Great baseball stories: W.P. Kinsella’s “Thrill of the Grass”

Baseball, the quintessential American game, is the source of inspiration for many a writer. If I have single favorite short story on the sport, it likely is “The Thrill of the Grass” by W.P. Kinsella, who it just so happens is Canadian. Perhaps it’s that across-the-border perspective that allows him such keen insight into “our” […]

A tip of the cap to Paul Waner, in memory of my father

Paul Waner Originally uploaded by doug.goodman Had cancer not claimed him years ago, my father would have celebrated his 90th birthday today. Dad handed down to me many values, not the least of which was his lifelong love of baseball. Dad was born in western Pennsylvania in 1920, which meant he grew up a Pittsburgh […]

The Yankees’ evil empire keeps expanding

[picapp align=”right” wrap=”true” link=”term=Lance+Berkman&iid=8924515″ src=”http://view4.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/8924515/mlb-brewers-astros-may/mlb-brewers-astros-may.jpg?size=500&imageId=8924515″ width=”234″ height=”351″ /] A few years back my younger son and I marveled at the awesome display of power Lance Berkman put on at the home run derby during the All-Star break. Now the longtime Houston Astros slugger is wearing pinstripes for the Evil Empire that is the New York […]

Major League Baseball can do the right thing and give Galarraga a perfect game

[picapp align=”right” wrap=”false” link=”term=Galarraga&iid=8821298″ src=”2/e/3/5/MLB_Red_Sox_a16f.jpg?adImageId=13084662&imageId=8821298″ width=”234″ height=”156″ /] Due to a unique set of circumstances, Major League Baseball can overturn the horrible call that cost Armando Galarraga his perfect game and do so without jeopardizing the integrity of the game. The replay evidence is overwhelmingly conclusive that umpire Jim Joyce made the wrong call. Joyce […]

The MLB app for iPhone blows me away

Resistance is futile. If you love baseball, you must get the MLB app for iPhone. I used a $10 iTunes gift card from my Easter basket (yes, the bunny still delivers to baseball bloggers of a certain age) and another $4.99 to spring for the app the other night, and all I can say is, […]

Rocky Colavito remembers the Detroit years, and a whole lot more

The Detroit Free Press today has a terrific interview with my boyhood baseball hero, Rocky Colavito, who was famously traded from Cleveland to the Tigers in exchange for Harvey Kuenn. Even if you’re not familiar with Colavito — one of the best players in the game from the late 50s into the 1960s — I […]

A crazy day for baseball!

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=Ubaldo&iid=8438873″ src=”b/b/6/0/MLB_Brewers_vs_237f.jpg?adImageId=12521858&imageId=8438873″ width=”234″ height=”156″ /] Here it is, nearing the end of Week 2 of the Major League Baseball season and I’ve yet to post on anything. This is a good day on which to break my silence. Ubaldo Jimenez (shown in a photo from earlier this season) no-hit the Atlanta Braves, and […]

Congress caps off the drive to health care reform in historic vote

[picapp align=”right” wrap=”false” link=”term=health+care&iid=8314826″ src=”5/2/9/d/House_Votes_On_d0f8.jpg?adImageId=11544699&imageId=8314826″ width=”234″ height=”319″ /] This blog mainly focuses on sports, but I couldn’t let tonight’s historic Congressional vote on an overhaul of health care go without some sort of comment. And to find a photo of a Capitol police officer standing watch in front of the dome while wearing a ball […]

An American icon: The pocket baseball schedule

CLEVELAND – Besides the crocuses poking their way up through the snow, one of the first signs of spring in northeast Ohio is the emergence of the annual Cleveland Indians’ pocket schedule. I picked my copy up at a shop counter the other day while visiting relatives. The schedule, neatly folded and tucked into my […]

Tim Lincecum start rained out in Arizona

Rain washed out a lot of Cactus League games in Arizona today, including a Giants game in which Tim Lincecum was scheduled to start. The young San Francisco ace brings consecutive National League Cy Young awards into the 2010 season. He and Matt Cain make a fearsome duo to lead the pitching staff, and when […]