Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine

Spitball is a literary baseball magazine founded in 1981 and dedicated to poetry, short fiction, prose, art, and book reviews; all devoted to baseball. In 1983 Spitball established the CASEY Award to honor the authors and publishers of the best baseball books published each year. The CASEY was the first award of its kind, and it is widely recognized as the most prestigious award that a baseball book can be given.

 A key component of Spitball's mission is the timely publication of authoritative, lively, and appreciative reviews of quality baseball books. These reviews can be found in our Baseball Books Reviewed section. We also publish short and to-the-point reviews of current baseball books in the "Baseball Book News" column at the back of each issue of Spitball Magazine.

Spitball's Latest  News

October 15, 2023

Finalists for 2023 CASEY Award Announced

The Editors of Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine are pleased to announce that the following books have been Nominated as Finalists for the 2023 CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year:

Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas * Jesse Cole * Dutton;

Baseball Photography of the Deadball Era: Rediscovering the Early Lensmen and Their Indelible Images that Brought the Game from the Field to the Fans * Jim Chapman * Self-published;

Baseball: The Turbulent Midcentury Years * Steven P. Gietschier * University of Nebraska Press;

Daybreak at Chavez Ravine: Fernandomania and the Remaking of the Los Angeles Dodgers * Erik Sherman * University of Nebraska Press;

The Fireballer: A Novel * Mark Stevens * Lake Union Publishing;

From the Front Row: Reflections of a Major League Baseball Owner and Modern Art Dealer * Jeffrey H. Loria * PostHill Press;

The New Ballgame: The Not-So-Hidden Forces Shaping Modern Baseball * Russell A. Carleton * Triumph Books;

Spitter: Baseball’s Notorious Gaylord Perry * David Vaught * Texas A & M Press:

Welcome to the Circus of Baseball: A Story of the Perfect Summer, at the Perfect Ballpark, at the Perfect Time * Ryan McGee * Doubleday;

Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments * Joe Posnanski * Dutton; and

The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, and Unbreakable Friendship between John Glenn and Ted Williams * Adam Lazarus * Citadel Press.

According to Spitball Editor Mike Shannon, “Great baseball books are nominated as Finalists for the CASEY Award every year, but this year’s list is truly outstanding, one of the strongest fields ever assembled in the history of the Award. In fact, it is the strength of the field that compelled us to include 11 books. We hated to increase the Judges’ workload (from the usual 10 books), but we simply found it impossible to leave out any of the 11 Nominated titles. Thus, just being included in this list is a great honor, as several other top-notch baseball books for 2023 regrettably did not make the cut, and I do not envy the task the Judges have in front of them, of trying to determine which of these 11 books deserves a little more than the others to win the CASEY. Congratulations to all the Nominated authors and publishers for their impressive contributions to the field of baseball literature.”

The 41st annual CASEY Awards will take place in Cincinnati, Ohio, in March of 2024. More details about the event will be posted on the Spitball website in the coming months.

July 26, 2023

JUDGES for 2023 CASEY Award Announced

Spitball is pleased to announce that the following have agreed to serve as the Judges for the 2023 CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year.

John Derks (Independence, KY) is an expert on the baseball card hobby and a former card shop owner. He was an outstanding relief pitcher for Northern Kentucky University (1983-87), who upon graduation was the school's career leader in both appearances and saves. He served as the team's pitching coach from 1987 to 1993 and remains the program's only participant to both play and coach for NKU in a college World Series. The manager of a title company, the 59-year-old Derks is only 58 years old.

Tom Gilbert (Brooklyn, NY) is the author of several baseball books, including How Baseball Happened, which won the 2020 CASEY Award. An active member of SABR's 19th-century Committee, he is currently working on a biography of "baseball's mysterious first star pitcher, Jim Crieghton." An indefatigable raconteur, he still pitches in a local softball league.

Joe Gazzo (Strongsville, OH) has spent 40 years in the real estate business and currently serves as VP Ohio Region for Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realty. He sits on the board of The Baseball Heritage Museum at the site of Cleveland's historic League Park, where he gives guided tours of the preserved facility. An accomplished baseball artist featured in Spitball and Helmar Baseball History magazines, he also teaches art classes in the League Park neighborhood.

Spitball Editor Mike Shannon said, "We are very pleased with the composition of this year's CASEY Judging panel. The three Judges are all rabid life-long baseball fans who know the game inside and out, as well as thoughtful observers who bring differing backgrounds and perspectives to the task. We have every confidence that they will succeed in their mission: to identify the one book among many outstanding Finalists that deserves the most to win the prestigious CASEY Award. We look forward to their decision." The list of Finalists for the 2023 CASEY Award will be announced on this website the first week of November.

November 1, 2022

Finalists for 2022 CASEY Award Announced

Spitball Magazine is pleased to announce that the following books have been Nominated as Finalists for the 2022 CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book the Year. This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the CASEY, the first and most prestigious award of its kind; and to commemorate this milestone, Spitball's Art Director Donnie Pollard has created a special variation of the CASEY Award logo.  Here are the ten outstanding baseball books which will now compete for the 2022 CASEY Award:

The Book of Joe: Trying Not to Suck at Baseball and Life by Joe Maddon and Tom Verducci * Twelve Books;

Charlie Murphy: The Iconoclastic Showman Behind the Chicago Cubs by Jason Cannon * University of Nebraska Press;

The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham: Home Runs, Bad Calls, Crazy Fights, Big Swings, and a Hit by Ron Shelton * Knopf;

The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series by Tyler Kepner * Doubleday;

The Lineup: Ten Books that Changed Baseball by Paul Aron * McFarland;

Playing through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession that Changed Baseball Forever by Dan Good * Abrams Press;

Red Barber: The Life and Legacy of a Broadcasting Legend by Judith R. Hiltner and James R. Walker * University of Nebraska Press;

Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original by Howard Bryant * Mariner;

In Scoring Position: 40 Years of a Baseball Love Affair by Bob Ryan & Bill Chuck * Triumph Books; and

True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson by Kostya Kennedy * St. Martin’s Press.

According to Editor-in-Chief Mike Shannon, "Through the CASEY Award, Spitball long ago demonstrated that baseball is an inexhaustible subject for the most talented writers and historians, and this year's Finalists compose a most worthy crop of outstanding baseball books to celebrate the CASEYs' 40th Anniversary. We congratulate all the Nominated authors and publishers, as well as the authors and publishers of all baseball books released in 2022, and we thank everyone who has contributed to the CASEY Award process thus far. This year's Judges have a tough job ahead of them, but we are confident that they will recognize the one book on the list that deserves a little bit more than the others the coveted crown of CASEY Award winner for 2022. We also thank our esteemed partner, Louisville Slugger, for making the blue & gold engraved Slugger which represents the CASEY Award."

The 40th Annual CASEY celebration will take place in early March 2023 in Cincinnati, Ohio; and further details will appear on this website.

June 3, 2022

CASEY Award Judges for 2022 Announced

Spitball is pleased to announce the members of the Judges Panel for the historic 2022 CASEY Award, marking the 40th anniversary of the first and oldest award for Best Baseball Book of the Year:

A former #1 draft pick of Charlie Finley's Kansas City Athletics, Skip Lockwood (Rye, NH) played for five major league teams, including the legendary Seattle Pilots. He had his best years working out of the New York Mets bullpen in 1976 and 1977, when he recorded 19 and 20 saves respectively. He posted a 2.80 ERA over his five-year stint with the Mets and is considered one of the best relievers in team history. Lockwood earned a Master's degree from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, authored the well-received Insight Pitch: My Life as a Major League Closer (Skyhorse Publishers, 2018) without the aid of a ghostwriter, and today lectures on sports psychology.

A fixture on the Atlanta baseball scene, Al Morris (Atlanta, GA) attended his first professional baseball game at the famous Ponce de Leon Park, home of the Southern Association Atlanta Crackers, when he was seven years old. An Atlanta Braves season ticker holder for 25 years, he is the Secretary of the Atlanta 400 Baseball Fan Club. Co-founder of "B4" (a group of fans devoted to baseball, bar-b-que, burial grounds, and battle fields), Morris conducts guided tours of Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery, the site of the city's first organized baseball game on May 12, 1866.

College professor Mark Walling (Ada, OK) played shortstop on four state high school championship teams and once hit a home run off Mike Moore, who went on to enjoy a 13-year career pitching in the big leagues. Walling teaches creative writing and film at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, and has published stories in a wide variety of publications, such as The Sewanee Review, Louisiana Literature, and Concho River. He has also published essays on filmmakers David Lynch and Tim Burton with the University of Kentucky Press.

"Spitball is extremely pleased with the composition of this year's Judges panel for the 2022 CASEY Award," said Editor-in-Chief Mike Shannon. "It should be obvious to everyone that the group represents a wide range of baseball knowledge and experience, and we are super confident that whatever decision they render at the end of the process, it will be the best one. The competition for the big prize will no doubt be fierce, as it usually is, but with Judges such as these, the Nominated authors and publishers should also feel confident that their books will all get a fair shake." Shannon also noted that Mr. Lockwood becomes the fourth ex-major league player to serve as a CASEY Award Judge, joining John Curtis (1994), Wes Parker (2003), and John Poff (2012). 

Finalists for the 2022 CASEY Award will be announced in early November, and all authors and publishers who wish to have their baseball books published during this calendar year considered for the oldest and most prestigious honor a baseball book can receive should make certain that review copies of their books are sent in a timely manner to Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine.

December 2, 2021

Cincinnati, OH

Finalists for 2021 CASEY Award Announced

Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine has announced the Finalists for the 2021 CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year: a list of nine outstanding books. 

The Baseball 100 by Joe Posnanski (The Avid Readers Press);

The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell: Speed, Grace, and the Negro Leagues by Lonnie Wheeler (Abrams Press);

The Bronx Zoom: Inside the New York Yankees' Most Bizarre Season by Bryan Hoch (Triumph Books);

Cheated: The Inside Story of the Astros Scandal and a Colorful History of Sign Stealing by Andy Martino (Doubleday);

Cobra: A Life of Baseball and Brotherhood by Dave Parker and Dave Jordan (University of Nebraska Press);

Escape from Castro's Cuba by Tim Wendel (University of Nebraska Press);

Forty Years a Giant: The Life of Horace Stoneham by Steven Treder (University of Nebraska Press);

Lights, Camera, Fastball: How The Hollywood Stars Changed Baseball by Dan Taylor (Rowman & Littlefield); and

Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series that Changed Baseball by Luke Epplin (Flatiron Books).

Spitball Editor Mike Shannon praised the list, saying, "This group of worthy candidates for the CASEY proves once again that baseball is an  inexhaustible topic that continues to attract the brightest and most talented researchers and writers, as well as the best editors and publishers in the country. Any serious baseball fan will want every one of these books in his library, and we do not envy the Judges their task of deciding which of these books deserves, a little more than the others, to receive the highest honor which any baseball book, its author, and its publisher can receive. We congratulate all these authors and especially their publishers, as the risks of publishing have never been greater than they are today, yet these publishers recognized merit when they saw it and expertly ushered it into the wonderful books represented by this list of Finalists." Spitball extends thanks to all the publishers who participated in the 2021 CASEY Award competition. For information on the 39th annual CASEY Awards ceremony, please stay tuned to this website.

June 25, 2021

Cincinnati, OH 

CASEY Award Policy Announcement

    Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine has announced a policy to officially govern the administration of the CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year: henceforward, at least one of the three Judges newly seated on the three-Judge CASEY Award panel each year must be a current subscriber of the Magazine. CASEY Award Judges are not paid, but they do receive complimentary Judges' copies of the baseball books Nominated as Finalists, plus the honor and satisfaction of being an integral part of the process which determines the greatest honor the author and publisher of a baseball book can receive. The 2021 competition marks the 39th year of the existence of the CASEY Award, which was inaugurated in 1983.

    According to Spitball Editor Mike Shannon, the announcement represents a formal declaration of what has been actual CASEY Award practice for some time. "When it comes to Judges for the CASEY, we are always looking for the same thing," he said. "We need people who are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about both baseball and literature, and that pretty much defines the readership of Spitball Magazine. What this official policy does is recognize that fact, plus it gives us a chance to more deeply involve, even if it is one person at a time, our readership in the CASEY Award process. Our subscribers, in other words, begin to have a more proprietary relationship to the Award, which is a good thing. We have always invited our subscribers to nominate books for the CASEY Award each year, and we will continue to do that, but the opportunity to make nominations is open to everyone; including people who are not and have never been subscribers to Spitball Magazine. Being a Judge for the CASEY though is a much more important part of the overall process, and so we think it is only fair and natural that we ensure that our subscribers are always represented on the panel."

    Shannon went on to say that this policy does not necessarily limit the composition of any year's panel to one Spitball subscriber; it merely ensures the presence of at least one subscriber. "We are not only proud of the CASEY Award itself," said Shannon, "but also of everyone who has been a part of it all these years: the winning authors and publishers, of course, but in addition to them ... all the authors and publishers nominated as Finalists, all the wonderful publishers who have supplied their Nominated books to the Judges, the Judges who have done such a great job in fulfilling their duty, all the loyal supporters and attendees of the many CASEY Award ceremonies we have sponsored, and all the generous people who have hosted the CASEYs. It's been a concerted effort by a lot of great people, and we are grateful to them all."

    A related announcement about the Judges for the 2021 CASEY Award will be made in this space soon.

Jeremy Beer Accepts 37th CASEY Award for "Oscar Charleston: The Life and Legend of Baseball's Greatest Forgotten Player"

    On Sunday, August 30, 2020, Jeremy Beer accepted the 37th annual CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year from Spitball Editor Mike Shannon at Wiedemann's Brewery and Restaurant in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Beer spoke for 25 minutes before a knowledgeable and appreciative crowd of Cincinnati-area baseball fans about the subject of his important biography, which has rescued one of the game's greatest players from the dust bin of baseball history. Beer explained that Charleston must be considered among a handful of the very best players, black or white, because of his unmatched resume. He said that Charleston's greatness consisted of four factors: his unmatched playing ability as an all-around great hitter, defender, and base runner/base stealer; his supremacy as a championship manager in Negro League baseball; his pioneering status as the first black scout employed by a team in the white major leagues; and the difficulties he routinely and bravely overcame to achieve his many accomplishments. At the conclusion of his remarks Mr. Beer took questions from the crowd for another 20 minutes and took a few practice swings with his beautiful blue & gold Louisville Slugger CASEY Award baseball bat. He now joins the pantheon of previous CASEY Award winners.

    Prior to the presentation of the CASEY Award to Mr. Beer, the "Spitball Magazine crowd" once again displayed its amazing knowledge of baseball history during a shout-it-out trivia quiz, based on questions taken from 2019 baseball books; and Greg Gajus, Deron Grothaus, John "Hondo" Skurkay, and Rob Langenderfer took home "Baseball Trivia King" certificates, "suitable for framing." All 2019 baseball books received by Spitball for review were on display; and, as usual, BALLZAK, the Magnificent (aka Steve Blessinger) wowed the crowd with his humorous prognosticating abilities. Greg Gajus also accepted a Finalist Nomination Award for Baseball Revolutionaries: How the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings Rocked the Country and Made Baseball Famous. Spitball thanks the 2019 CASEY Award Judges, Dave Grob, Michael Leahy, and C.W. Spooner, for a job well done; Jon and Betsy Newberry of Wiedemann's Brewery for graciously hosting the 37th annual CASEYs; Jim Crowley, Doug King, and Eric Soergel for a great job as pinch-hit introducers of the Nominated Finalists during the official program; and especially all the patrons of the CASEY Awards who braved "the elements" to attend the event.

Rob Neyer Wows 'em at 36th Annual CASEY Awards Banquet 

The 36th annual CASEY Awards Banquet was another sold-out affair and was highlighted by CASEY Award-winner Rob Neyer's fascinating and wide-ranging discussion of his winning book, Power Ball, and recent analytical trends which have dominated the game at the major league level and caused some fans to consider that game less interesting than its predecessor. The usual festivities were part of the afternoon, including door-prize give-aways, a shout-it-out trivia quiz based on 2018's baseball books, a display of all baseball books published in 2018, an appearance by BALLZAK, the Magnificent, a rundown of all books Nominated as Finalists for the 2018 CASEY, and Mr. Neyer's acceptance speech. After his formal remarks, Neyer took questions from the audience for almost 45 minutes. Author John Erardi was also on hand and accepted a Nomination Award for his biography, Tony Perez : From Cuba to Cooperstown. It was another very special event, and Spitball thanks all the Nominated authors and publishers, everyone who helped stage the event, especially Scott Schmidt of Crosley's Sports Bar & Eatery, and all those loyal fans of baseball literature who attended. It's because of that latter group that the CASEY Awards Banquet has become the premier Hot Stove League event on the baseball calendar!

NEW MAILING ADDRESS

It's official: Spitball now has a new mailing address, and all books for review, submissions, and correspondence should be mailed to:

536 Lassing Way

Walton, KY 41094

Please make a note of our new address.

BACK ISSUE SET

Complete sets of Spitball Magazine are not available, as numerous past issues are completely SOLD OUT. We do, however, offer back issue lots, containing 15-17 different back issues. The differing number of issues available is the result of supplies on hand and finds/repurchases of past issues. The current price of the Back Issues Lot is $35, postpaid.

Sorry, we no longer accept payment for anything via Paypal.