With the recent untimely passing of David Halberstam, I was prompted to pick up his book about the 1964 World Series (again… I first read it when I was in Syracuse, ten or so years ago) and reminded of how engrossing it is, and how good a writer we’ve lost. In fact, I’d have to say it’s one of the best baseball books I’ve ever read; which got me to thinking: What are the best baseball books I’ve ever read?
I’m so glad I asked. In no particular order, I present my Top Five Baseball Books of All Time (not including books that I’ve never read, or will someday read, or that haven’t been written yet):
Continue reading ‘Top five baseball books’
So here we are. With two new monkeys. Watching the Indians slowly defeat the Angels with Chinese water torture. Not that we weren’t planning on coming anyway.
It was a grueling evening, all in all. What started with a seven-run scoring spree, went on… and on… and finally, mercifully, ended in a 9-5 loss. After attending four wins, we got to witness the Angels team that hit the road a couple of weeks ago (and lost 7 of 8).What I failed to mention last night, whilst thumbing the tiny keys of my trusty Treo, was the poor idiot who got ejected for fan interference. In the first inning. With his son and father sitting on either side of him.
The scene: One out in the first; Tiger second baseman Placido Polanco pops a foul ball down the left field line. With Garret Anderson galloping hard to make the catch, our hero leaps from three seats right of the action to stick his paw into Anderson’s outstretched glove. When the commotion is over, the ball lands harmlessly in the dirt and rolls to the outfield grass. The giveaway calendars start flying.
Continue reading ‘Further notes on a long night’
After one and a half innings, the Tigers have scored 7 runs and chased Jered Weaver from the game. The Halos have dug themselves a pretty deep hole…
On a more pleasant note, all fans in attendance tonight received a handsome Angels wall calendar. In exchange for such marketing finery, we can certainly stomach a few innings of minor league quality pitching, no?
…Now get lost.
Talk about your roller coaster week. Angels’ pitcher and Virginia Tech alum Joe Saunders started his witnessing the horrors at his alma matter and then experienced the thrill of pitching a solid six inning victory against Seattle on Friday night (in which he wore his VT hat, to honor the victims). So how do you wrap up a week that had more ups and downs than a cheap stock broker’s prospects?
You get demoted to the minors.
The Angels announced that they’re sending Saunders to AAA Salt Lake City to make room for staff ace Bartolo Colon, who came off of the disabled list last night (and pitched impressively).
Thanks for the big game and the 1.96 ERA, kid. Now get your ass back to Salt Lake while we figure out what to do with the other six starting pitchers on our staff.
Right now, the Angels have no fewer than seven legitimate starting pitchers between their Big League and AAA rosters. Add to that the half-dozen shortstops they’ve got (including top prospects Brandon Wood and Sean Rodriquez) and I’d say the Angels are well stocked for a trade.
See you in a few months, Joe.
