June 2025
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On June 17th, 1983 Andy Van Slyke played in his first Major League game. In his 13-year career, Andy Van Slyke played for the Cardinals, the Pirates, the Orioles, and the Phillies. For 8 of those seasons of course, he was the standout Centerfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he won 5 Gold Gloves. Van Read more
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“Feel better?” he asked. “Yes, thanks.” She watched in trance-like detachment as he worked at the kitchen shelf. He measured coffee into a percolator, added water and set it on the stove. He broke two eggs into a bowl and whipped them, added milk and seasoning, and got out an iron skillet and put some Read more
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Born when I was, I grew up measuring hitters by the traditional Triple Crown stats: Batting Average, Home Runs, and Runs Batted In. Those were stats that were easy to understand and were available in any box score. The Sabermetrics Revolution started by Bill James and others introduced more “advanced” stats over the years like Read more
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. Today a few quotes from Thoreau’s Journals on Native Americans, destiny, and interconnectedness. Enjoy! March 19. Saturday. When I walk in the fields of Concord and meditate on the destiny of this prosperous slip of the Saxon family, the unexhausted energies of this new country, I forget that this which is now Concord was Read more
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Throwback Thursdays” at ClimbingSky feature posts I wrote over a 15 year period for various blogs. This was first posted on February 4, 2011 When I think of Mark Van Doren, I always think of Thomas Merton. That is because it was Merton that first led me to read Van Doren, or rather, reading Merton’s Seven Read more
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On June 11th, 1990, the ageless Nolan Ryan pitched his unprecedented sixth career no-hitter, striking out 14 batters in a 5-0 win over the A’s. He became the first to pitch a no-hitter for three different teams, and the first to throw a no-hitter in three different decades. Those of us who watch sports know that some Read more
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On June 10th, 1944, pitcher Joe Nuxhall of the Cincinnati Reds became the youngest player in major-league history. Nuxhall, only 15 years, ten months old, pitched one-third of an inning in an 18-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. He managed to give up five walks and two hits before manager Bill McKechnie took him out. I am not Read more
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I didn’t get out of town the next day until ten o’clock. It was three hundred fifty miles by highway to Amity. In my old clunker, allowing time for a couple of stops, I did well to average forty miles an hour. Figure it for yourself. It was almost exactly eight and a half hours Read more
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On June 8th, 2015, Carlos Correa played in his first Major League Baseball game. Since shortstop Carlos Correa plays currently for my local nine, the Minnesota Twins, I get to see him play regularly. When he and Byron Buxton are healthy, I don’t think there is a better shortstop-centerfielder combination in the game. Correa has Read more
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