July 2024
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On July 21st, 1970, San Diego’s Clay Kirby held the New York Mets hitless for eight innings but was lifted for a pinch hitter by manager Preston Gomez. With the Padres trailing 1-0 with two out in the eighth, Gomez elected to go for the win instead of letting Kirby finish the game. The Padres lost the no-hitter Read more
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On July 20th, 1925, Brooklyn’s Dazzy Vance struck out 17 Cubs’ batters. The Dodgers beat Chicago 4-3 in 10 innings. What has happened to all the great baseball nicknames players used to have? Names like Dizzy, Dazzy, or Babe? My childhood team, the Oakland A’s, had an owner who loved nicknames, thought it was good for business Read more
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It is customary at All-Star Break time for front offices, sports writers, and fans alike to take some time to assess their clubs. At a little over half-way through the 162-game schedule, what do we know about our teams’ strengths and weakness? What pieces could be added (if the team is still in the playoff Read more
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My recent post of Marianne Moore’s poem, “Baseball and Writing,” got me thinking more about Moore and one of my other great loves, poetry. If you approach Marianne Moore the same way as you approach most poets you will be quickly frustrated. Her poetry is more difficult, confounding, and requires more work than that of Read more
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As I bike, and as Sue and I take urban hikes in Minneapolis and St. Paul and other towns, we often come across Little Libraries. I always take a look at what is offered and usually take a picture or two. If the books are not interesting the library itself often is. I once played Read more
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Marianne Moore throwing out the first pitch 1968 Marianne Moore was a voracious reader. This encyclopedic nature of hers is at the heart of why she is a difficult poet. She brings more to a poem than any other poet I can think of and hence asks more of her readers than any other poet. Read more
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According to the MyBeerNation app on my iPhone, I have been to 195 different breweries/brewpubs. Since it took me awhile once I got the app to figure out that I could add breweries and brewpubs that were not already on the app, I know that the number is higher, more than 200. But officially according Read more
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On July 14th in 1967 and 1968, two different players went into the history books by hitting their 500th Major League homer. In 1967, Eddie Mathews of the Astros hit his 500th home run off San Francisco’s Juan Marichal at Candlestick Park helping the Houston defeat San Francisco 8-6. Then exactly a year later, in 1968, Hank Aaron got Read more
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On July 13th, 1993, Minnesota Twins great Kirby Puckett homered and doubled in the 1993 All-Star Game at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Kirby was awarded the MVP award as the American League defeated the National League 9-3. I was lucky enough to move to the Twin Cities and to begin going to Twins games regularly in Read more
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Some of the best baseball books are autobiographical. This is because baseball is the most measurable of games. We can look at a player’s statistics and the box scores of games and know the bones of the sport. The flesh of the sport is in autobiography. The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn is two Read more
ClimbingSky 