As I watched the 2009 baseball postseason, I thought about my long association with the Philadelphia Phillies. As a kid, I was never a sports fan. My brother and father would park themselves in front of the television and rabidly watch anything that remotely resembled a sporting event. Depending on the time of year, our …
This week’s word on Illustration Friday is “frozen”. Ted Williams was one of the greatest players in the history of professional baseball. Despite his career being interrupted twice for military service, he was a two-time MVP and a seventeen time All-Star. He was the last player with a single season batting average above .400. Nicknamed …
In his thirteen season career, Donnie Moore posted a 43-40 record and a 3.67 ERA. He was even selected to the All-Star team in 1985. Donnie’s downfall came on October 12, 1986. He was pitching for the Angels in Game 5 of the 1986 American League Championship Series in Anaheim. The Angels held a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven …
Ray Chapman was born in Beaver Dam, Kentucky in 1891. Ten months later and 150 miles away the man who would kill him was born. Ray was an above-average shortstop playing with the Cleveland Indians in the early twentieth century. He led the league in several hitting and fielding categories. He batted .300 in three seasons …
The Inspire Me Thursday inspirational word this week is “ticket”. I live in Philadelphia and I’ve been going to baseball games for a very long time. I struggled alongside the struggling Phillies in those years in the late ’90s when they out-and-out stunk! I also sat in the stands as the Phillies fought their way …
The Monday Artday challenge word this week is “lucky”. On June 2, 1925, Yankees manager Miller Huggins replaced regular first baseman Wally Pipp in the starting lineup. Pipp was in a slump, so Huggins made the change to boost the team’s overall performance. Huggins started Lou Gehrig instead. He stayed in the lineup for fourteen years. Although he played …
I’ve had Phillies season tickets since 1996. I sat through some bad years and I sat through some great years, including 2008’s championship season. I’ve been to many ballparks in many different cities. The game on the field is only a fraction of the entertainment to be found at the ballpark. Sometimes the game doesn’t command the …
Three nights ago, the only thing on 22-year old rookie Nick Adenhart’s mind was not giving up any runs to the Oakland A’s starting lineup. Nick scattered seven hits and three walks across six innings, while ringing up five Oakland batters on strikes. Nick was looking great in his 2009 season debut as part of …
With The 2008 Philadelphia Phillies headed to their first World Series in fifteen years, I can only think of my father. My father died the day The Phillies won the 1993 National League pennant. This would be the Phillies’ first trip to the World Series since their loss to The Baltimore Orioles ten years earlier. …
Continue reading ‘from my sketchbook: Phillies postseason’ »
The challenge word this week on Monday Artday is “steampunk”. This may be an unfamiliar concept to some, so I’ll do my best to explain it. According to Wikipedia, the Internet source for everything (including a little bullshit), steampunk is a genre of fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The …
