Big Hair and Plastic Grass

Happenin' Thangs

If 2021 was any kind of normal year, Ron Blomberg and I would be doing in-person book events all over the place right now to promote The Captain & Me.

Alas, while this year has been a marked improvement over the utter shitshow that was 2020, things are still not "back to normal" enough for us to be making the scene in that time-honored way. I will, however, be joining the esteemed authors pictured above this Friday afternoon at 4 pm ET for a virtual panel as part of a series of events hosted by Denver, CO bookstore Tattered Cover in conjunction with this year's MLB All-Star Game. 

This event — which focuses on the many challenges involved with telling a ballplayer's story — is free to all, but you have to register in advance here to view it. Should be a lot of fun, though, so I hope you'll tune in for it. (And click here to check out the full list of the bookstore's ASG-related events.)

And speaking of tuning in... I spent much of this past spring working on a new documentary series for AXS TV called If These Walls Could Rock. Each episode explores the history and legacy of a particular live music venue; some world-famous, some obscure, but all incredibly fascinating. The debut episode, which premieres tonight, covers South Carolina's Old Brick Church — an early 19th century structure which now serves as a venue for acoustic shows, but was once the site of The Cainhoy Riot, an 1876 clash between Black residents of the era and white paramilitary forces who sought to suppress the local Black vote through violence and intimidation. (Hmmm... sound at all familiar?)

I served as the main writer on this particular episode, and I'm really proud of how it turned out. I hope you'll give it a look if you have the chance; if you miss the premiere tonight, it will still be available through the channel for later viewing. (Whether or not you have access to AXS depends a lot on your cable set-up. But if you have a Roku, I can attest from personal experience that it's really easy to add AXS to your Roku channels free of charge.)

Here's the trailer for the Old Brick Church episode:

 

Stars and Strikes in San Diego! (And More!)

I know — long time no post, right? Well, it's been a crazy month or so, highlighted by getting married (no, we did not wear Tigers jerseys, though I did sport these cufflinks), making guest appearances on Keith Olbermann's show, the MLB Network's "MLB Now" with Brian Kenny, and WFMU's Evan "Funk" Davies Show, and doing readings in Philadelphia, New York City (you can listen to the recording of my Bergino Baseball Clubhouse event here), Boston and Cooperstown. My sincere thanks to everyone who helped me book all my east coast TV, radio and book-signing appearances, everyone who came out to the readings/signings, and of course everyone who has bought copies of Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of '76. It was truly an incredible experience, one I'm still coming down from.

I'm not done yet, though! If you're going to be in the San Diego area a week from today (i.e., Tuesday, July 29), you can join in the star-spangled fun at my special "tailgate reading and book-signing" at Mudville Flats, the wonderful baseball-themed bed and breakfast located in San Diego's Ballpark District. I'll be reading from and signing copies of Stars and Strikes — copies will be available for purchase, courtesy of the folks at Mysterious Galaxy — and there'll be complimentary hot dogs (and maybe even a '76 slideshow) too! The event begins at 5 p.m., so if you're going to the Cardinals-Padres game that night, stop by beforehand and enjoy some tales of Randy Jones (pictured above) and other hairy characters from the summer of '76. It's free, too! Mudville Flats is located at 747 10th Ave., San Diego, CA 92101...

But wait, there's more! I've got some Stars and Strikes reading events coming up in the midwest in August, so if you're in Chicago, Milwaukee, or the Ann Arbor/Detroit areas, mark yer calendars accordingly:

August 14 (7 pm) — Liar's Club, Chicago, IL (followed by a special all-1976 covers set from The Good News Bears!)

August 15 (7 pm) — The Book Cellar, Chicago, IL

August 16 (4 pm) — Nicola's Books, Ann Arbor, MI

August 16 (7 pm) — Nemo's Bar, Detroit, MI (as part of BIRD BASH IV, a celebration of the late, great Mark "The Bird" Fidrych)

August 18 (7 pm) — Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, WI (I will be interviewed at this event by Mitch Teich of WUWM's "Lake Effect" show)

Please come out and say hey if you can, and please buy a book or seven. And please spread da woid about these events to any 70s baseball-lovin' pals you may have in the area — there won't be any Bill Veeck-style beer crate-stacking competitions, but I can guarantee a most enlightening and entertaining time!

And speaking of 1976, here's a really cool clip that Marc Stout and the folks at Root Sports RM put together on 1976 and Stars and Strikes, which was broadcast during the Colorado Rockies pre-game show on July 4th. It includes some very cool footage from the 1976 season (as well as some from later years), some shots of me standing on the field at Dodger Stadium in a '76 Mark Fidrych jersey, and a special bonus interview with 1976 NL All Star Larry Bowa. Check it out!

 

Get Yerself A Signed Copy Of "Stars And Strikes"!

As many of you already know, I'll be hitting the road intermittenly this summer to do some reading/signing events for my new book Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of '76. Here is the full list of upcoming events [NOTE: This has been updated as of 6/17 — the 6/24 event will be at the Trolley Car Diner, not the Trolley Car Cafe!]:

June 23 (7 pm) — Walk A Crooked Mile Books, Philadelphia, PA

June 24 (7 pm) — Trolley Car Diner, Philadelphia, PA

June 26 (7 pm) — Bergino Baseball Clubhouse, NYC

June 27 (2 pm) — Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY

June 29 (7 pm) — Manitoba's Bar, NYC

July 1 (7 pm) — Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, MA

July 29 (5 pm) — Mudville Flats, San Diego, CA

August 14 (7 pm) — Liar's Club, Chicago, IL

August 15 (7 pm) — The Book Cellar, Chicago, IL

August 16 (4 pm) — Nicola's Books, Ann Arbor, MI

August 16 (8 pm) — Nemo's Bar, Detroit, MI

August 18 (7 pm) — Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, WI

"Hey, Dan," I can hear you saying, "WTF?!? I can't make any of these events, and/or you're not coming to my town — how can I get you to sign a copy of Stars and Strikes for me or my friend/relative/significant other?" Don't worry, I've got ya covered!

I've made arrangements with Booked By Harriet, the bookseller who is handling the sales at my Manitoba's event in NYC on June 29, to enable you to get a personalized copy. Just shoot Harriet an email ([email protected]) before 12 noon EST on Monday, June 23, and tell her that you'd like a signed copy of Stars and Strikes. She will be email you back (or call, if you give her your phone #) to get your shipping and payment info — the price, which includes the book and tax ($31.00) plus shipping ($6.25), totals $37.25 — as well as any specifics from you regarding how you'd like me to personalize your copy. I'll sign the book at Manitoba's, and then she'll wing it off to you shortly thereafter...

Once again, you've gotta get in touch with her by 12 noon EST on Monday, June 23, in order to avoid disappointment. And we'd all like to avoid disappointment, right?

And thanks again to everyone who has bought, reviewed or otherwise supported Stars and Strikes!

Stars And Strikes: Upcoming Events, Part 3

Saw that Stars and Strikes hit #10 today on the Amazon baseball books chart — and would have charted even higher if Amazon counted hardcover and Kindle editions as the same title. I am higher than a Dave Kingman blast about the book's reception so far, and am immensely grateful for all the support I've gotten from my friends, colleagues and readers.

I am also in the mood to celebrate, so if you're in (or anywhere near) Culver City this Thursday night, please come on out to Joxer Daly's and join me and Ball Nuts author Jeff Polman as we celebrate the release of our respective 70s baseball books. In addition to us reading and signing our books (which will be on sale at the bar), there will also be a trivia session with some righteous 1970s-style prizes for the winners.

That's not all I've got on my Stars and Strikes-pimpin' itinerary, though, and the following is the most up-to-date listing of reading/signing events that I can offer. Very excited to have nailed down a Boston date (which quite coincidentally lines up with the Cubs-Red Sox series at Fenway), and I hope to have some Michigan dates in August to announce soon...

May 15 (7:30 pm) — Joxer Daly's, Culver City, CA

May 17 (5 pm) — Skylight Books, Los Angeles, CA

June 7-8 (times TBD) — Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Fest, Chicago, IL

June 23 (7 pm) — Walk A Crooked Mile Books, Philadelphia, PA

June 24 (7 pm) — Trolley Car Cafe, Philadelphia, PA

June 26 (7 pm) — Bergino Baseball Clubhouse, NYC

June 27 (2 pm) — Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY

June 29 (7 pm) — Manitoba's Bar, NYC

July 1 (7 pm) — Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, MA

July 29 (5 pm) — Mudville Flats, San Diego, CA

August 14 (7 pm) — Liar's Club, Chicago, IL

August 15 (7 pm) — The Book Cellar, Chicago, IL

August 18 (7 pm) — Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, WI

Wish I could hit all 50 (well, maybe 49) states to promote the book this year, but I've gotta keep the travel at a limit since it's coming out of my own pocket. That said, if you can foot the bill for me to come and spread the gospel of Bicentennial baseball to your group or organization, drop me a line and we'll talk!

Stars and Strikes in Sausalito!

Bay Area baseball fans: Just a reminder that I will be at the Sausalito Public Library tomorrow evening (Thursday, May 8) for a reading/signing of my new book, Stars & Strikes: Baseball & America In The Bicentennial Summer Of '76.

Festivities start at 7 pm; we'll have a slide show and a Q&A session, and there will be copies of the book on sale via Barnes & Noble. The library is located at 420 Litho St., and parking is FREE. This will be my only SF-adjacent event this spring, so hop a bridge or a ferry — or hitch a ride, like the folks in the above pic of Sausalito in 1976 — and celebrate the star-spangled insanity of the '76 season with me! (And hey, if you know someone in the area who would dig an evening of spirited baseball talk, please hip 'em to this event!)

Stars And Strikes: Upcoming Events, Part Two

After what has seemed like an eternity (for me, at least), my new book, Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of '76 finally hits the streets today. I am over the moon about it, to say the least — it's like Christmas and my birthday rolled up in one star-spangled package!

The book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble (in eBook editions, as well), and fine indie booksellers everywhere. If your local bookstore doesn't carry it, they can special order it for you from St. Martin's Press. But if you'd prefer to buy a signed copy in person from me, here's a list of my upcoming reading/signing events — at least, all the ones I have booked at present:

May 3 (2 pm) — Allendale Public Library, Pasadena, CA

May 8 (7 pm) — Sausalito Public Library, Sausalito, CA

May 15 (7:30 pm) — Joxer Daly's, Culver City, CA

May 17 (5 pm) — Skylight Books, Los Angeles, CA

June 7-8 (times TBD) — Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Fest, Chicago, IL

June 23 (7 pm) — Walk A Crooked Mile Books, Philadelphia, PA

June 24 (7 pm) — Trolley Car Cafe, Philadelphia, PA

June 26 (7 pm) — Bergino Baseball Clubhouse, NYC

June 27 (2 pm) — Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY

June 29 (7 pm) — Manitoba's Bar, NYC

July 29 (5 pm) — Mudville Flats, San Diego, CA

August 14 (7 pm) — Liar's Club, Chicago, IL

August 15 (7 pm) — The Book Cellar, Chicago, IL

August 18 (7 pm) — Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, WI

FYI — I'm still in the process of booking dates in Boston in early July and the Ann Arbor/Detroit area in August, so stay tuned...

 

Stars And Strikes... And Rockies TV

Had a blast yesterday at Dodger Stadium, where Marc Stout and the Colorado Rockies broadcast crew — who were in town for the Rockies-Dodgers series — interviewed me for an upcoming pre-game segment about the 1976 season for ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain, which broadcasts the Rockies' games in Colorado.

I wore the Mark Fidrych Tigers jersey for two reasons — 1) They wanted me to wear something 1976-ish, but not a jersey that referenced one of the Rockies' NL rivals, and 2) "The Bird" was such an important part of the 1976 season — and such a huge favorite of mine — that I couldn't not pay tribute to him.

By sheer coincidence, we were filming on the 38th anniversary of one of the most iconic events of the 1976 season: Rick Monday saving an American flag from would-be burners in the middle of an April 25 Cubs-Dodgers game at Chavez Ravine, an incident which transformed Monday into a Bicentennial hero. It was immensely cool to be able to stand on the field, point out to left-center and tell the camera, "It happened right over there..."

Stout and his crew are total pros, and it was a lot of fun working with them, and a couple of the Rockies players who passed by during the shoot seemed to be quite appreciative of the 70s look I was sporting — I got smiles and thumbs-ups from Justin Morneau and Charlie Blackmon. It was also a real pleasure to meet and rap with former major leaguer Jason Hirsh, a SoCal kid who pitched for the 2007 NL champs, and who is now the new color guy for the Rockies. Haven't heard Hirsh work a game yet, but if he comes across as smart and funny during broadcasts as he did during our conversation, Rockies fans have got a good one in the booth.

The segment (which will also feature interviews with some veterans of the '76 season) will likely run sometime around the July 4 weekend. Thanks again to Marc Stout and ROOT Sports for giving some love and support to Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of 76!

 

 

Want A Signed Copy of Stars and Strikes? Here's How!

Much as I would love to be able to hit every big-league town this summer to promote Stars and Strikes,  my forthcoming book on the 1976 season, time and funds will most likely limit me to reading events in LA (May 3 at the Allendale Public Library in Pasadena, May 15 at Joxer Daly's in Culver City, and May 17 at Skylight Books in Los Feliz), the Bay Area (Sausalito Public Library on May 8), Philly (June 23-24, locations TBA), NYC (June 26 at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse and June 29 at Manitoba's Bar), Cooperstown (June 27), Boston (June 30-July 3, locations TBA), Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit (dates and locations for the latter three cities TBA as well, though I will be in the Windy City the first weekend in June for the Tribune Printers Row LitFest, and then be back in mid-August for a more extended and raucous Midwestern visit).

But if you're not in any of those places, you'd like to get yerself a signed and personalized copy (and can wait until mid-May to receive it), you can order one from L.A.'s wonderful Skylight Books. Just go to this link, scroll down to add the book to your cart, and mention in the comment section of the checkout page that you'd like your copy signed by the author; I will sign it for you during my May 17 event there, and the Skylight folks will wing it your way thereafter.

Thanks again for your support — and for supporting independent bookstores, as well. And if you ARE in any of my aforementioned destinations, I hooe to see you this summer!

Stars And Strikes: Upcoming Events, Part One

If you hear any noise, it's just Dave Parker and the boys boppin' — or, more likely (given The Cobra's state of retirement), it's just me trying to drum up some star-spangled excitement for my forthcoming book Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of '76, which comes out April 29 via Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press.

I am currently in the process of putting together various reading/signing events for this spring and summer, with places like Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, New York City and Boston on my hit list. Though that's all still up in the air, I can reveal that there will be much happening on California soil in May. The events that I have confirmed are as follows:

Saturday, May 3: I will be doing a reading, slide presentation and discussion at the Allendale Branch of the Pasadena Public Library, 1130 S. Marengo Ave., Pasadena, CA 91106. The event, which is co-sponsored by The Baseball Reliquary, will begin at 2 pm; admission is FREE. For more info, call (626) 744-7260 or check out this Facebook event page.

Thursday, May 8: I will be doing a reading, slide presentation and discussion at the Sausalito Public Library, 420 Litho Street, Sausalito, CA  94965. The event which is presented as part of the Sausalito Library Speaker Series, will begin at 7 pm; admission is FREE.

Thursday, May 15: I will be teaming with fellow author and baseball freak Jeff Polman (author of the very amusing Ball Nuts) for an evening of reading, drinking and general merriment at Joxer Daly's Irish Pub, 11168 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232. The event, which will be the only one I'm doing on the west side in May — and is the only one with the added benefit of a full bar and food menu — starts at 7:30 pm; admission is FREE (but you must be 21 and over).

Saturday, May 17: I will be doing a reading, slide presentation (a different one than in Pasadena) and discussion at Los Feliz's wonderful Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027. The event, which will be my only LA bookstore appearance in May, starts at 5 pm and is FREE.

Copies of Stars and Strikes will of course be available for purchase at all of these events. But if you can't make it to these events — and don't live near any of the aforementioned other cities — you can still getcherself a signed copy via Skylight Books. Just go HERE, scroll to the bottom of the page and add Stars and Strikes to your cart; when you get to the checkout page, scroll down to the "order comments" field, and mention there that you'd like your copy to be signed by the author. The Skylight folks will have your copy set aside for me to sign on May 17, and they'll wing it to you shortly thereafter.

Hope some of you can make the scene — or scenes, as the case may be. (Red, white and blue clothing is optional, but certainly encouraged!) Thanks as always to everyone who has read and supported Big Hair and Plastic Grass over the past four years. I'm hoping you'll dig Stars and Strikes even more. Stay tuned for further fun stuff TBA.

New Year, New Book, New Ways To Waste Your Time Online

Happy New Year, 70s baseball fans!

Last week, while manfully fending off this damn cold/virus thing that's going around, I put the finishing touches on the final edit of Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of '76, my long-awaited follow-up to Big Hair and Plastic Grass. The book won't be out until April 29, but Amazon already has an advance order link up for it, as does Barnes & Noble.

In honor of the forthcoming book, I've started a new Facebook page; while the Big Hair FB page will keep cookin', I figured that it (and what people expect from it) has become too calcified over the last few years for me to seriously change things up and go "all 1976"; the new page will also feature much more in the way of pop culture-related pics and links than I usually post on Big Hair. Along those lines, just for kicks, I've also waded into the world of Tumblr with the Bicentennial Boogie page, which will be devoted strictly to 1976-related images, baseball and otherwise.

(And speaking of images, how 'bout a round of applause for the design folks at St. Martin's? They set the bar pretty high with the cover of Big Hair and Plastic Grass, but I dare say the cover they concocted for Stars and Strikes is right up there with it!)

As of this point, I'm just starting to get my plans together for the Stars and Strikes "book tour" — offhand, it's looking like a few reading/signing events in SoCal during May (more on that in a second), a visit to the East Coast (Philly, NYC, Boston, maybe one more city) in late June/early July, and a trip to the Midwest (Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit) in late July/early August, though I'm certainly game to go elsewhere if more opportunities present themselves. (If you would like me to come and speak about baseball and the 1970s at your organization's dinner, luncheon or other gathering, and can foot the bill to get me there, please drop me a line via this website.)

Right now, the only Stars and Strikes event that's currently set in stone is a reading/signing on May 3 at the Allendale Branch Library in Pasadena, CA. The program, which is co-sponsored by those fine folks at The Baseball Reliquary, will begin at 2 pm; the library is located at 1130 S. Marengo Ave., Pasadena, 91106. For more information, please see the Facebook invite that the library has posted for the event. Hope to see some of you LA-area folks there!

Finally, folks have been asking if I still have signed 1st edition hardcovers of Big Hair and Plastic Grass available for sale. I do indeed! Just shoot me $30 ($25 plus $5 shipping in the US; contact me for international shipping rates) via the PayPal link below, and I will happily hit you with your very own personalized copy.

Thanks as always to everyone who has helped support and encourage my funky forays into baseball's past. May you all have a peaceful, healthy, love-filled and totally righteous 2014!

 

Favorite team or player

Insert "Bat Flip" Joke Here

Back in the summer 1975, I was nine years old and wanted to grow up to be Flip Wilson. Had I seen this shot of Flip Wilson hassling umpire Nick Colosi at the time it ran on the AP wire, it would have only strengthened my resolve further.

Aside from just being a wonderful (and quintessentially 70s) photo, I love the above pic because of what it foreshadows. In 1975, the Braves were a deeply awful team that boasted Phil Niekro and Carl Morton in the rotation, Darrell Evans, Dusty Baker and 1974 NL batting champ Ralph "Road Runner" Garr in the lineup, and not a whole helluva lot else. The team, which went 67-94 on the season (the only worse teams in the bigs that year were the Houston Astros and the Detroit Tigers), struggled to draw over half a million fans; only the San Francisco Giants drew worse, though Braves PR director Bob Hope later admitted that the Braves' dismal attendance figure of 534,672 was actually padded by the front office, who bought free promo tickets from themselves for a quarter apiece and marked them down as "paid admissions".

But as I detail in my forthcoming book, Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of '76 — which comes out April 29, though there's already a pre-order link HERE at Amazon — the Braves would do far better at the gate (if not on the field) in 1976, thanks to the arrival of new owner Ted Turner. Between them, Turner and Hope would lure fans to to Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium with one insane promotional stunt after another, many of which (like their "Headlock and Wedlock" promotion) made a pre-game appearance by one of TV's biggest comedians look like the most mundane thing imaginable.

Also foreshadowing the chaos and hilarity of Turner's impeding regime is the uniform number that Flip is wearing here: 17. In 1970, Turner bought Atlanta TV station WJRJ, which was located at Channel 17 on the UHF dial. After changing its name to WTCG (for Turner Communications Group or, as Turner liked to claim, "Watch This Channel Grow"), Turner negotiated a deal to broadcast Braves games in the Atlanta area; though Turner hadn't yet purchased the team at the time the above pic was taken, it's highly likely that he arranged for Wilson to sport number 17 as a subtle nod to the station.

Of course, the next guy to wear number 17 would do so in a much less subtle fashion. When Turner and Hope decided to put nicknames on the back of their players' uniforms, Andy Messersmith — Turner's big free agent signing in the spring of '76 — took the field wearing 17 with the word "Channel" above it.

National League President Chub Feeney, though perhaps not the sharpest knife in the drawer, realized that "Channel" wasn't actually Messersmith's nickname, and came down on Turner for using Messersmith's jersey as free ad space for his TV station. (Forced to pick a new name for the back of his jersey, Messersmith went with "Bluto" instead.)

Feeney didn't realize how much worse it could have been. After all, if he'd really decided take to the Flip Wilson "17" stunt to its illogical conclusion, Turner could have sent his players into a game dressed like Flip's drag alter-ego Geraldine; when pressed for an explanation, Turner would have simply told Feeney that "the devil made me do it, honey!"