After one book of his short stories and one novel I never read much more of his fiction. But he was also a fine art critic. Here he asks the question “What is American about American art?” and asserts that American art is “liney”.

And he was a Red Sox fan. Baseball Almanac reprints his farewell to Ted Williams, a combination of love, erudition, and irony. A sampling:

Greatness necessarily attracts debunkers, but in Williams’ case the hostility has been systematic and unappeasable. His basic offense against the fans has been to wish that they weren’t there. Seeking a perfectionist’s vacuum, he has quixotically desired to sever the game from the ground of paid spectatorship and publicity that supports it. Hence his refusal to tip his cap to the crowd or turn the other cheek to newsmen. It has been a costly theory—it has probably cost him, among other evidences of good will, two Most Valuable Player awards, which are voted by reporters—but he has held to it from his rookie year on. While his critics, oral and literary, remained beyond the reach of his discipline, the opposing pitchers were accessible, and he spanked them to the tune of .406 in 1941. He slumped to .356 in 1942 and went off to war.

(h/t Althouse)

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Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book has won the Caldecott Medal for children’s literature.

I have not read Mr. Gaiman’s books for adults, or yet seen this book for children (hopefully The Athenaeum will bring it in). Yet I get a kick out of Mr. Gaiman’s wry response:

“I had thought that’s nice, there are books that are best sellers and books that are winners,” Mr. Gaiman said. “Very often, the world of award judges, and I think rightly, use their magical judging powers to try to bring books to the attention of the world that might not have otherwise been noticed.”

This statement is phrased just so — you think he might be sincere. Or not.

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Here they are.

For fantasy, how many do you need to care about? Maybe half a dozen. Take away the catchers, and maybe just a couple. First, Keith Law is listing prospects. Some of these players played A and AA ball last season. They are not going to making a major league roster out of spring training.

Others will have great seasons (like last year’s top prospect Evan Longoria), but we don’t know who they are yet.

Many rookie prospects will be drafted in your fantasy league, and many will be dropped. Rookies are notoriously erratic and they quickly lose playing time when they start poorly. You just have to be alert to picking them up when they get hot again.

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It’s a sports topic that comes up occasionally with answers that range from Jim Thorpe to Deion Sanders.

One dark horse I like to throw out is Danny Ainge, a poor major league baseball player but a very good NBA guard. He is also, from what I’ve heard, a superb golfer. Golf, see, is the oddball sport that distinguishes a great athlete with truly mystical body control from the average great athlete.

Add another name to the list: John Smoltz. According to Buster Olney, Smoltz is a friend of Tiger Woods and “Woods says Smoltz is the best golfer he knows who is not a professional.”

Nice signing by the Red Sox especially if it turns the hapless Brad Penny into a middle reliever.

Update (25-June-09): Now I’m listening to Smoltz’ first start for the Red Sox. According to the announcers, Smoltz is also indomitable in Ping Pong.

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