Mark Paxson's Blog

We have a bunch of fruit trees. Two peach trees, a cherry tree, a lemon tree, a tangerine tree, and a small blueberry bush. The peach trees consistently produce a lot of fruit. Until this year, the tangerine tree did as well. Also, the lemon tree. The cherry tree, however, has been a different story. […]

There was a time when I used to start each NFL season with a post announcing that I was getting a divorce from the NFL. And then things would happen and I’d watch way more football than I wanted to. I gave up on those posts a few years ago. But not on the idea […]

Behind the houses that were across the street from where I grew up there was a field. In Sacramento, fields turn dry and brown in the heat of the summer. In my memory, there was a fire in that field every year. I don’t think that was the case, but there were several fires over […]

At least for now, anyway. For some reason, I watched more of this year’s playoffs than I have in many years. Likely since 2014, the last time the Giants went to and won the World Series. Why? I have absolutely no idea. All I can think of as an explanation was that I was hoping […]

In their neverending quest to ruin America’s Pastime, the powers-that-be within Major League Baseball have approved a system by which teams can challenge ball and strike calls. Called the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS), nicknamed a robo ump, it is a “computerized” system that can confirm the accuracy of an umpire’s calls on balls and strikes.  […]

When my kids were young, I helped coach their baseball and soccer teams. My oldest son played with a group of boys and coaches for around five years. The four coaches, me included, were just kind of thrown together coincidentally one year. I had volunteered to be the assistant coach at the beginning of the […]

I remember reading years ago about an author who said it took something like ten years for them to complete a certain book. That just seemed kind of amazing to me. That writing a story could take that long and that the writer stuck with it. Well … now I understand. Around 10 1/2 years […]

For the more than 40 years that I’ve been listen to Classic Rock, what was just Rock way back then, every list of best rock/classic rock songs has always had the same #1 song. Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. As sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the West, Stairway […]

I’m a traditionalist when it comes to baseball. No DH. Ever. No bigger bases. No limits on mound visits. No banning the shift (hitters should have been forced to adjust instead of the rules changing to accommodate them). Gut instincts being more important than data and analytics. No runner on 2nd to start extra innings. […]