Baseball Is Life Archives

Baseball Is Life: The Roll Call

03/29/2023

What do you do after burying a parent? I don't mean for the rest of your life or next Christmas or even next week. I mean-- after the funeral, after the cemetery and the platesfull of grief food that nobody ... Read More...

Baseball Is Life: Midseason Form

Mary Beth Ellis

03/15/2023

9

We focus too much on this team's ownership. Note the "we"; I very much include myself in this statement, because I suppose I want to hold a rhetorical umbrella for players from the bile oozing from the top. It'... Read More...

Baseball Is Life: Telling and Showing

Mary Beth Ellis

03/08/2023

11

More of a podcast maven? Find the vocal version of today's column at your favorite outlet. Prefer it as a video? Here you go! https://youtu.be/RDWP_yZvOQA We now turn to Cincinnati's own Cam Miller-- a... Read More...

Baseball Is Life: A Zero-Sum Game

Mary Beth Ellis

03/01/2023

24

Prefer Baseball Is Life as a video? Here you go! https://youtu.be/bbhgisD0wZA More of a podcast maven? Subscribe at your favorite outlet. There is no compromise where the pitch clock is concerned. It e... Read More...

Baseball Is Life: The Game

Mary Beth Ellis

02/22/2023

17

Looking for Baseball Is Life as a podcast? It's available on all major platforms! Prefer to watch the column? Head here! https://youtu.be/l-rDkzfAB4I Joey Votto plays chess, as well he shoul... Read More...

Baseball Is Life: Expansion and Contraction

Mary Beth Ellis

02/08/2023

15

A beloved Reds Twitter topic of our own Chad Dotson involves not one single player on one single Reds team: https://twitter.com/dotsonc/status/1620982139067170816 Every time this topic arises, the replies... Read More...

Baseball Is Life: The Weak Beam of Sunshine

Mary Beth Ellis

02/01/2023

12

Last month, two of the websites I wrote for-- and wrote well, I must say, for I'm quite proud of how humble I'm becoming-- sent me off into the Freelance Writer Afterlife. I was in no small amount relieved by t... Read More...

Baseball Is Life: The Speed of the Damage

Mary Beth Ellis

01/04/2023

7

It was the night the whole city could not sleep. An outsized percentage of its population figured it might stay up late to learn the outcome of what several commentators labelled the biggest game of the seas... Read More...

Baseball Is Life: Twinning

Mary Beth Ellis

12/28/2022

11

"Why do you still care?" I was recently asked when I submitted a listing of publications bearing my byline. "If you don't attend Reds games right now, how can you follow? Why?" The answer has to do with the ... Read More...

Baseball Is Life: The Custodian

Mary Beth Ellis

12/14/2022

17

"I don't really own this car," I once heard Jay Leno say of a one-of-a-kind classic car in his keeping. "I just take care of it for the next owner." I repeated this comment to the Ohio State student who was,... Read More...

Baseball Is Life: Punctured Expectations

Mary Beth Ellis

12/07/2022

25

"I have never," I began to tweet about Ted Lasso last week, "seen a show tumble from Season 1 heights to Season 2 dreck so far and so fast." But just before I hit "send," fifteen years of typing about media ... Read More...

Baseball Is Life: As a Group

Mary Beth Ellis

11/30/2022

29

My participation in the World Cup consists of being impressed at the ability of various crowds to turn just about any phrase, name, or rhythm into a chant. The British are the best at it, possibly because they ... Read More...