About Us

Developed by four former Major League Baseball employees, Coffee & Box Scores delivers a unique brand of baseball content, where the present connects to the past in a celebratory, fun and thought-provoking style.  Producing daily notes, essays and artwork, Coffee & Box Scores is made for baseball fans seeking creative and stimulating content.

Game Notes

Game Notes

Game Notes – 05/21/2025

Roger Schlueter | Thursday, May 22, 2025 close
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In 2001, Barry Bonds had only 156 hits – tied for 71st most in the Majors that year.  Of course, the NL MVP had plenty of other categories to tout in a proclamation of his batting superiority, including a big league-best 107 extra-base hits (which also happened to be one […]

Game Notes

Game Notes – 05/20/2025

Roger Schlueter | Wednesday, May 21, 2025 close
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Among the many (some may say myriad?) remarkable pulls from Barry Bonds’ career is his ability to step inside the left side of the batter’s box, take his stance against a southpaw and, in that traditionally unbalanced equation in favor of the pitcher, do some serious damage.  Since 1969, there […]

Game Notes

Game Notes – 05/19/2025

Roger Schlueter | Tuesday, May 20, 2025 close
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Currently, Édgar Rentería ranks in a tie with Chris Coghlan for 43rd on the all-time Marlins games played list, with 393.  Despite that relatively minimal participation, the 1997 Fall Classic hero ranks first on the franchise’s list when it comes to walk-off hits, with seven (and that’s NOT counting his […]

Game Notes

Game Notes – 05/18/2025

Roger Schlueter | Monday, May 19, 2025 close
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More than a century ago, a 22-year-old right-hander named Eddie Stack signed his name into the Major League register.  His debut came in front of the home fans at Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl and had the Cubs as the invited guests.  This was the Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance Cubs (although Evers was out of […]

Recollections

Recollections

(Rein)stating the Obvious

Tim Ott | Sunday, May 18, 2025 close
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On Christmas mornings in the Ott household in the early 1980s, it was a common occurrence for me to unwrap the obviously book-shaped gift and see some form of the baseball record book staring back at me.   These volumes became my companion through the long winter months, and while […]

Recollections

Too Hot to Handle

Tim Ott | Wednesday, April 30, 2025 close
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With the month of April (already!) drawing to a close and the noise of small sample sizes fading into the background, it’s a good time to take stock of the Major League leaderboards and note the players who have excelled to this point of the season.   Some, like Aaron […]

Recollections

When Spring Bloomed in the Spa City

Tim Ott | Saturday, March 1, 2025 close
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With the cold weather still lingering in many parts of the country, winter-weary baseball fans can take comfort in knowing that the action ramping up across ballparks in Florida and Arizona heralds the arrival of spring.   But while the Grapefruit and Cactus League games have been an annual component […]

Recollections

The Boys of Winter

Tim Ott | Tuesday, February 4, 2025 close
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There’s a wonderful old commercial for Starting Lineup sports figures that features an unseen singer waxing about his childhood dream of becoming a big league baseball player, ending with the line, “And summer would go on forever.”   Coincidentally, around that time summer did linger past its usual expiration date – […]

Connections

Connections

Start Us Up

Roger Schlueter | Wednesday, March 26, 2025 close
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Almost exactly one year ago, 27-year-old Tarik Skubal opened the Tigers’ season with six innings of three-hit, no-run ball.  The 1-0 final in Detroit’s favor was, in a way, the initial abracadabra in what turned out to be a magical, fantastical year for both pitcher and team.  Now, Skubal – […]

Connections

Join the Club

Roger Schlueter | Monday, March 24, 2025 close
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To anyone equipped with access to Baseball Reference and a healthy combination of curiosity and affection for the numbers, rabbit holes can appear with a time-destroying frequency and head-spinning expansiveness.  Recently, one came a-calling in a most – seemingly – benign form:  Bernie Williams’ headshot on BR’s homepage.  The image […]

Connections

Bursts

Roger Schlueter | Friday, March 14, 2025 close
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Naturally and appropriately, Hideo Nomo carries a banner for introducing a “first” to the magic of season openers.  The historic event occurred on April 3, 2000, when the right-hander became the first Japanese-born hurler to make an Opening Day start.  Nomo allowed three runs over seven innings that Monday in […]

Connections

Opening With a Bang

Roger Schlueter | Monday, March 10, 2025 close
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The very first Opening Day home run in the modern era came from an unlikely source:  the bat of pitcher Jack Powell.  On April 19, 1901, in front of the home crowd in St. Louis, the hurler helped his cause in what was ultimately an 8-7 loss to Chicago (on […]