The Stories Between the Stats — Phil Coffin on Baseball’s Legacy

Host Makonnen Sankofa sits down with Phil Coffin, author of When Baseball Was Still Topps: Portraits of the Game in 1959, Card by Card and A Baseball Book of Days: Thirty-One Moments That Transformed the Game.

In this nostalgic and insightful conversation, Phil Coffin takes listeners back to the heart of America’s pastime — when baseball wasn’t just a sport, but a shared cultural experience. Through his deep dives into the 1959 Topps card set, Coffin paints a vivid picture of the players, teams, and spirit that defined mid-century baseball.

He also shares highlights from A Baseball Book of Days, a creative “calendar of moments” that celebrates the turning points, triumphs, and oddities that shaped the game — one day, one story at a time.

This episode captures the magic, memory, and meaning of baseball that continue to echo through generations.