1968: The Year of the Pitcher remembered

Whenever I visit the nearby public library, I always check the stacks for baseball books. The other day, I picked up “The Year of the Pitcher” by Sridharan Pappu. In it, he chronicles the 1968 baseball season, highlighted by the pitching dominance of Bob Gibson, who posted an infinitesimally small E..R.A. for the Cardinals, and […]

Baseball cards to celebrate the playoffs

At the hardware store last weekend, I was surprised to find baseball cards for sale at the checkout counter. Single packs with sticks of desiccated pink gum weren’t on offer as in my childhood days — just cube boxes containing eight Topps packs. I hadn’t bought or even seen baseball cards for sale yet this […]

A great week of baseball in Philly and Baltimore

I took vacation last week and packed it full of baseball. On Wednesday, my friend Jerry and I saw the Phillies beat the Cubs at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia. The next day, I drove to Baltimore to connect with relatives to catch an Orioles’ game against the Tigers and then two games against the […]

A gripping story of the Detroit Tigers and a 1930s wave of terror

I am forever on the hunt for baseball books, and by chance I discovered through an electronic library “Terror in the City of Champions.” The book, published in 2016, chronicles the exploits of the Detroit Tigers and other Motor City sports teams in the 1930s against a backdrop of violent crime perpetrated by a ruthless […]

My hometown pays tribute to Rocky Colavito

I’ve marked Rocky Colavito’s birthday on August 10th for as long as I can remember. I’m sure I found the date on the back of one of Rocky’s baseball cards, some of my most treasured possessions. Months ago I learned that a statue of Rocky would be unveiled in Cleveland on his 88th birthday, and […]

Comerica Park, the return: Just as nice at night

I first visited Comerica Park for a day game in 2019 and thoroughly enjoyed it. My daughter and her family moved to the Detroit area a short while later, and after a long COVID-induced delay my wife and I finally got to see them in their new home this month. Being the great daughter she […]

Baseball and betting are not social distancing

More than 100 years removed from the Black Sox scandal, betting is still a bad word in Major League Baseball. Shoeless Joe Jackson and his White Sox teammates accused of throwing the 1919 World Series are not and probably never will be in the Hall of Fame. Pete Rose, who like Jackson had the stats […]

Tangled web: Should the Indians rename themselves?

Yes. It’s time. There’s never been a more opportune moment for a franchise in any sport to scuttle a nickname with — real or perceived, overt or subtle — racist aspects. On this blog six years ago, I recommended that Cleveland drop the Chief Wahoo mascot, which the team eventually did from their uniforms but […]

Pitchers who rake —a dying, underappreciated art

The chatter around the Cold Stove League today is that Major League Baseball is likely to allow a universal designated hitter for whatever shortened season we get in 2020 as well as 2021 and, inevitably, forever after. For years, I’ve been expecting this change to come, all the while fervently hoping it wouldn’t. Metaphorically speaking, […]

Hear me roar about Comerica Park in Detroit

This is, of course, the Ball Caps Blog, so at this point in its resurrected phase I reckon I should post something again about baseball caps. Herewith is my latest acquisition, a Detroit Tigers cap that I bought last summer during my first visit to Comerica Park. The photo will go down in my personal […]