That’s a damn good question, really. Most Major League players would tell you that they think spring training is much too long –does it really take nearly six weeks and thirty games to get a team ready for the season? I seriously doubt it, but as long as they’re playing the games you’d like to … Read more
There may be nothing in the world so amusing as a purely rational man. The rational man is a fellow who has not yet been able to convince himself that he’s seen a ghost. The poor bastard has repressed his memories of alien abductions and fits of religious mania. He thinks this world is round. … Read more
Every industry has its peer-reviewed awards competition, especially industries that are fueled mainly by ego and vanity the way the media industry is. There are serious awards and then there are somewhat ridiculous awards,but basically there are enough awards to make sure just about everyone can win something sometime. This has become such a cliche … Read more
We all know that the American League Central hasn’t exactly been a powerhouse division the last several seasons, but for an idea of just how deep Minnesota’s organization is, and how creative the front office and field staff have been when it comes to adjusting on the fly, it’s sort of interesting and instructive to … Read more
Yesterday, we had the pleasure of speaking to the Minnesota Book Publisher’s Roundtable. Even though we were running late and trying to duck the falling ceiling timbers, we managed to make it to our appointment, where we met old friends and made some new ones. One friend mentioned to us that the Pioneer Press had … Read more
…on the one hand, the correct political line is demanded of the poet; on the other, one is justified in expecting his work to have quality. Such a formulation is of course unsatisfactory as long as the connection between the two factors, political line and quality, has not been perceived. Of course, the connection can … Read more
We have been flooded with letters from readers who want to know, apropos of yesterday’s edition, whether there have been any writers banished from the pages of The Rake for various misdemeanors, infractions, transgressions, or naughty behavior. Yes, there have been many. The most celebrated example of a writer banishment at The Rake is, of … Read more
Maybe the team’s brass feels there needs to be some lingering sense of drama in the Twins spring training camp, given how few positions are really up in the air. I don’t know how else to explain why they haven’t just handed the starting shortstop job to Jason Bartlett. What exactly is the competition? Slick-fielding … Read more
We never got around to mentioning Roger Angell’s nice little remembrance of his step father, E.B. White, of a few weeks ago. It didn’t add a lot to the canon, as far as the personal and professional lives of Andy and Katherine Angell White, other than the lovely image of them working across the hallway … Read more
Well, the credit card companies didn’t waste any time. Emboldened by the Senate’s passage of the new bankruptcy bill last week (also known as the “Buy the Government Now and Pay Later” Bill,) my credit card company today sent me “IMPORTANT AMENDMENTS TO YOUR COMMERCIAL CREDIT AGREEMENT.” The first amendment is that they can immediately … Read more