Recently my wife asked me how Stephen Strasburg was doing, as if we text regularly. Her memory of baseball is frozen in the late aughts-early tweens of baseball, before we were married, and while I was tweeting something after every dang plate appearance. She remembers when Strasburg starts were big deals, and it turns out…
Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way—ours is a family of Mets fans. My dad and his younger brother have always loved baseball, but my grandma was by far the biggest diehard in the family. This is our first season, and the Mets’, without her. My grandma liked to tell the story of…
After a 10-year study, countless hours of research and several per diem meals reimbursed, scientists and analysts in professional baseball in conjunction with the Tabletop Gaming Association of America have reached the following conclusion about the changing shape of the baseball over the past few decades. The baseball as we know it, gradually changed from…
In many ways, the history of Major League Baseball acts as both love letter to and commentary on American society, imbibing both its best and worst elements and reflecting them back to the public. The precise degree to which Major League Baseball encompasses the American psyche is likely something that cannot be arrived at quantitatively,…
The last notable pitcher we could find who dealt with this specific injury was J.J. Putz, who missed about five weeks with it as a Mariner in 2008. Putz, however, struggled with elbow issues the next season while with the Mets, eventually needing surgery to remove bone spurs. Putz, now a special assistant with the…
TURN DOWN YOUR LIGHTS (Where applicable) In a not too distant future Way down in Anaheim There was a guy named Albert Not exactly in his prime He worked for the Angels baseball team Just a few hits from a milestone dream He did a good job batting every day But Mike Scioscia had Ohtani…
Next year will be the 100th anniversary of two events: the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I; and Babe Ruth being sold to the Yankees, which set in motion years of minor scuffles all across the Northeast corridor. Much of these skirmishes had to do with baseball players wearing different colored hats having…
He had never really been able to discern whether his love of Fight Club informed his foray into cloning or if his interest in the highly controversial process predated his affinity for the novel. In any case, he found comfort in the likeness of the two, although cloning required a mere three rules: under no…
(In honor acknowledgement of.) Having a baseball player during his cost-controlled early years seems like the best time. You imagined him improving year after year, possible Hall of Fame discussion, and finally taking a hometown discount to stay with you. That happens sometimes, but as you have learned, it doesn’t occur all that much. You…
What, exactly, has Ron Gardenhire gotten himself into in Detroit?
Mon, Mar 5 Lyssa, we got a new hitting coach. it is raining today probably going to rain tomorrow too. say HI to your mom. Wed, Mar 7 Coach says my swing will be a lot better if I learn to tap my toe. say HI to your mom. she doing better? Thu, Mar 8…
In my Catholic high school religion class they taught us the value of seeing perspective from different angles; specifically the teacher talked about looking “at the light” as opposed to “in the light.” This was meant to be interpreted as, don’t mock someone for their beliefs unless you can empathize from a perspective of believing…
1934 Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of the radio audience, today we are out at the Polo Grounds, that historical home of the New York Giants. There were sixteen teams, enough today to be a simple conference, but then the entire league. Nevertheless, an argument about what could be, what should be, and importantly, who…
Maybe this is crazy. Maybe it isn't. The Phillies have seen the future. Are we ready? https://t.co/mDMjUPncIw pic.twitter.com/t6OLLCq06o — Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) February 28, 2018 Excerpt From Game Report 05/10/18: Rhys Hoskins, who went 0-for-3 with a walk in the loss to the Giants, gave an emphatic response to one reporter’s question about the play…
ABBOTT: Costello, I’m happy to announce that I’m going to work with the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team as a coach. We’re very excited about the season. COSTELLO: Tampa, you say? I bet you know all the ballplayer names. ABBOTT: [brief panicked pause] Of course I do. A good coach knows all his players’ names….
By the end, it was difficult to tell whether it had merely become routine or if there was a part of him in which hope still resided. Many argued the former, positing his demand for bus fare in the latter years meant he had gone soft and treated these several weeks in April as a…