brainwagon

Using my Dell PDA to record podcasts while on the way to work is strangely addicting. Here’s another one that features an update on my cat Scrappy and his recovery from his fisticuffs with another cat, my thoughts on the Schiavo case, and my disgust with Barry Bonds. Barry, you’ll get no huzzahs from me […]

It’s whether you end up in Cooperstown. I was reading yesterday’s entry on my Major League Baseball calendar, and was greeted with this Dubious Achievement: Hall of Famer Pud Galvin lost 20 or more games in 10 consecutive seasons. No other pitcher had more than five straight 20-loss seasons. And he wound up in the […]

Well, it’s just past the middle of January, but already this fan’s mind is turning toward opening day at the ballpark. I was following my wife around in Macy’s and J.C. Penny, and surfing the Internet on my cell phone, when I found this article about A. Rod. Apparently he feels like he has something […]

Tonight the Red Sox completed a 4 game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, which was the first World Series game played during a total lunar eclipse. The ghost of Babe Ruth apparently stopped carrying a grudge. I’ll be watching for the Apocalypse just the same.

Well, it’s time for the Series, and it’s Red Sox versus the Red Birds. Here are some pre-series thoughts, along with my prediction. Defense: the clear advantage goes to the Cardinals. Manny may be able to swat the ball, but he’s no great shakes in the outfield. The Sox are going to play Ortiz at […]

Okay, I’ve been boring people with baseball talk in the podcast, so I’ll just briefly mention it here: St. Louis defeats the Houston Astros 5-2 in game 7 of the NLCS, and goes to the Series for the first time since 1987. I originally had picked a Red Sox/Cardinals Series, but was dismayed by the […]

Where your host apologizes for his haste in deserting the Red Sox and congratulate them on a terrific ALCS victory in game 7 over the hapless New York Yankees. Links: The Baseball Archive — a downloadable database of baseball games from 1871-2003 The MySQL Cookbook has many examples which use the database above. Retrosheet has […]

Where your host rants about the Red Sox’s second come-from-behind win in a row, discusses the nostalgia of the The Old Terminal Room which Rob Pike mentioned in his recent Slashdot interview and talks about the history of photography.

This teaches me not to turn off games in the 7th inning. Looks like I missed some real theatrics. But sorry Sox, your defeat is inevitable. Note to the Cardinals: don’t pussy foot around with the Astros.

I could be a Cubs fan. To the Anaheim Angels: give the Yankees and Red Sox hell, boys.

Well, the A’s fall a game behind the Anaheim Angels with 4 games left to play. I like Jim Mecir, but it seems to me that you just can’t make him the guy you hang your season on. Nobody is really fooled by that screwball anymore (the pitch, not Jim), and you are risking a […]

On this day in baseball history, Willie Mays made this spectacular over the shoulder catch at the wall to rob Vic Wertz in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. The New York Giants would go on to upset the Cleveland Indians in four games: the last time the Giants franchise won the World Series. […]

The drubbing of the Oakland A’s at the hands of the Boston Red Sox did two positive things: it reminded me that a great duel between Pedro Martinez and Tim Hudson is yet to come, and it reminded me of another terrific game which happened Labor Day weekend two years ago. Retrosheet Boxscore: Oakland Athletics […]

Just a quick note after a memorable game. Rich Harden and Bruce Chen battled and each gave up no runs. Chen had a no-hitter into the sixth inning, when it was broken up by a single by Eric Chavez. Chen left without giving up a run in seven innings, relieved by Ryan, who pitched a […]

While the best baseball stories and poetry occurs on the field, some of it also appears in the form of prose (courtesy of kobayashi @ metafilter.com