Rhea Butcher's Podcast Is For Baseball's Overlooked Fans<em></em>
Before the 2014 postseason, Rhea Butcher had barely watched baseball in the 21st century. It was the 1997 World Series that did it: Butcher was 15 when the Cleveland Indians, division champions for the third consecutive year, squandered an early Game 7 lead and lost to the Marlins in extra innings. ...
The Baltimore Orioles Have Been Even Worse Than They Look
In 2005, the Baltimore Orioles shocked the world with a 42-28 start, good enough to keep them in first place in the AL East into mid-summer. This was before Rafael Palmeiro, fresh off his 3000th hit, lied to Congress and tested positive for steroids; before ostensible ace Sidney Ponson was arrested ...
Smokey Robinson Is The Greatest American Songwriter
If you love American music, it’s more than likely that in 2016 your favorite songwriter either published a bestselling memoir, died, or won a long-shot Nobel prize. This means that you probably read a greater-than-average number of essays and considerations about songwriting itself, and about some o...
Kind Of Weird: How <i>The Köln Concert </i>Made Keith Jarrett A Pop Star
The most improbably exhilarating record I've ever heard was recorded 40 years ago, at a special late show in the Cologne Opera House, in front of a youthful capacity crowd. It's likely the only opera-related album I've ever listened to more than once, but that's fitting, since few of the 1,400 you...
So Normal It Hurts: The Triumph And Tragedy Of Phil Hartman
There were few thrills in preadolescent life as dependable as the voice of Troy McClure. That first resoundingly confident "Hi!" triggered a Pavlovian response like no other single syllable: Here, without a doubt, comes a belly laugh....