Joe Posnanski

Math is not my thing, of course, but I once spent an afternoon trying to figure out how many hours I have spent through the years listening to Cleveland Indians announcer Herb Score. It added up to something like 173 full days. Of course that does include commercials. And I wasn’t always listening that close. Herb Score died Tuesday. He was 75 years old. It had been more than 10 years since he had called an Indians ballgame, but his death still hit ... Read More

Like most everyone, I used to love Casey Kasem’s Weekly Top 40. I loved everything about it. I loved that we were listening to Shaggy from Scooby Doo. I loved that before some songs he would tell these bizarre stories (“And when Gabriele was 3 years old, she got her nickname, Nena, which means little girl in Spanish ...”) and say absolutely nothing at all before others (“At No. 23 in our countdown this week, here’s Robert Palmer with ”Addicted to Love“). ... Read More

I missed Banned Books Week, but I spoke on behalf of the Olathe Library that week, and I told this library story from my childhood. I figured I’d put it up here for safekeeping in case I ever need it again: * * * There was a library just a couple blocks from my house in Cleveland. It was a small library -- I think it’s still there, corner of Cedar Center, same side of the street as Davis’ Bakery and the old Stop ... Read More

Here’s my theory: Most sports fans are formed by the most cataclysmic or euphoric sporting event of their childhood. I am the sports fan that I am today because four days before my 14th birthday, with the Cleveland Browns in field goal range, Sam Rutigliano called a play called Red Right 88, and Brian Sipe threw an interception against the Oakland Raiders. Then Brian put his hand in his face, and he stumbled off the field, and Rutigliano said, “I love you ... Read More

Here is the Woody Hayes post I have been working on for a couple of days, our final entry on Michael Rosenberg Week. I do remain as insistent as ever that you pick up his wonderful book War As They Knew It about the rivalry between Woody and Bo. It’s just a terrific book about a time and place and two football giants. But I probably won’t mention it again unless Michael starts paying me. * * * There was some harsh justice in ... Read More

I fully appreciate that I do this blogging thing all wrong. I love and appreciate the Internets, and I want to be on the cutting edge, but truthfully I still think a lot like an old ink-and-newsprint hack, which is why I post really long items and also why, instead of turning the following into about 14 different posts, I am throwing it all out at once like it’s an old-fashioned newspaper notebook. Its just in my blood. Here then are a series ... Read More

I've written this before, but let me say it again: The following post is personal and, I imagine, of absolutely no interest to anyone except immediate family -- and even a couple of them probably don't have interest. I'm just warning you in advance. You can skip this one. We'll get back to sports, I promise. I write often about Cleveland here because, at heart, I see myself as a Cleveland guy. I was born in Cleveland, raised in Cleveland, saw my first ... Read More

So, while semi-watching Yankee Stadium refuse to die late last night, I did a quick calculation: It seems I have seen Major League Baseball games in 16 dead ballparks in my life. I, um, you know that’s a really depressing statistic. That should be one of the questions they ask on those medical forms they have you fill out before you see the doctor. Are you allergic to any medications? Is there a history of high blood pressure in your family? How ... Read More

I’m feeling strongly now that “pixifood” could be my word-adding legacy. I’m very proud of the concept, to be honest -- the food that tasted beyond delicious as a child and tastes like lightly sugared motor oil as an adult. The pixifood concept came from my watching my wife try -- and I use that word loosely -- try to eat cotton candy at a ballgame. Since she is the inspiration for it, I’m giving her the word (it’s better than flowers) ... Read More

Every so often when I’m on the road* and have a few moments to spare, I like to buy a “Baseball Weekly,” stop for breakfast or lunch at a a Bob Evans or Perkins or some such place and just catch up with what’s going on in the game. The last time I got to do that was at spring training in Surprise, Ariz., and I remember looking over the rosters and projected starting lineups of every team and thinking, “Holy shmoly, ... Read More