Odds against baseball re-joining 2020 Olympics
Baseball faces many difficult hurdles it has to clear before it can be considered for readmission to the Olympic Movement It is without doubt that the Olympic Movement and baseball maintain a tumultuous relationship. It can be argued that this has always been the case. For example, during the 1936 Nazi Olympics in Berlin, the largest baseball crowd More...
May the Chicago Cubs some day turn the billy goat curse on its head
Bill Sianis and his goat are responsible for the lore behind the Chicago Cubs curse. If you’re a Chicago Cubs fan, you have to live with “the curse.” And I don’t mean accepting that it has More...
40th anniversary of MLB’s designated hitter “experiment”
Ron Blomberg is know as the first designated hitter in baseball. He was a gifted Jewish multi-sport athlete from Atlanta and a former first-round draft choice of the New York Yankees. Being in the right place at More...
TTFB writer sets off firestorm over Pete Rose, Topps cards
Pete Rose is getting the cold shoulder from Topps baseball cards. Did you ever play with sparklers as a kid? The little, four-inch long metallic wands that seem to only appear at picnics and barbecues? They were More...
Remembering eccentric Texas Rangers owner Brad Corbett
Former Texas Rangers owner Brad Corbett, right, with his manager Frank Lucchesi. “An aggressive, affable, bright, natural-born salesman, a man with an infectious, loving and generous nature.” “He is very creative More...
Ugueth Urbina free from prison, makes baseball’s top 15 villains list
Less than a week from his prison release, Ugueth Urbina was back on the field with the Venezuela team Leones de Caracas. (Leones de Caracas) Former All-Star closer Ugueth Urbina was released from a Venezuelan prison More...
Of Bats and Men: From Louisville Sluggers to Warstic Bats
Ben Jenkins, founder of Warstic Bat Company, with a display of his wooden creations. A bat to a player in the great game of baseball is more than a piece of wood. To some, it’s a trusted ally, a sidekick. To others, More...
Baseball winter meetings a tradition more than a century old
Jackie Robinson opted to retire rather than play for the New York Giants. (Getty Images) The Major League Baseball world has descended upon Nashville, Tenn., this week for the annual winter meetings. The winter More...
Second time with same club not always a charm for managers
John Gibbons’ first tenure as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays was best-known for this 2006 confrontation with pitcher Ted Lilly, left. Gibbons managed the Jays from 2004-08 and was hired last week for a second More...
Remembering Eddie Yost: original “Greek God of Walks”
Eddie Yost was a mainstay at third base for the Washington Senators from 1947-1958. He was a player for a different era. Today, he would have been a poster child for our current obsession with sabermetrics and Moneyball. More...
