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 […]

A miserable night in Chicago as the World Series begins some miles south in St. Louis

CHICAGO — It’s a miserable night here, and not just because of the dreary, cold rain drenching the city. Three hundred miles to the south in St. Louis, the Cardinals have opened the World Series against the Texas Rangers. In Chicago, I wager most Cubs fans are trying to ignore the game. But deep inside, […]

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 […]

My dad on the hot corner: Two errors and 0-3 at the plate

One of my growing hobbies is researching our family history, and I found a gem tonight while poking around in Ancestry.com: my father’s name in a box score. Dad never failed to mention that he loved playing “the hot corner,” something I never doubted. Now I have the box score to back it up, on […]

Iconic baseball stadiums: Wrigley Field, Chicago

I’ve been away from posting the last two weeks, but I have an excellent baseball-related reason. I spent part of the time in Chicago on vacation, and that included an afternoon at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. Rather I should say the frigid confines, as we found them toward the back of Section 222 on […]

Iconic baseball caps: The Chicago Cubs

The Giants are playing the Cubs at Wrigley Field tonight, one of the classiest and most traditional settings for a game of baseball. The Cubs play while wearing one of the most iconic caps in any sport, with its tight, round red “C” logo on a blue field. The model shown here is my mesh-back […]

What’s the best time zone for baseball fans?

Road trips are rough on major league teams, particularly when making the big leap from Eastern time to Pacific time or vice versa. It’s also an issue for us baseball fans, who have to show nimble ingenuity to catch the broadcasts of our favorite teams. This week it’s been a trade-off for me: the San […]

Taking the plunge in fantasy baseball one more time

Fantasy baseball tears me in two directions. On the one hand, I love the concept of creating my own team to see what might happen if I were picking the lineups. On the other hand, pulling apart the game at the seams and stitching into something else should never eclipse the real thing. So I […]

A tip of the cap to Lou Piniella

[picapp align=”right” wrap=”true” link=”term=Lou+Piniella&iid=7044743″ src=”http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/7044743/tampa-bay-devil-rays/tampa-bay-devil-rays.jpg?size=500&imageId=7044743″ width=”234″ height=”350″ /] In a graceful move, Lou Piniella has announced he’ll retire after wrapping up the season with the Chicago Cubs. Piniella has distinguished himself as someone who excelled as a player and a manager, a combination that is uncommon if not rare. I’ve followed Piniella’s career for a […]

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 […]