HISTORY: April 16, 1178 B.C., Around Noon

McCain, Obama and the Optimism Gap One of Barack Obama’s greatest assets has been his appeal to the idealism of young voters and the frustration of grownups disenchanted with the dysfuctional ways of Washington - when prudence and experience says something can’t or shouldn’t be done, or would have awful unintended consequences, Obama’s the guy who says "Yes we can!" Can-do optimism is always popular, and people have come to identify Obama with the ability to eli... more

Obama stumped on the trail again, and on a question McCain had handled previously . Of course, nuclear power is one of McCain’s pet causes , whereas Obama has been unclear on the concept before . I was complaining the other day to some friends that these days, Obama seems to be aiming to wear down conservative bloggers by producing more material to beat him up with than any one person could possibly keep up with. He’s beginning to rival Kerry in that regard. ... more

Who was the last man to get a hit off Satchel Paige? The answer is in the play-by-play in this boxscore from his last start. ... more

Mike Piazza, still unsigned, has decided to retire . Piazza could certainly still have been useful, if nothing else as a backup catcher, but obviously preferred not to end his career on that note. He’ll remember his years at Shea fondly: "Within the eight years I spent in New York, I was able to take a different look at the game of baseball," Piazza said. "I wasn’t just a young kid that was wet behind the ears anymore - I was learning from other veteran guys like Johnny Franco,... more