I'd rather be sitting in a ballpark.

By pure happenstance, I caught4 minutes of NFL talk yesterday and didn’t immediately change channels. Somebody was opining that the differences between the best and worst teams wasn’t as drastic as its often portrayed. Last week who would have thought the 12-win, Oakland Athletics would go on a 6-game bender? After last night’s win over…

Players very wisely make a point of securing player-options when they sign free agent deals. I’d be less inclined to offer player-only options for fear of bad deals. I’m of the belief that most players require incentives to continue to perform at a higher level. Call me a skeptic or cynic, but I’ve seen too…

About ten days ago, I shared the Sarah Langs ALS story and how it related to my Dad’s battle 25 years ago. Our family’s journey coincided with that wacky 1998 MLB season and I’ll relate the two as best I can because it’s as much a journal recounting the progression of that lousy disease. Everyone’s…

How I feel about Marcus Stroman shouldn’t impact what the Cubs decide regarding his future with the team beyond July. Yet, the mixed messages leaves me wondering about their understanding of the big picture. Stroman has repeatedly expressed the desire to return to the team or extend beyond this season (he’s got a player’s option),…

I’ll accept that the science, medicine, training, and people are better, but why are there so many hamstring and oblique injuries in ML baseball? Have you ever been to a ML game where players spend more time stretching than signing autographs? Yet, guys tweak, strain and tear hamstrings running the bases. They strain and pull…

There are dozens of men and women that own and operate hundreds of minor league teams across the country. Several operations own more than one team in different communities. In some cases the financial rewards are high, but other situations seem borne of their love for the game. I just read of the passing of…

As the Cubs have been struggling lately, everyone wants to blame Matt Mervis and Christopher Morel rather than looking at the numbers. These guys are likely fall guys because their inconsistency has been alarming. It’s easy to not pick nits with the more established players because we’ve come to love them. Dansby Swanson has been…

Nobody predicted the Pirates and Reds would be vying for second place in the NL Central, least of all, Cubs and Cardinals fans. Everyone continues to berate the division and expects only the division winner to make the postseason. Even if the Cards and Cubs bounce back to contend for the title, the Reds have…

I caught my first little league game of the season and it may be my last. I was a little disappointed that the larger bases and pitch clock haven’t made their way to Northbrook, Illinois. A little over an hour ago, I settled in with a hamburger from a local hotdog joint (one famous with…

As a kid I remember watching several Cub games where one of the starting pitchers was perfect through four or five innings. Occasionally, both starters might not surrender the first hit until the fifth inning and it wasn’t anything special. And we’re not talking Jenkins, Messersmith, Sutton, but rather, the likes of Bill Bonham, Paul…