Personal stories

Sunday Fly

By Joe Benardello

The fly ball looks like a speck in the sky of blue. I drift under it, feet gliding across the grass. The afternoon sun beats on my head. It's the 11th inning, and I hold my glove high.

Essays

Shakespeare and the Park

By Eric Nusbaum

Baseball has often been called the most literary of sports, a claim the writer can only support. In a long and winding essay, Nusbaum reflects on his personal reading history—and finds his loves of baseball and literature deeply entwined.

Essays

Defending the Indefensible

By Michael Webb

Cheating is an inseparable part of baseball. It has always existed, and it always will. That doesn't make cheating right, but it does make it easier to understand.

Essays

A Response to Bill James

By Jeb Stewart

Last July, Bill James published an essay of his thoughts on steroid use and baseball's Hall of Fame. Ultimately, James concluded, steroid users of recent decades will not only be enshrined, but also hailed as "pioneers." But James' arguments are less than convincing.

Essays

The Greatest Hitter of All Time

By Rick Soisson

Greatness is all in the definition, and hitting greatness is no different. By average, it's Ty Cobb. By streak, it's Joe DiMaggio. But defined another way, the greatest hitter ever is: Joe Sewell?

Reporting

The Once and Future Baseball Man

By Phil Bencomo

Victor Wang hasn't played baseball competitively since he was a kid. He knew, back in elementary school in the '90s, that he'd never reach the pros. That he'd struggle even in Little League. That he simply wasn't very good. So he quit.

Poetry

Yeah? So?

By Ember Nickel

"I am a fan. I have not always been. / But I could not point to the moment when / I became more than just a rider on / A bandwagon whose station is long gone."

Poetry

The Scorekeeper's Dilemma

By Ember Nickel

"We cheer for hits that make their hitters dash / Around the diamond, or that with a splash / Allow the batters access to each base. / Hits are surprises; outs are commonplace."

Poetry

An Untitled Poem

By Ember Nickel

"The winners we see, we in time forget. / But we remember some, like those who set / The records that we know cannot be beat. / Most do through victory, some through defeat."

Fiction

Barnstormin' with the Babe

By R. A. Cabral

It's late 1927. The Babe just hit 60, Gehrig won the MVP, and the Yankees are on top of the world. The "Mighty Swatsmen" celebrate with a barnstorming tour and a battle for the Copper Cup. An excerpt from a novel.

Fiction

The REAL Baseball Hall of Fame

By Rick Soisson

The premise behind it was simple enough, though it was one Cooperstown never accepted: The numbers are the numbers. And so, in 2020 the REALHOF, as it came to be known, opened its doors—and opened them to all.

Fiction

The Rocket: A Tall Tale

By John Bartleby

The Clemens-Piazza feud is legendary for its fervor and sublime twists of fate. But is there more to the story? In a playful reimagining, Bartleby says there is.

Photography

Photo by superbomba

Podcast

Podcast home | Subscribe in iTunes

Archive

Or browse the whole thing, on a single page.

About

The Baseball Chronicle is an online magazine that celebrates the narrative. We publish personal stories, essays, journalism and more—great stories, of all varieties, about our favorite game.

Tell your story today.