Another manager bites the dust

The Philadelphia Phillies fired Rob Thomson as manager today, an inevitable outcome after the Phils got off to a terrible start to the 2026 season. Never mind that Thompson guided the Fightin’ Phils to winning records under his tutelage for the four previous seasons. An ugly 9-11 start doomed Thomson, who I hope gets another […]

Saying “no” to Wisco, and other City Connect musings

Major League Baseball released (unleashed?) its latest round of City Connect uniforms today, and I’ve passed the point where I reflexively reject them all. But I have not surrendered my First Amendment right to gripe about the new Brewers’ duds with “Wisco” lettering emblazoned on the jerseys. Yes, Brewers marketing team, I understand your wanting […]

Baseball’s “Opening Night”? We can do better

Generally, I’m a modern, progressive guy. When it comes to baseball, I tend more toward paleolithic traditionalist. Consider Opening Day or, as we are experiencing it this year, Opening Night. Let’s play in the sunshine, shall we? I have nothing against a few night games on Opening Day, as long as some of the games […]

Strat-O-Matic soothes the soul

I come now to praise Strat-O-Matic baseball, the board game that for decades has enabled baseball fans like me to bring the national pastime to life in their homes with statistical realism. I was a late-comer to the game. As a kid I had several baseball games, and my favorite was Ethan Allen’s All-Star Baseball. […]

Brewers and Phillies: Which to choose?

Root for the home team, Dad told me when I was a kid. As someone who has lived, worked and studied in several states, I’ve followed a lot of local nines over the years. As the Phillies start a series in Milwaukee with playoff implications for both teams and those chasing them, I find myself […]

Super Bowl omen: A bald eagle visits

Happy Super Bowl, everyone. I’m rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles, and we just had what I consider a very good omen for the the team. As my wife and I were eating lunch, a bald eagle landed on the golf course that adjoins our lot. The eagle flew off, then came back to the course […]

Baseball mitt reissues: One can hope

Volkswagen brought back the Beetle. Ford reissued the Thunderbird. And Corgi toys have reissued its Batmobile model, as my Facebook and Instagram feeds remind me nearly every day. As a baseball fan, I’ve long wished that sporting goods companies would offer us reissued versions of the mitts we had in our younger days. Several years […]

Go Birds! The Super Bowl, the Eagles and the eagles

As the Philadelphia Eagles head to another Super Bowl, The Associated Press took that as a cue to write more broadly about how eagles — Philadelphia and bald — are “having a moment.” The football team’s good fortune is widely l known, and there’s also been a lot of good news lately about our national […]

The Eagles prevail in the snow

Today’s Rams-Eagles game at snowy Lincoln Financial Field was a classic, and I took it in from the warmth of my living room 35 miles away. The game brought back sort-of fond memories of the one game I saw in person at the Linc: the Army-Navy game a few years ago. We were in the […]

Saying farewell to the Say Hey Kid

Willie Mays died last night at age 93, news that most Americans woke up to today. So did I, by checking the text my daughter sent me last night shortly after I’d dropped off to sleep. Although I never saw Willie play in person, I saw him play on TV in many an All-Star game […]