Last night, the wife and I went to a discussion and Q&A session at the Museum of the City of New York with Joshua Prager (author of this book) and Ralph Branca (pitcher of this pitch). It was interesting and fun. I got my copy of the book signed by both. But what I found most interesting about the whole situation was how passionately people still feel about a home run that was hit 56 years ago. The Q&A session actually got contentious, with one guy actually throwing his hands forward and exclaiming, "ehhhh!" (this was probably the best way for him to win the argument.) Most of the questions revolved around the logistics of the Giants stealing signs that season, and despite not only overwhelming proof but also ample time to for the Giants to execute, most people still didn't buy it. I would have liked to have gotten a question in revolving around their thoughts on contemporary baseball and Sabermetrics, but too many cranky old people needed to air their grievances.

Speaking of good books to read, holy moly, have you read the new Philip Roth? I'm about 60 pages in and I'm as in love with it, as I was in love with Portnoy's Complaint when I was but a young lad of 15.

Labels: baseball, books