Quote of the day
April 11, 2025
OK, we won a game yesterday. If we win today, it’s called “two in a row”. And if we win again tomorrow, it’s called a “winning streak”… It has happened before!
~Lou Brown, Major League II
Category: Pop culture
Back in my day…
February 19, 2025
I came across this meme in Instagram, and it was too good not to share.
Woody Woodpecker plays baseball
December 19, 2024
I enjoyed watching the Woody Woodpecker cartoons as a kid. I think a lot of kids did back in the day. I came across this short episode that features Woody playing baseball, and it brought back some fun memories.
“Green Haven in a Concrete Jungle,” by Michael Brogan
November 25, 2024
I like the idea of having a baseball-related tradition with your dad. The Tigers did make it to the playoffs this past season; I hope these gentlemen were able to make it out to a game and enjoy it.
*
Even as I walk past,
Comerica stands
grass illuminates like a lamp post on a winter night.
Tigers season, baby
Dad and I do our yearly tradition.
The smell of the park is second to none.
But not this year.
Dad ain’t doin so well.
His knee ain’t up for it.
Love you, old man.
Maybe, just maybe, the old Tigs
will surprise us and make the playoffs
and then
maybe, just maybe,
we can go to a game
and let that tradition ride on.
“Saga Of Dandy, The Devil & Day,” by Ultramagnetic MC’s
September 21, 2024
I really like how this song highlights the Negro Leagues. It shines a spotlight on the racism, segregation, and the unfairness of the major leagues getting more attention and accolades than their black counterparts. Most importantly, it emphasizes how great players in the negro leagues really were.
“Ichiro’s Theme,” by Ben Gibbard
August 2, 2024
When Ichiro Suzuki was traded from the Seattle Mariners to the New York Yankees in 2012, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie released this tribute to the former Mariners outfielder.
Fun facts about ‘The Sandlot’
July 26, 2024
Here’s a video from Fun Fact Films featuring fifteen behind-the-scenes facts about one of my favorite baseball movies, The Sandlot. I do sympathize with Tom Guiry having to hear the line, “You’re killing me, Smalls!” every day for the rest of his life. Perhaps this is what led to him bashing the windshield of a Jeep with a dumbbell?
“Roberto Clemente Eulogy,” by Steve Blass
June 10, 2024
Steve Blass was a teammate of Roberto Clemente from 1964 through 1972. Following Clemente’s death on December 31, 1972, Blass read the eulogy below at a memorial service for Clemente held in Puerto Rico on January 4, 1973.
*
We’ve been to the wars together
We took our foes as they came,
And always you were the leader,
And ever you played the game.
Idol of cheering multitudes;
Records are yours by sheaves
Iron of frame they hailed you:
Decked you with laurel leaves.
But higher than we hold you;
We who have known you best,
Knowing the way you came through
Every human test.
Let this be a silent token
Of lasting friendships gleam,
And all that we’ve left unspoken—
Your friends on the Pirates team.
“Anticipation,” by Philip Lawrence
April 6, 2024
I like how this poem by Philip Lawrence captures the feel of attending a baseball game. Sitting in the stands during pre-game warmups, scanning the field and the crowd, and settling in for an afternoon of fun.
*
warm May morning
early cool breeze
pock-marked bleachers
men loping lazily across
a verdant carpet as
bright-white baseballs are
snared under ice-blue skies
and as three-year-old eyes
dart unfailingly, and
sneakers kick up and down
mid-air while tiny fingers
grip the metal chair in
full anticipation
“The Chipper Jones Song,” by Jason Johnson
March 1, 2024
It appears that this twangy tune has been out for over a decade now, but today is the first time I’ve ever heard it. Many of the lyrics do bring back memories of watching Chipper Jones play, and looking at the comments section of the video, it seems to be a huge hit with Braves fans.