Phillies follies: Winter caps on the diamond

Until the other night, I had never seen a baseball cap with cold-weather earflaps. But there was Jimmy Rollins on national TV, doing a postgame interview. Although I actually think the cap is cool in a this-is-weird kind of way, it also underscores a major flaw of the baseball playoffs. They come too damn late […]

Winners and losers at Fenway Park

The Boston Red Sox pulled off another stunning comeback tonight, overcoming a 7-0 deficit to defeat Tampa Bay 8-7. Even if they don’t get to the World Series, the Sox proved they are winners. The losers tonight? Not the Rays, who are still up 3 games to 2 in the American League championship series. To […]

Great online caps source: Ebbets Field Flannels

A great source for baseball stuff is Ebbets Field Flannels, a Seattle-based online retailer that specializes in minor league replica jerseys from days gone by. If you want a Sacramento Solons or Seattle Rainiers jersey from the heyday of the Pacific Coast League, this is the place to go. My wife sports a fun Nevada […]

The new-look Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays dropped the “devil” from their name and redesigned their uniforms for 2008. The result: They had their first winning season, first division title and are headed into their first American League championship series. Coincidence? I don’t think so. The redesigned Tampa cap has a straight-ahead look that, to me, is more […]

Red Sox defeat Angels, thanks in part to blown call

The Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels tonight to advance to the American League championship series against the Tampa Bay Rays. One of the key moments of the game came in the top of the 9th inning, when Erick Aybar missed a squeeze bunt and stranded Reggie Willits between third base and home. […]

The dreaded Dodger, Manny Ramirez

On a TV broadcast on one of the last games of the regular season, there was a quick shot into the stands at Dodger Stadium of a fan wearing an LA skull cap with dreadlocks attached. I don’t know whether it was a home-built job with a wig, or whether the kid wearing it had […]

Brewers vs. Phillies, and bratwurst vs. cheesesteaks

Of the division matchups in the baseball playoffs this year, the only one I can illustrate with a pair of caps I own is the Brewers-Phillies series. I’m already on record in expressing my devotion to the Brew Crew. Their place in the playoffs this year takes me right back to their last appearance, when […]

The Angels compile the best record in baseball

The Los Angeles Angels go for victory No. 100 tonight. Even if they lose and lose again tomorrow on the final day of the season, they’ll still have the best record in baseball with 99 wins. No matter the record, no team is a lock to advance even past the first round of the playoffs. […]

The final game at Yankee Stadium

A tip of the cap to all the great Yankees players who turned out tonight for the pre-game festivities at the last game at Yankee Stadium. The white-on-navy caps have stayed the same over the years, as is right. Those old-style cream flannels that Larsen and Whitey and Yogi were wearing sure are great.

The ecstasy – and the agony – of September baseball

April is the cruelest month, T.S. Elliott said. But he never had to suffer through September on a baseball club eliminated from playoff contention in August. That’s the plight of the Seattle Mariners, who’ve been left in the dusty cellar of the American League West. As I write this post, the M’s are 30.5 games […]