I plug Deanna’s book club again
DMZ · May 1, 2006 at 5:04 pm · Filed Under General baseball
Deanna, of Marinerds fame, has a bookclub thing going for M’s fans. Next meet is Saturday at Elliot Bay, where they’re doing Baseball Between the Numbers and editor-dude Jonah’s going to show up and frolic about in his amusing Jonah way.
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Can I get the full details? Saturday’s my first day back in Seattle. I might be able to attend.
Have you considered clicking the link there for the bookclub?
Yay! Thanks, Derek.
For those too lazy to click links, but who may or may not remember me getting up at the USSM feed and talking about the book club, the next meeting is this Saturday, at 4pm, in the cafe downstairs from Elliott Bay Book Company, which is on 1st Ave a couple blocks down from the stadium in Pioneer Square. There’s a Mariners-Indians game at 6pm which we could descend en masse to afterwards.
We’ll be talking about Baseball Between the Numbers, which is a mind-blowing thesis of a book, and I’ll admit I’m only about 2/3 done reading it myself.
We’re doing Buster Olney’s “Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty” for June, but we’ll be deciding the July book at the meeting this Saturday, so if you’ve got ideas for more baseball books for a group to read and discuss, show up!
Thanks Deanna.
You know Derek, we all do stupid stuff once in awhile. I happened to skip over the fact that there were links provided. I don’t think it would be terribly difficult to simply point out that the information can be found through the links without using condescending language.
Dang, I thought you might be meeting at Elliot Bay Brewing out here in West Seattle. But when I think baseball I think beer, not books. Guess I’m not a big enough Marinerd!
I don’t think it would be terribly difficult to simply re-read and look for a link. It was underlined and everything. I guess I could have used the blink tag…
… see, that’s condescension. I don’t understand how I could have expressed that in a manner that would not be interpreted badly.
“Check the link” — too blunt and pointed
“The information’s in the link there.” — patronizing
“Have you considered clicking the link there for the bookclub?” — condescending
Or, to sum up: read tone into whatever you please.
I know “offense is a good defense” but covering your own embarassment by accusing Derek of condescension is a bit much. I suppose he could have couched it a little more diplomatically to save your feelings, but it wasn’t obvious they were so preternaturally sensitive in the first place. It would be one thing if the links were buried in one of his multi-screens-long post, or if your response had been hundreds of responses down where we could at least accord you the fig leaf of assuming it had scrolled off the screen. But in this case, you didn’t have any reasonable option beyond sucking it up with a simple “oops, my bad, didn’t notice that, thanks.”
On a happier note: how many people do you typically get for these things? How big is this book club anyway?
This is the second meeting ever, so I have no idea what will be “typical”. We had five people show up for the first one, but it was on somewhat short notice at the time. Ideally, we’d end up with a group such that we’ll have enough people to discuss the books regardless of whether everyone can make it to every meeting, and maybe even enough to get a group discount to order books from the bookstore. I’m trying to get the word out about stuff, and I hope we’ll pick up people as we go along.
Really, the way I figure it is — enough of us read baseball books, and often would love to have other people to discuss them with and/or get recommendations or even trade books with, so why not see if we can get a group going for that purpose? It’s a good excuse to read some stuff you might not read otherwise, and also an excuse to come down to Safeco for a game and all.
I would like to go to this as I have a bit to say about this book, but – alas – I’ll be in Arcata. Oh well.
zzyzx: Have you considered posting your thoughts here in lieu of the bookclub {he says as he looks down with his nose pointed high}?
Since tangotiger is far too polite to do it himself, I’ll plug his book The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball for him as a potential bookclub suggestion.
I think it’d be a fine book to do, but in a month or three, maybe August? I’d like to rotate between stats-heavy books and lighter history/biography ones and try to get in a wider variety of stuff. June’s book is decided already, and I figured we’d probably do a Jim Bouton book in July because he’ll be in town for SABR 2006.
Can you pencil me in for Spring 2007 somewhere?
Don’t worry about taking my suggestions too seriously until I actually find the time to show up.
Derek – of course. “Have the book group survive at least until Derek’s book comes out” seems like a reasonable goal, right?
Hey Deanna looks like you got a plug of sorts in the BP Premium Newletter today:
EVENTS
Jonah Keri reads from Baseball Between the Numbers for the Seattle Baseball Book Club, Saturday May 6 at 4 pm, at the Elliot Bay Book Company, 101 South Main St., Seattle. After the event attendees are invited to attend that night’s Mariners-Indians game, 6:05 pm at nearby Safeco Field (attendees are responsible for their own ticket). See the following for details:
http://www.elliottbaybook.com/
I’ll be there in spirit, the radio gods have once again banished me to a weekend of shilling Condo’s and Cars…
I’d like to make at the least, one of these. Though my best bets would either be in August or September.
I was actually going to propose Tango’s book for August, actually, since I bought it a little bit ago and it’s on my pile of “to read” books.
18- I know what you mean, I’m in the middle of reading two books at the moment. “Baseball between the numbers” and “The Fielding Bible”
Can’t speak for the rest of Book Club (first rule of Book Club? Don’t talk about Book Club) but I will definitely be mosying over to the M’s game after the literary festivities are done, as I haven’t hit an M’s game yet this year and am anxious to see the high-powered Indians in action. I believe the plan is for whoever’s interested to all descend on Safeco together and we’ll just buy a group of tickets together, then jeer (insert most hated Mariner here) en masse.
Thanks for featuring BBTN in the Club by the way, Deanna, I’m honored.
Jonah – I must say it’s a very interesting read. Though I like I mentioned above I’m in the middle of two books. Wish I could join ya’ll there. 😀
FYI, I just did an impromptu radio hit with Locke on KJR, and got in a plug for the Book Club event Saturday. I e-mailed them the info, they plan to repeat it again on air. Hopefully that’ll get the attendance going a bit.
I would bet that the number of people listening to KJR who are also interested in a book club is uh… not that large.
I don’t mean to imply anything like they can’t read. I’m just saying that I don’t think sports talk radio listeners generally join or attend book clubs.
24- Yikes.
I read, have most of my teeth(thanks hockey and baseball!) and hey I even read books without pictures.
Though, if you can believe this. Just before I got hired at my current gig, they flipped the ESPN sports talk station to a Regional Hispanic station.
There are no sports talk stations here…What kind of hell I have I resigned myself too?
err…23..that’s what I get for trying to type and talk on the phone at the same time.