Jerome Holtzman

Maybe it's wishful thinking, but it seems that the Cubs are playing with an urgent sense of purpose. This possibility was suggested to catcher Rick Wilkins after he threw two...

Obviously, the major-league umpires, perhaps more so than the players, are irreplaceable. There were a half-dozen rhubarbs, some of them nasty, resulting from controversial calls by the replacement umps during...

First things first: The delayed 1995 baseball season can be expected to be played to the finish, and that includes an extra round of playoffs plus the World Series, canceled...

Mark Grace of the Cubs, one smart fellow, suddenly had second thoughts. During pre-game batting practice Monday night at Comiskey Park, Grace swatted three balls that soared into the right-field...

Star White Sox pitcher Jason Bere, 23, was asked if he had ever had a sore arm. He knocked on wood. "I've never missed a turn as a pro," he...

Biggest day of the spring training season. My annual visit with baseball royalty-Mr. Al Lopez, Tampa's most honored citizen, also the manager of the 1959 White Sox of beloved memory,...

The late-inning relief pitchers, the hard-throwing glamor boys of the bullpen, live with guilt. "It's a fear factor," explained Dave Righetti, the one-time Yankee star who here in the White...

Greg Maddux, the former Cub, enters the 1995 season as the winner of a record three consecutive Cy Young Awards and appears to be the "perfect" pitcher of his generation....

What do the following 16 White Sox players have in common? Scott Fletcher, Julio Cruz, Bryan Little, Tim Hulett, Brian Giles, Jack Perconte, Donnie Hill, Steve Lyons, Jerry Royster, Fred...

Once again, a doff of the chapeau to White Sox General Manager Ron Schueler. Baseball's foremost bargain-basement shopper, Schueler completed his replacement-player program Monday when he plucked veteran infielder Chris...