Hamilton

I was going to do one of those year in review things where I wrote about all the good things of 2016. And then I remembered: I already wrote…

Vault: The Willie Mays Hall of Fame

Today’s Vault addition: For Brilliant Reader John Williamson, who requested it.

Bob Costas on Wednesday said something I’ve heard a lot of people say through the years. But because he’s Bob Costas, and I think the world of the guy, his words…

№34: Mel Ott

Mel Ott is the smallest man in the 500 home run club. At 5-foot-9, 170 pounds he was roughly the same size as Davey Lopes and Bucky Dent and Don Zimmer (in his playing days). He is one of the great outliers in baseball history.

Vault: The King of Pop

As part of the new blog, I’m going to start putting up some old posts that have disappeared from the Internet … you’ll be able to find these in the new “Joe Vault” section. This was written on June 25, 2009, the day after Michael Jackson died.

Drive

A few years ago, I asked friends to send me a list of the greatest country songs ever recorded. Country music constituted a huge void in my musical library — and really it was embarrassing. I should know SOMETHING about it. The only country songs I can remember hearing as a young man were:

The Rose Ballot

One of the questions people ask all the time is this: Why won’t the Pete Rose thing just go away? Rose was banned from baseball 27 years ago. Over those 27 years, he has denied betting on baseball … admitted betting on baseball but not on the Reds when he was manager … admitted betting on the Reds…

Vault: The Heart of Los Angeles

This piece originally ran about five years ago. After I wrote it, I got a hand-written note in the mail. It was from Vin Scully. It said, simply, “Joe, this is the best story anyone has ever written about me.” I feel entirely sure it is not. But that’s the class of Vin…

№32: Grover Cleveland Alexander

“The Winning Team” is a spectacularly bad movie. It earns the “spectacularly bad” label because it has many cool, quirky features .and somehow it is still unwatchable. As you probably know, “The Winning Team” stars Ronald Reagan as Grover Cleveland Alexander, making Alex…