Month: April 2019

I was in love with a television commercial once. It was one of those MasterCard Priceless commercials where the narrator would say something like, “A jar of peanut butter, $2.49.” … “A jar of jelly, $1.99.” … “A loaf of bread, $2.29.” … “A peanut butter and jelly sandwich: priceless.” In this commercial, a father…

There was just something substantial about Hondo — heck, even the nickname was substantial. John Havlicek was called “Hondo” by his childhood friends in Martins Ferry, Ohio, (like Phil Niekro) because even as a kid he reminded them of the John Wayne character in the movie. He was just like that, solid, admirable. When people…

My old boss and friend Mark Tomasik put up a fascinating statistic on Tuesday. Mark is one of the biggest Cardinals fans I know, and I realize that he saw the stat from a Cardinals perspective. Still … OK, few baseball stats make my jaw drop anymore. This one did. Yadi Molina has as many…

A reprint from 2008. People don’t believe me when I say that I really like Derek Jeter. I do! I think Jeter is an excellent player. I think Jeter is a smart player. I love the guy’s tenacity — he’s only missed 15 games in a season once — and I like his .317/.387/.461 lifetime…

Continuing with your votes for the 100 best Hall of Fame candidates. And, finally, we get to the Top 5. We actually finished one of these projects! No. 5: Alex RodriguezScore: 86.86 My friend Muzzy Jackson tells a fun story. He was a college baseball player who went into baseball management for a while. He…

The Zack has been fooling me ever since the beginning. I think that’s why Opening Day hit me so hard. On Opening Day, I heard an announcer say that Zack Greinke will turn 36 in November. That just doesn’t seem possible. Through the years, I’ve tried to stay pretty chill about my own aging bones;…

We pick up our ongoing series on the State of Baseball. You can read the first two chapters here: Chapter 1: The History of the Game Chapter 2: The Analytics Age * * * For those fans who believe that baseball is either less or much less enjoyable than it was in your youth, what…

Continuing with your votes for the 100 best Hall of Fame candidates. No. 10: Joe MauerScore: 77.40 Some of you might remember that I was pretty vocal (OK, crazy vocal) about my belief that Joe Mauer should have won the 2006 MVP award, that year when he became the first American League catcher ever (and…

The story of Jackie Robinson has been deconstructed a million different ways … let’s try something a little bit different. Let’s try to look at his familiar and well-worn story through a specific lens. Let’s see him not as the great Jackie Robinson, American hero, baseball pioneer and the man who changed American sports. Let’s…

People still look past me. It baffles me that still happens after all these years. Yes, I know I am petite and pretty and, if you will allow a modicum of immodestly, I ooze with Southern charm. If I were in Hollywood, I am sure I would be Doris Day. I apologize if that’s an…