“If I were to tell the baseball one thing before I threw it, it would be to miss bats.”

In The Long Season and Ball Four, two literary pitchers describe the days when ballplayers took what their employers offered—or gave up the game.

For a time, it seemed Betts might yet join Yaz in the club of the players who performed their entire careers for the Boston Red Sox. But those are not the times we live in.

How a minor league became major, and why it won’t happen again.

How an obscure pitcher dealt with the umpire who took away his greatest accomplishment.

Rain, rain, go away? Be careful what you wish for.

MLB didn’t have Series MVPs in the old days. But we do.

What might be in store for foreign players and Korea?

The past, present, and future of baseball as a treatment for mental illness.

As ever, Baby New Year starts on the clock on baseball’s Father Time.