Cooperstown 25 Years Later

Summer and baseball go together like Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel and incoherent sentences—you just can’t imagine one without the other. This formula lends itself for even the average baseball fan opportunities to create memories with family and friends by taking in a game at any level, whether professional or little league, or making a pilgrimage […]

Sweet 60: The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates

For those who have known me for longer than fifteen minutes, learn that I am a ‘Die hard’ Pittsburgh Pirates fan.  The 1971 team is my favorite Pirates’ team of all-time.  But I have a strange relationship with the 1960 version.  One might describe it as destiny, like the Pirates beating the New York Yankees […]

Are 1800s Innings Pitched Totals Valid?

Should the enormous innings pitched totals of hurlers in the nineteenth century be adjusted based on the distance thrown? In order to compare eras, let’s take a closer look at the progression of distances from the pitching “box” to home plate since 1876. 1876-1880: 45 feet 1881-1892: 50 feet 1893-2013: 60 feet 6 in In […]

Jury Is Out On John Grisham’s Baseball Novel

“At long last,” it says on the back cover of John Grisham’s new novel,Calico Joe, “America’s favorite storyteller takes on America’s favorite pastime.” Calico Joe is a good story, smoothly and movingly told, although after page 19 I was able to predict most of what would happen the rest of the way. A bigger tipoff appears one […]

The Best Game Ever

No, not game 6. The best game ever was played when I was eight years old on Doc Branson’s lot across the street from the house I grew up in. Excerpt from my manuscript, “Between the Lines: A Father, A Son and America’s Pastime.” Baseball is cool. It’s way cool, in fact. As a young […]

Dealing with the Red Sox Starting Pitchers

More details keep emerging about the hijinks of the top three pitchers in the 2011 Boston Red Sox starting rotation. Just when fans think it can’t get any worse, it does. Although the 2012 season is a ways off, it feels impossible to think right now about how the Red Sox can handle this situation […]

This Daly On Baseball History

The Red Sox and Braves just collapsed this year.  Where they the worst collapses?  I’m a Red Sox fan and I’ve felt worse.  Maybe it is because the 2004 and 2007 World Series titles added a psychic cushion.  1977 and 2000 were probably the most disappointing Red Sox seasons for me.  I know that they […]

Farewell To Mom–A True “All-Star”

Mary Lou Lazzari lost her long, courageous battle with cancer on October 9, 2007–the nasty disease having robbed the world of a once-vibrant, wonderful human being. O.K., you may wonder why a death of a loved one would warrant being the subject of a sports column; I kinda wondered about that, too, but the answer […]

Born in August? Welcome to the Majors

Fun fact: since 1965, players born on July 31 have spent a combined 30 years in the Major Leagues. Fast forward 24 hours to August 1, where players born that day have spent a combined 71 years in the majors. How could 24 hours make such a difference? It has been argued for some time […]

In Memory of Christina

This post is dedicated to the memory of Christina Taylor Green student council president,  beloved daughter,  sister, granddaughter,  friend,  Little League teammate, and inspiration to many who never knew her. _______ Christina Taylor Green.    Born  9-11-2001.  Daughter of John Green, East Coast supervisor of amateur scouts for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and granddaughter of Dallas […]

Now It’s Over

“It’s over,” my mother says in the early innings of so many Cubs games. Frustrated, she changes the channel. Those words were uttered by baseball fans across the country in the past few months as their teams were eliminated from the playoff race. (Unfortunately for mom, much sooner than most). In the coming weeks the […]

What Happens When the Little League World Series Ends?

Recently, ESPN has been airing the Little League World Series.  I normally love watching the LLWS.  You see more true emotion and love for the game in two innings of between the teams from Toms River, NJ and Korea than you might in an entire three game series between the Yankees and Orioles.  The coaches […]

Rambling on About My Glory Days – Immortality

You may recall my last post when I wrote about how I ended up attending Murray State University, tried out and made the baseball team. While there, I was part of a most remarkable experience. It all began with one of my teammate’s box score: 3 At Bats 0 Hits 0 Runs 0 RBI and […]