Nothing beats a big box of Topps

The nearby Costco has been carrying Topps’ “super box” sets of baseball cards for the past few months, and I treated myself to one for my birthday. Tempted as I was to open the 12 Series 2 packs of cards plus the three “Flagship Collection” packs at once, I decided to spread the joy over […]

Mike Krukow: A fan’s appreciation

Mike Krukow has announced that he’s retiring from broadcasting San Francisco Giants’ baseball games at the end of the season. All good things must come to an end, and Kruk’s 36 years of providing color commentary were a very, very good thing. Having moved to New Jersey 14 years ago, I no longer catch his […]

Retirement treat: A Philadelphia Phillies day game

My retirement from Princeton University took effect Wednesday, and I thought catching the first available day game at Citizens Bank Park would be a dandy way to celebrate. I drove to Philadelphia late this morning, knowing that I’d likely roast in a heat wave promising a triple-digit high temperature. Roast I did, along with 38,000 […]

Another manager bites the dust

The Philadelphia Phillies fired Rob Thomson as manager today, an inevitable outcome after the Phils got off to a terrible start to the 2026 season. Never mind that Thompson guided the Fightin’ Phils to winning records under his tutelage for the four previous seasons. An ugly 9-11 start doomed Thomson, who I hope gets another […]

Saying “no” to Wisco, and other City Connect musings

Major League Baseball released (unleashed?) its latest round of City Connect uniforms today, and I’ve passed the point where I reflexively reject them all. But I have not surrendered my First Amendment right to gripe about the new Brewers’ duds with “Wisco” lettering emblazoned on the jerseys. Yes, Brewers marketing team, I understand your wanting […]

The soothing sounds of Spring Training

I spent the previous two days watching the snow fall and a few hours shoveling during and after the Nor’easter storm that blanketed much of the Northeast. Post-shoveling, through the MLB app on my iPhone I was able to catch some of the glorious sounds of opening weekend for Spring Training. Actually, I heard a […]

A New York minute with my new Giants cap

At mid-week, I took a train into New York City on my way to visit my son and his family who live in Manhattan. They had given me a spiffy fitted and personalized San Francisco Giants cap for Christmas, and wearing it was the right headwear choice for a moderately cold January outing. On the […]

Remembering a great season and a great World Series

As the sun has set on the 2025 baseball season, I’m in a reflective, thankful mood. We had a heck of a World Series, with the Toronto Blue Jays taking the mighty (i.e., mightily financed) Dodgers into 11 innings of Game 7 before coming up short. I was rooting for the Jays and shut the […]

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 beautiful day for baseball on the Princeton campus

We won’t have many more sunny, warm days like the one we had today. With the temperature in the low 80s and puffy white clouds speckling the sky, I made my way to Bill Clarke Field on the Princeton University campus to watch a baseball team intra-squad scrimmage. It was great to reconnect with Coach […]