Usually there's a game at the beginning of each year that reminds me how much I love baseball and then I'm hooked for the entire season after that. In 1986, it was Roger Clemens' 20-strikeout game for the Red Sox. Just a kid, coming off arm surgery. Cold night in April. I listen to the game on the radio, no visuals. People forget that Clemens was behind 1-0 for most of that game. It wasn't won until...

Over a decade ago now, a good friend gave me this book by Thomas Boswell. It's a love letter to baseball, especially as part of the American rhythm of life. And I don't read it anymore because my feelings about baseball are all over the place. The game seems incredibly corrupted lately. Steroids. Too much money allows some players to relax and not play hard. New stadiums paid for out of public funds...

Baseball is never really resting, I love the winter meetings and the stuff that comes out of them...  Dustin Pedroia ALB MVP!  Just clicked a pic of him at a random ASU vs Stanford game we took in between Legion games a few springs ago, something about that fiesty infielder with the soft hands...  Maddux with another gold glove...  The Manny drama...  Dodgers talking about getting in the Sabathia...