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.

A visit to Shibe Park (sort of)

I live not far from Philadelphia, and yesterday I finally decided to seek out the site of old Shibe Park, a.k.a. Connie Mack Stadium, where the Phillies and Athletics played for the better part of the 20th century. I drove through north Philadelphia and expected to walk around the site a bit, anticipating that I’d be […]

Fixing the date for the annual Baseball Solstice: Dec. 29, 2013

The World Series is behind us, at least some of the Red Sox are shaving off their beards and baseball fans the world over are gathering scraps to light the fire for the Hot Stove League. It’s a time for reflecting on the season past and recognizing that we have several fallow months ahead before […]

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 […]

Cirque du Phillies: An entertaining evening at Citizens Bank Park

Last night I attended my first Phillies home game at Citizens Bank Park, and it was a delight. My younger son and I donned San Francisco caps to cheer on the visiting Giants, who crushed the Fightin’ Phils 9-2 with some unexpected and welcome power from AAA call-ups Brett Pill and Roger Kieschnick. We had […]

Remembering George Scott

With sadness I learned last evening of the death of George Scott, who had a fine career primarily with the Red Sox and Brewers. I have a particularly clear memory of seeing Scott play third base for the Red Sox at old Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. My dad played third base as a kid and […]

Just a flesh wound: Some thoughts on baseball at mid-season

Wow, have I been a baseball blogging phantom this season. I cringe at the mere thought of checking the date on my last post, which itself was weeks and weeks after the previous post. My lack of posting doesn’t mean I haven’t been a fully engaged baseball fan. In fact, I’ve watched plenty of games […]

Baseball: You can go home again

Last weekend I went back to Cleveland to play golf with my oldest friends on the planet, the guys I grew up with in our old neighborhood straddling the border between Cleveland Heights and South Euclid. The trip was planned solely on our availability to get together for 18 holes, and it was a happy […]

A Father’s Day tribute to my dad

Baseball is an integral part of my life, and I have my father to thank for that. As I peer back through more than half a century of memories to my childhood, baseball and my father are fused. Dad taught me to throw, to catch (two hands, Danny!), to grip the bat and swing (meet […]