Usually, it happens around the MLB All-Star break. It's mid-July, and without a regular slate of games, it's virtually a couple of days without sports. It's really some birthday present for someone like myself; I'm craving a game to watch, but the gods are telling me that I will get nothing, and I will like it. On the other hand, it gives me some time to reflect on what's happened during my time in this world. Sure, it isn't as fascinating as the story of Forrest Gump, or even a real person whose story might include more relevant occurrences than a regular kid from Cleveland, but this is my story, and the only one I can tell with such a degree of accuracy.
35 years ago, Jim Kern represented the Indians in the Mid-Summer Classic in San Diego, with his 6-3 record and 7 saves, as the National League All-Stars bested the American League by a count of 7-3. Kern came on in the 7th inning of a tie game, struck out Reggie Smith of the Dodgers, surrendered a double to Pete Rose, retired Joe Morgan on a flyball, and issued a free pass to George Foster, before AL skipper Billy Martin went with his guy from the Yankees, "Louisiana Lightning" Ron Guidry. Guidry got them out of the inning, but the stars of the Senior Circuit took batting practice of 1st-year Yankee Goose Gossage in the eighth inning to secure the win. When it was over, the result was logged in the annals of baseball history and forgotten. You'll have to forgive me for the lack of details, I was literally born at 10:36 that morning, and unable to ask the powers-that-be at Euclid General to put the game on.
If I had just one wish as a sports columnist, it would be to write with the absolute clarity and sense of purpose of Jason Whitlock. He doesn't duck important issues, particularly when race is involved. He doesn't adhere to conventional wisdom or anyone's party line and doesn't write to meet anyone's expectations but his own. Time and again he'll be on the opposite side of where you'd thought he'd be on a particular issue and where you might be. When you're finished, he'll change your mind.
Now that Cleveland has once again gone viral for the wrong reasons following Scott Entsminger’s much-publicized dying wish, many of us have begun thinking about the same thing.
Of all the books written about sport, perhaps none is as definitive as “The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood,” wherein author Jane Leavy explores the heights — and depths — of one of the most acclaimed baseball stars of the 20th century.
If you found it genuinely hard to root for anybody in either the NBA Finals or Stanley Cup Finals over the past couple weeks, there’s a pretty good reason.