I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, largely among Mormon kids for whom swearing was taboo. From a young age I learned that bad words could get you into a little bit of trouble, but I never had my mouth washed out with soap or anything so dramatic. At worst I was lectured by …
Continue reading ‘George Carlin, RIP (Not Fucking Safe For Work)’ »
The obituaries have been all too full of familiar names in recent weeks, men whose life’s work brought me a great deal of joy, countless hours of entertainment, and plenty of food for thought. Since Memorial Day alone, we’ve lost director Sydney Pollack, actor Harvey Korman, musician Bo Diddley, and sports broadcaster Jim McKay. Today’s …
Continue reading ‘Eliot Asinof (1919-2008) and the Mystery of Rocky Perone’ »
As I’ve said before, I’ve often traced my yen to write about baseball back to my paternal grandfather, Bernard Jaffe. Last Tuesday, May 20, marked his centennial birthday, and with my various deadlines and other obligations out of the way, I’d like to honor his life and share some fond memories. Bernard — “Bernie” or …
Continue reading ‘Bernard Jaffe: a Centennial Celebration’ »
“Who else played golf with Babe Ruth, had dinner with Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale and worked for people of the stature of Larry MacPhail, Walter O’Malley, Gene Autry and Ray Kroc?”–Buzzie Bavasi (1914-2008) While Buzz Bissinger continues to be raked over the coals, the baseball world lost one of its titans on Thursday, as …
Johnny Podres, who won arguably the single biggest game in the Dodger history, passed away on Sunday. Just 23 at the time, Podres will forever be remembered for pitching a complete-game shutout against the Yankees in Game Seven of the 1955 World Series, giving the Dodger franchise their first World Championship after seven World Series …
As a Johnny-Come-Lately to New York City and the Yankees, I never really got what dyed-in-the-pinstriped-wool fans found so special about Phil Rizzuto, who passed away yesterday at the age of 89. While he certainly held a link to the Yankees’ glory years as part of seven world champion teams, objectively he wasn’t as great …
Less than two weeks after the passing of Kurt Vonnegut, the world of letters lost another giant on Monday when David Halberstam was killed in a car accident near San Francisco. Halberstam was 73 years old but had shown no sign of slowing down; the crash occurred as he was on his way to interview …
First things first: this site turned six years old on Monday, and as with last year’s milestone, I was too busy to stop and serve notice via this blog. Yes, I wish I’d had the time to bake myself a cake, but I’m hardly complaining. The busyness has become business, and the idea that I …
This week’s Trading Deadline Extravaganza Hit List is up at Baseball Prospectus. Rather than delve into its baseball content — it’s all free there, if you care to read it — I’ll skip to the dedication at the bottom: This week’s column is dedicated to the loving memory of Clara Gottfried Jaffe (11/2/1912-8/1/2006), wife, mother, …
The world of baseball lost a giant of a writer and its foremost expert on financial matters on Friday when Doug Pappas passed away while vacationing in Texas’ Big Bend National Park. The cause was heat prostration. He was 43 and is survived by his mother, Carolyn Pappas. As the chairman of the SABR Business …