Category Archives: Life
Knuckleball Legends
Again, over the years I’ve written various books, and it’s good to look back today and “pat myself on the back,” so to speak.
This time, I specifically want to look back at my “Don’t Blame the Knuckleballer” series, from 2015-2017:
The first one was Don’t Blame the Knuckleballer! Baseball Legends, Myths, and Stories, available on Amazon.com.
Here’s some information on that book:
In Don’t Blame the Knuckleballer! Baseball Legends, Myths, and Stories, K.P. Wee looks at more than 30 obscure and forgotten tales told by ballplayers, coaches, and broadcasters throughout baseball history – and repeated by historians and bloggers – while mixing in a knuckleballing theme. For each tale, Wee asks, “Did this really happen?” or “Did they blame the right person?”
Among the tales:
* Did Joe Niekro really strike out the first five batters of a game in the very first inning?
* Did Phil Niekro really make Floyd Robinson silly on a strikeout?
* Did “Sunday Teddy” Lyons really pitch only on Sundays?
* How did Tom Candiotti “botch” the Jeff Kent fantasy baseball story?
* Did Pedro Martinez actually forget the details of his first big-league start and blame the wrong guy?
* Did you know that Ted Williams had to face a knuckleballer on the next-to-last day of his historic 1941 season?
* Was Mark Grace really on deck when Glenallen Hill hit his mammoth home run at Wrigley?
Then, in 2017, there was also Don’t Blame the Knuckleballer II, again available on Amazon.
In the second book, titled Don’t Blame the Knuckleballer II: More Baseball Legends, Myths, Stories, and Trivia, some stories are featured in the form of trivia questions, including:
* Who was the last starting pitcher ever in the majors to pitch only two innings in a game – and leave because of an injury – and then receive credit for an “injury win”?
* Which knuckleballer once threw a shutout to beat Greg Maddux?
* Which knuckleballer was the second pitcher ever in big-league history to have two consecutive starts of eight-plus innings and zero runs to begin his postseason career?
* Which knuckleballer was said to have had “one of the most courageous pitching performances” of the 1939 major-league season – and why?
* Which future Hall of Famer who was teammates with Bobby Witt made his pitching debut with his new club by entering in relief in a bases-loaded situation?
In Don’t Blame the Knuckleballer II, I look at more than 20 additional obscure and forgotten tales told by ballplayers, coaches, and broadcasters throughout baseball history – and repeated by fans, historians, and bloggers – while mixing in a knuckleballing theme.
Thank you for picking up a copy of each book – I really appreciate your support!
Time to reflect back on the publication of “A Life of Knuckleballs”…
I’m not one who toots his own horn. I rarely do that. But, in the era of social media and getting your name out there, I suppose it’s become a necessity to do so. After all, if you’ve written a book, you want people to know about it — and these days, it’s essential to use social media and the Internet to promote your works.
So, this brings me to this post today: I can’t believe how fast time has flown, but it’s been nearly five years now since my book about underrated knuckleball pitcher Tom Candiotti, A Life of Knuckleballs, was published by McFarland & Co.
I’m still blown away to see people buying a copy here and there. I mean, I’ve always thought that Candiotti didn’t get the accolades that he deserved in his career. So, to have a book about him published — albeit it a little too late, in my opinion, as it came out 15 years after his retirement — is an amazing thing.
It wasn’t an easy process, to be sure. Having a book published isn’t a simple matter of the writing part. It’s also listening to what the publisher wants. There were many stories that Candiotti told me which I originally included in the manuscript, but the publisher has a word limit and all that, and wanted a lot of those stories excluded in the book.
Perhaps some day I will post those stories that didn’t make it into the book on this website. We shall see.
But it’s been nearly five years since the book came out. Time to pat myself on the back.
Vindication?
On TSN1040 weeks earlier, I mentioned that a playoff team might fire its manager if that ballclub underachieves in the postseason… I mean, it would be possible that a manager was fired despite leading his team to the playoffs – it’s happened before (Grady Little, Joe Girardi, John Farrell, and if we want to go back further, Casey Stengel, etc.)…
When I made that comment, people were rolling their eyes. But hey, look at Game Four of the 2018 World Series, where it’s now 9-6 for the Red Sox in the bottom of the ninth.
Tough questions have to be asked about Dave Roberts, manager of the Dodgers. They were up 4-0 after six innings with a dominant Rich Hill, who up to that point was throwing a one-hitter. He was pulled after 91 pitches.
With the score 4-3, Kenley Jansen, who had given up the game-tying homer in the eighth inning one night earlier, was brought back out for the eighth inning in Game Four to try and get a six-out save.
Home run. Tie game. Red Sox then scored five big runs to break the game open.
The Dodgers looked like they were going to tie the Series at 2-2 with Hill leading the way less than 24 hours after that epic 7 hour, 20 minute game…
And Roberts made at least two very questionable calls with the pitching.
So… just because you manage a team to the playoffs doesn’t mean you always make the right calls. If you make one too many, get ready to be scrutinized. Don’t forget, in the playoffs you’re facing tougher teams, not the Padres or Marlins or Mets anymore.
And I believe this is the end for the Dodgers as their window is definitely closing. It’s awfully hard to make it to the World Series three straight years….
Playoff Controversies: 2018 MLB Postseason Edition…
Two weeks ago on TSN1040, I mentioned that it’s possible – perhaps not likely – but certainly possible that a manager on a playoff team could get fired if his team performs poorly in the postseason.
We’ve seen it before with Grady Little, most notably, being let go after his 2003 Red Sox blew a Game Seven lead at Yankee Stadium in the ALCS. In 2017, it was Joe Girardi who was heavily criticized in Game Two of the ALDS after he failed to challenge a hit-by-pitch call that changed the momentum of the game against Cleveland. (The Yankees fell 2-0 but stormed back to win the next three and moved into the ALCS, where they lost to Houston in seven.)
Let’s look at this year. Again, I’m not saying anyone deserves to be fired or should be fired. I’m not predicting that they will. But look at how the Indians again went out in the first round. And the way they did it this time around – getting swept 3-0 by Houston and getting blown out in the finale – does at least deserve the question to be asked.
Tonight is the fourth game of the Yankees-Red Sox ALDS. And what happened on Monday night at Yankee Stadium? New York lost 16-1 and there was controversy about Luis Severino’s warmups. Two former players (now broadcasters) raised questions about Severino not having enough time to warm up prior to the game. Now, this is New York, where fans expect the Yankees to win the World Series every year. To lose a big game like that – the worst loss in Yankees postseason history – and to have such a controversy… don’t you at least raise the question about who might lose his or their jobs?
So, going to the playoffs doesn’t mean people’s jobs are safe. You have to go out and be ready, be competitive, and basically win.
Just my two cents.
Ahhh… playoff baseball. Boston, as of now, is ahead 2-1 in the Division Series and now people are saying the Yankees are done.
Interestingly, when David Price struggled for the Red Sox in Game Two, people were saying the Red Sox were dead.
It just goes to show how momentum changes in a short series like that, often from game to game. …
And, speaking of managers losing their jobs… Jason Garrett has been heavily criticized for the decision to punt on 4th-and-1 in overtime on the Houston 42-yard line. I mean, this is what I’ve been talking about… People could lose jobs over decisions that are regarded as the “wrong” ones in big games.
Speaking of big games, what a big night for Drew Brees. He has been such a class act. Breaking the all-time passing yards record on Monday Night Football… Unfortunately, there are analysts who refuse to put Brees on their list of Top 5 QBs of all-time, citing the fact that he has never been regarded as the top signal caller of his era the way other top guys have been or were.
But Brees has definitely been one of the best and what a great NFL moment on Monday night…
Last week’s classes…
Here are a few highlights from last week’s classes.
It was pretty cool as I was trying to explain the “historic present” in class. Instead of giving other examples, I simply pulled out my book “The 1988 Dodgers” and gave an example from page 199…
Or, I suppose I should say:
It’s pretty cool as I’m trying to explain the “historic present” in class. Instead of giving other examples, I simply pull out…
And here’s me in another class going over paraphrasing. As long as students follow the plan, the step-by-step process, they will be fine.
