It sounds a little sappy, but I believe that I was meant to write “Public Bonehead, Private Hero: The Real Legacy of Baseball’s Fred Merkle,” which is available at: www.sportingchancepress.com
To this day, many baseball fans still call Fred Merkle a “bonehead.” I won’t rest until that stops.
The truth is the complete opposite in every respect. Merkle was one of the smartest players ever to wear a big-league uniform. Within the context of how the game was played and officiated at the time, he did nothing wrong on the famous play in 1908.
Merkle is ...
New Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts essentially gets a pass in his first season. Even if he had been inclined to replace under-achieving general manager Jim Hendry and Hendry’s cohorts, he lacked the time. Ricketts and his family endured a nightmarish process to purchase the Cubs and related properties for $845 million from the complicated ownership of crusty real estate magnate Sam Zell.
Offseason baseball business already had begun when Ricketts officially took over last Halloween. Someone had to assemble the 2010 Cubs, and Hendry the incumbent was the only practical choice. When you’re attempting to close a difficult deal of ...
