Douglas Gladstone, A Bitter Cup of Coffee

Talking Leaves…Books will host a talk and book signing with veteran sports journalist Doug Gladstone on Friday, August 20, at 5 pm. Gladstone will discuss his recently published expose of the neglect of some baseball retirees, A Bitter Cup of Coffee: How Major League Baseball and the Players’ Association Threw 874 Retirees a Curve. Copies of the book will be available for purchase. The event is free, and may include an appearance by one of the retirees.

Lifelong baseball fan and long-time sports journalist Doug Gladstone’s first-book, A Bitter Cup of Coffee was released by Word Association Publishers in April. The true story of a group of former big-league ballplayers denied pensions as a result of the failure of both the league and the union to retroactively amend the vesting requirement change that granted instant pension eligibility in 1980, the book features interviews and stories of many of the players affected by this oversight. These men, Gladstone suggests, have gulped bitter cups of coffee. In his careful examination of this issue, which includes many interviews with former players and some poignant stories of their plight, he asks readers to examine our national relationship to sports and its heroes, as well as our relationships with those who precede us in the game of life. The book provides historical background, and proposes a solution to the problem.

A devoted husband, father and fantasy league baseball player who is addicted to sports, film, theatre and trivia, Douglas J. Gladstone is a journalist by training whose articles have appeared in The Chicago Sun Times, Baseball Digest, The Father Life and The San Diego Jewish World, among others.