An Opening Act With A Bullet

Bryce Hapre and Stephen Strasburg made a compelling case on Opening Day to be considered the two best talents ever to play Major League Baseball in Washington, DC. Facing a depleted Miami Marlins roster, Stephen Strasburg seemed to hardly work up a sweat as he breezed through seven innings on eighty pitches without allowing a […]

A New York View of the 1913 Merkle Play

For those who read the accounts of Fred Merkle’s handling the ball hit to him in the third inning of the final game of the 1913 World Series—from the Philadelphia sport writers’ view—I have some follow up that presents the play from the New York writers’ view. One major difference is the Philadelphia writers all […]

Three Different Views of One Play

Below I print three descriptions of the same play from the 1913 World’s Series. After over 30 years of interviewing eye-witnesses at accidents and crime scenes, I know that people see the same incident differently, so that three sport writers might see the same play different does not surprise me. For whatever the reasons when […]

Some Background Information About the Mookie Wilson Grounder to Bill Buckner in October 1986

We all know about Buckner and game 6 of the 1986 World Series. But on October 14, 1986, a profile of Buckner by Ross Newhan noted that in 1985 he had “set a big league record for assists by a first baseman with 184.” But, Newhan also noted the long-term impact from “April 18, 1975, […]

Sigh-Inducing

Just when you start to believe in this team, to think that they’ve finally found that gas pedal on the team car, they stomp on the brakes.  A four game winning streak to get into first place?  Let’s follow that up with three losses against sub-.500 teams!  I feel like I’m a driving instructor. Of course, […]

Doing It The Hard Way

When I turned on the game a little late last night, I was well-pleased to see that the Cards had already been serious, putting up six in the top of the inning.  And even though Jaime Garcia allowed two runs of his own in the bottom of the frame, I figured the Cards were well […]

A Father’s Day Salute

I suppose this is the perfect time to thank my father for turning me on to baseball, for taking me to Fenway Park when I was a kid, and for not only teaching me how to play the game, but also how to appreciate the game.  I remember the time when I was younger when […]

Washington Is a Baseball Town (Again)

At the top of the seventh inning the crowd began the chant, “Let’s Go Stras-burg” to the same cadence that fans in DC have grown tired of listening to from Philly, Dodger, Red Sox and just about anywhere fans.  But this chant was all DC and it grew and built.  “Let’s Go Stras-burg” the entire […]

Cardinal Numerology

On a night when seven became three and five became four, it was seriously good that it all added up to six. Batting order probably is overrated and it is hard to know if the swap of Matt Holliday to third and Albert Pujols to fourth really had that much of an impact.  I think […]