Blog / Author: Joe Mock

There’s never been a relationship between a Major League team and its spring training home like the one between the Dodgers and Vero Beach. For 61 springs, first the Brooklyn Dodgers and then the Los Angeles Dodgers called Dodgertown home.

In the years since the Dodgers moved their springtime operations to Arizona, the historic complex has been managed by several entities. Today, it’s run by Major League Baseball, which changed the name “Historic Dodgertown” to “The Jackie Robinson Training Complex.”

Check out our look back at what made this sprawling facility so endearing — and how it’s being used now.

This is one book that will give you a LOT to think about!

First is an examination of what’s wrong with the sport of Baseball, and just as importantly, how it can be fixed.

Once you’re done reading that, you flip the book over and there’s a complete second book! This second part is a walk through Baseball history, featuring a countdown of the biggest, most-dramatic finishes in the history of the game … Carlton Fisk’s home run in the 1975 World Series … Bobby Thomson’s “shot heard ’round the world” … David Freese’s heroics in the 2011 Fall Classic (this one still galls me as a Rangers fan) … and the immortal 1988 home run by Kirk Gibson in Game 1 of the World Series.

Lots of great reading in this “flip book!” Plus, it’s autographed by author Howard Peretz, known far and wide as the Old School Sports Junkie. Just $14.95 plus shipping, it makes a great gift, but you’ll love reading it yourself!

The good news is that Spring Training 2021 is indeed upon us. The iffy news is that your experience at the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues this spring will be unlike in past years.

We’ve broken down what you need to know (five-inning games anyone?). The bottom line is to expect the unexpected!

Check out our question-and-answer format so you’ll be aware of this year’s changes.

Even though it was anything BUT a normal season in 2020, we’re still bringing you our annual look at ballparks that made news during the year.

From the Blue Jays making do with a Minor League park to the first game when fans were allowed to attend, it was a fascinating year. Check out our photographic look at 2020!

Major League Baseball receives its fair share of criticism, but it often doesn’t receive the praise it deserves when it backs an initiative that truly does a lot of good — especially for young kids and teens.

Its network of 11 Urban Youth Academies does indeed do a lot of good for young people in inner cities.

By focusing on the newest such academy in Kansas City, we look at who helped fund it, what services it provides (that go beyond playing the sport) and why its exact location “links the past with the future.” Check it out!