Another book I’m reviewing in eBook form, this is 2007’s The 25 Greatest Sports Conspiracy Theories of All Time, by Elliott Kalb. While not just about baseball, at least ten of the “conspiracies” that Kalb talks examines are focused on baseball, and another (the “Michael Jordan’s first retirement was actually a gambling suspension” theory) involves baseball.
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So, I finally broke down and started reading eBooks. I dunno how I’ll do with it, since I so much like the feel of the paper page and reading things on a computer always seems to lead me to getting distracted a lot, but, hey, it’ll let me read some books I otherwise wouldn’t have read, such as this one: Cellar Dwellers, by Jonathan Weeks
As the name suggests, this book is about the crummiest teams in baseball history, ranging from the 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys to the 2003 Tigers. Each chapters is about a team, and gives some background on how the team became so crummy, some bright spots (for example, a 21-year-old Walter Johnson went 13-25 on the 1909 Senators despite a 2.22 ERA) and particularly bad players, while also spreading in some color about how baseball was at the time.
Overall, it’s a good breezy read, full of little anecdotes (some of which may be apocryphal, given old-time baseball writers love of exaggeration) and horrific statistics that further show how bad some of the teams covered were. There is even a bit at the end that features “dishonorable mentions”.
However, there are some sins of omission, with some of my favorite stories or bad teams not making the cut. For example, Weeks does not include Eddie Kolb of the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who was a clerk and semi-pro player who was hired from a local tobacco shop to pitch the final game of the season. Seriously, that really happened, and I was kind of disappointed it wasn’t included.
That is a small quibble, however. Overall, while hardly a groundbreaking work by any means, I’d recommend Cellar Dwellers to anybody looking for a quick read about bad teams.
This book was reviewed using an eBook from my local library’s website.
One of the most underused but coolest (no pun intended) superpowers is that involving ice. I’m not sure why I think this. Perhaps it’s because of the Western New Yorker in me who full knows what it’s like to fall on your butt on a icy day, or maybe it’s because it’s a contrast to all the superpowers that rely upon warm temperatures or fire.
Either way, it’s kind of a bummer that so few heroes seem to have it- it seems to be more of a villain power. There’s Mr. Freeze, for example, and Captain Cold. The only ice-hero I can think of off the top of my head is Iceman from the X-Men.
But there is also one called Sub-Zero, a Venusian who landed on Earth and used his freezing powers to fight crime in stories published by Novelty Press.
…I don’t know why a Venusian would have ice powers either. But he did appear in a baseball story, so he’s now going to be in the rare company of superheroes who have been featured in BIZARRE BASEBALL CULTURE!
This story, from December 1940 in Blue Bolt Comics #7, can be found here, starting on page 21.
In Bizarre Baseball Culture, I take a look at some of the more unusual places where baseball has reared it’s head in pop culture and fiction.
When I was growing up, there was only one true cartoon Batman, and that was the Batman voiced by Kevin Conroy in a series of cartoons that started in the early nineties, ended in 2006, and then briefly revived for the occasional video game or DVD movie. The shows that featured Conroy- usually headed by a writer named Paul Dini and an artist named Bruce Timm- were and are masterpieces, regarded by many as the definitive Batman and not just great kids shows, but great shows period.
However, there was the slight problem that having a deep and rather mature Batman in the cartoons meant there wasn’t as much stuff for the very little kiddies, so in 2004, while the Conroy-Batman was in a Justice League cartoon, a new show was created, entitled simply The Batman. While it did have it’s moments (or so I hear, I think I only watched maybe four episodes of it in total), it was not dark, it was not deep, it was not mature and it just in general was an abomination, especially when compared to the Batman cartoons I’d grown up watching. It was created basically just to sell toys to little kids in the run-up to the release of Batman Begins (which, as we all know, was totally kid friendly, right?).
Still, there was one thing that The Batman gave us: a comic book in which Batman joins forces with Cal Ripken Jr. in order to stop the Penguin and hawk Big League Chew. Just as Bob Kane and Bill Finger intended.
(Go below the jump for more)
In Bizarre Baseball Culture, I take a look at some of the more unusual places where baseball has reared it’s head in pop culture and fiction.
Last time on Bizarre Baseball Culture: I reviewed and overviewed 2007’s Triple-A Baseball Heroes. In it, some of Marvel’s most famous and/or at-the-time-in-a-movie superheroes had misadventures at the AAA All-Star Game before learning the greatness and beauty of Triple-A Baseball. Also, the Hulk sang “Take Me Out To The Ballgame.” If you haven’t read that, I suggest you do so.
And now, without further ado, it’s sequel, Triple-A Baseball Heroes #2.
The first “Superhero Day” giveaways around AAA must have been successful, because they did the same thing in 2008. Everything about the second issue of Triple-A Baseball Heroes was bigger. The scope was bigger, there were more alternate covers for certain cities, and instead of merely dealing with one event or city, the entirety of AAA baseball was at stake. It even had a cameo or two. You can even see the stakes raised in the standard cover (done by John Watson, who also did the cover for the 2007 edition). Where before it was but a standard “running towards the reader” scene, this one had conflict, as the Marvel heroes and AAA mascots surround Doctor Doom, Magneto, the Green Goblin and the Mole Man.
I have to think, by the way, that the mascot of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs would be in trouble against Magneto.
So, what about the story itself? Well, go below the jump for that.
Thanks partially to the efforts of Larry Granillo, the article about the 2007 Triple-A Baseball Heroes actually came to the attention of the comic’s writer, Chris Eliopoulos. His comment upon seeing it:
@wezen_ball @DanJGlickman Wow.
— chris eliopoulos (@ChrisEliopoulos) June 20, 2013
So, I asked him a few questions, and he was kind enough to answer what he could remember from 2007. For example, I asked how he ended up writing the piece in the first place:
@DanJGlickman @wezen_ball I also write stuff and had been for Marvel. They knew I liked baseball & this was a custom comic…
— chris eliopoulos (@ChrisEliopoulos) June 20, 2013
@DanJGlickman @wezen_ball …so there is a lot of back and forth with story and character that the clients want & you have to give it to them.
— chris eliopoulos (@ChrisEliopoulos) June 20, 2013
@DanJGlickman @wezen_ball They knew I would take it in stride. So, it was just my love of baseball and easiness to work with.
— chris eliopoulos (@ChrisEliopoulos) June 20, 2013
In other words, he did the comic because he loves baseball and was willing to work with the clients (in this case presumably AAA Baseball). And, well, most of the unusual and/or bizarre things in the comic can be chalked up because that’s what the clients wanted:
@DanJGlickman @wezen_ball A lot of the things you mentioned in the post are things the client may have asked for. Customer’s always right.
— chris eliopoulos (@ChrisEliopoulos) June 20, 2013
@DanJGlickman @wezen_ball It’s been a while, but I think they wanted certain characters or there were restrictions on certain ones.
— chris eliopoulos (@ChrisEliopoulos) June 20, 2013
Thanks to Chris Eliopoulos for tweeting with me quick yesterday. Appreciate it. Also, thanks to Larry Granillo for bringing it to his attention.
In Bizarre Baseball Culture, I take a look at some of the more unusual places where baseball has reared it’s head in pop culture and fiction.
I warned you. I told you it was coming. You could have gone away, but, no, you had to go and actually come here and read this installment of Bizarre Baseball Culture. This is a very special Bizarre Baseball Culture, as, for the first time, it’s something that I actually have in my very small personal collection of comic books. You see, in 2007, each Triple-A baseball team had a day celebrating superheroes, and as a giveaway, there was this comic:
And, as you can probably guess, I was at that game and got the giveaway. And so, it sat in a drawer for almost seven years, ignored. Until today. Yes, true believers, tremble and prepare yourself for the 2007 edition of Triple-A Baseball Heroes, featuring the superheroes of Marvel Comics.
Now, a few notes before we get going here:
Now, go below the jump for the rest of the post:
So I found this (among other things) in my drawer today….
Yes, coming soon from the Baseball Continuum by way of a 2007 promotional giveaway: Triple-A Baseball Heroes, guest-starring the Marvel superheroes.
If this isn’t Bizarre Baseball Culture, I’m not sure what is. Prepare yourself. For it is coming.
Just in time for Man of Steel, our friend Michael Clair over at Old Time Family Baseball takes a look at a 1982 story in which Clark Kent has to manage a little league team. Go there.
In Bizarre Baseball Culture, I take a look at some of the more unusual places where baseball has reared it’s head in pop culture and fiction.
One of the main types of Superhero is the patriotic hero, wrapped in the flag, fighting crime and evil not just to protect a city, but to protect a country. The quintessential patriotic hero, of course, is Captain America. But, contrary to popular belief, he was not the first. No, that honor goes to The Shield, “G-Man Extraordinary”, who first showed up in Pep Comic #1 in January 1940. By contrast, Captain America didn’t appear until March 1941. The Shield- created by MLJ Comics (which eventually became Archie Comics)- is actually Joe Higgins, who gained his rather generic superpowers (strength, invulnerability, etc) from a chemical formula (much like, yes, Captain America eventually did).
Anyway, given his patriotic get-up, it was probably inevitable that the Shield would one day crossover with the National Pastime. And, in fact, it happened rather quickly in Pep Comics #7, which came out later in 1940. It can be found here, written by Harry Shorten and drawn by Irv Novick.
Anyway, onto the story:
We begin with the standard organized crime villains (these ones belonging to “Al Moroni”), not unlike the ones we’ve seen in plenty of previous installments of Bizarre Baseball Culture. It’s sort of weird that we don’t really ever seem to run into actual supervillains in these things, especially considering that the vast majority of these Bizarre Baseball Culture stories involve superheroes.
(JUMP for the rest of the story)
The Baseball Continuum 
