“I dunno, all that red hair – there’s too much anger in this kid,” a scout murmured over my shoulder late one balmy Tampa afternoon, as I sprawled out in a post-speedball rictus across a rack of crumbling bleachers to watch a young hitter from a sun-torched diploma mill called Plant High School stroke doubles […]

The editors of Yard Work should be ashamed of themselves. All this talk about the the Indians – and no Jose Lima? Maybe you haven’t been paying attention to the Kansas City Royals, but as far as tacos go, it’s Lima Time, baby! I’m up to 22, third in the league…and no respect from you. […]

Editor’s Note: The opening chapter to novelist Don Delillo’s Underworld might be the greatest thing ever written about the game. And with books such as Libra, which tackled the plot to assassinate Kennedy, under his belt, he was the perfect person to discuss the story‘s larger implications. Delillo graciously agreed to sit down with Yard […]

Click to read part one Click to read part two Click to read part three Click to read part four Click to read follow-up interview with Don Delillo Gene Autry’s Cowboy Code: 1. The Cowboy must never shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage. 2. He must never go back on his […]

Good afternoon sports fans, and welcome to another edition of the Rank Index right here at Yard Work. We’re heading into the home stretch of the 2005 season: a time when pennant races heat up and the games really start to count. With the trade deadline just around the corner, it’s time to think about […]

Click to read part one Click to read part two Click to read part three From 1975-1978, the California Angels and Cleveland Indians maintained their protest against Major League Baseball: no pitcher reached twenty wins, and the antagonistic relationship with Commissioner Bowie Kuhn continued to sour. But Angels owner Gene Autry and Indians owner Nick […]

Click to read part one Click to read part two Former Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck was one of the most creative executives to ever work in baseball. It was he who signed Satchell Paige, turned baseball games into bazaars of promotional goods and sent midget Eddie Gaedel to bat in 1952. Veeck was a […]

Click to read part one Some conspiracies, like the assassinations of Kennedy and Caesar and the entire thrust of the Bush regime, are plotted in advance. Others, like My Lai, are hastily spun webs of deceit used to conceal an impulsive decision gone awry. Gene Autry’s war on baseball began as a mix of both, […]

“Just about the time you think, ‘What else can he accomplish?,’ he comes up with another milestone. Some of my fondest baseball memories involve Nolan from his days with the Angels. He is one of those rare individuals who will be admired for generations to come.” Gene Autry, the famous singing cowboy and owner of […]

“There’s no way to accurately determine the greatest lefthanded hitter in baseball history, but an argument can be made for Palmeiro, who now has 346 more hits than Ted Williams, nearly 450 more home runs than Ty Cobb and 127 more hits than Babe Ruth.” — David Ginsburg, Associated Press There’s no way to accurately […]