Midnight Library of Baseball

In this episode, I crack open long-forgotten archives and discuss the many well-known actors considered for Field of Dreams, and the equally fascinating stories of the actors who eventually got the parts.

For years, Phil Alden Robinson had been struggling to get his favorite book, Shoeless Joe, turned into a film. When he finally got his wish, it was more than he bargained for. Pressure and anxiety nearly brought Robinson and Field of Dreams to a screeching halt. In this episode, I discuss what saved Robinson and his film. I also reveal a real-life Doc Graham hidden among the crew, and I dig into the most “Field of Dreams” story there ever was, linked to two people integral to the movie.

W.P. Kinsella never saw the father-son relationship as the central emotional story in his book, Shoeless Joe. This is just one of many revelations in Episode 6, where I follow the path of writer/director Phil Alden Robinson, who roamed the streets of Hollywood for years with the vision of what Shoeless Joe would become on the big screen. But it was this very struggle and years of failure that led to what many called a magical script.

When J.D. Salinger learned that he was a character in W.P. Kinsella’s novel, Shoeless Joe, he threatened a lawsuit, which led to Salinger being rewritten as Terence Mann for the film. But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to coincidences and controversies between J.D. Salinger, W.P. Kinsella, and their iconic novels. In this episode, I explore the question, would Field of Dreams exist without J.D. Salinger and The Catcher in the Rye?

1 out of every 5 men claiming to have played professional baseball was lying, according to the Baseball Hall of Fame in the 1990s. But there was no name for this phenomenon, until author W.P. Kinsella created a fictional character named Eddie Scissons. Stranger still, two men in real life decided to study cases of Eddie Scissons syndrome, and what they found blew their minds.

There are many great moments from Field of Dreams taken directly from the novel, Shoeless Joe, but there are also key differences in both. Some of the additions and changes in Field of Dreams led to a better story, but some of the deleted characters and stories from the novel are wonderful gems worth discussing, including a very meaningful part cut from Terence Mann’s final speech.

Unlike many predestined stories of artists, author W.P. Kinsella was born and raised to NOT write the novel, Shoeless Joe. In this episode, I explore the many fascinating contradictions that made Kinsella such an interesting character, and that led to stories no one else in the world could write.

In this first episode, I explore the crazy story of editor Lawrence Kessenich, who was instrumental in helping W.P. Kinsella turn a 16-page short story into a full novel. Along the way, there were many improbable occurrences and treacherous hazards that nearly derailed the project. But born from this struggle was a bond that would last generations.

The making of Field of Dreams, across countries and continents, is a story of vision, of redemption, and of slowing down and appreciating the people and things in your life that matter. This season, I will talk to actors, directors, and other fascinating men and women in the film industry. I will also talk with you, the fans, about your stories of baseball and Field of Dreams. I will trace the film back decades to improbable imaginings and encounters, to daunting casting and production disasters, to unlikely and uplifting box office performances, and finally, to what Field of Dreams and a little field in Iowa mean to people today. I can't wait to start the journey on September 5!

For the final episode of season 1, I dive into the major league catcher and the tools that make him what he is today. Because of his equipment, the catcher is literally masked, but there are so many other areas where he is overlooked and underestimated. In this episode, I explore these areas, and why they have come to be.

In this episode, I dive into the origins of the baseball bat, the number one piece of marketing equipment in the history of the game. I also discuss the colorful stories of the inspirational, stubborn, superstitious men who wielded this instrument of hope and despair.

What began as an object of great shame eventually turned into the most intimate relationship between a ballplayer and an object. Come along on this fascinating journey of the baseball glove, from infamy to celebration, honor, and love.

In this episode, I explore the history of the baseball, and some surprising facts about what was initially used inside a baseball. I also discuss changes to the ball that greatly affected the game, and how a few additional simple changes could help evolve the game for the better.

The three major home run races in baseball history were between six very different men. In this episode, I explore these mythic figures, and discuss how they were a product of their times and also instrumental in shaping what came next.

I had the pleasure recently of sitting down with Dan Levitt and Mark Armour, authors of the book, Intentional Balk: Baseball’s Thin Line Between Innovation And Cheating. We dig into the gray areas of cheating, what cheating and innovation have meant to baseball, baseball fans, and Mark and Dan. We also discuss where the game is headed and what kind of cheating and innovation we might see in the future. More info about the book is at https://intentionalbalkbook.com and the book can also be found at https://www.amazon.com/Intentional-Balk-Baseballs-Innovation-Cheating/dp/B09ZZXTB7G

In terms of traditional stats that have misled fans, players, and managers for decades, the pitcher win is a whopper. In this episode I discuss the origins and many examples and reasons why wins and saves have been so problematic, and also why we love them all the same.

A few of the pillars of baseball statistics contain serious flaws, but it can be hard to turn away from them. In this episode, I discuss the historical reasons for trusting these stats, the consequences of this trust, and the reasons why so many closed their eyes to the truth for so long.

Before there were leagues in baseball, there was barnstorming, and as major league baseball expanded, with its rules, revenue, and discrimination, barnstorming remained to remind players and fans what baseball was, when stripped down to nothing but the game.

In this episode, I explore the origins and background of various popular substances in Major League Baseball, and the entertaining and heartbreaking stories that go with them. From Dock Ellis pitching a no-hitter on LSD, to the tragic end to one of the best players in the game in his prime, to the debate of performance enhancing drugs and some surprising arguments.

There are a lot of surprising twists and turns in the history of tobacco in Major League Baseball. In this episode, I will answer why smokeless tobacco was so popular during the origins of baseball, why it then almost disappeared, and how it roared back despite its known dangers.

I’ve written about both The Natural and Field of Dreams, so I thought it would be fun to compare the two films, based on a number of different criteria, to see, in the end, which film came out ahead.

In this episode, I talk with Jason Turbow, author of “The Baseball Codes, the Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime,” about his updated views on the code since writing the book and viewing the changes in baseball.

People think they know what they saw in 1993 between Nolan Ryan and Robin Ventura, just like they think they know what they saw in the 1996 collision between Albert Belle and Fernando Vina. But they don’t, because behind the scenes, the code was dictating the behaviors and actions of players. In this episode, I break down some of the most important and interesting elements of the code, elements that the baseball world works hard to keep secret.

Before Roy Hobbs of “The Natural,” there was Eddie Waitkus, a star of the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies, whose forgotten true story was more fascinating than the fiction that came after.

In this episode, I dive into the life and career of Rick Ankiel, whose unbelievable twists and turns are only surpassed by the amazing relationship he developed with a baseball team and baseball town.

In this episode, Jeffrey Lambert, host of the podcast, Rounders, stops by to chat with me about what makes baseball so different from other sports, and why we love it so much. We also discuss cultural shifts that have affected the game, as well as some of our favorite all-time baseball books.

People who remember relief pitcher Donnie Moore often connect Moore’s role in what Al Michaels called “the most dramatic hour of sports I’ve ever seen," to Donnie Moore, three years later, shooting his wife and himself. In this episode, I explore the deeper story that sheds light on what happened on July 18, 1989.

In part 1 of a three-part series, I trace the echoed story of Bill Buckner and his infamous error back to the source, and back even before that, to get a full picture of what happened before, during, and after the game, so that we can understand what we lose when we begin to see the echo as the story.

In this episode, I'll explore the true story of Doc Moonlight Graham from Field of Dreams, and other men who could have been known for a major league baseball career, but ended up being known for something else entirely.

In this episode, I’ll explore the reasons why there has not been a female at the highest level of baseball, and the factors involved in a female making it to the big leagues. And by the end of the episode, I will be asking a completely different question.

In this episode, I explore one of the most famous moments in baseball history, and how this moment might be the result of cheating. I also discuss the culture of cheating in baseball, and if there's a problem with cheating.

In this episode, I do a deep dive into the history of baseball salaries, how much players actually made compared to today, and the many ways players supplemented their income. I also discuss a new way for minor league prospects to cash in on the major league experience.

Gambling was instrumental in the formation and spread of professional baseball, but it has also been a toxic part of the game. Today, we look at this love-hate relationship.

In this episode, we take a look at some current practices that separate baseball from other sports. We also discuss a few rules and realities that used to exist, like pitchers throwing the ball underhand, and players playing full seasons bare-handed.

A few major league pitchers have found enormous success in the knuckleball, paving careers that outlasted most of their contemporaries. But for all its power and effectiveness, the knuckleball is almost nonexistent in today’s game, and has rarely been used by more than a handful of pitchers in any decade since its creation. In today’s episode, we find out why.

In 1920, Ray Chapman was killed by a pitch, the only major league player ever to be killed during gameplay. Many players owe their added safety to the obvious and not-so-obvious changes that took place following Chapman’s death. In this episode, we explore the events that led to Chapman’s death, and baseball’s grudging modernization.

Lou Gehrig is one of the most famous and well-loved baseball players of all time. In the United States and other countries, Gehrig is also the namesake for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a neurodegenerative disease. In this episode, we examine the possibility that Gehrig did not have the disease, and the ramifications of this possibility.