Free Friday: The Night John Buck Hit Three Home Runs

We’re in Kansas for a wedding this weekend—Hello Wichita! Hello Edgerton!—so I’m putting lots of personal stuff in this week’s Free Friday…

Yes, I know, I know, I’ve been saying for weeks now that I would be sending out an early version of the introduction to anyone who preorders a signed and inscribed copy of WHY WE LOVE FOOTBALL from the good folks at Quail Ridge Books.

Well, it only just occurred to me that if I waited just a few more days, I could send out the actual introduction—exactly as it will appear in the book with the design and everything. So that’s what I’m doing this coming week! Yep, I have designed pages! The book looks amazing!

It also occurred to me that anyone who preorders the book from Quail Ridge before Father’s Day (which is the deadline) should probably get a copy of this early introduction.

So here’s how I’m going to do this: At the end of this week, I will send out the first batch of introductions to anyone who preorders the book by then and emails me the receipt. Getting this in actual book form will be SO much better.

And then, if you’d rather wait, or if you forget, or if you decide to buy later, I’ll send out another batch of introductions the week after Father’s Day.

I’m so excited for you to see the book.

So, to conclude—preorder here and send me the receipt. Please and thank you!

Speaking of WHY WE LOVE FOOTBALL, the book tour is beginning to round into shape, particularly the early part. There are already a couple of events that, well, they’re going to be pretty amazing.

We’ve gotten so many requests, it’s truly humbling. I’m definitely hoping to go to as many of America’s awesome football towns as I can—college towns, pro towns, Dillon, Texas, wherever the game is huge. If you think you live in an awesome football town and would like to see me, your best bet might be to ask the folks at your favorite bookstore to put in a request ASAP.

Things are coming together for my trip to the London Series on June 8 and 9. WHY WE LOVE BASEBALL is being published there (my first international publication!) and I’ll be doing some promotional stuff.

Thank you to everybody in London (or who will be in London) for reaching out. It looks like we’ll be planning a little informal gathering for JoeBlogs readers and baseball fans alike on Friday night before the series. Details forthcoming.

Before then:

• I’ll be at the Gaithersburg Book Festival on May 18. This is looking like a whole lot of fun for everybody in the Washington, D.C., area.

• I’ll be joining my pal Tommy Tomlinson at Park Road Books in Charlotte on May 23 to celebrate his fabulous new book, Dogland. Come on out!

OK, let’s talk a little baseball…

As we all thought, the best division in MLB is…

The American League Central! I mean, obviously. The Twins, at 17-13, are in fourth place at the moment. They would be leading the American League West and the only team actually chasing the Dodgers in the National League West.

Sure, we’ll let it play out a little bit more than 30 games but… it’s pretty fun to see Cleveland, Kansas City and Detroit off to good starts. Will Seth Lugo keep pitching like he’s after the Cy Young? Will Jason Foley keep up his Mariano act? Will Nosh Jaylor, as Nintendo would call him, keep hammering baseballs?

Check back next week! Same bat time! Same bat channel!

Happy Friday! Our Friday posts are free so everyone can enjoy them. Just a reminder that Joe Blogs is a reader-supported newsletter, and I’d love and appreciate your support.

WHY WE LOVE BASEBALL wins an award!

Three years ago, the National Sports Media Association started giving out a set of honors they call their Legacy Awards—they choose best sideline reporter, best sports documentary, best young sports reporter (under 30) and, yes, best sports book.

This year’s best sideline reporter: Holly Rowe. Could not agree more. Holly is so impossibly awesome.

This year’s best sports documentary: “Beckham.” Been meaning to see it.

This year’s best young sports reporter: Memphis’ Wynston Wilcox, who I don’t know but have been following for a while because he too started at the “Augusta Chronicle.” He’s really great.

And this year’s best sports book: Well, I buried the lede, didn’t I? So cool, and WWLB follows a couple of amazing books—last year’s winner was my friend David Maraniss’ amazing Jim Thorpe book, Path Lit By Lightning, and the inaugural winner was my friend Seth Wickersham’s amazing New England Patriots book, It’s Better to be Feared. That’s pretty special company.

Jim Thorpe and Katie Ledecky to get Presidential Medal of Freedom

Speaking of Jim Thorpe, today he will be honored by President Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky will also be honored.

In the early days of the Presidential Medal of Freedom—which was created by President Kennedy in 1963—athletes were never chosen. Presidents Kennedy, LBJ and Nixon did not give an award to an athlete. The closest was when JFK gave one of the inaugural medals to Robert J.H. Kiphuth, who was swim coach at Yale for 41 years. I’m a bit surprised that Richard Nixon, in particular, did not award an athlete, considering he was a gigantic sports fan.

Gerald Ford was the first to specifically honor an athlete, in 1976, when he awarded the medal to Jesse Owens. There would be very few athletes selected until George W. Bush opened the door.

Here are the athletes and coaches who have been honored by presidents since Owens (along with a pithy summary of their greatness)

Gerald Ford

1976: Jesse Owens, track star at 1936 Olympics but would never race Cool Papa Bell.

1977: Joe DiMaggio, the Yankee Clipper, hit in 56 straight games.

Jimmy Carter

None

Ronald Reagan

1983: Bear Bryant, Alabama football coach, wore a houndstooth hat.

1984: Jackie Robinson, baseball player, wore No. 42.

1986: Red Blaik, famed football coach at Army, inspired Vince Lombardi.*

*Interesting, Lombardi has not been awarded yet. In fact, no one in professional sports has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom primarily for their coaching or managing. Several college coaches have been honored, though.

George H W. Bush

1991: Ted Williams, pretty good hitter, helluva fisherman.

1992: Richard Petty, The King, winner of 200 races, wears great shades and hats.

Bill Clinton

1993: Arthur Ashe, Wimbledon champion, social justice reformer.

George W. Bush

2002: Henry Aaron, collected more total bases than anyone ever will.

2003: Roberto Clemente, coolest baseball player ever, American hero.

Bonus 2003: Whizzer White, NFL player, but probably chosen for his time as Supreme Court Justice.

2003: John Wooden, basketball coach deluxe, builder of pyramids.

2004: Arnold Palmer, the King, coolest golfer ever.

2005: Muhammad Ali, heavyweight champion, could float and sting.

2005: Jack Nicklaus, golfer, winner of 18 majors, Masters starter.

2005: Frank Robinson, first Black manager in MLB, hitter supreme.

2006: Buck O’Neil, the Soul of Baseball.

Barack Obama

2009: Billie Jean King: Tennis star, defeater of Riggs, changer of paradigms.

2011: Stan Musial, The Man.

2011: Bill Russell, Lord of the Rings.

2012: Pat Summitt, all-time basketball coach, 8x national champion.

2012: Ernie Banks, baseball player, let’s play two.

2013: Dean Smith, basketball coach, knew all four corners.

2014: Charlie Sifford, first African-American to play on the PGA Tour.

2015: Yogi Berra, baseball’s all-time winner, took all the forks in the road.

2015: Willie Mays, the best baseball player who ever lived, according to me.

2016: Vin Scully, the voice of baseball.

2016: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, spent a lifetime looking to the sky (hook).

2016: Michael Jordan. Wikipedia’s description: “Olympic Basketball player.”

Donald Trump

2018: Alan Page, football player and judge who brought forth justice.

2018: Babe Ruth, probably the real source of “Baby Ruth” candy bar name.

2018: Roger Staubach, Captain Comeback, made the Cowboys America’s Team.

2018: Bob Cousy, basketball player, passer supreme, eyes everywhere.

2019: Mariano Rivera, Yankee executioner, ender of dreams.

2019: Jerry West, the logo.

2019: Tiger Woods, golfer, has won a few tournaments.

2019: Dan Gable, perhaps the greatest wrestler ever, even if Ric Flair fans disagree.

2020: Lou Holtz, football coach and analyst.

2020: Jim Ryun, first high school runner to break four-minute mile, congressman.

2020: Babe Didrikson Zaharias, star in every sport she played, which was a lot.

2021: Gary Player, golf’s global ambassador.

2021: Annika Sörenstam, golfer, 10x major champion, only woman to shoot 59.

Joe Biden

2022: Simone Biles, gymnast, body bender, mind-bender.

2022: Megan Rapinoe, soccer star, human rights activist.

Apologies if I missed any… I kind of went through the list pretty quickly. As per usual here at JoeBlogs, I didn’t expect that to take as long as it did.

Hey, if you feel like it, I’d love if you’d share this post with your friends!

“The Night John Buck Hit Three Home Runs”

OK, keep on sending in your nominations for the official JoeBlogs Baseball Song. We’re not ready to make any judgments yet, but I will tell you that this one is STRONG for a number of reasons: It’s Pkew Pkew Pkew, a band out of Toronto, with, well, as the title says: “The Night John Buck Hit Three Home Runs.”

And I’m not just in love with it because John Buck is one of my all-time favorites.

The date: April 29, 2010. Toronto beat Oakland 6-3.

Spoiler alert: You might be crying by the end.

Check out “The Greatest Night in Pop”

If you get a chance, check out “The Greatest Night in Pop,” a documentary about the making of “We Are the World.” A couple of friends had recommended it, and I kept thinking, “Eh, I’m sure it’s good, but I know what that is.” It turns out, I really didn’t know what that is, and the doc is overflowing with hilarious bits, fascinating insights into celebrity and the 1980s, fantastic Stevie Wonder quotes and some stunningly good music.

What do I mean by stunningly good music? When “We Are the World” came out, I thought it was a pretty meh song. I appreciated it as a cultural moment and charitable effort and purchased it (obviously, I’m no monster), but I didn’t appreciate then that the song, as produced, is actually an absolute masterpiece, particularly in the way that, in just a few words, it brings out the individual splendor of pretty much every artist who performed, from Cyndi Lauper to Huey Lewis to Ray Charles to Bob Dylan to Michael Jackson. Credit to the master, Quincy Jones, because now I utterly adore that song.

This just in!

Was about to wrap things up when I got word that WHY WE LOVE BASEBALL—along with Keith O’Brien’s excellent Charlie Hustle—is today’s NPR’s Book of the Day! I mean how cool is that?

JoeBlogs Week in Review

Tuesday: The 100 Best Players in Baseball.

Wednesday: Mike Trout and What Might Have Been.

Thursday: The Best Players in Baseball Since 1901 (Part 1).