A Star Was Born: Kiké Hernández Goes Hollywood and Honors Puerto Rico
In the Summer of 2012, a few years before Sports Illustrated christened the Houston Astros the 2017 World Series champions, my son’s travel baseball team ventured to Lancaster, California to watch the Single-A Jethawks play. The purpose of the visit was for each player on my son’s team to take the field for the national anthem (no…
One Pitch
The Astros won the AL pennant on Saturday night. A clean 4-0 victory over the one-season-too-soon Baby Bombers. However, one pitch could have changed it all. If you checked Sportscenter Friday night, you would have seen that the Astros beat the Yankees 7-1 in Game 6 of the ALCS. “Wow”, you would have thought, “the Astros got their…
When Safe is Out
I am an attorney. As such, my bookcases are stocked with legal tomes, filled with confusing text, obscure events, and various and sundry arcana. After practicing for nearly twenty years, I rarely reach for any of these dusty books, as it is often difficult to discern the meaning of anything written in them. Among the…
Absolution or Ignominy
Some moments are indelible. When they happen, we know we have witnessed history. And no matter what happens after, those moments will be lodged in our memory, forevermore. “The Giants win the Pennant…the Giants win the Pennant…the Giants win the Pennant” is arguably the most famous moment in baseball history. And yet, the memory of…
Narrative Lost
Sometimes the horse gets out of the barn, the toothpaste gets out of the tube, the water goes under the (Golden Gate) bridge. Sometimes the words you say are not the words the listener hears. Sometimes people have the best of intentions, and then other people co-opt those intentions. And sometimes, because of that co-opting,…
Net Over Yourself
On Wednesday afternoon, Aaron Judge hit his 45th homer, which was followed by Gary Sanchez’s 32nd. The Yankees cruised to a 11-3 win over the Twins, completing a three-game sweep and keeping the pressure on the division-leading Red Sox. But the Yankees’ win was overshadowed by what happened in the seats behind the third base dugout in…
Clayton’s Dad
Clayton Kershaw was born my sophomore year of high school. For reasons that we need not get into here, I cannot possibly be his father. However, when he takes the mound — and especially when he takes the mound late in the game — and especially when he takes the mound late in a post-season game — I may as well…
TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE PARK
TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE PARK Shortly after the first of the year, while listening to one of my favorite podcasts, I was clued in to an event happening in Keizer, Oregon, eight months hence. At the time, I had little knowledge of the impending total solar eclipse; had never heard the phrase “path of totality”;…
LITTLE BIG LEAGUES
LITTLE BIG LEAGUES On a recent Saturday night I found myself in the small town of Moosic, in northeast Pennsylvania. Unless you grew up or went to school in the hills of the Keystone state, you probably never have heard of Moosic. But if you are a baseball fan, you definitely have heard of the…
THE $25,000 FINE
THE $25,000 FINE Baseball is a beautiful and peculiar game, filled with majesty, intensity, and a whole lot of oddity. If you are not a dedicated fan, you may find yourself confused by the varied and arcane rules that govern the game. To that end, one day I may dedicate an entire post just to…