Opening day (or night), and getting back in the game

For all the time I’ve spent on a computer keyboard day and night the past couple of weeks, you’d think I’d have had time to post one measly blog item. So tonight I’m oiling the joints and getting back into the game with a couple of basic notes. The 2009 Major League Baseball season is […]

Seattle without the Sonics, and other sad tales of the NBA

Having been born with virtually no talent for basketball, I suppose it’s not a huge surprise that basketball ranks fairly low on my list of favorites. As far as I can recall, I’ve only had one NBA team cap my entire life. That was a nifty green and black Seattle Supersonics cap, but it went […]

The Angels compile the best record in baseball

The Los Angeles Angels go for victory No. 100 tonight. Even if they lose and lose again tomorrow on the final day of the season, they’ll still have the best record in baseball with 99 wins. No matter the record, no team is a lock to advance even past the first round of the playoffs. […]

The ecstasy – and the agony – of September baseball

April is the cruelest month, T.S. Elliott said. But he never had to suffer through September on a baseball club eliminated from playoff contention in August. That’s the plight of the Seattle Mariners, who’ve been left in the dusty cellar of the American League West. As I write this post, the M’s are 30.5 games […]

These baseball caps freak me out

When I have some time to kill, I’ll often head over to the Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball Web sites to salivate and dream over the ballcaps and other merchandise they offer. This morning, I decided to broaden my search and entered a Google search for baseball caps. The major cap-making companies popped […]

In praise of minor league baseball

If there’s anything more American than baseball, it’s minor league baseball. I grew up knowing only the big-league variety, although one could argue that the Cleveland Indians of the 1960s and 70s were anything but major league. Over the past decade I’ve become a fan of minor league ball, which has enjoyed a resurgence across […]

The Tris Speaker Baseball League cap

For those of us who grew up in Cleveland Heights and University Heights, Ohio, the intertwined “T” and “S” logo of the Tris Speaker Baseball League is a powerful icon. Everyone who played wore the same red and black wool cap. Here, my Adam’s apple jutting prominently and skinny belt sagging, I’m wearing my first […]

Let’s start with the Tribe

Let’s start formally with a Cleveland Indians cap, representing the team I’ve followed my whole life. This shot was taken between innings at an Indians-Athletics game in Oakland early in the 2008 season. The cap belongs to my friend Joe, a fellow Clevelander who surprised me with the offer of front-row seats that Sunday morning. […]