Category Archives: Thinking

More Zen: In Search of Quality in Baseball

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Patrick

Continuing the Chatauqua I began a few weeks ago with the examination of the now-rejuvenated Chone Figgins, I’d like to ride along with Phaedrus, the protagonist of Robert Pirsig’s novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The first part … Continue reading →

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Jeff Blauser Should be in the Hall of Fame

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Eric

I saw this headline on Google News: Voting for Hall of Fame too complicated these days I so badly wanted the enclosed article to be about the convoluted and absurd process of electing members to the Baseball Hall of Fame … Continue reading →

Posted in Thinking | 6 Comments

Why I Want the Rangers to Win the World Series

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Eric

Sometimes it takes the games starting for the compass needle in my heart to flicker and point me to my true north. My true north this year lies a few miles outside of Dallas. In other words, I want the … Continue reading →

Posted in Talking Baseball, Teams, Thinking | 3 Comments

Why I Write (About Baseball)

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Patrick

Recently I sat amidst the fog of a Seattle summer morning and read a short essay by George Orwell entitled “Why I Write”.  Like Orwell, I recognized at a young age that I was a writer whether I actually wrote … Continue reading →

Posted in Meta, Thinking | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Style, Sin, and Matt Kemp

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Eric

Matt Kemp might be the most exciting player in baseball. He has two less home runs than Jose Bautista. He has as many stolen bases as Ichiro. He plays center field (not exceptionally well, according to advanced statistics, but with … Continue reading →

Posted in Thinking | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Nothing is Frivolous

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Eric

When I first met Clay Huntington, he was only my friend Janelle’s grandfather. He seemed like an important man. He sat in the press box at Mariners games. He drove a red Crown Victoria. He had something – I didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Legacy, Thinking | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

The Angel of Life

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Eric

I turned on NPR yesterday to hear a couple of people who were not Frank Deford talking about the Dodgers being taken over by Major League Baseball. If you weren’t aware, the Dodgers have been taken over by Major League … Continue reading →

Posted in Myth, Thinking | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Milton Bradley Revisited

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Eric

I’m getting to be like a concerned parent with all this Milton Bradley stuff. My friend Brett (who blogs about the Mariners’ AAA affiliate Rainiers for alt-weekly Tacoma Volcano), said he can barely stand to watch Milton Bradley play. Brett … Continue reading →

Posted in Thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

An Unpretentious Jovial Appreciation for Everything

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Eric

Mike Sweeney never hit 30 homeruns in a season. For this and many other reasons, he was the kind of ballplayer children with big league dreams but a strong sense of their own limitations could aspire to be. If you … Continue reading →

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What I Learned from Scorekeeping Week

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Ted

What did I learn from Scorekeeping Week, after baseball fans of different stripes and styles weighed in on their scorekeeping tics and habits? I learned, mostly, that a scorecard is a living text, and that the act of scorekeeping far … Continue reading →

Posted in Scorekeeping Week, Thinking | Tagged | 1 Comment