I'd rather be sitting in a ballpark.

For better or worse, the Friday after Thanksgiving is as much a national holiday as Thanksgiving. And even though most people have gone online for their shopping, there are signs that people still like to get out and shop. They may make their bigger purchases online, but a story I read in the local paper…

Everyone is sharing their list of what they are grateful for today, so I thought I’d share some sports related items. First and foremost, I’d like to thank the folks at ESPN (and 2) for airing the Battle 4 Atlantis. Over the holiday it’s nice to find some sporting event that I actually care about…

This time of year rumors in baseball abound like plates of heaping side dishes at Thanksgiving feasts. One has to be careful or you’ll get burned believing every Tom, Dick and Bruce. It’s easy to blame source less writers seeking clicks, but in some cases the stories don’t unfold the way we all expect. Take…

At the time, nobody in Philadelphia was crediting Von Hayes with pushing the Phillies to the World Series in 1983, and honestly, I never associated the two. Yet earlier this week when the White Sox made a five for one trade with the Braves, the Hayes trade came up. Nobody ever believes the Braves get…

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Manager for a smaller market team with an eternally small payroll, goes to a larger market team where he’ll presumably be managing a better team. Back in 2014, the Cubs poached Joe Maddon from the Rays due to a loophole in his contract. Coincidentally, the Rays GM…

At $40 million for 5 years, Craig Counsell of the Cubs is the highest paid manager in ML history. Let that sink in for a moment. I like Counsell and have always felt he was a better manager than the guy he replaced. This deal will benefit future managers. It’s hard to believe that the…

The big news yesterday was supposed to center on which players were offered qualifying offers by their most recent employers. Guys like Cody Bellinger would still be free agents at the end of the day, but now the Cubs would get compensation in the form of a draft pick if Bellinger signs with a different…

Earlier today, I tried talking a friend off the Cub fandom roof, or at least that’s what I thought I was doing. When my passionate Cub fan friend Cary complained remarked that Cody Bellinger gave the Cubs the pink slip, I reminded him that he could still negotiate a new deal with the team. I…

From what I heard on local sports talk radio this morning, the happiest people in Chicago are not Bears fans, but rather sports editors and those assigned with writing headlines. The Bears acquired a defensive lineman from Washington for some magic beans. Nobody has any idea how good Montez Sweat will be or how long…

Because out of market papers aren’t sending their national beat writers to the World Series, fans get a heavy dose of random national writers. Most of the stories are pretty obvious and the particular authors have to put their own voices to their pieces. Believe me, it’s easier said than done. Many of the writers…