Taking a Look at a Little Book.
Peanuts, Popcorn & American Presidents
I love reading anything baseball. A while back I received an email from a fellow named Nicholas asking if I would review this book about American Presidents and baseball. I agreed hoping it was a short book as I don’t have a whole lot of free time right now with the regular baseball season getting ready to start.
The book is 11 pages which is right up my alley.
DID YOU KNOW?
William Howard Taft was the first president to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. He did it on April 14th to usher in the 1910 baseball season.
That President George Bush Sr. was a Boston Red Sox fan who later flipped and became a Houston Astros fan? The senior Bush was also the Captain of his Yale Baseball team.
Here’s another one, did you know that when President Roosevelt threw an inaugural pitch, someone was always on hand to prevent him from toppling over.
This little book is filled with tid-bits of information like that.
About the book.
Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball,” wrote Jacques Barzun, the late French-born historian of American culture. Barzun might have added that any U.S. politician with his eye on the White House had better know the difference between a ball and a strike. Since baseball became the National Pastime it has enjoyed a favored relationship with the seats of power—in Congress and even in the Supreme Court, but certainly with the chief executive.
The venerable sportswriter Ray Robinson surveys the presidential attitude toward the “best game” since the early twentieth century, separating the enthusiasts from the pretenders.
A little bit about the Author Ray Robinson.
Ray Robinson, a former magazine editor, is the author of the widely acclaimed biography Iron Horse: Lou Gehrig in His Time as
well as biographies of Knute Rockne, Christy Mathewson, Will Rogers, and Stan Musial. His writings appear frequently in the New York Times. He lives in New York City.
Where can I purchase this book?
http://www.nowandthenreader.com/
Also available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and I-Tunes.
I’m “D” the Ranter…Is it first pitch yet? 🙂
Rockpile Rant 
Reblogged this on Baseball Books.