The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York just added plaques for some new members. And they’re terrible. Here’s the new plaque for David Ortiz, a player I revere. Why this typography is all wrong I’m no designer, but like all real writers, I care enough about type to know what works and what…
Jerry Remy, former Red Sox player and broadcaster, died Saturday. He was a unique individual. Here’s what made him special to me and millions of other baseball fans. As an avid watcher of Red Sox baseball, especially in the 1990s and 2000s, I heard a lot of Jerry Remy. He and his broadcast partners, first…
In yesterday’s Boston Globe, Boston’s most visible sportswriter, Dan Shaughnessy, wrote a column about the Red Sox asking, “Are they a team you can embrace?” In case you’re not a Red Sox fanatic like many of us here in New England, here’s the backstory. The Red Sox seemed like a team unlikely to go far…
The Red Sox traded beloved outfielder Mookie Betts, one of the best players in baseball, along with pitcher David Price, to the LA Dodgers. They saved a boatload of money, in exchange for some younger but much less talented players. Fans are devastated. Team owner John Henry’s explanation is touching, in its way, but he…
Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox for winning the World Series. What made the difference? Was it the heart and talent of the players? Or was it the cold, hard Moneyball analytics that have made baseball as much science as art? It was a combination of both. This is “Coralytics,” the new approach of Red…
Satire is the art of exaggerating reality to make a point about its absurdity. So, this just happened: Omarosa Manigault Newman, the former game show contestant hired at the White House and fired less than a year later, claims that the reason President Trump is senile is that he drinks eight Diet Cokes a day. President…
The analytical thinker (and writer) must soberly use facts to argue the case for the truth. But if you hate the Yankees — just viscerally hate them — and you’re literary enough, you can throw that out the window. That’s what David Bentley Hart did in his New York Times opinion piece. Here’s how it starts:…
I’ve always loved baseball. But it’s gotten slow and boring, and young people are losing interest. It’s time for some radical changes. Veteran sportswriter Dan Shaughnessy summed up the problem in the Boston Globe. It’s an average of 3 minutes and 45 seconds between balls put in play. There are interminable waits between innings and…
The Boston Red Sox fired their manager John Farrell yesterday. He then made a surprising statement thanking everyone he worked with, including the ownership and management team that just fired him. You need a little context to fully understand his statement. Farrell’s five years with the Red Sox featured extremes, including a surprising World Series…