Writer Holly Millea on how an old baseball photo convinced her father to embrace technology. For years my father, Roger Millea, a retired urologist, has refused to use a computer. So for his 83rd birthday, I flew to Rapid City, South Dakota, presented him with an iPad, and tutored him against his will in the ways of email and the internet; encouraging him to connect to the … [Read more...] about The Boys of Summer
Baseball
Jimmy McAleer’s Opening Day Legacy
The Irish American baseball legend who introduced the concept of the opening day pitch by the President of the United States.James Robert, “Jimmy,” McAleer, the youngest of eight children, was born in Ohio on July 10, 1864. He gained fame and notoriety for being a player, manager, and stockholder in Major League Baseball who assisted in establishing the American League. Apart … [Read more...] about Jimmy McAleer’s Opening Day Legacy
Family Photo Album: The Boys of Summer
For years my father, Roger Millea, a retired urologist, has refused to use a computer. So for his 83rd birthday, I flew to Rapid City, South Dakota, presented him with an iPad, and tutored him against his will in the ways of email and the internet; encouraging him to connect to the modern world and more specifically to me in New York City. In the two years since, I’ve yet to … [Read more...] about Family Photo Album: The Boys of Summer
The Irish Giants
The Hibernian legacy of the Giants baseball team. To appreciate the legacy of the San Francisco Giants we have to return to their New York beginnings and the ballplayers who made it all possible. The story begins in 1880 when a prosperous tobacco merchant, John B. Day, began to look at baseball as a good investment. With the support of his Tammany Hall associates, John B. and … [Read more...] about The Irish Giants
The Irish in Early Baseball
More than two dozen sons of Irish immigrants, who played in the 1880-1920 period, are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Many other great Irish players have made their mark on the game as well. The Irish potato famine of the 1840s and 1850s was probably the greatest human tragedy of the 19th century. The famine sparked a massive wave of emigration to … [Read more...] about The Irish in Early Baseball