RIP, Ray fosse

I was saddened to hear the news that Ray Fosse, whom I knew in incarnations as a Cleveland Indians player and Oakland Athletics broadcaster, died this week at age 74. In the bleak years of the late 1960s, the Indians teams I followed were downright terrible. Fosse’s arrival was a sign of hope, which blossomed […]

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 […]

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 […]

Bits and bobs as the trade deadline passes

I’ve posted mighty infrequently of late. I attribute that to most of my energy being sponged up by a couple of major project at work. Nonetheless, here are a few thoughts that have been passing through my brain in recent days: – It sucks to get swept. The San Francisco Giants dropped three straight to […]

Inter-league baseball games have their charms, but there is a tradeoff

This is the first weekend for inter-league games in baseball this season, and there’s been plenty of buzz in a number of places as neighboring franchises like the Reds and Indians, Athletics and Giants, and Yankees and Mets fight it out. But my heart sank a little when I heard that the Cubs were playing […]

Blowing the NL West notwithstanding, Bud Black wins NL manager of the year

Here’s how the story should read: “Bud Black, who guided the San Diego Padres on a 10-game losing streak that cost them the Western Division title, was named National League manager of the year on Wednesday. He edged Dusty Baker, whose Cincinnati Reds took the Central Division but didn’t win a playoff game, by one […]

A San Francisco Giants fan bids farewell to his Phillies cap

Our youngest child recently headed off to college in Philadelphia and called a week or so ago with a request: can you send me a Phillies cap? Years ago my son had played on a Phillies team during Little League, but his cap had long since disappeared. I had been a coach and kept my […]

Musings on new ballparks and competitiveness

Back in the 1970s, I figured the surest way to assure your major league ballclub a pennant and victory in the World Series was to build a new stadium. I watched it happen in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh with Riverfront Stadium and Three Rivers Stadium, respectively. But baseball is more complex than that, as any number […]

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 […]

Great baseball rivalries: Yankees and Red Sox

[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=Babe+Ruth&iid=4606837″ src=”f/d/d/8/New_Yorks_dfce.jpg?adImageId=12802092&imageId=4606837″ width=”500″ height=”356″ /] It all goes back to the Bambino. Once Babe Ruth moved to New York from Boston, the die was cast for the greatest baseball rivalry of them all. The two franchises have battled venomously ever since, and only in the last decade have the Red Sox (this […]