Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Street and Smith


It’s February and, as a sufferer of BSAD (Baseball Seasonal Affective Disorder) wherein I get depressed after the World Series and don’t come out of it until right around now, I want to acknowledge the loss of  The Street and Smith Baseball Yearbook. For me, the first true sign of Spring.  

I understand why it’s gone. The internet, and particularly this site provides me with all the baseball I need year-round, but there was always something truly wonderful about the day when it finally appeared on the magazine rack. 

I always held off  buying the earlier arriving but crappier ones like Athlon and Dell. But even they gave me joy as their appearance meant it was just a matter of time until the Street and Smith showed up.

Stretched out on the couch, holding the promise of a new season in my hand, was always a turning point for me.

I always started with the Baseball Targets. That page that listed where the best current players stood in terms of the greats. 37 hits away from passing Willie Stargell. 12 Victories from Koufax.  

Next the team reviews. Particularly the Yankees (Duh!) Who they got. Who was up and coming, always wrong BTW, but that small paragraph was pretty much the only thing I read all year about the minors.  

And of course, their predictions on how the teams would finish. Also, always wrong.

When I ran out of articles I would stare at the baseball card ads or the one for Strat-o-Matic. 

Soon I wouldn’t have to wake up ½ hour earlier to warm up the car. Soon I could open a window. Soon there would be an article in the newspaper with my favorite phrase of all,  “Pitchers and Catchers arrive next week.”  

 

 

22 comments:

HoraceClarke66 said...

I hear ya, Doug K. For me it was always The Sporting News predictions (also wrong, most of the time).

But still. I used to buy that issue first thing, up to maybe 5-6 years ago. No more.

13bit said...

I like the yearly rituals. You may all call me a moron, but I used to start my post season - for years - by watching the Ken Burns Baseball documentary - every episode. This went on for a long time, but I have not done it the past few years.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely with you brother. Picking up an S&S around the first week of Spring Training was the first sign of new life. Still picked it up when ever I saw it. I was so bad about Yankee material in the day, I once got a subscription to the NYT through an offer in HS just so I could read the Yankee articles. I t would get delivered at school every day around 11 and I would read it at lunch with all the other "intellectuals." [ Jesuit school, early 70's, Four Dead in Ohio; you get it]I remember when Rich McKinney was going to be our new answer at 3B. I also remember reading the articles about his 3 errors in one game. Strange how the mind works, I remember that game vividly, but I forgot my next-door neighbor's name yesterday.
The Archangel

JM said...

Thanks to this post, for the first time in over 50 years I remembered a baseball game I played one summer sitting on the front stoop, rolling dice to determine outcomes for every AB.

I have no idea what it was. Another bit of data erased.

Playing stepball, where we slammed a tennis ball against the front steps of a neighbor's house and where it ended up determined the score...that I remember pretty well. The trick was to nail the corner of a step to get that high, arcing HR over the facing neighbor's front yard fence.

We were easily amused.

HoraceClarke66 said...

I remember that game all too well, Archie. It was against the Red Sox, and growing up as a Yankees fan in New England—I was horrified. Plus they traded Stan Bahnsen, a constant Sox-killer, for him.

Awful. But hey, that's how we got Celerino Sanchez—and after him, Graig Nettles.

Anonymous said...

Horace, OMG, I forgot that we gave up Stan the Man for him. Yeesh, h e was going to be our #2 starter, before that term was used, behind Mel S. and help lead us to Nirvana. That trade is best summed up as an example of Man's Inhumanity to Man.
The Archie

Dennis and Valerie said...

So, it really is not coming out? I have been waiting and looking but I hadn't heard that it wasn't coming out this year. :(

Unknown said...

I am so sad! The day before yesterday I couldn't find Street and Smith at Barnes and Noble, and this afternoon I complained to Amazon.com because they didn't have it available either. I can recall buying and reading and thoroughly enjoying Street and Smith as a kid, and I'm 80 years old.

Anonymous said...

I bought my first Street and Smith Baseball in 1968. I also always started out with Targets.
I I have bought S&S every year since 1968. I also have Football and Basketball.
Heartbroken.

Anonymous said...

I bought my first Street and Smith Baseball in 1968. I also always started out with Targets.
I I have bought S&S every year since 1968. I also have Football and Basketball.
Heartbroken.

Unknown said...

Sad day for a baseball fan. S &s was the best out there

Unknown said...

A lot of clubs aren't producing media guides as a fan I liked to have the book in my hands. I would take s&a and my media guide with me. Digital isn't as good or quick when you need a quick answer

Joe Glidewell said...

I totally agree with you. I got my first S and S in 1960 and one every year until they stopped then restarted. With the internet i have been able to get all of them from 1941 thru 1959. I am 72 now and another part of my life has ended or ceased to exist. That magazine is going to be sorely missed by this old man whose memories of his childhood are most fond of the ball I played and the Street andSmith’s I read like scripture from the Good Book.

Joe Glidewell said...

I totally agree with you. I got my first S and S in 1960 and one every year until they stopped then restarted. With the internet i have been able to get all of them from 1941 thru 1959. I am 72 now and another part of my life has ended or ceased to exist. That magazine is going to be sorely missed by this old man whose memories of his childhood are most fond of the ball I played and the Street andSmith’s I read like scripture from the Good Book.

Lucas Mora said...

Desde el inicio de la década de 1960 he estado vinculado a la revista St&Sm byb y este año he tratado de obtenla como siempre, excepto aquellos en que no se publicó. Hasta hace poco es que me percatado que no se ha editado para 2021. No sé si será que ya no se hará más, lo cierto es que me produce gran pesar.
Ya se tuvo la experiencia con Quién en es quién en en béisbol (Who’s who in baseball) que desapareció de la prensa hace algunos algunos años.
Un artículo que ha permanecido en la memoria es aquel que hizo referencia a los cuadrangulares conectados más largos en los distintos estadios. Creo que lo publicaron posteriormente y actualizado en los nuevos y en los que sufrieron modificación.
Me gusta mirar los números en páginas a blanco y negro y papel rústico.
¡Buenos e imborrables recuerdos!ia ncia

Greg Glasby said...

Just awful. I have been getting this magazine since 1970.

Phil Foreman said...

I was born in 1941 , the year the first issue of S&S BB Yrbook was published. Obviously, I didn't buy that one. The first issue I purchased was the 1952 issue with one of my favourite players, Stan Musial, on the cover. After that it was a yearly ritual until it ceased to be published a few years ago. I was able to purchase all but two of the issues from 1941-50. The last being the 1942 issue for which I paid $50 on eBay. Some of the issues from 1950-60 are no longer in mint condition as I kept stats of a game I played in the magazine. The rest are in mint condition including some from the 40's. I was hoping that would be able to say S&S Yr BB Yrbook and I are the same age but sadly the yearbook passed away first. I really miss it. I am so glad I stumbled on this site so that I could tell my story to people who would understand.
Phil in N.B. Canada
May 30, 2021

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Unknown said...

So I know this is a baseball thread..but us there no more street and smith football either? I've been looking without luck..seriously a disappointment if its gone was my annual early June holiday

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Anonymous said...

The last yearbook issues were the 2020 Pro and College Football issues.

Unknown said...

Does anyone know if Street and Smith's is going to have a college/pro basketball yearbook this Fall (Sept/Oct 2021). Also, sometime soon I might try to sell my complete set of S and S baseball yearbooks starting with first one 1942? until they stopped publishing and basbetball starting with first one 1958 I think. Any one SERIOUSLY INTERESTED in full set or at least many of the older ones, please email me at neilkatz44@gmail.com