I had a birthday a few weeks ago. Birthdays are not a cause for celebration for me and this one was no exception, but in the midst of my typical crankiness I did manage to stumble onto a pop culture artifact that brought to mind why it's worth it to keep trying in this life, … Continue reading Warren Zevon & Casey Stengel: Words From the Wise
baseball
Tom Seaver: Just “Terrific”
As I write this, the news of Tom Seaver's passing is still painfully fresh, if not genuinely surprising. He'd been quite ill for a long time with the dementia and Lyme disease that shared culpability in his demise. I can't claim that the hero worship I'd felt for him as a child had endured into … Continue reading Tom Seaver: Just “Terrific”
Better Than the Headlines: What Henry Aaron Taught Me
Forty-six years ago last night, Hank Aaron turned on an Al Downing fastball and stepped into the record books. At the athletically geriatric age of forty, he hit his 715th home run, moving past Babe Ruth, becoming baseball's career home run leader. I remember it vividly. I had been a fan of the sport since … Continue reading Better Than the Headlines: What Henry Aaron Taught Me
Frank Robinson. Not in Need.
I was at work when I found out that Frank Robinson had died. It was not unexpected, as he'd been suffering with bone cancer, but it still landed on me with a weight I didn't anticipate, but perhaps should have. Although not a member of my own inner circle of baseball immortals, Mr. Robinson was … Continue reading Frank Robinson. Not in Need.
Without Limits
As we begin to move into spring I find my self in an oddly cheerful place. Stay with me, I know how that sounded. Spring is, for most of us, a time of rebirth, life, possibility. I understand all that, and to some extent share in that sense of hope. Being of eastern European heritage, … Continue reading Without Limits
You Had To Be There
As someone who's spent his life with passions more or less equally divided between art and sport I've come, as I've aged, to feel like I walk a line dividing two factions who frequently view the other as deficient in some way, if not of lesser moral fiber. Most of the people I've met who've … Continue reading You Had To Be There
Dr. Norwood + T.J. Rivera = Better MLB
For those who don't know who William Norwood is, your first thought after glancing at the title of this piece would probably be that he is an orthopedic surgeon about to become famous for developing a radical new way to repair the panoply of injuries that have beset the sport of baseball in general and … Continue reading Dr. Norwood + T.J. Rivera = Better MLB
