Who the hell's been keeping me away from Chicago for this long? Sweet Jewish god, this place is really friggin' great.

It's a cleaner, more compact version of New York with nicer people. Even though I'm on the record saying that New Yorkers don't get enough credit for being nice, if not a little gruff, the people here are so friendly. And not in an uncomfortable or sexual way either. Just regular nice.

Last night, I had a great meal at a local steakhouse. Tonight, I'm off to US Cellular Field (which I understand is surround mostly by crack houses) to watch the White Sox of Chicago take on the Rangers of Texas. The Cubs of Chicago are out of town or I would have headed up to Wrigley Field (which I understand is surrounded by yuppies).

Hey, why not buy my book? It would make a great gift for your graduate or perhaps your best friend who really likes pop culture or maybe even that girl from the mini-mart that you clumsily flirt with when you purchase cat food. All of those people would enjoy it.

Labels: baseball, books, Chicago, Underrated, White Sox

It's no big secret around here that I'm a sports fan, nor is it a secret that I think Rob Neyer is one of the best baseball columnists around.

And given my Yankee fandom, it should come as no surprise that I had a full-on, five-alarm nerdgasm when I read his blog entry today rebutting Dan Shaughnessy's column on Jim Rice's candidacy for the Hall of Fame. I don't support Rice's case for the Hall of Fame. Neither does Neyer, and he brilliantly illustrates (again) why Rice's case just doesn't hold up under scrutiny.

You can read the entry here.

Labels: baseball, geekgasm, Rob Neyer

Labels: baseball, New York Yankees, steroids

Very good stuff here.

Labels: baseball, domestic violence

Courtesy of Tyler Kepner of the New York Times [Thanks, Rob Neyer]:

"Since Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS - the night Boston began its epic comeback from three games down against the Yankees - (Alex) Rodriguez has come to the plate with 38 runners on base, over the span of 59 at-bats. He left every single one on base, going 0-for-27, right through the Yanks' Division Series loss to Cleveland this month."

Ladies and gentleman, your $350 million dollar man.

Labels: baseball, New York Yankees, Rob Neyer

Just three more wins.

I never thought that I'd be rooting this hard for a team that doesn't have "New York" on its uniform.

Labels: baseball

Last night, the wife and I went to a discussion and Q&A session at the Museum of the City of New York with Joshua Prager (author of this book) and Ralph Branca (pitcher of this pitch). It was interesting and fun. I got my copy of the book signed by both. But what I found most interesting about the whole situation was how passionately people still feel about a home run that was hit 56 years ago. The Q&A session actually got contentious, with one guy actually throwing his hands forward and exclaiming, "ehhhh!" (this was probably the best way for him to win the argument.) Most of the questions revolved around the logistics of the Giants stealing signs that season, and despite not only overwhelming proof but also ample time to for the Giants to execute, most people still didn't buy it. I would have liked to have gotten a question in revolving around their thoughts on contemporary baseball and Sabermetrics, but too many cranky old people needed to air their grievances.

Speaking of good books to read, holy moly, have you read the new Philip Roth? I'm about 60 pages in and I'm as in love with it, as I was in love with Portnoy's Complaint when I was but a young lad of 15.

Labels: baseball, books

I'm a baseball fan. A big one. Not as big as I used to be, when I lived and breathed the New York Yankees. I much prefer hockey now, and I was more excited about the Rangers signing Gomez and Drury the other day than I was upset that the Yankees lost.

Please enjoy this blog posting from Rob Neyer of ESPN.com. He's long been one of my favorite baseball columnists. This particular post revolves around an interview with George Mitchell of the Mitchell investigation into baseball's steroid issues. You'd have to be a complete idiot to not believe that performance enhancing drugs aren't rampant, but Neyer makes a compelling point about who the real victims are. Money quote:

No, the real victims are the players who never even reached the majors, because they wouldn't cheat. Those guys will always wonder what might have been. They'll always wonder if doing the right thing really was the right thing.

Neyer, as always, hit the nail on the head. The guy who could have been great winds up unknown because he didn't get the chance.

Labels: baseball, Rob Neyer, steroids

I'm sure we're going to find out a lot more about this, some information that will contradict, some that will corroborate. Either way, this link should make you really angry.

*Editor's note: Elijah Dukes is a rookie outfielder with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays that has a long history of anger management issues.

Labels: baseball

Joe Posnanski, the brilliant baseball columnist for the Kansas City Star, is keeping up a blog. The blog has information about his new book, which you can purchase here, as well as tons of both well-researched and extemporaneous posts.

I've made my way through the first little bit of Joe's book and it's, as expected, outstanding. Buck O'Neil was one of the last true links left to the Negro Leagues and he spent most of the later part of his life spreading the word about its stars. This book is a nice post-script to Buck's life.

Labels: baseball, Buck O'Neil, Joe Posnanski

This 75 degree day in late-March has reminded me that the baseball season is nearly upon us. It doesn't seem time, especially since my Rangers are surging and sitting tenuously in 6th place at the moment. However, I am powerless to argue against Commissioner Bud and the powers that be, who allow pitchers an catchers to report in mid-February.

I should mention that the only reasons that I'm paying even moderate attention at this early point in the year is a) the Yankees are in my face on TV right now and b) I had to draft my fantasy baseball team already. One of these teams will finish in first place this year and one of them will not. I'll leave it to you to figure out which team will finish where.

In any event, baseball is a sport that I used to love to attend in person. But now, between the $40 upper deck seats, the $7 beers, the $5 hot dogs and the sweaty subway ride to the Bronx, it's so much more enjoyable to sit and watch the game on TV. And if the insufferable John Sterling/Suzyn Waldman duo didn't broadcast on the radio, I'd probably do what I did as a kid and listen to the games on the radio

Anyway, this is all a long prelude to why I wrote this email. Rob Neyer of ESPN.com has started a blog on that very same website, and like everything else that he does, it's great. It's exactly what I'd always hoped he get, which is a forum to post his quick thoughts on baseball.

Labels: baseball, fantasy baseball, New York Rangers, New York Yankees, Rob Neyer