Tag Archives: Chicago Cubs

Babe Ruth Had the Spanish Flu Twice in 1918

My (Evander’s) old friend and longtime supporter of the Right off the Bat project, Mike Katzmarek, reported a story he’d heard on a French-radio broadcast that started me on the slightly scattered subjects of this blog. Thanks also go to … Continue reading

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The Baseball Scene

Henry James, for whom no abstraction, no characteristic or gesture, was too subtle to be examined (and examined), qualified and qualified again, is generally credited with a fictional form that was actually pioneered by women, mostly Continental-women writers on to … Continue reading

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Streaking

Like the proverbial first-small-step of the longest journey, record-MLB streaks begin innocently enough. Each captures the imagination of the public in different ways. The most enthralling streaks occur over the course of a season. A few, equally impressive, are accomplished … Continue reading

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Group Psychotherapy for Cleveland

Nicholas Frankovich asks if Cleveland Indians (starting 2022 Guardians) fans require a big-couch session with a group psychotherapist. It’s a reasonable question. The 1954 Indians still hold the modern record for regular-season winning percentage—till the nonexistent Law of Averages caught up … Continue reading

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Ed Reulbach: Pioneering Jewish Baseball Star (to which I, Evander, add a *)

In the history of MLB, only one pitcher has thrown shutouts in both ends of a doubleheader. (For cricket fans and the many baseball fans too young to remember or know, the regularly scheduled doubleheader means two games in one … Continue reading

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In the Beginning

To affirm that hope springs eternal, as the thermometer dips to 2 degrees F, a New York City/Right off the Bat HQ record for any February 20, teams are assembling to begin Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues training. Yesterday and today! … Continue reading

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Good-bye, Mr. Sunshine

Ernie Banks is gone. He was the first African American to play for the Chicago Cubs, and has forever since been “Mr. Cub.” A Hall of Fame inductee (1977), Banks is best remembered for his boundless enthusiasm: Let’s Play Two! … Continue reading

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Citi Field Goes Vegan

As the previous post suggests, on Friday, August 15th, Evander and I (Martin) took the F Train from the Right Off the Bat Media Complex in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, intercepted the Number 7 train at Roosevelt Avenue, and hightailed it to … Continue reading

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The Three Stooges at the Mets

Stuart Cohn (left), a long-suffering Mets fan (is there any other?), Yankees aficionado Evander Lomke (center), and cricket interloper Martin Rowe (right)—the latter two the founders of this self-same blog—in the inevitable selfie at Citi Field on Friday, August 15th. The Metropolitans … Continue reading

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Hello, Beatles; Good-bye, Ralph Kiner

I (Evander) am endlessly fascinated by temporal coincidence: I believe it’s called synchronicity. Permit me to play kowtow to my whimsy. As we celebrate the Beatles arriving in the U.S.A. fifty years ago, we say farewell to slugger Ralph Kiner, … Continue reading

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