super proud that dave was four minutes ahead of me in the race today

“encountering truth” – by Pope Francis – as i understand it, he “preaches” three days a week – this was a collection from his first year – little reflections tied to passages – the title was a good one for the book – what do we do when we encounter truth? ignore it? dismiss it? accept it, and if so, how?

“slaying the dragon” by michael johnson – the only, i think, winner of olympic gold in the 200 and 400 meter races – in atlanta – it was a typical book from a jock trying to cash in on success at his peak moment – usain bolt has a book like this – michael phelps has a book like this – i still enjoyed it – it was still well worth the dollar at the thrift store – just a good piece from the 1996 games – and the mindset of an athlete – which is a mindset different from most of us

“billy martin” – martin was the yankees manager five times – and he was fired five times – the author makes a point early in the book to say that billy was more than the comical image he was in the 1980s – which was when i knew him following baseball – it is truly remarkable the jobs he did with the twins, rangers, A’s, and the yankees – so while the book was lengthy, a definite recommendation to my baseball crowd

nap time

mafeld

if you don’t like baseball, i guess you won’t enjoy my reading this week – and shame on you if you don’t love baseball… 🙂

“in pursuit of pennants” – if you want to build a championship team, there’s been a formula since the 19th century – and that formula has changed as the game has grown more complicated – so in the 1890s, you could take a marginal minor league team, build your people, and eventually become an owner (pirates) – today, you have 18 people in “charge” of scouting – great, enjoyable read

“olivia” – great book on a “marginal” HOF mention – a definite hall of fame person – 1961, left cuba for MLB – didn’t make a team but the bay of pigs invasion kept him in the US – he didn’t see his family for 10 years – just amazing story – particularly b/c it’s from the twins – 99 percent of books i read on baseball end up about the yankees – in the ’60s, it’s also about the red sox and the cardinals – so most of the stories i read were new

“ballpark food” – oh, a great, indulgent read – you can get everything from seaweed to bacon-wrapped hot dogs dipped in chocolate – or something like that – lots of vegetarian options, which i thought was neat – but a great, fun read – should be a BOB next year

maf

guest starring…

Fred – Dr. Pinch

Amanda – Receptionist

Alexa – Luciana

Sarah – Nurse

so i’m staying good in my reading of all things baseball right now – i have like a stack to get me ready for spring training…

“baptists in america” – two profs look at the development of that denomination throughout time – the orphan in the box gave it two thumbs up:) i would agree too – lots of religious history i’d forgotten – was reminded of – of course, the stain of slavery and the civil rights movement looks bad in just about every faith – as far as their response at the time – which is a decent reminder about power – that those with power tend to make dumb moves they’ll regret down the line – at the least, they’ll be questioned in latter generations about what they did during their time in reign – and what they allowed to happen – or what they fought

other than that, just working on big baseball books and podcasts

maf

okay sixth grade – all five of you – back to blogging:)

“theft of memory” – brilliant book by an education guy – he’s written a ton of books over the year – this one, his most personal about his father’s fight with alzheimer’s – the book made me miss my grandparents – i thought of lending it to my mother and decided it was better to not – i guess just one thought to share, we seem very okay with doctor slip-ups with older people – doctor’s can misdiagnose and we’re like “well, they had to die of something…” and be okay with that – instead of maybe pushing back harder – like we would if a healthy small child was misdiagnosed

“the fear project” – yuck – i thought the book was going to be about running – instead it was about surfing – for a while – then about eastern meditation – for a while – and then about how when you’re an old single guy in your 30s, you just give up and BOOM!!! you meet the perfect woman that let’s you take on the biggest fear of all – having a kid – whatever…

“gilead” – so after years, i finally read this book – it had received good reviews – probably in hindsight too many good reviews b/c i began to suspect the book was like a hallmark movie – and i abandoned the thought of reading it – but years later and two more books related to it later , i gave in – and it was good – it didn’t go where i thought it would – thankfully – so i did enjoy it – which is very rare for me – and i passed it along to my mom – way better for her to read than anything i’ve read in a while

maf