By Ben Lewis It is April 1st and the Minneapolis skyline sits against an angry backdrop of dark clouds. However, this April day feels like summer. Why? It’s opening day. The Minnesota Twins are playing their first game of the year against the Kansas City Royals. I saw an opportunity to grab a ticket, and…
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The curse is broken: Cubs clinch first World Series since 1908
“Go, Cubs, Go, Go, Cubs, Go. Hey, Chicago, what do you say, The Cubs are gonna win today…” For 108 years, the dream of winning a World Series title and breaking out in one spine-tingling rendition of “Go Cubs Go” was exactly that: a dream. On Wednesday, November 2, that dream finally became reality when…
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Believeland: Cleveland sports hype continues into baseball postseason
If you have no vested interest in any team still alive in the MLB playoffs, it’s hard not to start rooting for history to be made. And that doesn’t mean cheering for the Chicago Cubs. No. It is time to jump on the Cleveland Indians bandwagon. That poor city has had to endure so much…
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Baseball’s Final Four: a Viewer’s Guide
Please note: This article was written before the Mets vs. Cubs game that took place on October 21. It is finally October, that month of the year when sports fans all around the country rejoice. October means hockey starts, football really starts heating up and the MLB Playoffs begin. October is the month of the…
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St. Louis in autumn: Charlie visits the NLCS
On Friday morning a friend told me that he and a friend had plans to drive down to St. Louis for Games One and Two of the National League Championship Series between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals. Despite the fact that this was not the series I was initially hoping for,…
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Flagrant Fouls: How the media treats player conduct issues
We idolize our professional athletes because they amaze us. They amaze us with their gravity-defying jumps and sublime displays of technical skill, showing us the very pinnacle of what the human body can achieve. We pay them millions of dollars, pack arenas and even wear their names on our backs, all in celebration of their…
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2014 MLB Season Preview
The 2014 MLB season began March 31 in the shadow of an offseason that saw the largest contract ever handed out to a pitcher, the largest ever handed out to a pre-arbitration player, and the largest ever handed out to anyone. The recipients of those three contracts are Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera,…
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A searing series: Red Sox vs. Cardinals MLB playoff wrap-up
Well, baseball friends, it has been a playoffs to remember. As the Cardinals and Red Sox vied for the World Series title, you might have thought, “Wow, these are such boring teams. Just the usual suspects. This is really grinding my gears!” Maybe you wanted the Pirates or the Rays or the Tigers to be…
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2013 MLB Postseason Review: Are we headed for a Red Sox-Dodgers World Series?
Every couple of postseasons, a seemingly inevitable World Series matchup emerges. Some combination of big markets, shared history and recent interactions occasionally make a potential matchup so appealing that everyone magically assumes it’s going to happen.
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October’s Back: 2013 MLB Playoffs Preview
Well, we made it to October. The NFL continues to dominate sports headlines, but the magic isn’t there right now. Nope, not in football. It’s all in the diamonds. October is all about the baseball magic.