The Hall of Fame Case for Lou Piniella

Lou Piniella is one of baseball’s greatest journeymen—a player with the Orioles, the Indians, the Royals, and the Yankees, in addition to stints as a manager with the Yankees, the Reds, the Mariners, the Devil Rays, and the Cubs. Piniella’s achievements as...

1986, Hollywood, and the Chicago Cubs

1986 was the Year of the Cub—for Hollywood, anyway. About Last Night stars Rob Lowe and Demi Moore, charter members of the Brat Pack—a group of young actors dominating movie screens in the 1980s.  Lowe and Moore play a couple trying to extend a one-night stand into a...

The Burning of Boundary Field

Not since British troops burned the White House during the War of 1812 had the environs of the nation’s capital endured a conflagration triggering a plummet in morale.  On March 17, 1911, a fire tore through the Washington Nationals’ ballpark, also known...

The Death of Lou Gehrig

Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.  So said a fictional version of Babe Ruth in the 1993 film The Sandlot. Lou Gehrig, undoubtedly, belongs in the latter category.  Stricken by Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, the Yankee slugger died on June 2, 1941 at the...

Jake, Wild Thing, and Willie Mays Hayes

Nothing lasts forever.  Even losing streaks. Major League, a 1989 film, depicts a fictional version of the Cleveland Indians, a team which, like the real Indians ball club as of the film’s release date, has not won an American League pennant since 1954.  It...

Mickey, Whitey, and the Class of 1974

During the summer of 1974, excitement charged the air.  We watched with wonder when Philippe Petit walked on a wire between the Twin Towers, with dismay when President Nixon resigned because of the Watergate scandal, and with awe when the Universal Product Code...

The Hall of Fame Case for Tommy John

Forget about the 288 wins. Forget about the four pennant-winning teams. Forget about the pioneering surgery that bears his name. You might as well.  The Baseball Hall of Fame voters have. Thomas Edward John, Jr., the Terre Haute native who stayed in his hometown to...

Kingman’s Performance

Never at a loss for words, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda uncorked a verbal geyser of “F” word variations in response to a reporter’s inquiry on May 14, 1978.  Dave Kingman earned the privilege of setting off Lasorda by going yard three times and...

Hilltop Park’s First Game

Yankee history—a farrago of excellence, myth, and icons—began, in fact, in Baltimore. After two seasons in the city abutting Chesapeake Bay—1901 and 1902—the Orioles departed for New York City, a result of Frank Farrell and Bill Devery buying the defunct operations...