The Grand Slam Book Of Canadian Baseball Writing

Selected from the two most recent proceedings of the Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture (2019 and 2021), this collection of essays explores subject matter centered both inside and beyond the ballpark. Fifteen contributors offer critical commentary on a range of topics, including controversial decisions on the field and in Hall of Fame elections; baseball's historical role as a rite of passage for boys; two worthy catchers who never received their due; the genesis and development of the minor leagues; and baseball's place in popular culture.

The more than 175 biographies in this volume together tell the story of writing in Saskatchewan. As David Carpenter notes in his introduction to the volume: "The writers whose lives are told in these pages are part of an extraordinary cultural community that has touched and been touched by the people and landscape of this province."

A collection of fictional and factual essays on professional and recreational baseball as played in Canada, by professional sportswriters as well as writers not usually associated with sports. Contributors reminisce about prairie baseball in the 1930s, women's softball, Canada's first World Series in 1992, and Inuit baseball. Paper edition (unseen), $24.95. No index. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Keep one eye on the road ahead and another on the rearview mirror. Because, like the legendary phantom semi of this book's titular story, these stories will creep up on you and overtake you without warning. Edo van Belkom twists his unique perspective and droll, black sense of humor into twisted observations of the sad, violent, and ironic sides of life in this special 25th anniversary release of a compilation of his most beloved horror stories. With a voice and range that has drawn comparisons of Robert Bloch, Richard Matheson and Stephen King, van Belkom takes the reader down a most unique highway that breaths new life into classic horror tropes, all the while maintaining the essence of the best of a combination of "The Twilight Zone" and the old E.C. horror comics of the 1950s. -- "Death Drives a Semi comes at you with a sparkle in its bloodshot eye, a happy twist on its pale lips, and a switch-blade tucked into a back pocket of its faded jeans. These stories move with the brutal, crazed efficiency of a starved rat who has just spotted a half-eaten cheeseburger on the other side of the alley. Throughout, Edo van Belko's left-landed, almost surreal sense of humor aerates and elevates the proceedings by providing a constant ironic commentary, like a soundtrack composed by Frank Zappa and Spike Jones." - Peter Straub, author of The Hellfire Club "These stories are full of fire and dark smoke, fueled by wit and ingenuity." - Joe R. Lansdale, author of Savage Season "Edo van Belkom is a true original . . . His stories are sly, wry, sad, and violent. He has a voice all his own, and songs well worth the singing." - Ed Gorman, author of Cage of Night

Kingston writer Richard Cumyn’s second book of short stories is a remarkable collection of fiction about the curse of modernity–displacement. In striking scenes Cumyn subtly explores our own sense of abandonment and loneliness in the face of change, movement and loss. Cumyn’s prose is sparse and direct, the violence supressed beneath the surface casual and foreboding. His characters are at once familiar and eerily distinct, their relationships a tender blend of heartbreak and affection. Separations achieved through illness, betrayal, aging, necessity, choice or dismissal represent an emotional x-ray of a society looking for permanence in an increasingly fluid and precarious world. This collection will haunt you like a shadow creeping over a suburban street– all the landmarks appear familiar but each door leads to unimagined worlds. Great stories await there.

More than any other sport, baseball has developed its own niche in America’s culture and psyche. Some researchers spend years on detailed statistical analyses of minute parts of the game, while others wax poetic about its players and plays. Many trace the beginnings of the civil rights movement in part to the Major Leagues’ decision to integrate, and the words and phrases of the game (for example, pinch-hitter and out in left field) have become common in our everyday language. From AARON, HENRY onward, this book covers all of what might be called the cultural aspects of baseball (as opposed to the number-rich statistical information so widely available elsewhere). Biographical sketches of all Hall of Fame players, owners, executives and umpires, as well as many of the sportswriters and broadcasters who have won the Spink and Frick awards, join entries for teams, owners, commissioners and league presidents. Advertising, agents, drafts, illegal substances, minor leagues, oldest players, perfect games, retired uniform numbers, superstitions, tripleheaders, and youngest players are among the thousands of entries herein. Most entries open with a topical quote and conclude with a brief bibliography of sources for further research. The whole work is exhaustively indexed and includes 119 photographs.