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 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...

Durocher, Drysdale, and the Duke

Hollywood’s cup of glamour runneth over with lore, the most significant likely being, in terms of endurance, the story of Lana Turner, she of the tight-fitting sweater, busty figure, and platinum blonde hair.  Turner’s genesis as a star began at...

The First Angel

William Shakespeare, like other innovators, warned of worries that could prevent success—”Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt,” wrote the Bard in Measure for Measure. It is a certainty, of course, that...

Baseball, Aerospace, and the Lancaster JetHawks

Nestled in the Antelope Valley of California, about 70 miles from Dodger Stadium, the Lancaster JetHawks of the California League play in a ballpark labeled, quite appropriately, the Hangar. Antelope Valley is one of the focal points for America’s aerospace...