They can mark the date down, May 17, as an unusual ballgame.

That's what Rich Ashburn had to say about the 1979 Phillies-Cubs contest that ended with 45 runs scored. Thirty years ago last weekend, the Phils beat the tiny bears, 23-22.

Tyler Kepner, a Philly-area native who has been the New York Times beat writer for the Mets and now the Yankees, wrote a nice piece on the game last weekend. The article was made a little more poignant by the passing of Danny Ozark, who managed the Phillies to that shambles of a victory. Kepner interviewed Ozark for the Phils-Cubs piece just weeks before his death, and has a piece on that, too.

Not to go all Buzz Bissinger here, but the first article is the kind of piece for which blogs just aren't a good medium (although Tyler Kepner is a blogger). It's a short piece that required a good deal of research, rather than Wikipedia and ESPN.com (although it does make use of the estimable Elias Sports Bureau). It sets context, has perspective, and moves at the unhurried pace of a baseball game. I'd like to see Tyler on the Sports Reporters. Maybe next time Mitch Albom is taking a break to get his hair sculpted over his ears they can fit him in.