A Sunday Morning Reflection

Bull Durham 1988
Annie Savoy and Crash Davis

I woke up on Sunday, November 2 thinking about baseball.  The 2025 World Series had wrapped up the night before less than 12 hours ago.  I can't think of any other team (maybe Milwaukee or St. Louis) who I wanted more to NOT win than the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Here we are, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the World Series Champs and not just the WS Champs but back to back WS champs.  Congrats to them and their fans.  I firmly believe that to win the World Series back-to-back is more difficult than any of the major U.S. team sports (NBA, NFL, NHL).  

When I think of baseball on a Sunday morning, I can't help but think about the Church of Baseball.  This is not my creation, the Church of Baseball.  It comes from perhaps the best baseball film of all time, Bull Durham. 

I believe in the Church of Baseball.  I've tried all the major religions, and most of the minor ones.  And the only church that truly feeds the soul, day-in and day-out, is the Church of Baseball. 

         -Annie Savoy 

I woke up thinking about baseball and what a memorable season this has been for me.  It was an amazing first half of the season with the Cubs and Tigers leading the way in first place in their respective divisions.  Both teams giving us a peek at the future as both teams showed a youth movement as young players became team leaders.  Pete Crow Armstrong, Michael Busch, Matt Shaw, Cade Horton led by veterans Ian Happ, Kyle Tucker, James Taillon, Matthew Boyd, Seiya Suzuki were impactful players for the Cubs.  Colt Keith, Trey Sweeney, Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, Kerry Carpenter, Dillion Dingler, Casey Mize, Will Vest, Tarik  Skubal all emerged as players who make an impact for the Detroit Tigers.  While both teams struggled in the second half of the season, both went on to make the playoffs and both advanced to the NLDS and the ALDS.  I believe happy days are ahead. 

My thoughts returned to the World Series and what an amazing series it turned out to be.  Let's review: 

• Each team gets a win in games 1 and 2.
• An 18 inning Monday night game that the Dodgers win to go 2-1 in the series.
• The Blue Jays come back with two wins to make the series 3-2. 
• The Dodgers win in Toronto in Game Six to tie it up 3-3. 
• Game 7...let's recap
• Shohei Ohtani is the starting pitcher and bats leadoff for the Dodgers.
• Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer is the oldest (41 yrs) starting pitcher in WS game seven.
• Blue Jays objected to the more than 3 minutes Ohtani took between innings to start the inning.  
• Benches cleared in a shoving match situation after Gimenez is hit by pitch, the second time the Dodgers pitchers plunked him this World Series.  
• Light hitting Miguel Rojas ties the game for the Dodgers in the ninth with the  Blue Jays two outs from a World Series title. 
• Extra innings!  
• The Dodgers never led the game until the 11th inning.  
• Previous night's Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto closes out the game

No wonder my mind was still buzzing with baseball when I woke up Sunday morning.  An amazing  baseball season replayed itself in my mind filling my soul with the Church of Baseball.  

Dream Season Part 2

The ALCS and the NLCS are underway.  After storybook seasons, neither of my teams are in the championship series.  As you may have discovered in a post from earlier this baseball season, Dream Season, I am a lifetime fan of the Chicago Cubs and the Detroit Tigers.  

After amazing first half of the season records for both teams, both the Tigers and Cubs stumbled into the playoffs.  The Tigers' fate came down to the last day of the regular season to confirm their playoff birth.  It was a nerve wracking finish to the regular season, but both teams made it to the Wildcard series.  The Tigers moved past the Cleveland Guardians 2 games to one, as the Cubs did the same to the San Diego Padres.  

Then, in the Division Series, the Tigers would  face the Seattle Mariners, and the Cubs went head to head with division rivals and the hottest team in baseball with the best regular season record, Milwaukee Brewers.  The Cubs scored in the first inning of each game (except game 5), but struggled to put runs on the board.  The Brewers took the first two games but the Cubs came back to take games 3 and 4.  The Cubs dropped Game 5 with a score 3-1.  It was the same result for the Tigers, but it went down quite a bit more suspenseful.  The Mariners and the Tigers each took one of each of the first two games.  Then, power surged for each team as the Mariners won 8-4 in game three, and the Tigers tied it all up 2-2 with a 9-3 win in game four.  Then came game 5.  The game sat at a score of 2 to2 as the 9th inning came to a close.  The game went past midnight in the central time zone as the home team, Mariners, scored in the 15th inning on a walk-off single.  

It is hard to see both of my teams lose in the playoffs in back-to-back nights, but in reflection, it was a great season.  I have never been so proud to be a Cubs and Tigers fan as this year with their dominant first half of the season.  It was fun to entertain the question from friends, "who do you cheer for if they both get to the World Series?"  It was nice to dream about that, but I will have to continue my wait. 

Regardless of the struggles and frustrations of the last couple months and the team power outage of both teams' bats, it has been fun.  You might even say it was almost a Dream Season.  

Dream Season

I have been a Chicago Cubs fan as far back as I can remember.  I had suffered many years, but I believe not riding the bandwagon of the hottest team has built character and taught me a thing or two about loyalty.  Check out this #ThrowbackThursday post for my thoughts on finding the silver lining as a fan of a perennial losing team. Things have changed in the last 10 years as a Chicago Cubs fan.  I have gotten used to listening to more Cubs wins than losses which includes a World Series win in 2016.  

In 2025, Chicago Cubs fans have been enjoying a wild winning ride.  The Cubs have been in first place for almost the entire season.  We have exciting players like Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch, Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Daniel Palencia among others.  Anytime the list of exciting players passes 3 or 4, you must be rooting for a successful team.  As the second half of the season got started, but Cubs quickly achieved the best record in baseball while holding onto a one game division lead over the Milwaukee Brewers.  With the ebb and flow of baseball, hot streaks, cold streaks, injuries, and other superstitions, I never know how or when the season will turn.  

For a Cubs fan, all this makes for a dream season, but all of my friends know that this is a really special dream season for me.  Not only am I a Cubs fan, I am also a Detroit Tigers fan.  People often ask how that happened, and I think I have told the story somewhere in the history of this blog, but I am a Tigers fan because I am a Cubs fan.  

After last season's Cinderella story in the playoffs, the Detroit Tigers are showing that they are real.  The Tigers held the best record in the MLB up to the All-Star Game, before a losing streak set in.  This Tigers team has some pretty special players that have made this a fun season so far.  Those players are Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene, Javy Baez, Kerry Carpenter, Zach McKinstry, Tarik Skubal, Reese Olson, Casey Mize, and others.  The story for the Tigers starts with their visionary manager A.J. Hinch.  He has sold this team on the TEAM concept.  Players understand that they may have to pocket their egos for the betterment of the team.  This concept got them deep into the playoffs, and that philosophy continues today.  This year they are getting some much needed starting pitching to support Tarik Skubal.  

It has been a dream season for me as a baseball fan.  Every season is a treat, but boy, it is nice to win.  Everyone asks me, what happens if they both get to the World Series?  Who will you root for?  If the World Series is the Chicago Cubs vs. the Detroit Tigers, it won't matter who wins!  That would be icing on the cake for the 2025 baseball season!  

Update 8/11/25

The Dream Season is at risk!!  Since the All-Star Break the Tigers are still in first place, but they are 9-13 since the break.  The Cubs have dropped to second place with the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers sitting atop the division.  The Cubs are 10-11 since the All-Star break.  It isn't the end of the season, but it certainly doesn't fit the language above.  

Fantasy Baseball: Coca Cola Kids "A Team" Baseball Club Weeks 7-12

The Kids are off to a great start in 2025.  Even after a blowout loss in Week 6, they are still 21 wins over losses (63-42-15).  Two key players on the team are currently on the IL, SP Shota Imanaga and OF Teoscar Hernandez.  Both of these players have been key in the Coca Cola Kids hot start.  The Kids are also waiting for OF Garrett Mitchell to come off the IL too.  

It seems that the top comeback player of the year candidate, Spencer Torkelson, is beginning to cool off after his hot start.  But Torkelson is tied in team lead in doubles (11) for the Kids, second on the team in both runs scored (28) and RBI (33) and among team leaders in home runs (10).  

The Kids management did well with their Keepers from last season.  Elly De La Cruz leads the team in stolen bases with 14 and is among team leaders in runs scored (26) and hits (29).  Cal Raleigh has been pounding the ball in April and May.  He leads the team in Home Runs (12) and walks (27) and is among the leaders in runs scored (26).  Julio Rodriguez is the most pedestrian from last year's keepers.  It didn't seem that he could have as dismal a season as last year, so it seemed worth the risk to keep him.  It isn't paying off quite as much as management had hoped, but his numbers are strong enough to call it a win so far.  He leads the team in triples (2) and is among team leaders in runs scored (27).  The team would like to see more in the power and speed categories, but we will take slow and steady in his performance.  

Pete Crow-Armstrong is the MVP and RoY for the team in the first six weeks.  He leads the team in runs scored (31), tied for first in doubles (11), and second on the team in stolen bases (13).  Additionally, Crow-Armstrong is among team leaders in home runs (10) and runs batted in (28). 

Here is the team roster as of the beginning of Week 7: 

C: Cal Raleigh Mariners

1B: Michael Busch, Cubs

2B: Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks

3B: Isaac Paredes, Astros

SS: Elly De La Cruz, Reds

OF: Julio Rodriguez, Mariners

OF: Pete Crow Armstrong, Cubs

OF: Kerry Carpenter, Tigers

Utility: Spencer Torkelson, Tigers

Bench: Josh Naylor, Diamondbacks

Bench: Bryson Stott, Phillies

Bench: Teoscar Hernandez, Dodgers (IL)

Bench: Pete Crow Armstrong, Cubs

Bench: Ozzie Albies, Braves

IL: Garrett Mitchell, Brewers

NA: Matt Shaw, Cubs

SP: Luis Severino, A's

SP: Michael Boyd, Cubs

SP: Framber Valdez, Astros

SP: Freddy Peralta, Brewers

RP: Luke Weaver, Yankees

RP: Jason Adam, Padres

P: Fernando Cruz, Yankees

P: MacKenzie Gore, Nationals

Bullpen: Kirby Yates, Dodgers

IL: Shota Imanaga, Cubs

Picked up in the first six weeks: 

Spencer Torkelson 1B

Ozzie Albies 2B

Michael Boyd  SP

Fernando Cruz RP

See Weeks 1-6 Here

Week 7: 

Kids vs. BrownTown  10-7 "A Balanced Offense and Pitching Attack brings Win for Kids"  

(1st Division, 1st League) 

Week 8: 

Kids (73-49-18) vs. Oxford Publicans (57-65-18) 12-5 "Publicans Offense Can't Keep Up with the Kids"

(1st Division, 1st League)

Week 9: 

Kids (85-54-21) vs. ACEsymptomatic (57-88-15) 10-9  "The Kids Squeak One Out Against ACE" 

(1st Division, 1st League)

Week 10: 

Kids (95-63-22) vs. Orange Drink (71-88-21)  9-11  "Kid's Pitching Can't Keep It Together for Loss"

(1st Division, 1st League)

Week 11:  

Kids (104-74-22) vs. Pacaya Chilitepes (88-90-22)  10-8  "Kid's Win with Balanced Attack"  

(1st Division, 1st League) 

Week 12:  

Kids (114-82-24) vs. Tuffy's Tamaskan Buddhas (101-88-31)  8-8 "Kids Come From Behind to Tie It Up"  

(1st Division, 1st League) 

Head over to Weeks 13-18

Fantasy Baseball: Coca Cola Kids "B Team" Weeks 1-6

Okay, so "B Team" implies the second best.  That is not the case here.  It is simply the designation between one team and another.  Last week, I wrote about the Coca Cola Kids "A Team" fantasy baseball team that is part of the League of Gorgeous Rogues.  You can read that and keep up with the "A Team" weekly RIGHT HERE  

This week the focus is on the Coca Cola Kids "B Team."  The B is a part of the UPCbaseball league which has been in existence since 2010, and the Kids best league finish is 3rd place which they finished in 2011.  They have finished 4th in the league twice (2012 and 2017).  Like the "A Team," the kids are professors of mediocrity.  

This league is a high maintenance league as managers can make adjustments to the team daily.  Managing two clubs, as the owner, there just isn't the time to do daily changes.  Nonetheless, the Kids fight every day and thank the baseball gods for the opportunity to play ball!

Here is the 2025 Roster of the Coca Cola Kids "B Team"

C: Cal Raleigh, Mariners

1B:  Matt Olson, Braves

2B:  Andres Gimenez, Blue Jays

3B: Willi Castro, Twins

SS:  Mookie Betts, Dodgers

OF:  Kyle Tucker, Cubs

OF:  Kyle Schwarber, Phillies

OF:  Kerry Carpenter, Tigers

Utility: Seiya Suzuki, Cubs

Bench: Jeremy Pena, Astros

Bench: Jackson Merrill, Padres

Bench: Willy Adames, Giants

SP:  Jason DeGrom, Rangers

SP:  Shota Imanaga, Cubs

SP:  Spencer Schwellenbach, Braves

RP:  Ryan Helsley, Cardinals

RP:  Jordan Romano, Phillies

P:     Bryan Woo, Mariners

P:    Tylor Megill, Mets

P:     Nick Pivetta, Padres

Bullpen: Jesus Luzardo, Phillies

Bullpen:  Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays

The Kids B have gotten off to a hot start in the 2025 season.  Week 1 found them  cruising to a win 12-5 over the All Choked Up club.  That win placed the Kids B in 3rd place after week one behind the Splendid Splinters and Gourmet by Gorman.  

Follow this post as it will be updated weekly with each match-up Weeks 1-6.   

Week 1:

Kids vs All Choked Up 12-5 (3rd in League) "Kids Power Win with 22 HR in Week 1"

Week 2: 

Kids vs Unerdawgs  13-3  (1st in League)   "Kids Dominate" 

Week 3: 

Kids vs. Release the Kimbrel  8-7 (2nd in League) "Kids offence with .800 OPS in Win" 

Week 4: 

Trot's Cardinals vs. Kids  7-10 (3rd in League)  "Kids Offense Cools Off to Finish May" 

Week 5: 

Kids vs. Acuna Matada  9-7 (2nd in League)  "Offense Flexes Muscle with 17 HR, .932 OPS" 

Week 6: 

Kids vs. you have to C it  5-12 (3rd in League) "Kids Slip in Standings after Big Loss"  

See Weeks 6-12 Here

Fantasy Baseball 2025: The Coca Cola Kids "A Team" Weeks 1-6

Smell the Earth reawakening as winter begins to thaw!  That means only one thing...Baseball season is here!  As of this writing, both the Cubs and Tigers are playing well in April.  That just makes my day!  

Baseball season also means Fantasy Baseball is here too.  The Coca Cola Kids have been around since 1988 and the Kids have and A team and a B team in two different leagues.  The Kids A team has been in action since 2005 in the ball league, League of the Gorgeous Rogues.  In 20 years of playing fantasy ball in The League of the Gorgeous Rogues, the Kids have been Champions twice (2026, 2013) and third place twice (2007, 2021).  The rest of the seasons are mostly less than mediocre, but we have fun anyway.  

The Coca Cola Kids B team plays in the UPC Baseball league.  The UPC Baseball league has been in existence since 2010.  In that time the Kids have never won the league, but took a 3rd place finish in 2011. 

Both leagues are super competitive with active players, but the UPC league is high maintenance with daily team adjustments as options where as the Rogues league has weekly roster adjustments.  

So allow me to introduce, from the League of the Gorgeous Rogues, the 2025 Coca Cola Kids A team:

C: Cal Raleigh Mariners

1B: Josh Naylor, Diamondbacks

2B: Bryson Stott, Phillies

3B: Maikel Garcia, Royals

SS: Elly De La Cruz, Reds

OF: Julio Rodriguez, Mariners

OF: Teoscar Hernandez, Dodgers

OF: Kerry Carpenter, Tigers

Utility: Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks

Bench: Isaac Paredes, Astros

Bench: Pete Crow Armstrong, Cubs

Bench: Garrett Mitchell, Brewers

Bench: Michael Bush, Cubs

Bench: Zach Gelof, A's

SP: Dylan Cease, A's

SP: Shota Imanaga, Cubs

SP: Framber Valdez, Astros

SP: Freddy Peralta, Brewers

RP: Kirby Yates, Dodgers

RP: Jason Adam, Padres

P: Luis Severino, A's

P: MacKenzie Gore, Nationals

Bullpen: Luke Weaver, Yankees

After the first weekend of baseball, the Kids snatched up undrafted Tigers infielder, Spencer Torkleson, which, so far, has paid off really well. 

After week 1, The Kids are in first place of the North Division with a 12-4-4 record.  First place overall belongs to the Oxford Publicans with a 16-3-1 record. 

It is a great start to what The Kids are hoping to be a great season!  

Week 1: 

Kids vs. Tuffy's Tamaskan Buddhas 12-4 "Kids Offense Dominates with 17 HR, 56 RBI"

(1st Division, 2nd League)  

Week 2: 

Kids vs. Pacaya Chiltepes 9-9 "Kids Come from Behind to Secure Tie"  

(2nd Division, 3rd League) 

Week 3: 

Kids vs ACEsymptomatic 11-8 "Offense Comes Alive while the Kid's Pitching Holds the Wins"

Week 4: 

Kids vs. Fried Chicken Bucket  15-3 "Kids Dominate as De La Cruz and Crow-Armstrong Heat Up"

(1st Division, 1st League)

Week 5: 

Kids vs. Oxford Publicans  12-3 "Kids Pitchers post 5 Wins, 2.63 ERA to Dominate the Week"

(1st Division, 1st League)

Week 6: 

Kids vs. The Mecca of Red Necka  4-15 "Kids Suffer First Lost in Grand Style!"  

(1st Division, 1st League) 

See the new post for Weeks 6 - 12 here.  

 

The MLB is back! My Top 5 Reasons for Being Excited

One month ago the temperature around here barely got above 0 degrees.  Today, we topped out at 71 wonderful degrees.  That might mean lots of different things to people, but to me, that means baseball is just around the corner.  

It shouldn't be any secret that I love the game and have since I was a little kid, but like many things in 2021, the return of baseball just seems to be extra special.  Yes, we got a bit of a season and a World Series in 2020, but the prospects of a full season, postseason, and World Series with fans in the stands seems different.  

Here are the top 5 reasons I am excited for the return of baseball: 

5. The exciting young players in the game: 

This is a great time to be a baseball fan.  There are some really exciting veteran players out there who put on a show every game: Aaron Judge, Javy Baez, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts to name just a few.  The exciting young players in the league; however, may be the reason to tune in to games this year.  First there are the sons of former baseball stars: Vladimir Gurerro Jr. Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette, Fernando Tatis, Jr.  Then there are the other exciting young players like Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, Randy Arozarena, and Ke'Bryan Hayes. I could keep going on there are so many to watch.  

4. Fantasy Baseball:

I have been doing some sort of Fantasy Baseball since 1988.  It started with pencil and paper and digging through the USA Today team stats that would publish on Tuesdays (I think), to Sandbox, to now, Yahoo Fantasy Baseball.  I have been in the league I am with now for several years.  I am not particularly good at Fantasy Baseball because I draft with my heart and loyalties and I draft who I "feel" will have great years.  I rarely draft stars of the game.  I don't know why, but it has turned out well a few seasons.  In our league of 10 teams, I am one of four of us who has won the league at least twice.  I will never have a dynasty Fantasy Baseball team, but I do look forward to putting a team together and seeing how it does.    

3. Long Saturday and Sunday afternoons with a ballgame on: 

Oh my goodness, how is this not number one or two?  There is nothing greater than a warm weekend afternoon, turning on a game, laying down, dozing off in the third or fourth inning to wake in the seventh or eighth inning to watch the end of the game.  What is better than that????  

2. Watching my favorite teams the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs: 

I have always been a Cubs fan.  I grew up in a football house where the Chicago Bears ruled, but somehow I fell in love with the Cubs.  Was it that they were on WGN?  Was it that they played at 1:20 (2:20 on Fridays) and were on when I came home from school?  Was it the visits to Wrigley Field with a church group once or twice a season?  Was it the pinstripes, the success of the 1984 team?  I have no idea, but I don't remember a time in my life when I didn't love the North Side Cubbies.  Why I follow the Detroit Tigers is a story for another day, but it goes back to Sparky Anderson, Allan Trammel, Sweet Lou Whitaker, Jack Morris, Cecil Fielder, Ivan Rodriguez, and more.  

1. Sitting in the stands watching a ballgame in person: 

Any other year, this would be fourth or fifth on my list.  I don't go to many games anymore.  Two years ago, I was able to take my oldest daughter, who is a loyal Cub fan, to Wrigley to see the Cubs play.  They lost that game, and I turned to her and said, "Well, now you are truly a Cubs fan."  

This reason to be excited is that I didn't feel that I missed much in the pandemic.  I didn't miss going to school functions like choir or band concerts, eating in restaurants, attending graduations, stuff like that.  I am not generally a crowd kind of person, but I did miss sitting in a stadium, small or large, watching the most perfect game.  I miss seeing a live double play develop in front of my eyes.  I miss hearing the bat hitting the ball on the sweet spot and knowing that is a home run.  I miss the announcers and the cheesy music. I miss spilling overpriced beer on the toes of my shoes.  I miss filling out the scorecard and being possibly the only one doing it for fun.  I miss it all.  I can't wait to sit in the stands of our local high A minor league team.  I hope to visit a large stadium in Chicago or St. Louis and take in the sound of the crowd on a pivotal moment strikeout or home run, or third out in the ninth inning.  That is what baseball does for me.  It brings me hope.  Hope that everything will be okay.  Win or lose, it will be okay.  

Top 5 List: Top 5 Baseball Players

This list challenge of Top 5 Baseball players was given to me by my daughter, and she would not really put parameters around it.  So, I went with my Top 5 Baseball players I would have watched in my lifetime.  So here is the list:  

1.  Greg Maddux

2.  Mark Grace

3.  Dave Winfield

4.  Jack Morris

5.  Anthony Rizzo

It is a tough list to make because as I'm typing I keep thinking Wade Boggs, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Mitch Williams, Brett Saberhagen, Ozzie Smith, Alan Trammel, Ichiro, Charlie Hough, Tim Wakefield, Will Clark, etc.  It really isn't fair, but that's my list!  Greg Maddux is by far my top pitcher and player.  Even though I saw him lose many games, I always knew the Cubs or Braves had a great chance to win when he was on the mound.  He was a pitcher that didn't rely on the heat, but rather he relied on cunning and outsmarting the hitter with amazing movement.  You rarely saw Maddux shaken on the mound and late in his career, I enjoyed watching him in the dugout mentoring young pitchers.  

Mark Grace and Anthony Rizzo have protected first base at Wrigley field the majority of my time as a Cubs Fan.  They both are amazing at defense and while Grace is an overall better hitter, in my opinion, I like their approach at the plate.  Grace was more about the extra-base hit where Rizzo is more about putting the ball in play with an eye to helping the ball exit the park.  

Dave Winfield was just impressive.  Besides being a great guy with a great attitude, he was an amazing athlete.  Coming out of college in Minnesota he was one of six players to ever be drafted by three major professional sports teams (Minnesota Vikings NFL, Atlanta Hawks NBA, San Diego Padres MLB).  I liked Winfield's presence on the field and his home run hitting power.  He was also aided in longevity in the league because of the designated hitter rule.  Winfield lasted a long time and slowly crept up many statistical record lists.  

Jack Morris was an amazing pitcher.  I will never forget the pitching performance he made in game 7 of the World Series for Minnesota.  He pitched a 10 inning complete game to close it out for the Twins.  He was the kind of pitcher who didn't look for the best ERA or pitching stats.  Morris wanted to put his team in a position to win a game.  It didn't ever seem to matter to him whether it was a 1-0 win or a 11-10 win.  He pitched to keep his team in it.  

So, there you have it!  The first Top 5 in my Top 5 series.  What do you think?  Who are your Top 5 Baseball players?  Do you have some other Top 5 topics you would like me to rank?  Leave a comment.  

Baseball Broadcast #1 Sunday, April 28

Minnesota Twins vs. Baltimore Orioles

This last weekend, I had the opportunity to listen to the Minnesota Twins radio broadcast for two parts of a couple games.  The first was Friday night April 26 and the other was Sunday, April 28.  The Twins were playing home at Target field against the Baltimore Orioles.  The Twins swept the three-game weekend series.

This is part one of a summer-long series where I will be sharing my experience and thoughts on different radio broadcasts of Major League teams.  So here are my supposedly interesting thoughts on the Minnesota Twins radio broadcast:

My first impression of the broadcast was that it has a professional delivery with a very soft tone.  There was nothing loud about this broadcast.  Cory Provus, the play-by-play announcer, delivers the description of the game in a conversational style that didn't have what I would consider significant highs or lows.  Any Cubs fan who has spent time listening to broadcasts on WGN radio, might recognize some a bit of this conversational tone from Pat Hughes the Cubs radio broadcaster.  Provus used to do the pre and post game shows for the Chicago Cubs on WGN and he also sat in for Hughes during the middle innings of many games.  While the dynamics of Pat Hughes are quite different from Provus, the description, respect for the game and professionalism on air are very similar.

Where Provus may have picked up his conversation and descriptive style from Hughes, he developed his own soft-spoken delivery.  At one point in the game Friday night, Nelson Cruz, Eddie Rosario and C.J. Cron jacked back-to-back-to-back home runs. This is an exciting and rare show of power from any team in the major league.  Provus gave a slightly elevated but overall level description of the event.  What surprised me even more was that broadcast analyst, Dan Gladden, who I remember to be a pretty energetic player on the field for the Twins from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, was as level in his analysis and description of the trio of home runs.  This is not a good or bad judgemental observation by me, because it is the style of the broadcast.  It is the environment they have created, and it works for the broadcast.  My enjoyment of the game was not hindered by any lack of dramatic description of the play.  Even the engineers of the game, choose the soft approach with a quiet crowd mic throughout the game.

That said, Provus does a nice play-by-play delivery with plenty of description for the listener to create the image of the game in his or her head, and Gladden adds good color commentary that compliments the description of the play on the field.

It seems from this weekend of listening, that Provus calls the game for innings 1-4, then Gladden goes solo to describe the events in innings 5 and 6, then Provus rejoins Gladden in inning 7 to do comment, finally, Provus retakes the captain's seat to finish the game with Gladded back on game analysis.  Gladded brings a contrasting play-by-play call to Provus with a short descriptive style of telling the listener just the facts.  While a vast difference from the conversational style of Provus, it is a nice contrast in the middle of the game.  I don't know that I would want an entire game called in the style Gladden uses, but it works for the middle inning as contrast.

This broadcast would be a perfect middle of the summer kind of broadcast where it is a nice Sunday afternoon settling into the hammock by one of the 10,000 Minnesota lakes.  The delivery style of this broadcast encourages that middle of the game nap where you might doze off in the third or fourth inning and wake up in the seventh or eighth inning to catch the end of the game.

Are you a Twins fan or do you listen to the Twins broadcast with Cory Provus and Dan Gladden?  What do you think?  Did I catch the feel of the broadcast or did I commit an error.  Leave a comment, keep it clean and constructive, and let me know.  Stay tuned for my next installment where I will listen to another MLB broadcast and give my supposedly interesting thoughts. 

"Oh, yes...oh, yes...oh, yes!!!" we'll miss you, Ron

This was originally published December 3, 2010: 

It was opening day 1995. I was in the Wrigley Field press box covering the game for the radio station I was working for at the time. It was between innings, somewhere in the middle of the game between the Cubs and Montreal Expos. Sammy Sosa had just hit a line-drive home run that still has to be one of the longest home runs I have ever seen. If it would have been 20 feet to the right, it would have hit the famous Wrigley scoreboard, which, when this was written,  had never been hit in a game. After the shot, the press box was buzzing with PA announcements, phones ringing, typewriters (yep, a few sportswriters were using them) clacking, general discussion of awe among the sportswriters. 

After the inning was completed, I went to the pressroom dining area. I was picking up a cup of coffee and a snack when the guy behind me remarked that he hadn't seen a home run that deep since Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit one at Wrigley. I turned around to see who made the comment and there was Ron Santo. The legendary third baseman now radio commentator commenting on the amazing hit. Sadly, I was a bit star-struck that day after interviewing Harry Carey, Felipe Alou, and Mark Grace, so instead of striking up a conversation with him, I just nodded and walked back to the press box. Disappointing on my part, but that was Ron Santo in line behind me. 

After my wife called this morning to tell me that Ron had passed the night before, I couldn't hold back some tears. I wasn't sad because I had lost someone close to me and typically celebrity deaths don't affect me all that much (although it was tough to see Sparky Anderson go last month). I was sad because I always thought Ron would see one of two things in his life. Either a Cubs World Series victory or a vote into the Baseball Hall of Fame. I actually thought he might see both. But he realized neither. I don't remember watching him as a player, but the highlights and his statistics say a lot about him as a player. However, as a listener to Cubs radio broadcasts, I did know him as a loyal Cubs fan. I am sure that since college graduation almost 20 years ago, I have easily listened to more games on the radio than I have seen on television. Ron was a staple in our house from April until October. My daughter knew Ron as that Crazy Uncle Ron on the radio.

She might have said one time, "why does that guy keep yelling and moaning." And I would have to say, "Crazy Uncle Ron is frustrated, the Cubs just aren't playing very well today." Ron was the greatest Cubs fan and arguably among some of the greatest Cubs players ever. He will be greatly missed by me and my family. I will be flying my Cubs flag, with the famous "W," this weekend.  God Bless you, Ron!