New Book Released: THE ARCHIVES OF THE BASEBALL HISTORIAN, VOLUME II

More interviews with players, writers and other figures throughout baseball history  I have released my new book, which is another collection of interviews with baseball figures (former and current players, journalists, the Baseball Hall of Fame President, and more!) from the 1940s to the present. It is available in the following formats: PAPERBACK- https://www.amazon.com/dp/1081782862 KINDLE- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VDZWSQF I […]

The Baseball Hall of Fame Case for Fred McGriff

Voting for the 2019 class of the National Baseball Hall of Fame is due shortly. As always, there will be much debate over who should and shouldn’t get in, and a wheelbarrow load of whys. Contributing to this muck and mire is the following discussion of a player who is sure to get some votes, […]

If I Had a Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot 2014

Hey baseball fans! The 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot is now announced with a lot of stars’ names on the list for the first time. However, there are only five players on the list for the first time that I think deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. So, without further ado, let […]

NJBM: Billy Williams

Hey baseball fans! I just put up my latest post in the Kids’ Hot Korner section of New Jersey Baseball Magazine. This one is about Billy Williams, one of the great Chicago Cubs Hall of Famers in baseball history. If you want to read more about Billy, just click here. I hope you enjoy the article and […]

My Top Five Hall of Fame Hitters without a Ring

Hey baseball fans! It’s always a player’s dream to win a World Series. However, a lot of ballplayers never get a ring. Even some Hall of Famers have never won a World Series. With that, I give you my top five Hall of Fame hitters who never won a World Series ring and deserved one. Number Five: Carlton Fisk […]

NJBM Kids’ Hot Korner: Ryne Sandberg

Hey baseball fans! I just put up my latest post in the Kids’ Hot Korner section of New Jersey Baseball Magazine. This one is about Ryne Sandberg, the Cubs Hall of Famer. If you want to read more about Ryne, just click here. I hope you enjoy that article and thanks for reading it. Check back in a […]

An Interview with Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins

Hey baseball fans! I have another interview for you today! It is with Hall of Fame pitcher Fergie Jenkins! If you’d like to first learn some more about the only Canadian in the Hall of Fame, just click here for a prior blog post that I did about him. So, let’s get to the interview. Matt: If you could […]

The Daily Stream: #WhoYagot

It is Saturday and today I am taking a second look at my daily transaction leagues and seeing where I need to make up some ground and in what categories I need to target. I like to first do this on Wednesday or Thursday and then look again on Friday night or Saturday morning. Something […]

My Top Five Fall Classics In MLB History

Hey baseball fans! Today, I want to tell you about my favorite Fall Classics in baseball history!! My only rule is this: no World Series will be in this list that happened in the last ten years. So, let’s get it started with Number Five. Number Five: The 1954 World Series Matchup: Giants vs. Indians […]

Swinging Out of the Box: The Case For Alphonso Soriano

With more Kevin Youkilis trade rumors today, and teams scrambling for productivity at third base, I have an easy, but controversial idea for the Cubs to move the huge contract of Alphonso Soriano. The best thing for Alphonso Soriano, and the Cubs for that matter, would be to start playing him at third base. I […]

Clearing The Bases

Tonight’s column isn’t going to deal with the fantasy relevance of Major League Baseball, but more of some of the rules I would like to change if I were the commissioner.  I wrote a similar column last season and I’m happy to say that Bud Selig listened to one of my suggestions and moved a […]

Review of John Grisham’s Baseball Novel, Calico Joe

Calico Joe is the newest novel by my favorite fiction author John Grisham. It arrived on my ipad late on Tuesday afternoon. I finished it by Wednesday night and most of it was finished on a trip to see our Gator softball team take on UCF a couple of hours away. We lost the game […]

Un Mago En La Ciudad De Los Vientos (A Wizard In The City Of Winds)

Entre las mil y una condiciones que se han logrado como beneficios laborales regulados para los que trabajan para MLB, esta una de gran valor aunque polémica: para elegir un manager de un club, es necesario entrevistar a por lo menos un representante de todos los departamentos de coaches que trabajan para un team. Sin […]

No Retirement in Site for Ageless Milo

As a broadcaster, Milo Hamilton doesn’t have to worry about his arms or legs giving out. He can still read his voluminous notes and talk about baseball with the best of them. Plus his voice still projects the dulcet tones that accompanied his call of Hank Aaron’s record 715th home run on April 8, 1974. […]

Koufax or Ryan? Tough choice for Torborg

Don’t ask Jeff Torborg to choose between Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan. The only man to catch no-hitters thrown by both can’t make up his mind. A former back-up catcher for the Dodgers and Angels, Torborg caught a perfect game thrown by Koufax in 1965 and no-hitters thrown by Bill Singer in 1970 and Ryan […]

Crosstown Crisis?

Not A Crowded House Normally the annual “Crosstown Classic” series between Chicago’s Cubs and White Sox are an automatic sellout at U.S. Cellular Field as Sox fans love nothing more than to see their team whip up on the Cubs and also impugn the testosterone of all Cubs fans who dare to wander down to […]

If I Ran Baseball-Interleague Edition

Recently a few managers have come out against interleague play, stating the uniqueness has worn off, and that interleague play is tired.  I disagree.  I think it’s great that some interleague “traditions” have stuck around, like Cubs/White Sox, A’s/Giants, and Marlins/Rays.  Ok, so maybe Marlins/Rays isn’t the most exciting matchup, but it’s still the battle […]

Boston Sweeps Yanks but Playoff Hopes Remain Dim

Boston has finally reached .500 this season but now midway through May it’s a likely bet the Red Sox playoff hopes in this overly-hyped season remain iffy at best. Their position in the standings is certainly not bleak, however, for the Red Sox to have any chance of reaching the playoffs, the team would have […]

New Years, Hak-Ju Lee, & Resolutions

I like to kick off each season with a “Bucket List.” This list gets posted in my home office for the entirety of the season – sometimes I’ll even add to it as the season goes and as I find new adventures to fulfill. With the new year just beginning and watching everyone try to adhere to […]

Remembering Ron

It’s been hours now since the news of our beloved Chicago icon has hit the airwaves, and we’ve all dealt with the passing in various ways. When I first got the news, my initial thought was “I have to be at Wrigley. I have to be home.” I’ve spent the majority of today in thought […]

The Ultimate Seven-Game Fall Classic: Game Five

In part one of my Ultimate Seven-Game Fall Classic series, I featured Game One of the 1988 World Series between the Oakland A’s and Los Angeles Dodgers, won by the latter on Kirk Gibson’s walk-off two-run homer off Dennis Eckersley, ironic because it was Eck who coined the phrase “walk-off piece.” Part two featured an […]

Now It’s Over

“It’s over,” my mother says in the early innings of so many Cubs games. Frustrated, she changes the channel. Those words were uttered by baseball fans across the country in the past few months as their teams were eliminated from the playoff race. (Unfortunately for mom, much sooner than most). In the coming weeks the […]

Cardinals Get Off Script

We’ve seen it before.  Way too many times, in fact.  A miscue, a bad pitch, and suddenly the Cardinals are in a 3-0 hole early in the game, a hole that they don’t climb out of as they slog to another loss. Finally, someone got that script into rewrite. I was afraid we were in for […]

A Cautionary Note

I’ve been thinking about this topic for a bit, but before I could write about it Brian Burwell, for once, beat me to it.  There’s been a lot of optimism out of the sweep of Cincinnati, as well there should be.  However, I’m not sure we can say this team has turned the corner and the […]

Babe Ruth Talking About His Called Shot

Some time ago I picked up an early ’90 vhs of classic baseball plays, and partway through, there was Babe Ruth, hitting and then talking about his called shot in the 1932 World Series vs. the Cubs. The less-than-perfect audio (with music in the background) is on Archive.org. I’ve written out the most relevant part of what […]

A Capps-i-tal Idea

The Washington Nationals have a negative run differential of minus fourteen, yet a winning record at 12-10.  When they have been bad they have been horrid, but give their bullpen a lead into the late innings and they have been extra-ordinary. Tyler Clippard and Matt Capps have done it by allowing a scant three runs–two […]

It Could Have Been So Much Worse

Joe Posnanski wrote this week about the release of full economic data on the business of baseball by Forbes Magazine.  I can barely balance a check book and maybe gate receipts, market valuations and operating revenues confuse me more than I know, but they look to be telling a fascinating story.  It’s about how major league […]

2010 NL Central Preview

The NL Central may not be the strongest division in baseball but the top four teams in for 2010 have all improved over what they were in 2009, at least on paper. There is some depth to this division that didn’t exist before and that should make for an exciting Summer.