996 collision between Albert Belle and Fernando Vina. But they don’t, because behind the scenes, the code was dictating the behaviors and actions of players. In this episode, I break down some of the most important and interesting elements of the code, elements that the baseball world works hard to keep secret.

Before Roy Hobbs of “The Natural,” there was Eddie Waitkus, a star of the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies, whose forgotten true story was more fascinating than the fiction that came after.

In this episode, I dive into the life and career of Rick Ankiel, whose unbelievable twists and turns are only surpassed by the amazing relationship he developed with a baseball team and baseball town. 

In this episode, Jeffrey Lambert, host of the podcast, Rounders, stops by to chat with me about what makes baseball so different from other sports, and why we love it so much. We also discuss cultural shifts that have affected the game, as well as some of our favorite all-time baseball books. 

People who remember relief pitcher Donnie Moore often connect Moore’s role in what Al Michaels called “the most dramatic hour of sports I’ve ever seen," to Donnie Moore, three years later, shooting his wife and himself. In this episode, I explore the deeper story that sheds light on what happened on July 18, 1989. 

In part 1 of a three-part series, I trace the echoed story of Bill Buckner and his infamous error back to the source, and back even before that, to get a full picture of what happened before, during, and after the game, so that we can understand what we lose when we begin to see the echo as the story. 

In this episode, I'll explore the true story of Doc Moonlight Graham from Field of Dreams, and other men who could have been known for a major league baseball career, but ended up being known for something else entirely. 

In this episode, I’ll explore the reasons why there has not been a female at the highest level of baseball, and the factors involved in a female making it to the big leagues. And by the end of the episode, I will be asking a completely different question.

In this episode, I explore one of the most famous moments in baseball history, and how this moment might be the result of cheating. I also discuss the culture of cheating in baseball, and if there's a problem with cheating. 

In this episode, I do a deep dive into the history of baseball salaries, how much players actually made compared to today, and the many ways players supplemented their income. I also discuss a new way for minor league prospects to cash in on the major league experience.

Gambling was instrumental in the formation and spread of professional baseball, but it has also been a toxic part of the game. Today, we look at this love-hate relationship.

In this episode, we take a look at some current practices that separate baseball from other sports. We also discuss a few rules and realities that used to exist, like pitchers throwing the ball underhand, and players playing full seasons bare-handed.

A few major league pitchers have found enormous success in the knuckleball, paving careers that outlasted most of their contemporaries. But for all its power and effectiveness, the knuckleball is almost nonexistent in today’s game, and has rarely been used by more than a handful of pitchers in any decade since its creation. In today’s episode, we find out why.

In 1920, Ray Chapman was killed by a pitch, the only major league player ever to be killed during gameplay. Many players owe their added safety to the obvious and not-so-obvious changes that took place following Chapman’s death. In this episode, we explore the events that led to Chapman’s death, and baseball’s grudging modernization.

Lou Gehrig is one of the most famous and well-loved baseball players of all time. In the United States and other countries, Gehrig is also the namesake for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a neurodegenerative disease. In this episode, we examine the possibility that Gehrig did not have the disease, and the ramifications of this possibility.