People aren’t talking about this enough, but: if the Bears move to Hammond, Indiana, Sundays in autumn—time Chicago are gonna be GREAT for hanging out downtown or near the lake. I’m not going to do it, of course. Too tired. But others might get into it.

Young peeps, gather ‘round: When I was a little kid (Bird and Magic were rookies) the NBA Finals were broadcast on tape delay here in the Chicago market. Seriously. They’d broadcast the games late at night, after the local 10 o’clock news.

Paul Dean or Paula Deen? Who ya got?

Gorilla Playing Saxophone with Balloons has dropped out of the White House concert

Pardon the language here, but did MLB pull out their lively summer balls last night? Five teams scored more than 10, two reached 15.

Chet Holmgren is the Neal Brennan of the NBA

Ok, so what’s wrong with Kyle Schwarber now? Diarrhea?

I think a little hGH would help snap Tatis Jr out of his ongoing SLG slump.

Are there serious baseball history nerds who are ALSO hardcore Civil War history nerds? Do you know anyone like this? Or does this simply go against the laws of physics? Or wait a minute, maybe this is vintage base ball?

.161/.244/.329: Cal Raleigh off to a rough start. Baseball’s a tough game. He’ll eventually dig out of this, but I can’t imagine he’s having much fun right now. What’s the “slump comp” at an office job?

Right now the Chicago Cubs remind me of last fall’s Chicago Bears. A good-not-great team that just won’t quit. They refuse to lay down. I hate to say it, but, um: grinders. That’s what the Cubs are, grinders.

41-year-old “Batting Practice” Max has coughed up 26 dongs the last two years, in 103+ innings pitched. Mother Nature is still undefeated.

One of the Atlanta Braves old managers passed away. They were 0-1 under his steady leadership. RIP Ted Turner

Jaffe’s going on the 15-day IL

And oh, one more thing: he can steal bases like a young Barry Bonds…

From here on out, I think they should simply refer to him as “Aussie Bazzana,” which is a great baseball name

If podcasts existed back in the 1920s, which Negro leaguer would have hosted one? Probably Joe Rogan.

SCALDING HOT TAKE: Put the 1990s Atlanta Braves pitching rotation on a team today, with the ABS challenge system, and things would be a LOT different for them. Mostly because they’re all in their 60s now. But also they wouldn’t be getting those bogus strike calls on pitchers four inches outside.

With 9 home runs in his first 23 MLB games, Munetaka Murakami is already #17 on the all-time HR list for players born in Japan. By season’s end, he’ll likely be in the Top 10. Forty more and he’d be in Top 5, moving past Kenji Johjima, who finished his MLB stint with 48.

Sitting in my 87-year-old Mother’s garage are some the surviving Wiffle balls (and a bat or two), just in case my childhood buddies and I show up at her place, ready to restart our rivalry from 1982 or something.

The shared excitement over NASA’s recent mission compared to the general indifference to SpaceX missions speaks to the power of something seen as the product of communal human effort rather than just the ego and avarice of one obnoxious dork.

Comedian George Wallace dropping some wisdom here. Only thing he omitted was “follow baseball and whatnot”

Pete Rose. (I know, I know) I was a Cubs fan, but my favorite non-Cub was Rose. The 44-game hit streak in ‘78 first captured my attention as a kid. The chase for Ty Cobb’s record kept it going. He was different. And yes, I know. Not a great guy. (Nolan Ryan a CLOSE second, and a much better dude)

The OG (along with Ichiro Suzuki) of a growing interest in cumulative, international statistical leaderboards. A fun new(-ish) twist on counting stats.

Are we finally going to see Mike Trout’s “Comeback Player of the Year” season? That might be a fun story this summer.

Roughly 75 days after the US military captured Venezuelan President Maduro, the Venezuelan baseball team defeats Team USA in the WBC? This is all a Shakespearean tragicomedy-simulation, right? Villains at the top. Rooting for the common people, the underdogs, is the only correct option.

The introduction here is giving me that embarrassed feeling.

Here’s a dumb baseball prediction: in 20 years MLB will have franchises on at least 3 different continents. There will be more teams. The regular seasons will be shorter (65-85 games), but there will be all sorts of specialty events, tournaments and the WBC will be bigger than the World Series.

How to make the modern NBA game more interesting? Move the games outdoors. Dribbling through puddles, hoisting 3-balls in gale force winds, Euro-stepping on an ice patch? Yes, please.

Baseball season is supposed to begin around April 12th to 15th. Historically, this was the norm. Over time, the schedule increased from 154 games to 162. Regularly scheduled Sunday double headers disappeared. And now we have the Cubs, opening their season… IN CHICAGO… on March 26.

Old enough to remember watching Berra play. Dale Berra.

NBA to MLB historical timeline translator: The 2020s are what the 1950s were to baseball. LeBron, Curry, Jokic are Ted Williams, Stan Musial, etc. The 1990s are what the 1920s were to baseball. Jordan=Ruth, Pippen=Gehrig, Barkley=Hornsby. The 1980s are baseball’s 1910s: Magic, Bird= Cobb, Cy, etc.

Two guys running the craft beer booth at the old ball yard. First one is the sweaty, leathery 44-year-old dude, divorced, affable and quick-witted, but dying to get home for a double-vodka soda and a couple bong rips. His mother is sending $450 to his apartment, to help him “get out of a jam.” 1/2

Random: All-time pitching great Walter Johnson started 5 games in center field during his career.

Bluesky Baseball Bookclub (Triple-B): Reading suggestion, this biography of Oscar Charleston is excellent. Jeremy Beer has done an amazing job bringing this legend to life.

Spring Training is just around the corner. It’s an exciting time for us baseball weirdos, even though the games themselves don’t matter very much. But before World War II, the spring games were much different than today. Starters played most of the time, and winning mattered. I have details…

NBA thoughts: Trying to find a comp for Cooper Flagg. It’s tough, he’s so uniquely talented. Best I can come up with is Bobby Jones, IF BJ had crazy handles and could shoot. It’s not an insult. CF is amazing. Tied with LBJ and Moses Malone for best teen ever. He could surpass them if he stays hot

I’ve lost track, who is Jamie Moyer pitching for this season?

Wild stuff in the NBA last night, three shutouts. Doesn’t happen often.

When I see T-206 cards I’m grateful for all the chain-smoking men (and children) from 100+ years ago who made this all possible.

Was not aware Strat-O-Matic included a card for Moonlight Graham on their special 1905 NY Giants team set. Terrific #fieldofdreams

The Baseball Hall of Fame is a very cool museum. Every fan should visit Cooperstown at least once in their lifetimes. Just know that many of the best players (especially those of recent vintage) are not included and may never be included as official members, and that’s just the way it goes.

Love how we have people who apparently don’t even *like* the game of baseball voting for Cooperstown candidates. Great system.

Post you from a different era

Fun mail day, courtesy of my good pal Jason @heavyjstudios.bsky.social Finally got my hands on a Jackie. Thanks for the fun additions!

One of baseball’s grand traditions: holding contempt for one of the high-profile, big network television analysts, for one reason or another. Smoltz is the guy in the barrel these days, previously generations it was Joe Morgan or Tim McCarver.

Abner Doubleday Uribe on the bump for Milwaukee

Couple reasons why I listen to most games with the mute button on. Turn it off, occasionally, for crowd reaction on big plays. Then quickly click back to silence.

Phillies pitcher reminds me of a kid who was in my middle school shop class.

Phil’s Christopher Sanchez is roughly the same size as another Philly lefty: 1930s Philadelphia Stars ace Slim Jones. 6’6” stringbean, star in the old Negro National League