Saying farewell to my left knee

I underwent replacement surgery for my left knee on Thursday, Jan. 23. As with many things in my life, a connection to baseball is involved. In all my years as a kid and teenager playing baseball, only once did play come to a halt because I was injured. It happened when I was 11 years […]

Rest in peace, Bob Uecker

News of the death of Bob Uecker hit me hard. Uecker, the Milwaukee kid who made it to the big leagues and made it even bigger as an entertaining ambassador for baseball, was one of the great characters of the game. I first heard Ueck on WTMJ radio when I moved to Milwaukee for graduate […]

The day they traded Gorman Thomas

For 23 years, I worked for The Associated Press in five bureaus across the country and at headquarters in New York. I joined the wire service in Milwaukee in 1981, as the Brewers were gaining momentum that would carry them to the memorable 1982 World Series. The Brewers lost that series to the St. Louis […]

Pinball Baseball still charms me

Growing up, I was continually frustrated playing pinball. Every quarter I’d drop into the slot would produce a minute or two of unsatisfying play, as the silver ball would flash past my flippers, ending the game. I never had enough quarters. I wouldn’t bash the machines to nudge the ball this way or that, and […]

My Rooting interests for the AL and NL championships

To demonstrate that I bear no animus toward New York City, I hereby declare my rooting interest in baseball’s American and National league championship series, gateway to the World Series. Anyone who knows me even passingly should not be surprised that I am pulling for the Guardians, the pride of my hometown, Cleveland. They are […]

A farewell to the Oakland Athletics

For six years in the 1990s, I lived about two and a half miles from the Oakland Coliseum. From the front lawn of our home in Alameda, I could occasionally hear cheers from an Oakland A’s game, if the wind was just right. I followed the A’s regularly back then, listening to their games on […]

Baseball in the sky

I watched the Princeton baseball team practice under a sunny sky with big, puffy clouds this afternoon. Although I didn’t have the wherewithal to photograph the concept, the day reminded me of one of my favorite sights: a baseball highlighted by the sun against a bright blue sky. Truly, is there a better sight? That […]

A nice night at Kauffman Stadium

A family gathering brought my wife and me to Kansas City last weekend, and we got in early enough Friday evening that we were able to catch the Royals hosting the Minnesota Twins. I’d been to Kauffman Stadium once a few years ago, and it didn’t make much of an impression on me. But I […]

An amazin’ Casey Stengel biography

Through my employer’s digital library, I checked out a copy of “Casey Stengel: Baseball’s Greatest Character,” a book rich in baseball lore and laughs that I highly recommend. Author Marty Appel combed through many records and historical sources to pen this biography of “the Ol’ Perfessor.” Stengel was managing the Mets when I was a […]

Requiem for a Cubs fan

Bob Newhart has died, and it’s fair to say that any and all Americans who enjoyed his comedy are deeply saddened. I’m squarely in that category. I alway felt an affinity for Bob and his Bob Hartley character on the Bob Newhart Show. Newhart grew up in Chicago and was Jesuit-educated: St. Ignatius High School […]