I am excited to announce that my new podcast, Voices, is now available on iTunes.
In recent weeks I have had the pleasure of spending some time with three great writers: Ben Reiter of Sports Illustrated, Jason Turbow (author of Baseball Codes and Dynastic, Bombast, Fantastic) and Greg Prince, blogger for Faith and Fear in Flushing and author of a new book on Mike Piazza. All three interviews are now posted on iTunes.
Sports Illustrated isn’t about to say, “I told ya’ so!” so I will …
Sports Illustrated told us so.
On June 30, 2014, SI published a cover story on the Houston Astros featuring the headline, “Your 2017 World Series Champs.”
At the time, the Astros were 36-48 in last place in the American League Western division. One year earlier, in 2013, the team finished 51-111. Considering the context, most baseball people thought the prediction was more than just bold, it was down right wacky.
So, what did Ben Reiter know that we didn’t? I sit down with Reiter to reflect on his 2014 Sports Illustrated cover story, that headline and how the Astros have evolved over the past three seasons.
Disclaimer: I had a couple hiccups with my recording equipment this week. You will hear that in Ben’s first two replies, but it quickly clears up. My apologies for the inconvenience. I hope you enjoy the podcast and I’d love your feedback. Thanks for listening!
Jason Turbow is the author of the new book, Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie and Charlie Finley’s Swingin A’s.
On the latest podcast, Turbow discusses how the Oakland A’s of the 1970s won three straight championships and “knocked baseball into the modern age.”
It took Alex Rodriguez 216 words to utter three meaningful words: I am sorry.
Last week Rodriguez passed on a press conference, passed on hiring a public relations crisis management firm, passed on social media and passed on a network television interview. Instead he used the old school pen and paper format to apologize to baseball fans. That was enough for Yankees manager Joe Girardi who said:
The Mike Piazza story may just be too Hollywood for Hollywood. While true, it doesn’t sound true, but cliched.