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Oscar Charleston: Life and Legend

Oscar Charleston: Life and Legend

Author Archives: Jeremy Beer

Charleston news

09 Sunday Feb 2020

Posted by Jeremy Beer in Uncategorized

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It has been far too long since I posted anything here. But Oscar is making his way in the world, and his life and legacy have been honored in Oscar Charleston‘s winning of SABR’s Seymour Award and Spitball Magazine’s CASEY Award. The book also has been named the winner of the Robert Peterson Award by SABR’s Negro Leagues Committee.

Needless to say, it’s an honor for Oscar Charleston to be recognized in this way. And even if the book doesn’t truly deserve these awards, Oscar the player and man surely does.

We are now trying to ensure that Charleston gets some recognition in Indianapolis this year, in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the Negro National League, whose first game was played in Indy in May 1920. Stay tuned…

Baseball and Barbecue and other stuff

10 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by Jeremy Beer in Podcasts

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Tags

Baseball and Barbecue, Oscar Charleston, Philadelphia Baseball, Query and Schultz, Ryan Whirty, Sports Lit 101, Upon Further Review

A roundup of recent places to hear/read me yammer on about Oscar:

The wonderful Baseball and Barbecue podcast.

The Philadelphia Baseball podcast with author Bill Kashatus.

An online interview with the great Negro Leagues researcher and stortyteller Ryan Whirty.

Various radio shows, including Sports Lit 101, Upon Further Review, and Query and Schultz.

 

 

The New York Daily News

25 Monday Nov 2019

Posted by Jeremy Beer in Brown Dodgers

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baseball integration, Branch Rickey, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Daily News, Oscar Charleston, United States League

ran an excerpt from Oscar Charleston yesterday, in which I discuss Oscar’s role scouting for Branch Rickey and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Presumably the article provided readers with a welcome interlude between stories about headless corpses and dogs driving cars.

By spring 1945 two years had passed as Branch Rickey, president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, deliberately searched, to no avail, for the first black man to sign for his team.

Part of the problem, he believed, was that it was hard for his white scouts to show up at Negro League games without arousing suspicion. It was even harder for them to get accurate inside knowledge about the character and background of any given player. Oscar Charleston and a new black baseball circuit called the United States League (USL) provided Rickey with a solution to this twofold dilemma.

More here . . .

Reviews and radio

16 Saturday Nov 2019

Posted by Jeremy Beer in Reviews, Uncategorized

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Bob D'Angelo, Booklist, Oscar Charleston, Query and Schultz, The Guy Who Reviews Sports Books, The Sports Bookie, Wes Lukowsky

While we wait for the New York Times to weigh in, here are three reviews of Oscar Charleston from the last week:

Wes Lukowsky at Booklist:

An invaluable contribution to baseball history.

The Guy Who Reviews Sports Books:

Ask most baseball fans or historians to name the best players in the history of the Negro Leagues and the immediate answers are usually Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and Cool Papa Bell. However, if one takes a closer look at both the statistics available and the excellence of his play for a long period of time, the answer must be Oscar Charleston. Charleston’s life and legacy are told in this excellent book by Jeremy Beer.

Bob D’Angelo, The Sports Bookie:

Oscar Charleston fills a void in baseball history, providing context and nuance to a great player who was enigmatic in life — and in death.

My thanks to D’Angelo for catching my error in spelling Ebbets Field with two “t’s.” Won’t be the last typo called out, I’m certain, but it is the first!

I was honored to do six radio shows last week. It was especially cool to be the Query and Schultz show, both of whom asked great questions, in Indianapolis on Friday. Here’s the recording.

 

Baseball by the Book . . .

06 Wednesday Nov 2019

Posted by Jeremy Beer in Podcasts

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Baseball by the Book, Justin McGuire, Oscar Charleston

is a wonderful, seriously thoughtful podcast on baseball topics hosted by Justin McGuire. It was an honor to talk about Oscar with him. You can listen to our conversation here. We touch on a bunch of topics, including the bad luck Oscar had in being misremembered in Roy Campanella’s autobiography.

If you are a baseball fan, I strongly encourage you to subscribe to the podcast.

Bookmonger podcast

28 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by Jeremy Beer in Podcasts

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Bookmonger, John J. Miller, National Review, Oscar Charleston

My first podcast on OSCAR CHARLESTON went live today. I’m grateful to my friend John Miller for the opportunity to join him on The Bookmonger and tell a bit of Oscar’s story.

Have a listen here.

 

The libraries are going to be full of OSCAR CHARLESTON,

25 Friday Oct 2019

Posted by Jeremy Beer in Reviews, Uncategorized

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Gus Palas, Library Journal

surely, after this nice review in Library Journal.

Quoth one Gus Palas:

In this thorough account, Beer has created a definitive work on Charleston’s life and accomplishments. The result is a fascinating story and an important piece of sports history.

I ask you, dear reader, what self-respecting librarian could fail to order this book after reading such words? I would shudder to meet such a person.

Anyway, my thanks to Mr. Palas!

 

Save 40% when you buy from Nebraska, not Amazon

07 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by Jeremy Beer in Biography

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Amazon, Oscar Charleston, University of Nebraska Press

And avoid giving quite all of your money to Jeff Bezos.

Just use code 6AS19 at the University of Nebraska Press website when you check out.

The first review is in

27 Friday Sep 2019

Posted by Jeremy Beer in Reviews

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Publisher's Weekly, Reviews

and not only could it be worse, it’s actually quite good. Whew!

Obviously I’ll be ignoring all negative reviews.

Beer’s evenhanded narrative makes a convincing case for Charleston as the greatest baseball player who never played in the majors. This is a solid hit for baseball historians and fans alike.

Books, books, books

23 Monday Sep 2019

Posted by Jeremy Beer in Uncategorized

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Now I have the rest of my life to refuse to see any typos herein…

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Oscar Charleston: Life and Legend

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