How Red Schoendienst Taught Me What a Manager Does
In July of 1975, I went to my first professional baseball game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The recently departed Red Shoendienst was the Cardinals manager that day, meaning he filled out the lineup card, and he made the …
Remembering Tom Burr on Memorial Day
Whenever I am asked what’s my favorite movie, the answer is always the same: Field of Dreams. It’s always worth watching, for the themes of fathers and sons, and a love of baseball that defies logic. The real-life story of …
Bartolo Colon, Juan Marichal and How Baseball Has Changed
There’s a heartwarming video of Bartolo Colon celebrating his 45th birthday in the Texas Rangers clubhouse. I could say more about what’s on the video, but let’s say it’s about as unique as Colon himself. Birthdays get better with age…and …
Take Me Out to the Ballgame: Cubs-Indians Wrigley Field Experience
Leaving Wrigley Field after the Cleveland Indians’ 10-1 trounced the Chicago Cubs, I was struck by the complete transformation of the area around the National League’s answer to Fenway Park. Red Sox fans, and anyone who’s ever been to a game …
Golden Knights’ Instant Success Has Never Happened in MLB
From the very beginning for me, there was baseball and everything else. Other sports come and go in my consciousness, but—as Terrance Mann so artfully puts it in Field of Dreams—the one constant through all the years has been baseball. …
Looks Like the End for Ichiro Between the Lines
I’ll always remember the one and only time I saw Ichiro Suzuki (and we don’t really need to use his last name, do we?) play at Safeco Field in Seattle. It was 2002, when he was the reigning AL Rookie …
Pujols 3,000 Is Big, But Pujols 2,000 Is Even Bigger
At the beginning of May, Albert Pujols sits just outside of perhaps the most celebrated club in baseball history: the 3,000 hit club. Albert Pujols will become the 32nd player in major league history to achieve this plateau, and baseball …
Illinois’ 1-2 Punch of J.A. Happ and Curtis Granderson Lifts Toronto’s Spirits
One way I introduce myself to people is as a lifelong Illinois resident. And if you’re pronouncing the state’s name with an S or a Z sound at the end, please stop it immediately. Thank you. From a baseball perspective, …
Cubs, Indians Meet Again at Progressive Field—Get Ready
Like every other Cubs fan – and, I suspect, every Indians fan, too – the events of November 2, 2016, are forever etched into my memory. After a lifetime of waiting to see the Cubs in the World Series, they …
Magic Night for Francisco Lindor in Puerto Rico
According to Google maps, getting from Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico to the city of Caguas doesn’t take very long. Just get on Highway 18 heading south until it runs into Highway 52 which takes you right …
