“Moneyball” review: Not just a great baseball movie – a great movie, period

“Moneyball” is terrific. On the surface, it’s the story of the Oakland Athletics 2002 season and General Manager Billy Beene’s attempt to compete against the big-money likes of the Yankees. That alone is a great story, but Brad Pitt’s production runs at deeper levels. It probes the challenges of defying traditional wisdom not just in […]

Buckets full of spam, and a plug for the Baseball Bloggers Alliance

A curious thing has happened to Ye Olde Ball Caps Blog in recent months: my traffic has dropped off for no discernible reason and yet the amount of spam the blog receives has proliferated. Fortunately, our friends at WordPress have a really good spam filter that catches just about all the stuff that doesn’t belong. […]

Baseball, America and 9-11: A short tribute

This is a low key weekend around our house as America and the world reflect on the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001. We had our share of drama that day, as I’ve recounted elsewhere. Here on the Ball Caps Blog, I hold a cap over my heart in tribute to those who lost their […]

Can Ichiro reach 200 hits again?

Ichiro Suzuki has slapped out 200 or more hits each year since he joined the Seattle Mariners in 2001, but his streak is in danger. He went 2-for-4 tonight against Kansas City, bringing his total to 161 (as best as I can tell from MLB.com). That means he’s going to need a lot more two-hit […]

The pleasures of day baseball

Back in our old neighborhood in Alameda today, a friend and I decided there could be no better way to spend the day than by making the short drive to the ballpark. My friend, my younger son and I were rewarded with an entertaining game at the coliseum in Oakland. The Kansas City Royals pounded […]

The West Coast: A wasteland for baseball offense

AL, NL, all around the game: the West Coast is a barren landscape for hitters in Major League Baseball. I’m most acutely aware of the offensive struggles of the San Francisco Giants, the defending world champions who rank last in runs, 28th in hits and 25th in home runs. The Giants play a lot of […]

The Giants cut two veterans, and the sobering reality of Major League Baseball

The San Francisco Giants shook up their roster today, jettisoning veterans Aaron Rowand and Miguel Tejada while calling up Brett Pill from the minors. I’ve had days in my career like Rowand and Tejada are having, and I’ve also had a few call-up moments. I congratulate Pill on his ascension to the big leagues, a move […]

I finally make it to Kauffman Stadium, and the Kansas City Royals still stink

When Kauffman (nee Royals) Stadium opened years ago, I remember the announcers cooing about how cool the fountains were. Presumably they concentrated their gaze beyond the grass because the grass was plastic. Kansas City prides itself as the city of fountains, and through the many times I’d visited over the years I’d never managed to […]

Great moments in childhood: My 1966 Rocky Colavito baseball card

On this, the 78th birthday of Rocky Colavito, permit me to reminisce on one of the great events of my childhood. Like most kids in Cleveland in the late 50s and 1960s, I idolized Rocky Colavito, my favorite Indians player. I was only 3 when Frank Lane traded him to the Tigers for Harvey Kuenn at […]

Phillies-Giants brawl was a battle of the sore losers

The Phillies, stewing over losing to San Francisco in the playoffs last year, got into a brawl last night with the Giants, who are stewing over losing to the Phillies this year. Call it the battle of the sore losers. I didn’t watch the game and was only able to sneak a few score updates […]