Today is 46 days, which is four days and six weeks of the omer: netzach she’b’malchut. I’ve been planning to write about Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte since Day 7, when I first talked about performance-enhancing drugs. I’ve instituted a kind of morality clause for this project, trying not to include troublemakers, or at least to talk honestly about their misdeeds (ahem, Day 2/Alex Bregman) if they … Continue reading day 46: andy
Today is 45 days, which is three days and six weeks of the omer: tiferet she’b’malchut. As we get close to Sinai and I reflect on the entirety of this project, I realized that I hadn’t included any Japanese players, many great ones of whom have come to North America to play professionally. To say baseball is an intensely popular sport in Japan is an … Continue reading day 45: ichiro
Today is 41 days, which is six days and five weeks of the omer: yesod she’b’yesod. The credit for today’s pick goes to Rabbi Justin David, whom you’ll get to hear from as a guest writer in a couple of days on Day 43 in an incredibly moving post. Stay tuned! I was at a loss for the title of this post, because third baseman/outfielder Elliott Maddox … Continue reading day 41: the convert
Today is 37 days, which is two days and five weeks of the omer: gevurah she’b’yesod. I’ve included player position in my quest for diversity in this project, so today I’m excited to highlight my first manager. Casey Stengel did play right field, but he is best known as (and was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1966 on his strength as) a manager. As he joked … Continue reading day 37: the old perfessor
Today is 35 days, which is five weeks of the omer: malchut she’b’hod. In 2009 Oakland retired number 24 in honor of left fielder Rickey Henderson, but since Bill James said, “If you split Rickey Henderson in two, you get two Hall-of-Famers,” a good case can be made that the As should have also retired the number 35 in which he began and ended his career, donning … Continue reading day 35: man of steal
Today is 31 days, which is three days and four weeks of the omer: tiferet she’b’hod. For some reason catcher Mike Piazza was one of the first players whom I knew I wanted to talk about. I’m so grateful I got to see him play at Shea Stadium during his last year as a Met. He didn’t play his whole career with that franchise, but when … Continue reading day 31: mike
Today is 30 days, which is two days and four weeks of the omer: gevruah she’b’hod. Thumbing through potentials today was brutal. I had thought to choose Hall of Famer Tim Raines, but there was that whole Pittsburgh drug trials thing. And then I considered Orlando Cepeda, but he was arrested for smuggling marijuana. (Look, pot should be legal, but agreeing to carry five pounds of … Continue reading day 30: regular jew
Today is 27 days, which is three weeks and six days of the omer: yesod she’b’netzach. Besides loyalty to team and small ball (y’all are really getting to know my baseball preferences), there’s nothing I love more than a good nickname. Even better if that nickname comes from literally nowhere. And that’s what you get when you enter the major leagues at age 19 and get … Continue reading day 27: catfish
Today is 25 days, which is three weeks and four days of the omer: netzach she’b’netzach. Though perhaps not technically an essential part of of this project, I am trying to make sure there is variety in my picks — in team, league, position, race, era, etc. There are certain players (i.e., Astros and their traditional big rivals, formally the Cards and Braves, now the As … Continue reading day 25: the pride of peoria
Today is 20 days, which is two weeks and six days of the omer: yesod she’b’tiferet. I got to know Boston’s Kevin Youkilis at exactly the right time, during the 2004 season. I was living in Raleigh, N.C., at the time, teaching Latin at a boarding school, and one of my fellow dorm staff was a serious Red Sox fan. We tried to get off-campus as much … Continue reading day 20: yooouuuk
