Tag Archives: Chicago Cubs

Talking Grover with a Little Girl

I sat in the Beetle and cried. It wasn’t an ugly cry or an evil cry. Emotion had bubbled to the surface and, like an unstirred pot on the stove, boiled over. “I like your Grover mask,” said a little girl to me when I was leaving the ballpark, and what followed was the perhapsContinue reading “Talking Grover with a Little Girl”

On the Year That Was, 2017

With 2017 drawing to a close and 2018 about to begin, I decided to take a look back at 2016 and spotlight the best (or most significant) blog post of each month. John Hurt, a Reminisence – Sir John Hurt died, aged 77, of pancreatic cancer. I can’t say that what I wrote was profound,Continue reading “On the Year That Was, 2017”

Scott Simon’s My Cubs

The night the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, I knew, then and there, that there was only one book on the Chicago Cubs and the 2016 season that I wanted to read — David Ross’s. One hadn’t been been announced yet, but it was inevitable, just as it was inevitable that there would beContinue reading “Scott Simon’s My Cubs”

The Sights and Sounds of Wrigley Field

Diamond Comic Distributor‘s 2017 Retailer Summit was held last week in Chicago, in conjunction with the C2E2 convention. I had long been asking to go on some sort of work trip like this — I wanted to see a different side of the industry and meet the retailers — and this year the production schedulesContinue reading “The Sights and Sounds of Wrigley Field”

Joe Buck, a Jeremiad

Last night, I reached my limit with Joe Buck. I’ve never really minded Buck. As broadcasters go, he’s wallpaper to me. I think I even felt a little sympathy toward him because he so often had to share a booth with Tim McCarver and then Harold Reynolds, either of whom was prone to incoherent babble.Continue reading “Joe Buck, a Jeremiad”

An Ancient Rivalry Resumed

If you were to ask a Chicago Cubs fan who the Cubs’ rival is, most Cubs fans would say it’s the St. Louis Cardinals. There’s some truth to that, especially in the last fifteen years or so with the division realignments and the unbalanced schedule, but that wasn’t always true. If you go back intoContinue reading “An Ancient Rivalry Resumed”

Why I Didn’t Stand for “God Bless America”

Yesterday morning, I attended the Cubs/Nationals game at Nationals Park. It was a lovely day for baseball — not too hot, not especially humid, sunny and bright, a stiff breeze blowing in from the direction of centerfield toward the Anacostia. The Cubs won, 7-2. Being July 4th, the game had a particular patriotic flavor, withContinue reading “Why I Didn’t Stand for “God Bless America””

On My Independence Day Plans

July 4th. Two epochal, world-changing events have fallen on July 4th. The first comes on July 4, 1776. In Kent that day, Horatio Hornblower was born, and he would become one of the Royal Navy’s greatest heroes, distinguishing himself at an early age and playing a significant role in the defeat of Napoleon. The secondContinue reading “On My Independence Day Plans”