Brewers and Phillies: Which to choose?

Root for the home team, Dad told me when I was a kid. As someone who has lived, worked and studied in several states, I’ve followed a lot of local nines over the years. As the Phillies start a series in Milwaukee with playoff implications for both teams and those chasing them, I find myself […]

Looking back fondly on my ball-playing life

Playing softball again this year has got me thinking about the arc of my ball-playing life. It began as a toddler trying to hit a plastic ball tossed by my dad and has morphed into the 60-something trudger that I’ve become. As a kid, I learned the rules and how to play the game. “Meet […]

Rest in peace, Bob Uecker

News of the death of Bob Uecker hit me hard. Uecker, the Milwaukee kid who made it to the big leagues and made it even bigger as an entertaining ambassador for baseball, was one of the great characters of the game. I first heard Ueck on WTMJ radio when I moved to Milwaukee for graduate […]

The day they traded Gorman Thomas

For 23 years, I worked for The Associated Press in five bureaus across the country and at headquarters in New York. I joined the wire service in Milwaukee in 1981, as the Brewers were gaining momentum that would carry them to the memorable 1982 World Series. The Brewers lost that series to the St. Louis […]

Missing a moment of baseball history but getting more out of life

Since I’m parked for some time to come in my new home office that doubles as our guest room, I’ve spruced up my Zoom background by building the baseball wall. With permission from my wife, I’ve hung up several items with a baseball theme. One of the showcase pieces is a treasured photo from early […]

Synthetic conflicts and more: Media league softball

Sports Illustrated had a great story the other day on the life and times of the Central Park Press League, a softball competition that flourished for a couple of decades before withering and, at last in 2018, dying. The story by John Walters is a terrific read for anyone, but for this wire service and […]

BUSHVILLE WINS again!

I spent many happy innings at ballgames at Milwaukee County Stadium when I lived in that great city, but one of my biggest thrills from that long-gone park came this morning in a Strat-O-Matic baseball game. At my dining room table, I played the 1953 Dodgers against the 1957 Braves in Milwaukee, derided in the […]

Remembering the Milwaukee Brewers post-World Series parade of 1982

It probably was an omen. Over the weekend, I found in our garage an old cassette tape. Onto the cassette was dubbed a recording I made for The Associated Press radio network after the 1982 World Series, in which the Brewers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. This year, the Brewers lost […]

In which I erect a shrine to the Milwaukee Brewers in my backyard prior to Game 6 of the NLCS

All the neighbors thought Ray Kinsella crazy when he plowed down a couple of acres of prime corn land and built a baseball field for Shoeless Joe Jackson in Iowa. If they could see through the cypress trees, my neighbors would undoubtedly think the same today as I erected a backyard shrine to the Milwaukee […]

Brewers vs. Phillies, and bratwurst vs. cheesesteaks

Of the division matchups in the baseball playoffs this year, the only one I can illustrate with a pair of caps I own is the Brewers-Phillies series. I’m already on record in expressing my devotion to the Brew Crew. Their place in the playoffs this year takes me right back to their last appearance, when […]