Did you know that Mark Belanger was one of three Orioles who to serve in the National Guard during the April 1968 riots that erupted after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination? (Dave Leonhard and Pete Richert were the others.) Would you believe that Belanger stole home plate twice in his career...or that Brooks Robinson holds the team record with four thefts of home in his career?I learned these fascinating facts and more by opening up Dave Pugh's "The Book of Baltimore Orioles Lists", a true labor of love from someone who was born in the same hospital as the Ripken boys and has lived in Baltimore almost as long as the Birds themselves. Dave recently came across this blog (and my NumerOlogy website) and sent me a very kind email. He also offered to send me a copy of his book, which I can't believe I hadn't come across sooner. The first edition was published in 1993, with a second edition following in 1999. My signed copy of the latter edition arrived in the mail today, and I'm pleased to add it to my bookshelf.
I'd like to offer my thanks to Dave for his compliments, his gift, and his fandom. It's always good to make the acquaintance of a like-minded fanatic.
3 comments:
always awesome to add to the baseball library. i will never forget the excitement in my well-read ex-girlfriend's eyes when she saw i had two gigantic oveflowing bookshelves in my living room, and the crushing disappointment when she realized 90% were books about baseball and the remaining 10% were about punk rock and old college textbooks.
Kevin--Thanks for the shout out. Hopefully one of these days I be able to do a third edition, maybe with your help.
Max - Yeah, a friend of mine has a bookshelf consisting mostly of comic books, but his librarian and English major wife abides.
Dave - You're welcome! I'd love to collaborate some day.
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