Yells For Ourselves
The thrilling, improbable and somehow true story of the 1999-2000 New York Mets, set against the backdrop of their rapidly changing home town. Available everywhere fine books are sold, but it would be cool if you bought it here.
Amazin’ Avenue
Matthew Callan word-yakked ’bout the Mets on a nigh daily basis for Amazin’ Avenue from 2010-2014. Archives of angry posts about those lean years can be found right about here.
Essays and such
A specially curated selection of Matthew Callan’s choice non-fictional essaying and podcast appearances throughout the interwebs.
Please Enjoy(?!) 21 Years of Joe Buck Hyping Forgotten Fox Shows
Deadspin, October 18, 2017
[post not written by yours truly, but does feature a supercut compiled by Mr. Callan containing, well, see the headline]
What my father the pathological liar taught me about Trump
Vice, June 7, 2017
Grand slam single
SB Nation, October 9, 2014
Inside the final days of The Best Show on WFMU
The Onion AV Club, February 19, 2014
Excerpt from Hang A Crooked Number
Stymie Magazine, October 21, 2013
Episode #46 of Jason Sims Puts You In Your Place
October 16, 2013
Mr. Callan discusses his novel, Joe Shlabotnik, and almost being murdered in the wilds of Canarsie
The Story Behind Baseball’s Most Successful Slogan
Baseball Prospectus, April 23, 2013
Where the Crazy Closer Comes From
Baseball Prospectus, April 9, 2013
The Man Behind the Brilliant Media Hoax of “I, Libertine”
The Awl, February 14, 2013
2012 Christmas Stories
Keeping Score at Home, January 3, 2013
WPRB’s Jon Solomon asked me to share a Christmas story as part of his fantastic annual 24-hour holiday music marathon. I told a tale of Eggbert, the talking Christmas egg. You can hear my story and all the others from the 2012 marathon at that there link.
Called Out: The Forgotten Baseball Umpires Strike of 1999
The Classical, October 2, 2012
Consider The Umpire
The Classical, September 11, 2012
The Night Bobby Valentine Lurked
The Classical, July 20, 2012
New York Times’ Public Editor’s Public Editor Is an Accidental Impostor
New York Observer, July 10, 2012
Getting to No, With Johan Santana (Or Anyone)
The Classical, June 5, 2012
John Rocker Is the Worst at Everything, Including Baseball
Vice, June 5, 2012
The Most Uncompromising Punk Compilation Ever
Low Times, May 18, 2012
Bud Selig Continues to Be Bud Selig
The Classical, March 2, 2012
Elijah Dukes Is Actually That Crazy
Vice, February 24, 2012
The Secret Record Reviews of J. Edgar Hoover
Low Times, February 21, 2012
Kids
The Classical, February 17, 2012
Billboard’s Review of Mitch Miller’s Prog Record
Low Times, February 13, 2012
Report: What City Was Built on Rock and Roll?
Low Times, February 7, 2012
Look Upon the Marlins’ Home-Run Celebration, Ye Mighty, And Despair
Vice, February 2, 2012
The Looney Tunes 50th Anniversary Special
Splitsider, February 1, 2012
Time to Wallow in the Mire
The Classical, January 25, 2012
Some Like It Hotline
Low Times, December 19, 2011
“El Capitan”
Soundtrack Series, January 18, 2012
Baseball’s Hall of Shame
The Classical, December 13, 2011
Cherry Cherry Christmas
Low Times, December 13, 2011
Bad Parenting, Albert Pujols, and the YouTube Temptation
The Classical, December 9, 2011
Grinning From Eyeball to Ear: The Psychic Timebomb of Steampipe Alley
Splitsider, October 25, 2011
“It’s All My Fault, Although I Also Blame Others”: The Curious Case of the Ed Grimley Cartoon
Splitsider, July 5, 2011
Fiction
Get thee to Gumroad for two exciting (?) fiction products at insultingly low prices:
- Don’t Say I Never Gave You Nothin, a collection of unsettling short fiction including many of the stories below plus never before published pieces.
- You Can’t Walk Off the Island, the continuing adventures of Backstop, the luckless baseball player/spy of Hang a Crooked Number (see below for more on that).
For the risk averse among you, a free epub containing excerpts from both books can be found here.
“You Will Send a Storm for Me,” appeared in Vol. 1’s Sunday Stories series on January 29, 2018. Check it out, it’s really upsetting!
Several of his short stories have appeared in Newtown Literary Journal. Namely: “The Poor Entrance” (Spring/Summer 2017) “Don’t Say I Never Gave You Nothin” (Spring/Summer 2016); and “My Place,” (Spring/Summer 2015). Go check ’em out here.
Another one of his stories, “The Smoke Children,” appeared in the October/November 2017 issue of Eclectica, which you can read here. And yet another one of his stories, “I Need to Know If You Have the Mask,” appeared in Winter 2016 issue of Sixfold; peep it here.
His novel Hang A Crooked Number was released in 2013 to resounding yawns and is currently unavailable. The morbidly curious can check out excerpts pubbed at Stymie and The Classical here.