Friendship 7, Plus 60

John Glenn was one of NASA’s original group of seven astronauts in Project Mercury.  On February 20, 1962, his orbit in the Friendship 7 capsule was cut short because of concerns about the heat shield.  This is an excerpt from my book 1962: Baseball and America...

Sputnik

60 years ago today, the world marveled, reeled, and responded to Russia’s launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. And so mankind’s journey towards manned spaceflight began.  Time described the chirping sounds coming from Sputnik as...

Cooperstown’s Hall of Fa(r)mers

Given America’s roots as an agrarian nation, it is appropriate that the legend of baseball’s birth begins in a Cooperstown cow pasture; Doubleday Field, just a baseball throw from the Hall of Fame, occupies the spot where the myth—long since debunked—of...

Hank Aaron’s Last Home Run

As America recovered from its Bicentennial hangover, Hank Aaron clubbed a home run in the Brewers-Angels game on July 20, 1976.  It was not, in any way, a cause for ceremony.  It was, however, highly significant. Aaron’s solo smash off the Angels’ Dick...

Bobby Bonilla’s Payday

At the turn of the 21st century, while the world scrambled to confront a Y2K threat to computers, Bobby Bonilla and the management of the New York Mets came to an agreement regarding salary—defer it.  Well, a lot of it.  From 2011 to 2035, Bonilla gets annual...