I'd rather be sitting in a ballpark.

Initially, I thought of Walgreen’s and their weekly inserts in the newspapers. Remember newspapers? Back in the day, they’d coax you with great deals on large bottles of booze, you’d go in and purchase your liquor and spend more money on impulse purchases. Retailers, restaurants and bars sacrifice something in order to gain loyalty. Pro…

There were a couple games played on Friday, but Grapefruit and Cactus League play started yesterday. For the most part, everyone seems happy with the rule changes. I thought I’d include one last column elucidating the changes, expected results and what happened in the minor leagues after instituting some of the changes. 2023 MLB rule…

I have to question some of the numbers MLB cited in defending the new rule changes. Earlier this winter, a report said that injuries in the minor leagues were down in 2022 due to the increase in base size. At the time I wasn’t thinking clearly. In all the years of parsing every silly comment…

Expectations are pretty high for the 2023 Cubs even if the national experts, folks at FanDuel and PECOTA think otherwise. I’m not sure they have the chip on their collective shoulder or not, but I don’t think the Cubs believe they’re not in it to win it. When push comes to shove, I think the…

At some levels of little league, everyone in the lineup gets to bat every game. Teams and leagues don’t emphasize winning-even if others do. However, MLB is about winning and turning a hefty profit. As such, roster and lineup construction is paramount to success. The better constructed teams spend big bucks on the most important…

No matter what baseball team you root for, this time of year is special. Hours from now, quasi-reality will strike and somebody will go 0-3 and some pitcher will serve up a home run. But for now, everything is magical. To date, every report coming out of Arizona and Florida has been glowing. Every pitcher…

Since Trader Vic’s closed its latest version 6 or 7 years ago, I wondered how many establishments can transport one to another locale. Usually, it’s the decor or ambiance of a restaurant or bar, or maybe the menu. For the better part of the last 21 hours, it’s been raining Katz and Doggs here in…

Miguel Cabrera is calling it quits this season after 21 years in the bigs. It appears he’s going out on his own terms. The game is better for having him around all these years. There’s nothing quite like watching him enjoy himself on the field. While I’ll miss him, I look forward to his farewell…

Despite some ML teams efforts to curtail player/fan interactions, spring training is still one of the better opportunities for fans to see their favorite players up close. While I don’t expect to make the trip west this season, I do have a couple tips for enjoying Cactus League action. As I haven’t hit all the…

It’s probably too late to place a large order for paczkis, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find some or won’t be treated to some of the pre-Lenten pastries. Over the years, I wolfed down some of the better versions from Northwest suburban, Euro bakeries. I’ve also suffered through some torpedoes. One needn’t observe Lent…