Cleveland’s League Park: A gem restored

June was a good baseball month for me: Not only did I get to take in my first game at Pittsburgh, but on a trip back to my hometown of Cleveland I visited the old location of League Park. The park was the full-time or part-time home of Cleveland professional baseball [go ahead, insert your […]

A farewell to the Freak? I hope not

Just yesterday morning, waking up and moping over the morning news that the Giants had fallen to the Dodgers for a second consecutive night, I got to thinking that it would do the world good to see Tim Lincecum back on the mound. Today, I woke up here on the East Coast to the news […]

Meet the Matz

Originally posted on The On Deck Circle:
Yesterday afternoon in Queens, New York, starting pitcher Steve Matz, making his Major League debut against the Cincinnati Reds, watched as the first batter he ever faced, Brandon Phillips, smacked a lead-off homer over the left-field wall. The home crowd of 29,635 could never have guessed what would…

Achieve your dream: Fly to all 30 MLB ballparks

Is there a baseball fan alive who doesn’t want to visit all 30 Major League ballparks? I doubt it. This morning I read in The New York Times about Hopper, an intriguing new site that allows travelers to research optimum times to fly from Point A to Point B (and Point C, and Point D, […]

From the mouths of babes: My daddy is going to be an Indian

From the mouths of babes: My daddy is going to be an Inidan There’s a delightful story this morning off the AP wire about how the 5-year-old daughter of David Murphy spilled the beans on her father signing with the Cleveland Indians. According to the story, Indians General Manager Chris Antonelli relates how little Faith […]

Reblog: On Baseball Gloves, and Girls

Reblog: On Baseball Gloves, and Girls This morning I am compelled to share from The On Deck Circle this post, which is required reading for any American male who loves baseball and whose attention was diverted during his teenage years by girls.

Cardinals and Red Sox in a World Series rematch

Ever since the Indians got knocked out (not to mention the Giants failing to make the playoffs altogether), I have sulked and turned my back on the baseball postseason. Oh, I caught a half inning here of the NLDS, a few outs there of the ALCS. Most mornings I woke up to check for the […]

Indians fans: It is our lot in life to suffer

This blog has been silent through the September wild card chases, and it took the Indians’ disheartening performance last night to stir me to write again. Although their pitching ranged from acceptable to excellent, the Indians failed utterly at the plate. I credit a gutty performance by the Rays’ starter for much of that, but […]

Top National League rookies, relief pitchers of 2012

Here’s are my picks for the top rookies and relief pitchers of the National League for 2012. This post serves as a ballot for my votes in the Baseball Bloggers Alliance annual Willie Mays and Goose Gossage awards, respectively. Note that I am posting a National League ballot only, as that is the league which […]

A tip of the cap to the inventor of the electric football game

Sad news today from The New York Times for those of us sports fans of a certain generation: Norman Sas, inventor of the electric tabletop football game, has died at age 87. To my computer-gaming kids, the old Tudor electric football game must seem hilariously primitive. I only wish I still had my father’s mid-50s […]