Signing off from TTFB

When I started writing this blog in the summer of 2011, I did it because I had things I wanted to say, and no outlet for saying them. I sent a couple of things I wrote to other blogs, but in the end I wanted my words to go someplace that I got to direct.

Something Old, Something New

It’s been a quiet February on the blog front. The enthusiasm I once had for doing this has ebbed, and I like sleeping at night, too. But I recently had my annual Cubs preview posted on Cardsconclave.com (has it really been five years of doing that? Time flies!) and I had a piece that I reconstructed from

Hang in there, Cubs fans

So the Mets won a game. No big deal.

Goodbye Goose

I still remember so many things that happened twelve years ago tonight. I’ve relived some of them here so many times. But try as I might, I haven’t just let them go. I’ve been like Maverick in the movie Top Gun, wishing things had turned out differently than they did. And the only way to

Right Now

I must be one of the few people who prefers the Sammy Hagar era of Van Halen over the David Lee Roth incarnation of the band. I’ve written about Sammy before, and his solo work and the songs he wrote and sang for Montrose are great examples of what rock and roll sounds like. Dave,

Win Win

It’s a beautiful fall day as I sit down to type out a few words on my smartphone. Blogging gives me a chance to spend a few minutes getting thoughts down, before the moment changes and the feelings are lost. and this is a moment that I want to preserve in some manner. The arrival

Andy Grammer gets it right

A song on the radio describes how the Cubs are making me feel this year. Hallelujah!

Introducing…The Schweep

The Cubs get back to their winning ways, and the English language gets a tiny bit larger.

Time for some baseball memes

This Cubs fan is just feelin’ his oats and makin’ some memes

September Redux

2015 is the year we’ve been waiting for, Cubs fans. So let’s dance!

My old baseball buddy

The southside yin to my northside yang. Happy birthday to my old friend and two-time classmate David J. Casper. May we live long enough to see the Cubs and Sox play each other in October. 

Failure Limerick, Part the Last

There was a Cubs pitcher named Schlitter Paid to retire big league hitters  But he failed at this task At Triple-A he did bask So the Cubs sent him off to the Sh!tter I wrote a number of failure limericks about Brian Schlitter during the 2014 Cubs season, which I hope will go down as the

Chicago’s Moonlight Graham

From the majors to the Great War, here’s a story for Memorial Day weekend

Almost there

It’s been a long offseason, and we’re down to 72 hours until the season begins.

Wrigley field construction

this will be going on for awhile, but a cloud pattern in the sky this morning drew me to the ballpark. I was glad I went.

Farewell, Harris

The world needs all the Harrises it can get, but now we’ve lost one well before his time.

Nobody on the road, Nobody on the beach

It’s been more than two weeks since I wrote anything to put in this space. That doesn’t mean I’ve stopped writing, though. In fact, I wrote a trio of pieces relating to the recent death of Ernie Banks, and sent them off to websites that are willing to share my thoughts with their readers. I

A bleachers retrospective

Hearing that the Cubs started tearing down the Wrigley Field bleachers today felt like the end of something for me. From the first time I sat in the bleachers back in 1987, to the last time I did so back in 2005, they were always a place where I felt good. Granted, a fair amount of

Here’s to Baseball and Sand Castles

Peanuts was a big part of my life growing up.

A century with the Cubs (some of them, anyway)

Here’s an All-Century list to honor Wrigley Field’s 100th anniversary. May the second century be better than the first!

A lifetime of following the Cubs

I recently had an opportunity to take in a beautiful view of the Chicago skyline, Lake Michigan, and Wrigley Field at the same time. I enjoyed them all, but the one shot that I wanted to have with me in it was the Wrigley Field vista. That speaks volumes as to who I am, really.

Links to some recent posts on Wrigleyville Nation

Actually, I’ve had a number of pieces appear there lately: a wistful piece about Jim Thome, a piece about how bad the team has been this year, a look back at baseball cards from 1975, and a tale of Bruce Sutter’s greatness. I’ll probably always have something to say about the Cubs, no matter how

Failure limerick, part 4

There was a Cubs pitcher named Schlitter Who retired not one Padre hitter He let in six runs And the fans had no fun As another game was lost down the sh!tter

Failure Limerick, Part 3

There once was a pitcher named Schlitter Brought in to face Marlins hitters After a bunt and a walk Garret Jones made a big squawk Another game lost down the sh!tter

For the love of the game

There was no better place to be on Father’s day than at a baseball field, watching my little one play. She doesn’t love the game as I do, and that’s OK. Seeing her bat and play the field is enough for me. It feels as if the intergenerational transfer of the game–which is the only