Hi Everyone —
One more day in Los Angeles — Mike and I had a lot of fun at the Aero Theater last night introducing A League of Their Own to kick off American Cinematheque’s Friend of the Fest Podcast Film Festival.
Funny thing, I’ve been thinking a lot about A League of Their Own for the last few weeks for obvious reasons, but I didn’t think about maybe my favorite personal ALoTO story until I got to the movie theater and one of our brilliant readers jogged my memory.
Here, by the way, is the full Baseball Movie Countdown:
Back to ALoTO. When the movie came out in 1992, I had just started my first gig as a sports columnist for The Augusta Chronicle, and it goes without saying that I had no idea what I was doing. I was 25 years old. To be fair to the Chronicle, they didn’t actually hire some 25-year-old kid with no clue to be a full-time sports columnist. No, they hired me to, you know, do all sorts of stuff. But I started writing columns pretty much every day in addition to that other stuff, and they let me, and after a while, I was the sports columnist.
Pretty crazy way to become the lead sports columnist in Augusta for the Masters.
I was so hungry then. So determined to be a sports columnist like my heroes, like Jim Murray, Leigh Montville, Ron Green, Dave Kindred, and so many others. I’d like to think a lot of that hunger remains, but there was a desperation back then, a sense that if I ever stopped writing columns for a day or two, they would never let me write another. So I wrote columns about EVERYTHING. I constantly wrote local columns — Little League, softball, miniature golf, didn’t matter — but I was always on the prowl for national columns.
When A League of Their Own came out, I found out that USC’s legendary baseball coach Rod Dedeaux was a technical advisor and baseball consultant. Maybe there was a press release about it. Maybe I just read it somewhere. Whatever the case, I got Dedeaux on the phone to talk about the making of the movie.
Until Mike and I were about to get on stage to talk about the movie, I had totally forgotten about that call. I have since gone back into the archives*, and I cannot find that column anywhere.
*Mostly, what I find when I go back into the old Augusta Chronicle archives revolves around just how terrible I was at picking football games. The paper had a contest called “I Pounded Poz.” The idea was that we’d have a list of football games — college and pro — and I’d pick the winners, and anyone who picked more winners would get an “I Pounded Poz” T-shirt. Since I was — and remain — terrible at picking games, the Chronicle basically clothed the city of Augusta throughout the fall. At some point the publisher of the paper found me at my desk and said — this is a direct quote — “Pick better.”
But I do have a specific memory of the Dedeaux piece. We were talking about how he worked with all the actors — Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Tom Hanks, etc. — and how impressed he was with them.
And then, out of nowhere, he said this:
“Listen. Madonna can play.”
The movie countdown was so much fun, I’m thinking about doing another countdown over the next few weeks. Suggestions are welcome.
Only 165 days to the publication of FIFTY SEASONS, and stuff is happening. I just got the copy-edited version of the book, which I am working on now. We are about to announce a preorder campaign that will be very special. We are putting together the bonus material for everyone who preorders — save your receipts! We are starting to plot out the book tour. There’s the audiobook to be worked out.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — I love FIFTY SEASONS. I love all my books, I really do, but FIFTY SEASONS is particularly close to my heart because it took so long to reveal itself. I went down dozens of dead-end roads before coming up with the idea of the seasons that echo. That idea came directly from Henry Aaron, by the way.
I cannot wait to share FIFTY SEASONS with you.
Somebody on one of the socials ran this list recently — these are the top 10 rookies, 21-and-under, in bWAR:
Mike Trout, Angels, 2012, 10.5
Ted Williams, Red Sox, 1939, 6.6
Albert Pujols, Cardinals, 2001, 6.6
Frank Robinson, Reds, 1956, 6.6
Donie Bush, Tigers, 1909, 6.5
Jason Heyward, Braves, 2010, 6.4
Julio Rodriguez, Mariners, 2022, 6.2
Kevin McGonigle, Tigers, 2026, 5.6
Joe Morgan, Colt 45s, 1965, 5.6
Tom Brunansky, Twins, 1982, 5.6
Here’s that same list using Fangraphs WAR — Kevin McGonigle is not quite there, but he probably will be by the end of the season:
Mike Trout, Angels, 2012, 10.1
Shoeless Joe Jackson, Indians, 1911, 9.3
Albert Pujols, Cardinals, 2001, 7.2
Ted Williams, Red Sox, 1939, 7.1
Donie Bush, Tigers, 1909, 6.4
Frank Robinson, Reds, 1956, 5.8
Julio Rodríguez, Mariners, 2022, 5.7
Stan Musial, Cardinals, 1942, 5.4
Hal Trosky Sr., Indians, 1934, 5.4
Jackson Merrill, Padres, 2024, 5.3
Kevin McGonigle, Tigers, 2026, 4.7
The point is that Kevin McGonigle is really having a wonderful season — and it’s what I like to call a “WAR Season.” Here’s what I mean by that: We talk all the time about some of the flaws of WAR. And, of course, it’s not perfect.
But it does an amazing job of highlighting superb seasons that might otherwise be overlooked. I mean, if you glance at McGonigle’s season …
He’s hitting .282 with 22 doubles, 13 homers, 52 RBI.
I mean, that looks fine.
But it’s more than fine. It’s more than fine because that batting average is SO MUCH BETTER than you think — it actually places him in the top 10 in the American League. Batters in the American League are hitting .241, the second-lowest average for the league since they added the DH back in 1973.
It’s more than fine because, in addition, he’s walked 77 times, and he’s stolen 12 of 13 bases, and he’s scored 82 runs, and he’s playing good defense at both short and third (his WAR is a bit lower on Fangraphs because they don’t rate his defense quite as high). The gift that WAR has given us is that it shows us a bigger picture. Kevin McGonigle, who just turned 22 three days ago (this is considered his 21-year-old season because he was 21 on June 30), is having the sort of well-rounded season that portends great things.
Of course, it doesn’t have to work out that way. Jackson Merrill regressed. Tom Brunansky’s defense and ability to get on base fell off. But you look at any list of 21-year-old players who immediately starred, and you will find as many future superstars as not. The bWAR list has five current or future Hall of Famers plus Julio. The fWAR list also has five plus Shoeless Joe.
This has been a lousy year for the Tigers. But you gotta love a future with Kevin McGonigle at the center.
That Fangraphs list has Ted Williams 4th and Donie Bush 5th.
Williams' last season in the minors was 1938 with the Minneapolis Millers. His average jumped from .291 to .366 and his manager was Donie Bush.
For those of us who couldn't attend in person, can you tell us what Tom Hanks thinks happened at the end of A League of Their Own?