Breaking baseball cap news: A protective helmet for pitchers

It’s a rare day when there’s breaking news on baseball caps, but today is one of them. The Easton-Bell helmet company has given a prototype protective pitcher’s helmet to a high school baseball player recovering from head trauma after being seriously hurt by a batted ball. The player is Gunnar Sandberg of Marin Catholic High […]

Alcohol and baseball: A dangerous combination

Austin Kearns of the Cleveland Indians was pulled over on a drunk driving charge in Kentucky. Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers was picked up in Florida for alleged DUI. And on Tuesday night this week, Coco Crisp of the Oakland Athletics was picked up on DUI and other charges in Arizona. This has not […]

19th Century baseball: ‘Old Hoss’ book doesn’t disappoint

A brief update: Last night I polished off the last chapters of “Fifty-nine in ’84,” the biography of Charlie “Old Hoss” Radbourn that I mentioned in a post a few days ago. The book by Edward Achorn was even better than I expected, bringing to life the game as it was played in the late […]

Gaining a new appreciation for the cactus in Cactus League

A family matter brought my wife and me to Tucson for a few days, the closest I’ve ever gotten to Spring Training in Arizona. While time did not permit us to travel north to the Phoenix area where the major league teams are training, I was able to stop by briefly at Hi Corbett Field […]

Spring training for readers: It’s time to report!

While major league teams are breaking out the bats and balls in Arizona and Florida, it’s time for fans to break out the baseball books. About 20 years ago, I started a personal tradition as spring approaches of finding a new book about baseball to read in anticipation of Opening Day. I have my 2011 […]

Baseball is greater than football

A simple message for Super Bowl Sunday, 2011: Baseball is greater than football, and I can prove it. Has anyone ever watched a baseball game for the commercials? Q.E.D.

With Duchsherer signing, Baltimore Orioles get a glimmer of hope

If he can stay off the injured reserve list, Justin Duchsherer can shore up the pitching rotation for the Baltimore Orioles. Duchsherer, who seemed forever on the DL in his years with the Oakland Athletics, signed with the Orioles this week. I never saw Duchsherer pitch at the Coliseum, but he made many a quality […]

Peering past Super Bowl Sunday to the start of Spring Training

We have one more week of bread-and-circus hoopla leading up to the Super Bowl, and then we can shift our full attention to what really matters: baseball. Spring training is just around the corner. Knowing that pitchers and catchers will soon be breaking out the balls and mitts keeps us going through the cold months. […]

Tribe denies Grady Sizemore trade rumors

It’s good to hear the Cleveland Indians deny emphatically rumors that they might trade away Grady Sizemore. It’s even better news that Sizemore will take the field about mid-March during spring training as he continues rehabilitation from knee surgery last season. The Tribe needs Sizemore. He’s a dynamic presence in the lineup and a fan […]

Caps, logos and the aesthetics of baseball

While baseball teams have plenty of crass commercialism in the names of their arenas and stadiums, at least the uniforms aren’t sullied by corporate logos as they are in other countries. Over at ESPN.com, Jim Caple laments that major league baseball team logos are becoming more corporate, blander and not nearly as much fun as […]