Here is a ruthless summary the previous day’s baseball proceedings from the Toronto Globe on June 6th, 1888: LEATHER HUNTING AT BUFFALO BUFFALO, June 5 — Today’s result may have reduced Mr. Fanning’s opinion of his ability to pitch good ball. Even that is doubtful. The main point now with Mr. Fanning is the opinion…
You have been wandering in aimless, companionable silence for a while when your friend has the presence of mind to check the time. It’s 11:58 — too late to change course, find a nice restaurant or a good vantage point from which to view the fireworks. You’re nowhere near the waterfront now, anyway. There’s nothing…
Houston Astros acquired RHP Roberto Osuna from Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for RHP Ken Giles, RHP David Paulino, and RHP Hector Perez. [7/30] Earlier this week, the Blue Jays traded their closer, Roberto Osuna, to the Astros, getting Ken Giles, Hector Perez, and David Paulino in return. The Astros, en route to another postseason…
“Is this it?” Your friend walks up and stands beside you. “Yup.” You look, aghast, at the immense pit of mud and fencing in front of you. Though the fencing separates you and the pit, as you continue to stare at it, you feel like it’s expanding, like it might swallow you up at any…
One of my favorite parts of being a baseball fan is the sheer breadth of the history that can be learned, the staggering number of huge immortal moments and small, glittering fun facts that come with being a fan of any team.
Every year at Christmas I made my dad lebkuchen, a spicy, chewy German cookie. That description makes them sound good, so let me assure you they are not: They are, in fact, the world’s worst cookie. The dough is sticky and unmanageable, and very finicky: I ruined a whole sheet this year by daring to…
It all came so, so close to perfection.
On April 3rd of last year, Stephen Piscotty probably felt about as good as he’d ever felt in his life. He had just signed six-year, $33.75 million contract extension with the Cardinals. Thanks to his hard work and success, his family’s financial future was now secure. He didn’t have to worry about arbitration or free…
In addition to coaching the Chicago White Sox Class-A Advanced affiliate, the Winston-Salem Dash, former defensive wizard Omar Vizquel maintains an Instagram account. On said account, one finds the kinds of things one might expect to encounter in the life of a retired professional athlete: photos and videos from his work as a coach, travel…
In the democratic, everybody-wins community softball environment I played in as a kid, everyone on a team had to play every position. A power pitcher could not pitch every game, even if they had the ability and inclination; you couldn’t force the same kid to play catcher every game. And on the extremely uncompetitive squad…
You are awoken in the mornings here at 6:30 by a woman with no face. There is no sunlight, because it is winter, and because your window faces west, and the blinds are unopenable. When you’re asleep, you forget that you’re not at home, so every morning at 6:30 you open your eyes confused. Then…
Last season, the Dodgers lost the World Series in the early days of November. They lost after drawing the series out to its full seven games, wringing every ounce of drama and emotion they could out of it — so much so that the defining seventh game was itself anemic, drained of any real conflict….
For one shining moment, Yasiel Puig was very, very happy.