Sammy Sosa and the ghosts of 2003

With Sammy Sosa on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this year, the annual debates about who should be inducted–or not inducted–have commenced. The proprietor of The Hall of Very Good asked me to make a case for or against Sammy Sosa, and the piece appears here. I came out as forcefully as I

Legendary

Baseball likes to use the term “legend” quite a bit. Any player in the Hall of Fame has probably had “legendary” attached to his name at one time or another. The late Ron Santo was routinely introduced as such when he was doing Cubs games on the radio: “Welcome to baseball, everyone! Along with Cubs

Remembering the Hawk

One of the themes running through the “Don’t Blame Steve” song and video is admiration for Andre Dawson (or “Hawk Dawson” as he’s referred to in the video). Dawson only played six seasons in right field at Wrigley Field, or roughly half as long as Sammy Sosa’s tenure there. But believe me when I say

His place in history

A week ago, when the baseball season hadn’t yet started, and the Cubs weren’t off to their “This will be a long year, won’t it?” start of 1-4 after five games, I scanned a card highlighting long-ago Cubs pitcher Rick Reuschel. Today, in the interest of equal time–and to keep me from going off on this

Ronny, Kong, and the Bull

As with previous months, I was fortunate enough to be included on the mlb.com/blogs list of top fan blogs for the month of March. It’s an honor to be in the company of so many passionate baseball fans, and it’s good that all of us have a place to learn about who else is doing

Post number 300

I previously wrote a little bit about Jamie Moyer here, although my purpose for writing was more to describe something on one of his old cards than to talk about him. So now, on the occasion of my 300th post on this blog, I’ll return to Jamie Moyer for a few more comments. This would

Welcome Back Buckner

I want to preface this by saying that I don’t think Bill Buckner will ever be a Hall of Famer, even though is career was longer and more productive than many current Hall of Famers. His .289 lifetime batting average, for instance, is higher than that of Eddie Murray, Ryne Sandberg, and Carl Yastrzemski. But

Jeff Bagwell for the Hall of Fame

As a member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (or BBA for short), I recently participated in their annual Hall of Fame voting process. I don’t have one of the writer’s votes for the election that determines who will actually be enshrined at Cooperstown, but like everyone who loves the game, I do have an opinion.

It will be worth the wait

Christmas is certainly a unique time of year. The holidays bring out a side of people that remains hidden for most of the year. Maybe its the snow, or the gift giving, or the reflection that accompanies the end of another year here on earth. Whatever it is, we all need at least a couple

Revisiting Brock-for-Broglio

Lou Brock was the first baseball superstar that I ever watched  in person. In 1975, he was in the prime of his career, having set the single-season stolen base record (118) the year before. He had already won two World Series titles, and was on his way to 3,023 career hits and induction into the

Getting autographs

Thanks to reader Jeff, who indicated that he wanted to hear something about Billy Williams. As a White Sox fan, I doubt he wants one of the Cubs mini helmets I referenced in an earlier post. But I’ll send some Sox-related swag his way, instead. When I was a kid, I had no problems asking baseball