The Orioles bring back the cartoon logo

The Baltimore Orioles have resurrected the old cartoon logo that was featured on their uniforms and caps up until the late ’80s. The Baltimore Sun tells you pretty much all you need to know at this link. The Sun also has a poll, and the fans are overwhelmingly in favor of the change. I prefer […]

A tip of the cap to Tony La Russa

We tip our cap to Tony La Russa, who announced today that he’s retiring after 33 years as a big-league manager. With the White Sox, Athletics and the Cardinals, he had an uncanny knack for taking the talent he had and getting them far into the playoffs. Good for him, going out on top after […]

The baseball season ends, and winter begins

It’s no coincidence: The baseball season concluded last night as the Cardinals knocked off the Rangers in St. Louis, and it’s snowing this morning in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York. What more do fans of the Phillies, Pirates, Yankees and Mets need to remind them that the 2011 season didn’t go their way? But what […]

Remembering the Milwaukee Brewers post-World Series parade of 1982

It probably was an omen. Over the weekend, I found in our garage an old cassette tape. Onto the cassette was dubbed a recording I made for The Associated Press radio network after the 1982 World Series, in which the Brewers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. This year, the Brewers lost […]

And the most valuable player in major league baseball, 2011, is ….

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance, of which I am a proud member, bestows its annual Stan Musial Award on the best player in baseball by a vote of the group’s members. This is my first year casting a ballot for what is the equivalent of the Major League Baseball most valuable player awards, and it’s a […]

Revenge is sweet: Brewers defeat Cardinals in Game 1 of the NLCS

Twenty-nine years I waited for today, when the Brewers defeated St. Louis in Game One of the National League Championship Series. I’ve rued the Brewers’ Game 7 loss to the Cardinals in the 1982 World Series all this time, and it was sweet for the Brew Crew to win on a glorious fall day in […]

Who were the best relievers in baseball in 2011? Jose Valverde and J.J. Putz

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance gives the Goose Gossage award each year to the best relievers in baseball, and here’s my ballot. I have nominations for the American and National leagues. American League 1. Jose Valverde, Detroit Tigers – The best in baseball in 2011 based on number of saves, and I think that’s an accurate reflection […]

Who was the best rookie in Major League Baseball in 2011? Freddie Freeman

In the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, this is my rookie year for voting in the group’s end-of-season awards. In the BBA, the Willie Mays Award goes to the top rookie, and here’s my ballot influenced heavily by the great MLB.com statistical rundown on rookies: 1. Freddie Freeman, Atlanta – Braves: Playing virtually every game at 1st […]

Salary cap for baseball? It’s not the American way

FOX Sports ran a commercial today during the Cardinals-Phillies game on TBS that got under my skin in a bad, bad way. It was a misty-eyed paean to the Yankees, with lots of images of Derek Jeter and Reggie Jackson implying that the Bronx Bombers own October. I hate that. Let me say that again: […]

Manager of the Year? Give an arm pump for Kirk Gibson of the Arizona Diamondbacks

Can there be any choice but Kirk Gibson for manager of the year? After inheriting a dreadful Arizona team from 2010, he led the Diamondbacks to the NL West title. How can anyone top that? Not only did the D-Backs win the West, they put the defending world champion San Francisco Giants out to pasture. […]