The Juju Rules: A Review

The dictionary defines juju as “an object venerated superstitiously” and “the magical power attributed to such an object.” Despite the lack of scientific evidence, scores of baseball fans swear that they have successfully used juju to impact the performance of players and teams; from their favorite to their most hated. One of the foremost adherents […]

Breaking Down the Initial Rumors of Free Agency

The hot stove league is in full effect, with free agents beginning the annual rites of visitation and haggling with prospective suitors. Already a number of interesting rumors have popped up regarding possible interest between players and teams. It is still too early to say if these rumors will turn into reality, but is the […]

Robin White Sox Redux

On Thursday afternoon I received a text message from my cousin and fellow die-hard White Sox fan, Owen, and it contained just one word: Robin? Naturally, I replied with the first word that came to my mind: Batman? Just kidding.  The word I actually replied with was Ventura?  As I honestly wondered whether Owen’s single-word […]

This Daly On Baseball History

The Red Sox and Braves just collapsed this year.  Where they the worst collapses?  I’m a Red Sox fan and I’ve felt worse.  Maybe it is because the 2004 and 2007 World Series titles added a psychic cushion.  1977 and 2000 were probably the most disappointing Red Sox seasons for me.  I know that they […]

Adios, Ozzie

  September 26, 2011 Adios, Ozzie When the Chicago Bears fired Mike Ditka 19 years ago many Chicagoans were crushed.  How can you get rid of an iconoclastic icon who finally brought us a championship?  Simple: it’s time. Now the situation is the same on Chicago’s South Side where the White Sox have released Ozzie […]

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 […]

Fenway Park’s 100th Anniversary: There’s Nothing Like Being at the Game

I’ve never considered myself religious by any means. Yet, I’m a believer that everyone has some place where they just feel at home, or safe. A sanctuary, of sorts. To some of the more religious types, a church. Baseball stadiums are my church. There is just something about passing through the gates and walking into […]

Gambling on the 1917 White Sox-Giants World Series

The recent New York Times article about speculation that the Cubs threw the 1918 World Series to the Red Sox brings up the broader issue of how deeply major league baseball was corrupted by gambling and a money culture in the 1910s. A while ago I looked up how the Chicago Tribune covered the end […]

Terry Francona’s Do or Die Mission

“I think Francona should be gone by the end of the month and the pitching coach also. They both suck.” That’s not me saying it. I intercepted a message on an answering machine from one lifelong Red Sox fan (who lives in Rhode Island) to another lifelong fan. And, no I’m not talking the Twenty-oh-fours. […]

B(oston) Is For Bandwagon

While attending a Red Sox/Mariners game recently I saw a shirt that said, B is for Bandwagon. After laughing, I couldn’t disagree with that statement as probably 50 percent of the fans at a game 3000 miles away from Fenway Park were there for the Red Sox. And I was one of those fans. But […]

Growing Up Is About Letting Go

It happened earlier than it usually does. Being a fanatical Red Sox fan, there’s usually five to seven times each season when I will just throw up my hands (after throwing up) and boycott all broadcasts of my team for the indefinite future. They tend to come in June when the pennant races normally heat […]

‘Fros, ‘Stros, ‘Spos, and Discos: Play That Funky Baseball

When my good friend, fellow Seamhead, and self-proclaimed “Strat-O-Matic fanatic” Jeff Polman turned me on to his latest project, I was instantly enthralled and excited.  I was already familiar with Jeff’s fantastic replay of the 1924 season, an era that’s right up my alley, but when I learned that he was going to be replaying […]

Seamheads.com Beefs Up Its Roster For 2010

Recently I put out a call for new writers and was floored by the response.  In just a week, we’ve added 36 new writers, a lot of whom are professionals or have had the pleasure of covering baseball during their lives, including Sean Lahman, Gabriel Schechter, and former ESPN senior writer Jon Pessah, who helped […]

Book Review: “This BAD DAY in Yankees History”

Gabriel Schechter’s book, This BAD DAY is Yankees History, doesn’t just bash the Yankees, it also takes the reader on a fascinating trip through baseball’s past.