Posted: March 2nd, 2010 | Filed under: Baseball | 64 Comments »
A few years ago, when the Royals were really floundering — you know, unlike now — I started something that became a weird and unexpected tradition: In The Kansas City Star, I picked the Royals to win the American League Central. The next year, I did it again. And then again. And again after that.
Posted: March 1st, 2010 | Filed under: Baseball | 96 Comments »
“Above all, the story of Willie Mays reminds us of a time when the only performance-enhancing drug was joy.”
– Pete Hamill
The above sentence — which concluded Pete Hamill’s New York Times review of James Hirsch’s excellent Willie Mays book — has been batted around a bit on the Internet the last few days. It has been batted around mainly because, well, with all due respect, it’s ridiculous. As more than one person cynically has written, and more than a few hundred cynically have thought: “I didn’t know that joy was another word for amphetamines.”
Posted: February 25th, 2010 | Filed under: Baseball | 57 Comments »
Of course, I love early spring training. Love spring training for the same reasons that everyone loves it. Love how every team has hope again. Love watching the players do drills in the sun — reminds you that winter is almost over. Love all the corny stuff — the green grass, the crack of the bat, the baseball chatter, infield practice, the first sign of outfielders unwinding their arms, pitchers working on covering first and on and on and on.
Posted: February 23rd, 2010 | Filed under: Baseball | 60 Comments »
This week in Sports Illustrated, I wrote a story about the New Jersey Nets. You probably know the Nets are on pace to become the worst team in NBA history. They are 5-51, which puts them on pace for a delightful 8-74 season — that would make them worse than the spectacular nine-win 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers.
Posted: February 22nd, 2010 | Filed under: Baseball | 63 Comments »
So, Al Michaels told me a great baseball story that I could not quite squeeze into my magazine story on him and Bob Costas.
Posted: February 17th, 2010 | Filed under: Baseball | 42 Comments »
Here is what I remember about Jim Bibby: He was a giant. I don’t mean that in some sort of literary sense. No, I really thought of him as the biggest man I had ever seen in my entire life.
Posted: February 16th, 2010 | Filed under: Baseball | 93 Comments »
So, I have been playing around with a new baseball prediction system. I would like to tell you that it is complicated … and it is extremely complicated. But I don’t want to confuse the word “complicated” with “stupid.” I suspect my system is both.* It’s versatile that way.
Posted: February 15th, 2010 | Filed under: Baseball | 145 Comments »
Frank Thomas is probably the most prominent non-steroid user in baseball history. Of course, we can’t know the secret lives of bees or people. But every indication is that Frank Thomas avoided steroids. He was so public about his disgust over performance enhancing drugs. He advocated steroid testing fifteen years ago. He came forward to talk to the Mitchell Report people. If he used steroids, it was one hell of an act.
Posted: January 31st, 2010 | Filed under: Baseball | 173 Comments »
Several people have written in to say that they cannot find the blog post I wrote a couple of years ago about Stan Musial. So I am reposting that story here — this year Musial turns 90 — and, yes, I immodestly include a “Print This Post” link if you want to do such things. It’s certainly one of the favorite things I’ve ever written on this blog, especially because I had to rewrite it after spending hours and hours chasing down the authentic version of the story that appears at the top. Anyway, hope you enjoy.
Posted: January 30th, 2010 | Filed under: Baseball | 78 Comments »
I’ll have a lengthier comment on this later in the week — for reasons that I think will become clear — but for now I would ask you to take a minute or two and read this Doug Tucker Associated Press story about the struggles of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City.
I have avoided writing about the museum for more than a year now for very personal reasons. It has been heartbreaking watching the museum I loved — the museum, I should point out for ethical purposes, to which I dedicated many hours and many thousands of dollars — shift away from what I thought was its essence and focus and purpose. Reasonable minds can disagree about how a museum can tell its story. Reasonable minds will disagree about how a museum can stay viable and sustainable in this economic reality.
But the museum’s shift left away from Buck O’Neil and away from many of the people who had made it a magical place in the first place left me with the unshakeable belief that the people in charge had lost their way. The museum had lost it compass. And the place was doomed. I hoped I was wrong. I still do hope I’m wrong. Maybe this story will inspire change. Maybe it will rally people around the museum in the hopes of saving it. I hope so. But more than hope, I feel heartbreak. Like I say, I will write more on this in a few days.
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