Real Fantasy Baseball
In preparation for the upcoming season, here at Baseball Reflections we have decided to do something to get us even more excited for the start of baseball than we already were. We are putting a different spin on fantasy baseball. The writers of BR.com will be submitting their all-time fantasy teams for readers to see […]
August Reflections on the Cleveland Indians

Indians fans are currently partying like its 1995! As of this writing, the team has just won eight straight games and is heading to Miami to face the Marlins after a convincing sweep of the Chicago White Sox. While in past years, the team has tailed off after the All Star Break, this team certainly […]
Book Review: Color Blind
With the release of the new Jackie Robinson movie, 42, the awareness of the famous story of how Robinson broke the color line in baseball is more rampant than ever. In his new book, Color Blind: The Forgotten Team that Broke Baseball’s Color Line, Tom Dunkel introduces America to a long lost team that once […]
July Reflections on the Cleveland Indians

What makes this year’s version of the Cleveland Indians different from those the past few years? They seem to have more staying power. Well, that remains to be seen, but at least they have the power to come back after getting knocked down. During the 2011 and 2012 seasons, the Indians shot out of the […]
Book Review: Instant Baseball

If you take pictures with your iPhone and post them to Instagram, you probably never considered that a book could be published of the pictures from your camera phone. Well, Brad Mangin has done just that. Mangin, a freelance photojournalist who has taken the cover photo for more than one dozen issues of Sports Illustrated, […]
Book Review: Loudmouth

Sports radio listeners have been hearing Craig Carton in many markets across the country for decades now. For those familiar with Carton, there will be no surprise that his first book, Loudmouth, is extremely entertaining. In fact, Carton’s new work is likely the most fun you will have reading a book from the sports section […]
Book Review: Nailed!
What are the first words things that come to mind when you think of Lenny Dykstra. For me, it was words such as competitor, gritty, athletic, aggressive and even arrogant. After reading Nailed!: The Improbable Rise and Spectacular Fall of Lenny Dykstra, I quickly learned that a list of characteristics such as that doesn’t even […]
Book Review: Long Shot by Mike Piazza
Mike Piazza was one of the most polarizing players of his generation. Just from the rare viewpoint that he had successful stints with two different teams makes him unique. During his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, Piazza received many accolades and was constantly considered at least the second best catcher […]
March Reflections on the Cleveland Indians
One thing is for sure, the Indians are keeping fans and reporters busy this off season with all of their transactions. Not only has the Tribe done what they usually do, which is bring in some young talent to Spring Training and sign some players past their prime to see if they have one more […]
Book Review: Closer
The role of a closer may be the most mysterious position in baseball. In order to succeed, it almost seems as if a player has to be a little off of his rocker. It is the only position in sports where the player is guaranteed to only be on the field during pressure packed situations. […]
Book Review: Trading Bases
Every once in a while a book about baseball will come out that is different than all others in the sports section at your local Barnes and Nobles. Joe Peta’s new book Trading Bases: A Story About Wall Street, Gambling, and Baseball (not necessarily in that order) is one of those books. Peta, once […]
January Reflections on the Cleveland Indians
What has happened in the past month has been astounding to those who have followed the Tribe’s recent history. Not only did they make a few trades, which were detailed in last month’s edition of reflections, but the Indians signed one of the most highly sought after players on the market, Nick Swisher. The Indians […]
Book Review: Any Given Monday
If you watch baseball, heck, if you watch any major sport, you have probably heard the three words: Doctor James Andrews. As you probably already know, Dr. Andrews is a world renowned surgeon who operates on many of the world’s elite athletes. Other than having his name constantly mentioned in the news, the doctor has […]
Book Review: The Baseball Hall of Shame: The Best of Blooperstown
If the first four renditions of books about baseball bloopers weren’t enough to tide you over, have no fear, a fifth one is on the way. Authors Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo are back to their blooper ways. After already publishing The Baseball Hall of Shame…Volumes 1-4, the two authors have now come out with […]
November Reflections on the Cleveland Indians
All of the news last month was regarding new Indians manager Terry Francona. Now that Francona has arrived, the local media has turned their focus to the other person who was in the running to be the skipper of the Tribe, Sandy Alomar Jr. Those of us from Northeast Ohio have a certain level […]
October Reflections on the Cleveland Indians
My, how the mighty have fallen. After high hopes early in the season, the Indians fell apart completely after the All Star Break and ended up finishing with a record of 68-94 (just two games ahead of the last place Minnesota Twins in the American League Central Division). As one would assume after a debacle […]
September Reflections on the Cleveland Indians
August of 2012 will not be remembered fondly by those who follow the Indians organization. The team finished the month with a record of 5-24, somehow finding a way to go from contending for a playoff spot around the All Star Break to contending for the league’s worst record just over a month later. There […]
Book Review: Yankee Miracles
The New York Yankees are arguably the most successful and popular professional franchise, not just in Major League Baseball, but in all of sports. In the new book, Yankee Miracles: Life with the Boss and the Bronx Bombers, authors Ray Negron and Sally Cook regale readers with lesser-known stories from within the Yankees. Negron has worked […]
Mid-August Cleveland Indians Reflections
So are the Indians a contender, or aren’t they? That seems to be the question that everyone who follows the team has been asking since the first day of the season. They have seen more ups and downs this season than someone driving through the Rocky Mountains and it doesn’t look like the journey […]
Book Review: Stillpower
Why does everything worth anything have to be so unbelievably hard to achieve? Well, according to Garret Kramer in his new book, Stillpower: Excellence with Ease in Sports and Life , the goal one wants to achieve may only seem hard because that is how the person chooses to perceive it. Now, one could clearly […]
Book Review: Ozzie’s School of Management
If anyone who even casually follows the game of baseball was asked to name the most controversial manager of the past decade, there is little doubt that the first name out of their mouth would be current Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen. In his new book, Ozzie’s School of Management: Lessons from the Dugout, the […]
Book Review: Starting and Closing
Not many players in the history of baseball had as unpredictable a career as John Smoltz. Usually a starting pitcher stays such throughout his career, or if a player becomes a dominant closer one year, it is impossible to change them from that role. Smoltz would be the ultimate exception to this rule. In short, […]
Book Review: Major League Dads
Is there anything more American than a game of catch between a father and his son? For many, the answer to this question would probably be that the only way to make that vision more American is to have an apple pie sitting in the window of the house next to the yard where the […]
May Reflections on the Cleveland Indians
You wouldn’t know it by watching SportsCenter, but the Indians have managed to put together a decent stretch of baseball and they find themselves at the top of the Central Division in mid-May. Albeit not with the most outstanding record in the world (as of this writing, the Tribe was just 3 games above .500), […]
Book Review: Bill Veeck: Baseball’s Greatest Maverick
Those who are not aware of the history and importance of Bill Veeck, and his influence over baseball, cannot truly call themselves historians of the game. Not knowing the story of Veeck from his owner’s chair could be on parallel with not knowing Babe Ruth from his batter’s box. While some may be familiar with […]
Book Review: Wherever I Wind Up
R.A. Dickey is not a name that shoots to the front of most baseball fans minds when they think of players whose story they may want to hear. While he may not be the most well-known of players, Dickey, a starting pitcher for the New York Mets, has put together a very interesting story of […]
April Reflections on the Cleveland Indians
The ending of Spring Training is supposed to be a time when all teams are still optimistic about their opportunities in the upcoming season. Despite promises in the media by players and coaches alike, many Indians fans are more than leery about the beginning of the season. The Indians finished Spring Training with the worst […]
Book Review: Summer of ’68 by Tim Wendel
For baseball, the 1960s were an extremely memorable decade. Every fall it seemed that there were heated series between historic teams who had a deep love for the game and a desire to call themselves the best. This decade also featured many polarizing and other not so popular, yet still interesting players. Author Tim Wendel […]
Book Review: High Fives, Pennant Drives, and Fernandomania
Recent history has not been kind to the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, in Paul Haddad’s new book, High Fives, Pennant Drives, and Fernandomania: A Fan’s History of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Glory Years 1977-1981, the author gets the reader so immersed in what happened between these years, that it makes the reader remember what a […]
A Review: Baseball Fantography: A Celebration in Snapshots and Stories from the Fans
Fans are no doubt what make the game of baseball so popular, especially at the Major League level. Over time, the players who have noticed this and focused on being a fan favorite have been able to overcome hitting slumps or pitching doldrums in the public eye much easier than those who may not be […]