Face it: We’re playing ‘The New York Game’

As Kevin Baker abundantly and entertainingly makes clear, America’s pastime is “The New York Game.” Baker’s book with that title examines the development of baseball from its organizational stirrings in the mid-19th century to the cusp of racial integration at the end of World War II. The setting? New York City. My friend Jerry and […]

Saying farewell to the Say Hey Kid

Willie Mays died last night at age 93, news that most Americans woke up to today. So did I, by checking the text my daughter sent me last night shortly after I’d dropped off to sleep. Although I never saw Willie play in person, I saw him play on TV in many an All-Star game […]

Dodgers and Giants: Let’s bring them back to New York for a series

Knotted in a tie for first place in the National League West Division with the best records in baseball, the Giants and Dodgers begin a marquee weekend series tonight, Friday, Sept. 3. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. Pacific time. The Giants and Dodgers left New York for the West Coast a lifetime ago, […]

Missing baseball? Check out these old radio broadcasts

Baseball on the radio forms the soundtrack to much of my life, and I miss hearing live games. Fortunately, the Internet Archive has a trove of old broadcasts that can scratch your audio itch. The broadcasts, free of copyright restrictions, run from the 1934 All-Star game through the 1973 World Series. I’ve sampled several games […]

Marking the Baseball Solstice with a list of Top 10 moments

To mark the Baseball Solstice, I’ve been contemplating the greatest moments in baseball history. A number of these came to mind instantly, a few of them took a bit more prodding of the memory banks. This list is strictly my own reckoning on this date. Ask me in a few weeks or a few months, […]

New York vs. Boston again – but I’m OK with that

On these posts I’ve complained, whined and kvetched about how America’s major television networks and the media overall are obsessed with the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry. Super Bowl XLVI is upon us, and we have another Boston-New York matchup with the Patriots and Giants. The network executives must be mighty pleased that those two big northeastern […]

My TV is too lame, so I can’t host a Super Bowl party

At a measly 36 inches on the diagonal, the low-def television set in our family room is simply too pathetic for me even to begin thinking about inviting people over to watch the Super Bowl. Our Toshiba is a hand-me-down from my brother. He gave it to us when he moved overseas back in 2001, […]

Exit, 49ers, and bring on baseball!

With the 49ers’ overtime loss to the New York Giants still stinging sharply, I turn to my blog and the prospect of another baseball season for solace. As a (baseball) Giants fan, it was weird — and damned annoying — to hear chants of “Let’s go, Giants” ringing out from Candlestick Park after today’s NFC […]

Iconic baseball caps: The original New York Mets

A pickup truck carrying a couple of young guys from a neighborhood softball team broke down on our street today. Eying their blue and orange uniforms, my wife asked, “Who are these guys, the New York Mets?” If my wife, who pays attention to baseball only by virtue of being married to an all-in fan, […]

Google’s news archive a treasure for baseball researchers, fans

For the baseball fan and the baseball researcher, the Google News Archive is a dream come true. Point your browser to news.google.com/archivesearch and at your fingertips you have access to an unimaginable bounty of newspaper and magazine clippings on the grand old game, not to mention just about any subject you might care to […]