Growing up in Maine, I rooted for teams well outside the standard TV coverage map for the area. In the summer, when NESN would broadcast Brian Daubach’s strikeouts as the Red Sox limped to an impotent second-place AL East finish year after year, I’d cut away at the :28 and :58 mark of each hour
A Five-tool Writer
In baseball, there is a phrase used to describe a complete ballplayer: a five-tool player. First talked about in The American Diamond, by Branch Rickey.* The term has evolved from one used to describe an all-around athlete to one that describes a truly elite player. Statcast defines a five-tool player as one that excels at hitting
What Happened, and What We Imagined
I remember where I was when Matt Davidson fouled off a pitch from Jharel Cotton. I was sitting at home on the couch, wondering how this single event might form the basis of an article, an opening into some larger discussion about choices and life. For this reason, July 3, 2017, will always have special
Review: Costco’s Baseball Ticket Deal
TL;DR -For $64.99 you get voucher for 2 tickets, 2 hot dogs, and 2 small sodas -You still have to pay for parking or hitch a ride -Make sure your voucher can be redeemed on the day you want to go -Redeem vouchers early for best seats -The tickets are decent and worth the money
The Mets Need to Focus on Rebuilding Now
Things started off so promisingly for the Mets this year. Their fearsome pitching rotation were finally all healthy at the same time, and many expected the team to make a run at the pennant. Fast forward to today and the Mets are sitting in fourth place of the NL East with a losing record, ahead
Embracing Fear: How Dennis Eckersley Beat the Bottle and Rode His Rebound into Cooperstown
Looking for Courage in All the Wrong Places The path to greatness doesn’t normally include a stop at rock bottom. Then again, no two journeys are the same and nobody ever accused Dennis Eckersley of being normal. He threw a no-hitter at age 22 and won 20 games at age 23. At age 31 he
Sam Hinkie, Travis Kalanick, and The False Promise of a Better Tomorrow
Thanks to an essay from former Uber employee Susan Fowler Rigetti, it’s clear that the company—which is run by a 40-year old man-child who has, no joke, referred to the company as “Boober” for its ability to score him mad chicks, bro—isn’t exactly great for women. This “bombshell” came after an optics-blind move to capitalize
Remember the Kekiongas! Escaping down an 1871 Retrosheet Rabbit Hole
Through rain, sleet, snow, gloom of night, and horrific political climates, nothing cheerily drops you down a rabbit hole better than an old Retrosheet boxscore. The other day, needing a break from the tsunami of Trumpian noise coming from all corners of the Internet, a bookmark and two clicks took me right to the standings
Crooked Book Club (Book #1; Post #1)
OK, fans of the written word, the Crooked Book Club is preparing to ramp up. Our inaugural book is “The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse,” by Sports Illustrated baseball writer Tom Verducci. Since this is our first outing, we may have to play around with
Which Baseball Movie Fits Your Mood? A Handy Guide
“What’s your favorite baseball movie?” is a pretty tough question. Just because two movies deal with the same sport doesn’t mean they have anything else in common. Baseball movies come in all shapes, sizes, tones, and attitudes, so with a new season just getting underway, use this handy guide to choose a baseball movie based