Hall of Fame Philosophy

As we sit here in the middle of various baseball writers’ glorious revelations about their respective Hall of Fame ballots, let me try to explain my views on the subject.  Year in and year out, I support the election of a lot of players who won’t get elected, this year or any other, by the [...]

Peeve Time

I’m back from a relaxing chunk of time off during Christmas.  Lots of good gifts given and received, lots of good time with family, and lots of snow here in Kansas City, our first white Christmas in a few years.  Being from Boston originally, I’m a traditional white Christmas kind of guy.  Seeing a lot [...]

The Santa Issue

This is always a sticky one.  There are as many different means of handling The Santa Issue as there are people to handle it.  As those of you with children no doubt know already, The Santa Issue is nothing more than the dilemma faced by all parents who celebrate Christmas when it becomes clear that [...]

The Concepcion Deception

For some inexplicable reason, certain people who follow baseball become fixated on the qualities of a particular player and inflate those qualities beyond all reason.  I have been accused of this myself when it comes to Jim Rice, and there is some truth to that.  Certain of Rice’s strengths are under-appreciated, in my view, and [...]

Irritating Inefficiencies

The job I currently have requires me to be an internal consultant of sorts.  Essentially, I am asked to look at a current work process, map it out, then identify where it works well and where it doesn’t, after which I offer my recommendations for improving it.  Generally, all of this happens on purpose.
Sometimes, like this afternoon, [...]

My Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot

I post a great deal over on Joe Posnanski’s blog, and I cannot urge you strongly enough to visit there every day.  Joe’s just about the best sports columnist on the planet at the moment, and he’s spinning long, free pearls of wisdom pretty much every day.  If you’re a sports fan, especially a baseball [...]

Christmas Shopping

The Internet is my friend.  Not only does it allow me to kill Lord knows how much time when I’m at work, plus give me something to do when I’m waiting for airplanes, but this year I think it’s going to keep me married as well.

Bert Blyleven’s HOF Case

This is Bert Blyleven’s eleventh year on the Hall of Fame ballot.  He’s never received more than 53% of the vote, and with only four more years of eligibility after this one, his chances of being elected by the BBWAA are getting mighty slim.  Should they fail to elect him, it will stand as one of [...]

Skipping

My daughter is a skipper.  I don’t mean that she’s the captain of her own little ship.  She’s not the next Alan Hale, Jr. or anything.  I mean she skips.  Everywhere.  All the time.

Roger Clemens’ Hat

Well, I guess we can stop worrying about which hat will adorn Roger Clemens‘ giant bronze dome on his Hall of Fame plaque.  Remember when that was such a big deal?  After the Wade Boggs debacle, where he was paid by the Devil Rays (sorry, you hadn’t dropped the Devil at that point) to wear [...]