A different way to consume a book of baseball history

Twenty years ago, I signed a deal to write an oral history of the Baltimore Orioles. A work-intensive project ensued. I went around the country interviewing every major figure in the history of the team who was still alive at that point. Unfortunately, many have since died, including Earl Weaver, Elrod Hendricks and Mike Flanagan. I still have all the tapes of the interviews I conducted for the book -- dozens and dozens of hours. Right now, the tapes are stashed in a shoebox that’s stashed in a closet. One of these days, I’ll get my act together and figure out what to do with them so fans can hear them.

The book that resulted from those interviews, “From 33rd Street to Camden Yards,” was published in 2001. It’s a deep dive into the ups and downs of the Orioles from their inception in 1954 through 2000. I know for a fact that it doesn’t contain many, if any, errors because Brooks Robinson himself copy-edited it for me. You might remember him mentioning the book in the speech he gave when his statue at Camden Yards was unveiled. (You want to talk about my phone blowing up.)

Anyway, a fan of the team recently contacted me to say he’d really enjoyed the (not brief) audio version of “From 33rd Street to Camden Yards,” which is available through Audible. More and more readers, millions actually, are consuming books that way. As a new baseball season looms, I just wanted to (yes, shamelessly) point out that the book is available in audio form if you’re a fan of the Orioles, interested in knowing more about them and/or looking for “a listen.”