The Braves, Brewers and Memory

With all of the sensational news lately -- Roger McDowell's tirade, fans cheering bin Laden's death -- I started thinking of happier topics. At the top of the list are my earliest memories of heading to the ballpark.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in Milwaukee where big league baseball was part of the fabric of the city. The Braves are a fuzzy memory for me. I was only 6 when the Braves headed South, but I can remember going to a game. The only images in my mind's eye are walking in the concourse at County Stadium. It's a pleasant memory, if scant on details.

The next Braves memory I have is of my cousins, who lived in Atlanta, telling me my team was headed their way. I can still feel the shock of hearing that. Maybe it was city pride, but I was saddened when my Dad confirmed the bad news.

Baseball, the Mets and bin Laden

Fans at the Phillies-Mets game react to bin Laden's death.

It's hard to believe it's been almost a decade since Osama bin Laden became a part of our lives with the Sept. 11 attacks. In a strange echo of that infamous day, his death, announced last night by President Barack Obama, is dominating WFAN sports talk radio in New York.

It's not unusual to hear the announcers on WFAN mention non-sports topics. But I can think of no other such topic that has dominated the station. In fact, some of the best reporting I heard on Sept. 11, 2001, was on the station. First, there was Warner Wolf, a veteran TV sportscaster who lived near ground zero. He described the first tower falling on the Don Imus show.

But most astonishing to me, was an interview with tennis commentator Bud Collins, who had been covering the U.S. Open, which ended the day before. Known for his loud sports jackets and bombastic opinions, Collins showed he was a keen observer in a stressful situation. He really did paint word pictures of the dazed people fleeing the World Trade Center area. His descriptions of soot-covered people wandering north in Manhattan clutching briefcases, still wearing ties are unforgettable.

Stolen Bases, By Almost Everyone

Maybe you think the stolen base is the province of speedsters. Daring men like Lou Brock and Rickey Henderson taking the measure of the pitcher and catcher and daring them to stop them. Well, it turns out that the stolen base is there for almost everyone who plays.

Everyone, that is, but Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Chris Snyder, who the Wall Street Journal notes is closing in on the record for most trips to the plate without a steal. That's amazing to contemplate.

It's easy to come up with a list of players who would seem to be candidates to have been perpetually stuck at first after a single. Most people picture Babe Ruth as a rotund slugger. But the Bambino was a good base runner. Not only did he often steal more that 10 bases in a season, he even swiped home 10 times in his career. Sure stolen bases were more prevalent then, but there are less than 60 players in the history of baseball who managed that feat.

Others that were slow of foot include Ernie Lombardi, a Reds catcher in the 1930s famous for turning doubles off the wall into singles. Still, he managed to nab eight bases in a 17-year stay in the bigs. Likewise, Frank Howard, who is as massive as a wall, stole eight bases over his career.

Players like Brock and Henderson -- not to mention Ty Cobb and Maury Wills -- never had much problem stealing bases. But even Snyder has reason to hope. After all, almost everyone who plays manages to steal a base. So hang in there, Chris.