Gomer Hodge and other forgotten baseball heroes of Opening Day

Opening Day in baseball always brings up memories for me, most of them taking me back to the finger-stinging cold that usually accompanied an Indians opener on the shore of Lake Erie. And somehow this week popped into mind Gomer Hodge, a utility infielder who was the toast of Cleveland in April 1971. Keep in […]

My National League West prediction for the 2012 season

With a heaping helping of faith and wishful thinking, I’m picking the San Francisco Giants to win the National League West this year. Even as I typed that sentence, the nagging voice in my head was saying, “What about the Diamondbacks?” The pick comes down to arms versus bats, and the Giants have the better […]

Originally posted on The On Deck Circle:
I have to face the fact that football seems to have brazenly overtaken baseball as the de facto national pastime. Even in its off-season, football news and gossip (usually the same thing), often intrudes itself into our lives with depressing regularity. The bi-weekly drug arrests, revolving quarterback soap…

Paving the way for women sports writers in the locker room

The Baseball Hall of Fame saluted a pioneering female sports reporter the other day in noting that a couple of her press passes from the late 1970s will be on display in a new exhibit on women in baseball. The reporter was Melissa Ludtke, who was writing for Sports Illustrated during the 1977 World Series […]

A great day for the Irish (baseball player)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone, and the top o’ the inning to you. I’m heading to the California gold country today, where I’ll be out of cell phone range much of the day. So no listening to baseball via my MLB app. I have to content myself with starting my day by taking a quick […]

Hank Aaron to be Marquette University’s graduation speaker

Via an alumni newsletter I learned today that Hank Aaron will be the commencement speaker at Marquette University on May 20. Aaron is a wonderful choice for the Milwaukee campus, which this time of year is preoccupied with basketball. Aaron spent much of his Hall-of-Fame career in Milwaukee with the Braves and even returned there for the […]

Originally posted on Grubby Glove:
A Heartbreaking Anniversary Is Approaching. On Thursday, March 31, 2011, after the season-opening game in which the Dodgers defeated the San Francisco Giants 2 to 1 in Los Angeles, Bryan Stow, a father, husband, paramedic and Giants fan wearing his orange and black colors, was viciously beaten by two men…

Not to blaspheme against spring training, but I’m still waiting for the real baseball season

The sun was shining and baseball was on the radio again this weekend, and that’s marvelous. But it’s not the real thing. I listened to bits of a couple of games, and I enjoyed hearing the sounds of the ballpark again: the crack of the bat (yes, the Giants got some hits!), the banter of […]

Ready for the season with the MLB At Bat app

With the first exhibition games about to start this afternoon, I downloaded the MLB At Bat app last night onto to my smartphone. I had Sirius satellite radio for a couple of seasons, which enabled me to listen to the home broadcasts of all the major league games. But I only had access in my car. Last […]

The stars (of baseball) in the sky

One of the pleasures of winter is a crystal clear sky revealing the sparkling stars in all their glory. On a walk this evening, I got to thinking how cool it would be to reconfigure the sky with baseball constellations. Citing their heroes and legends, the ancient Greeks affixed names to the many patterns in […]